History of Guernsey St Saviour, St Pierre du Bois, Ste. Marie du Catel, and the Vale. The loss of Normandy by King John in 1204 isolated the Channel Islands from mainland Europe. Each time England and France went to war over the coming centuries, trade to and from the Channel Islands was restricted or banned and even when not officially at war, the island was repeatedly attacked by continental pirates and naval forces. Fortifications were improved in the Channel Islands, manned by professional soldiers and the Guernsey militia who would help to defend the Island for the next 600 years. Service was compulsory
First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland the office during a vacancy; currently for a continuous period up to six weeks. Vacancies have occurred on four occasions to date: In the Irish language, the literal translation of these positions is "Céad-Aire agus an leas Chéad-Aire". The titles appear in both English and Irish in published literature by the North-South Ministerial Council, one of the "mutually inter-dependent" institutions laid out in the Good Friday Agreement, along with the Northern Ireland Assembly. Various ways of translating the titles "First Minister and deputy First Minister" into the Ulster Scots dialects have been attested in official communications, including , , and