Northern Counties Special Zone

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Northern Counties Special Zone Ulster
Flag of the N.C.S.Z. TAG = ULS
Politics
Capital	Belfast
Ruling Party	Fianna Fáil - Northern Counties Administrative Council
Head of State	Minister for the Northern Counties Neil Blaney
Head of Government	Eddie MacAteer
De Facto Country Leader	President Éamon de Valera
Diplomacy
Sphere	Grossraum Kontinentaleuropa
Foreign Alignment	Pakt Observer, Einheitspakt
Economy
GDP	$434MB
Credit Rating	Fair
Market Type	Planned Economy

The Northern Counties Special Zone, referred to largely as Ulster, is an autonomous Special Administration within the Republic of Ireland. The zone is made up of four counties, Derry, Antrim, Down, and Armagh, which were previously territories of the United Kingdom before the Second World War when Ireland invaded, and occupied the region with staunch German support. Aside from Fermanagh and Tyrone, which were formally annexed into the Republic of Ireland, the entirety of Ulster falls under the N.C.S.Z, which is governed by a special wing of Fianna Fáil, itself directed by the Minister for the direction of the Northern Counties Neil Blaney.

Paramilitary Organizations

For decades, Northern Ireland has been plagued by armed violence due to its precarious nature as a token British territory on an Irish island. Thanks to the plantation of Ulster, which did well to confiscate thousands of acres of land from the native, catholic, Irish in return for the protestant English, Northern Ireland is largely protestant, much like the rest of the former United Kingdom. However, Ulster has always been home to a vocal catholic minority, which, even before the War of Irish Independence, clashed with protestant settlers.

With these two religious groups having a less than satisfactory history, and strong roots to either Britain or Ireland, they quickly funneled into their own separate camps: The Nationalists, and The Unionists.

Nationalist cliques are catholic, and largely view themselves as Irish. They flock towards the idea of a united and free Irish Republic.

Unionists, on the other hand, are protestant, and see themselves as British. Seeking to reunify with an independent Great Britain by any means necessary.

All of this culminates into The Troubles, a bloody sectarian conflict which has plagued the Northern Counties since the 1945 armistice. This war is not one of grand armies, but of guerillas and public servants.

IRA

Main Article: Irish Republican Army

Led by Seamus Twomey, the Irish Republican Army (IRA,) is a radical leftist group whose main aim is to combat fascist and German influence in the country, whilst remaining with the ideal of a united and independent Ireland.

UVF

Main Article: Ulster Volunteer Force

Led by Ian Paisley, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is the primary paramilitary for those who resist the Irish "occupation" of Northern Ireland. A large number of its members are British auxiliary units which activated following the collapse of Britain. They are one of the most violent terrorist group in Ulster, even if they are smaller than the IRA.

ICG

Main Article: Irish Citizen Guard

The Irish Citizen Guard (ICG) is a relatively new offshoot to the IRA. They are a small force of Republicans that disagree with the IRA's shift to socialism. Despite this, they have not renounced their Nationalism, and have continued to fight for the Republican cause.

The North Irish Constabulary

The North Irish Constabulary (N.I.C) is a government agency that is tasked with policing the N.C.S.Z. Officially a subdivision of the Garda, the N.I.C spends most of its time acting as the governments hand in dealing with the myriad of paramilitary groups that infest the Northern Counties.

The somewhat Sisyphean nature of the tasks appointed to the N.I.C has left the organization in a semi-permanent state of being understaffed and underfunded, leaving no love lost to between the constabulary and the government it pledges its allegiance to. Corruption is also rife within the organization, as they must sometimes make less than savory deals simply to survive