Many sources does not equal facts, see WP:WEIGHT and WP:WEASEL for example. There are many references in that table, yet few of them refer directly to Northern Ireland as being a country in its own right. None of them say that Northern Ireland is a "contry" in and of itself (as this articles currently seems to do) but rather in the limited sense of what a "country" can mean with regards to the UK constient parts.
That is an obscure use of the word. We are not here to confuse our readers. If Nortern Ireland is not a country in the usual sense of the word then we should not say it is without qualification. rannṗáirtí anaiṫnid (coṁrá)