Belfast – the Capital of Northern Ireland

The city of Belfast has a mayoral form of municipal government. The city’s officials are the Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor and High Sheriff who are elected from among 51 councillors representing 9 electoral districts (Oldpark, Castle, Victoria, Pottinger, Laganbank, Balmoral, Upper Falls, Lower Falls and Court).

In the 2005 local government elections, Belfast voters elected 51 councillors to Belfast City Council from the following political parties: 15 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 14 Sinn Féin, 8 SDLP, 7 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 4 Alliance Party, 2 Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), and 1 Independent (a former deputy mayor who takes the UUP whip was a member of the defunct loyalist paramilitary linked-Ulster Democratic Party).

As Northern Ireland’s capital city, Belfast is host to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont, the site of the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. Belfast is divided into four Northern Ireland Assembly and UK parliamentary constituencies: North Belfast, West Belfast, South Belfast and East Belfast.

Belfast is situated on Ireland’s eastern coast. Belfast is located at the western end of Belfast Lough and at the mouth of the River Lagan making it an ideal location for the shipbuilding industry that once made it famous.

The main landmark of the center of the city is Donegall Square surrounded by impressive monuments of Victorian age. The City Council is located on Donegall Square – a real sample of mixed architectural styles. The Linen Hall Library, in which the main treasures of Irish literature are kept, is also located here.

The High Street area in the north of Belfast, known as the Entries, is its oldest part. It was almost completely destroyed by World War II bombing, and now there are only a few pubs remaining that reproduce the aura of the past. The Grand Opera House is another object of note in Belfast. It was bombed several times but was then restored and is now beaming with luxury. The city’s history and culture are presented in the Ulster Museum in the Botanic Gardens. In Belfast’s suburbs there are a zoo, the out of town park Cave Hill, the Belfast Castle, which theoretically dates back to XII century, but the modern building was constructed in 1870, and Stormont – home to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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