Northern Ireland to host G8 summit in 2013

LONDON (AFP) -- The G8 summit of the world's eight richest nations will be held in Northern Ireland next year, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Tuesday.

The meeting will be held next June at the five-star Lough Erne hotel and golf resort in County Fermanagh to the southwest of the British province, Cameron announced during a visit to Northern Ireland.

"I want the world to see just what a fantastic place Northern Ireland is," Cameron said as he visited a factory in County Armagh.

Around 3,500 people died in three decades of sectarian bloodshed between Northern Irish Protestants favouring continued union with Britain, and Catholics seeking a unified Ireland.

A 1998 peace agreement largely ended the conflict, but sporadic unrest and bomb threats continue as dissident offshoots remain violently opposed to the power-sharing government in Belfast, formed of Catholic and Protestant parties.