The Ulster accent is obviously distinct from other parts of Ireland. Although you could say that about the Dublin accent, or perhaps many other parts of the country. Interestingly, the dialect of Gaelic originally spoken in Ulster was also a clear variant from other dialects, now considered as 'standard'. None of this is surprising. If you stand on a north Antrim beach, you can look at the Scottish coast. But you are a long way from Cork. Now that English is the ordinary language of Ulster, it also not suprising that it has strong affinities with English spoken in Scotland. It may be that is a lot to do with farm labour migration. But I am staying right out of the the political dimension of dialect which asserts that Northern Ireland was never really close to the rest of Ireland, or indeed that the term Scot originally referred to the Irish.   The bottom line is that the Ulster dialect is often a delight to listen to. The little paperback books published by the late John Pepper, (aka Freddy Gamble of the Belfast Telegraph) including the Ulster Phrasebook and the Ulster-English dicitonary, are a hoot to read. Thoroughly recommended and not an iota of politics in them.

Best wishes - Dermod.