Northern Ireland's Westeros could be a Game of Thrones tourism goldmine

Game of Thrones could do for tourism in Northern Ireland what Lord Of The Rings has achieved for New Zealand.

A CRASH course on Game of Thrones, and I quickly moved from being a casual viewer to being as knowledgeable, and obsessed as the most avid fan. Based on the books by George RR Martin, Game of Thrones has taken the whole fantasy genre and dragged it kicking and screaming into the mainstream, leaving this much-maligned subculture blinking in the light and wondering what to do next.

If you still haven’t seen it — and it returns next month — it’s an epic saga that dispenses with tired fantasy tropes like elves, mystical hammers and magic potions. Instead, think an expansive power-struggle between the warring houses of an island, not dissimilar to medieval Britain, and featuring a tangled web of political intrigue and back stabbing that could easily rival the history of the Roman Empire. With quite a lot of nudity thrown in for good measure.