Things like car insurance, etc, sometimes have "not available in Northern Ireland". Why? - a few years ago I'd have put it down to the troubles over there (only a guess, dunno how true), but that isn't really so now, so why are there restrictions now?
I think it's also simply that homes in Northern Ireland get Mainland British television, therefore it's not possible to make seperate ads for each.
Companies like Tescos etc have different deals and distribution facilities in Northen Ireland and also exchange rates and prices differ because of the physical closeness of Eire.
So while it's possible to distribute free DVD's with papers or 3 for 2 offers on beans on the main land the cost of shipping/transport doesn't make it viable to do the same in Northern Ireland.
Just my opinion but I think Northern Ireland has been ripped off for years and the 'Troubles ' have been used as an excuse in many cases. About 8-10 years ago I was in England in tescos and I was amazed that you could buy a loaf of bread for about 25p at the time. In Northern Ireland the price was roughly 70-80p. The bread sold in Northern Ireland was not imported from the mainland but baked in the province so why the high prices? - because they could as there was no competition.
Why, when you're searching on the internet for car ins, do they let you go through all the typing info then at the very end say "Not available in Northern Ireland". Why can't they say that at the top instead of letting us go through the whole process then tell us at the end. It's so fustrating
perhaps because ultimately all they are interested in is money and not insuring NI drivers comes very far down the list. Really I don't know kimsmum but am sick of getting a raw deal because of where I live, seems people can just be shafted because of location and this doesn't just apply to Ni but many other parts of the UK.