Ballymena in Northern Ireland
Wednesday, 8 August 2012 - 01:21 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Great Britain / Großbritannien General
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Ballymena Town © geograph.org.uk – Kenneth Allen
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Ballymena is a large town in
County Antrim in Northern Ireland and the seat of
Ballymena Borough Council . Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census.
The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I in 1626, on the basis that the town hold two annual fairs and a free Saturday market in perpetuity. As of 2012, the Saturday market still runs.
All Saints' Catholic Church © geograph.org.uk - Lisa Jarvis
During the later half of the 20th century, Ballymena, like many other once prosperous industrial centres in Northern Ireland, experienced economic change with many of its former factories closing. Ballymena is now becoming a centre of information-based, international corporations and major retail outlets. However, unlike other towns it retains a very successful manufacturing industry, with major employers such as Michelin and Gallaher, and the extremely successful local firm Wrightbus.
Ballymena is described by some observers as being at the heart of Northern Ireland’s equivalent of the
Bible Belt . The
Electric Light Orchestra were banned from playing in the township of Ballymena with Ian Paisley’s
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) dominated council reasoning that their appearance would attract “the four Ds Drink, Drugs, Devil and Debauchery”. Further the popular romantic drama
Brokeback Mountain was banned from scening in the town, as was a performance an impersonator of comic
Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown . It should be noted that this does not necessarily reflect the overall views of the town’s population. The town has a large Protestant majority. The majority of the Catholic population is situated around the Broughshane and Cushendall Road areas of the town. Recently there has now been tension in the Dunclug area of the town which now has a Catholic majority. These tensions have been associated with internment bonfires and the flying of republican flags though attempts have been made to reduce tensions.
Read more on
Ballymena Tourist Information Centre “The Braid” ,
The Braid – Museum & Arts Centre ,
Tullyglass House Hotel and
Wikipedia Ballymena . Learn more about the
use of photos . To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Travel Risk Map -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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