Chief Wiggy
You'll never believe what I got my undergrad degree in... <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0">
My bad, I know where NI is, and its status in respect to the UK:
...the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927.
(source: <a href="http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html)" target="_blank">http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html)</a>
All I can say is it ain't Texas! <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">
Cheers!