10 offbeat facts about Northern Ireland

1. Game Of Thrones employs more locals than the civil service.

2. Chinese (Mandarin) is the most widely spoken minority language in Northern Ireland.

3. Technically, it’s illegal to go to the cinema on a Sunday. The Sunday Observation Act claims you can be fined up to £50.

4. There’s an annual bog snorkelling competition.

5. Ballygally Castle is said to be haunted by the ghost of Lady Isobel Shaw who was supposedly locked in her room and starved by her husband until she jumped out of her window to death. The ghost knocks on doors at night and then disappears, creepy!

6. On average, it rains 157 days a year in Belfast, that’s less than Scotland.

7. The Marketing of Potatoes Act (1964) states that: “A constable may seize and may detain in custody any potatoes which are being or which are suspected by such an officer or constable of being, sent out of Northern Ireland” – yes, this law is still in place, so don’t get packing them in your suitcase alongside your other bizarre items.

8. Belfast Zoo is home to the only group of purple-faced langurs in Europe – all the more reason to visit.

9. Under 16s in Northern Ireland make up almost 25% of the population – that’s more young people than anywhere else in the UK.

10. Northern Ireland’s Tayto crisps are made at a 500-year-old castle. They are sent to Northern Irish people all around the world as a “taste of home”.

This article was first published on www.belfastvibe.com