Good afternoon everyone. welcome to the Oprah's countries show.

As you all know, we bring

celebrities from all countries around the world to represent and talk about their countries. Today
we will talk about Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. We will start with Northern Ireland.
This country is one of the four parts of the United Kingdom. It is part of an island in
Western Europe called Ireland. In 1922 Ireland was split into two states, Northern Ireland and
the Republic of Ireland. The capital of Northern is Belfast. 1.8 million other people also live in
Northern Ireland. English is spoken by almost everyone in Northern Ireland. Another
important language is Irish.
Our first guest is from Northern Ireland. He is famous guitarist player from the band Def
Leppard. He also played in Whitesnake, Dio, Thin Lizzy and many others. So, everyone please
welcome Vivian Campbell!
VC: Hello Oprah, hello everybody. How are you?
O: Hello Vivian, I'm fine, thank you, and i hope you are fine too, because today we will pull the
information from you. So, are you ready to talk about your country?
VC: Born ready!
O: Well, sit here and then we will start.
So while we are preparing to find out something new about Northern Ireland take a look to this
video.
(The Dark Hedges)
O: Well this is in your country. I have to say this is wonderful. Now, tell me something about
your people during the history.
VC: Our ancestors had a lots of conflicts, and that now is transmitted to newer generations to.
Unionists, who are mostly Protestant, want Northern Ireland to stay a part of the United
Kingdom. Nationalists, who are mostly Catholic, want Northern Ireland to leave the United
Kingdom and have the whole island united as one country, under Irish rule. Some people do not
want to join the Republic of Ireland or remain part of the United Kingdom. Instead, they want
Northern Ireland to be an independent country.
O: And what about the capital city, Belfast?
VC: My hometown, Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in the
whole Ireland, after Dublin. It became capital of Northern Ireland when Northern Ireland was
created in 1921. A lot of famous ships were built by the Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff.
In 1911 they built the RMS Titanic. Titanic was the largest ship in the world at that time, and
people believed that it can't be drowned. But, during it's first sail, Titanic hit into the iceberg and
sunk.1517 people died in that accident. The story about Titanic inspired the American director
James Cameron to make a movie about this event.

O: Can you play us some of your songs? I'm sure everyone here would love to see and hear
you playing. You have a lot of amazing songs and you're very talented.
VC: Dearly, but i hurt my arm couple of days ago. I am really sorry and i promise if i ever come
here again i will play you not just one but couple of songs.
O: Oh, i wish you fast recovery. I'm glad that i had you as a guest. Now we have to say you
goodbye, and see you some other time. goodbye.
VC: Thank you Oprah, i had a really good time. bye.
Unfortunately, Northern Irish football team lost a match against Spain few days ago. So
here is something about sports in N.I.
(film o sportu)

And that is all about NI for tonight. Now, let's talk about the second country, as we
planed. Ireland is a European country on the island of Ireland. It is a member of the European
Union. The country is sometimes called the Republic of Ireland, but Ireland is its official name. It
covers about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The other sixth is called Northern Ireland, which
is still part of the United Kingdom. The republic's capital is Dublin. Cork is the second largest city
in the country and the third largest on the island of Ireland. The population of Ireland is 4.6
million. English is the main language spoken. The Irish language is widely taught in all schools,
and it is still spoken as a first language in some areas of the country, known as the Gaeltacht.
Irish is the first official language, followed by English.
Welcome big star, beautiful Irish singer. Ladies and gentleman, Sinead O'Connor
(Miki peva)
O: Wow, it sounded amazing. You have such a beautiful voice!
SC: Thank you my dear.
O: It's been a great pleasure to have you here.
Sc: Thank you very much, I'm so glad you called me.
O: We heard about separating Ireland from UK. can you tell us something more about politics in
your country, Republic of Ireland?
SC: The head of State, the President, is elected for seven years by the adult citizens. The same
president can only be elected twice. Most of the president's tasks are representing and
ceremonial ones. The president has little power over the government.

Ireland is a democracy and people vote for their representatives. The Taoiseach (equivalent to a
prime minister) is selected by the parliament. The Taoiseach is usually the head of the biggest
party.
The Oireachtas (equivalent to the parliament) consists of the Dil ireann (the lower House)
and the Seanad (the 'upper House'). The system is similar to that of France or the United
States, except that the President is not an executive.
O: You have interesting characteristic dance, so we made a little a video to represent it.
(snimak plesa)
SC: It was nice. I have something to add to this video because i really love Irish dance and i
know a lot about it.
O: We are listening.
Sc: In 17th century traveling Lords of the dance had appeared. Each town had it's own Lord of
the dance, and teachers had competed against each other for the title of Lord. Lords had taught
other people how to dance. In 19th century the rules in teaching, competing and judging were
established.
O: That was really interesting. I hope you will be our guest again. until then i wish you good luck
and successful career.
SC: Thank you all, I wish you the best too. Bye.
So that was it for today. I hope you all enjoyed and learned something new about these
countries. See you next week in the same place at the same time when we will talk about
Lebanon. Goodbye, have a nice weekend!