I’m from Derry and I’m impressed at the immigration officer’s knowledge, I was travelling home via Manchester with my foreign-born wife and we were asked how long she was going to be in the UK, I replied that we would be staying in Derry but would probably cross the border a few times to Donegal but not to worry my wife had a visa for Ireland too.
I could see her face cloud over a bit, so you’re going to Ireland now? She asked. Well, we were flying to Belfast and we’d be staying in Derry (I actually said “Londonderry” at this point to help her out) but would probably cross the border too, I repeated.
She gave up, “Sorry, I don’t understand, what border?”. She was a British immigration officer, so I suppose I shouldn’t be too hard on Kernen.
I’m surprised. The customs agent at Gatwick, as well as Belfast were always top notch and very savvy.