Northern Ireland Sign Language (NISL) is a sign language used in Northern Ireland, mainly Belfast. It is a dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL), mixed together, and as such is a natural language, not a signed representation of English. A sign language (also signed language) is a language which uses manual communication instead of sound to convey meaning - simultaneously combining handshapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speakers thoughts. ... Northern Ireland is one of four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. ... Belfast is the largest city in, and capital of both Northern Ireland and Ulster. ... American Sign Language is the dominant sign language in the United States, anglophone Canada and parts of Mexico. ... British sign language (BSL) is the sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK). ... The term natural language is used to distinguish languages spoken by humans for general-purpose communication from constructs such as computer-programming languages or the languages used in the study of formal logic, especially mathematical logic. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

BSL loyalists (mainly British Deaf Association members & NISL users who were educated in England) claim and influence the local policy that it is a Belfast/Northern Ireland dialect of British Sign Language. There is no proper linguistic research into the language as of yet. British Deaf Association is a large British charity dedicated to supporting the linguistic rights & human rights of Deaf People. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion...

NISL came into form when Francis Maginn returned from Gallaudet University (Gallaudet College at the time) and asked the Ulster Institution for the Deaf and Dumb (known as the "Old Lisburn Road School") to appoint Thomas Tillinghist as the headteacher from the USA. Gallaudet University was the first school for the advanced education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. ...

There is no evidence on how BSL was brought into Belfast, but with the coming of Maginn and Tillinghist, the history is clear on the bringing of ASL to Belfast.