EU to call country 'Éire Ireland'

Dub13

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/06/27/story265243.html

Ireland is to be known as “Éire Ireland” at official European Union meetings in the future, it emerged tonight.

The move follows last year’s EU decision to designate Irish as its 21st official and working language from 2007.

The Éire Ireland name change will apply to signage and name plates at Council of Minister meetings and leaders’ summits from January 2007.

The Government today approved the measure at its weekly Cabinet meeting in Dublin.

A Government spokesperson said afterwards: “The name ‘Éire’ already appears on all Irish passports, stamps and coins, so it is an entirely consistent move.”

Member states like Finland and Belgium already have dual-language status at official EU meetings.
Under the 1937 Constitution, the state can be referred to as the Republic of Ireland, Ireland or Éire.

From 2007, all legislation approved by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament must be translated into Irish.

Ministers and MEPs will also be able to speak in Irish on request during Council meetings and European Parliament plenary sessions.

Up to 30 jobs for Irish translators and interpreters are expected to be created in the European institutions as a result.

Dub13

I was not expecting this and it got me thinking what the cost is to have everything translated into Irish.Not that it matters of course as it has to be done.

As for “Éire Ireland”,I don't really like the sound of it.What was wrong with plane old Ireland...?

esperanza

Dub13 wrote:

I was not expecting this and it got me thinking what the cost is to have everything translated into Irish.Not that it matters of course as it has to be done.

As for “Éire Ireland”,I don't really like the sound of it.What was wrong with plane old Ireland...?

They must have been bored to tears, the buggers.;) Na, seriously, they are probably just trying to be fair -- we are supposedly a bilingual nation after all, aren't we? We should be damn proud that the EU has officially recognised our first official language, and thus the country's bilingual status.

I do hate the term "Eire" -- doesn't the term seem archaic or is it just me?

oscarBravo

esperanza wrote:

I do hate the term "Eire" -- doesn't the term seem archaic or is it just me?

It's not archaic, it's Irish. As gaeilge, "Éire" is ainm don stáit. In English, it's "Ireland".



Apologies for any grammatical errors as gaeilge.

5uspect

this is almost like revenge for the whole Dingle thing!

I'm not hugely fond if the irish language personally but its part of us so its good for Eire to be recognised, but the "Eire Ireland" seems a bit strange
Eire/Ireland or something would be more appropiate for signs etc.
If both names appear I don't really see any problems just as long as the distinction is made and we don't get known as the Republic of Eireireland.

esperanza

oscarBravo wrote:

It's not archaic, it's Irish. As gaeilge, "Éire" is ainm don stáit. In English, it's "Ireland".

Well, my gut feeling about the term having sth odd about it is confirmed in this wikipedia article. Apparently, the "use of "Éire" is associated with a condescending attitude to Ireland in some right-wing quarters of the British media.":(

Come to think of it, I have had many friends from the UK referring to Ireland as Eire, I've always wondered why, now it makes sense. Or else "Southern Ireland" to refer to the "Republic of Ireland"... ouch! There are just some people 'over the water' who have a very distorted view of our country, don't you think? (I won't even go into some continental Europeaners who still think we belong to the Brits! -- maybe our official bilingual name will raise some eyebrows in a good sense...

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ire

"The name Éire is the nominative form in modern Irish of the name for the goddess Ériu, a mythical figure who helped the Gaels conquer Ireland as described in the Book of Invasions."

Interesting one, and never knew this (never been a staunch Republican or a big fan of the Irish language or culture in general, so please forgive my ignorance).;)

A Dub in Glasgo

Whatever happened to 'Republic of Ireland'? Are we afraid to indicate that we are a Republic?

oscarBravo

It's a descriptive term; one which I use quite regularly. But the name of the country is Ireland.

ScottishDanny

Could some set up a poll on the issue? It would be interesting to see what name other Board members would prefer

• éire/Ireland
• Ireland
• Republic of Ireland
• éire
• other

daveirl

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therecklessone

daveirl wrote:

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Thats so Johnny Giles doesn't get confused and call them the Deutschlandanians...

daveirl

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esperanza

therecklessone wrote:

Thats so Johnny Giles doesn't get confused and call them the Deutschlandanians...

Good one! On that note, are Brussels also planning to designate us an adjective...??

spurious

Éire and Eire are two different words.

For all the fuss about giving status to the first official language, the least they could do is use the right bloody word and not one that means load or burden.

esperanza

spurious wrote:

Éire and Eire are two different words.

Oh, really? Can you explain, please?

Chakar

Notice the dash Éire, this refers to the Republic of Ireland while other meanings of the term EIRE is EIRE- Employment Issues Reducing the Employer. EIRE- Entomological Inoculation Rate. EIRE- ETS IRF Response Element.

esperanza

Chakar wrote:

Notice the dash Éire, this refers to the Republic of Ireland while other meanings of the term EIRE is EIRE- Employment Issues Reducing the Employer. EIRE- Entomological Inoculation Rate. EIRE- ETS IRF Response Element.

OK, got it but, to be quite honest, I don't agree with you that people would confuse the two.

If a writer wished to refer to "EIRE" (i.e. Employment Issues Reducing the Employer), for example, then (s)he would be more likely to write the term in upper case, especially in official English texts, which you did not do in your first post -- hence my question!

It is common, however, for such acronyms to be written in lower case in certain languages, particularly French, after a period of extended usage and depending on their pronunciation... sorry for rambling!

Note: This is a dash - while the character over this letter is a fada "é", or an acute accent in English.

daveirl

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esperanza

daveirl wrote:

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Yes, exactly, that's what I've understood too. The OP didn't capitalise "Eire" so that's why his argument wasn't clear, at first.

seamus

From the Irish constitution:

Article 4
The name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland.

Afaik, the use of Éire as a derogatory term is an attempt at a "We still own 6 counties of your island". It's subtle, but the insult is completely defunct in this day and age, and no Irish person should take offence at its use. Quite the opposite.

flogen

Meh; non story really... not a big deal...
I'd like to think that this might encourage growth in the language, but I doubt it.

I agree that Éire is often used in the UK in the derogatory sense, but there's only one way to change that I guess!

aidan_walsh

esperanza wrote:

Good one! On that note, are Brussels also planning to designate us an adjective...??

Éireans?

/ducks

daveirl

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lostexpectation

daveirl wrote:

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thats an amazingly accurate description, and is exactly why we Irish should use Éire and not be afraid to use Éire.

although non-Irish and visting americans should use Ireland.

partly becuase of the awkardness of mixing English and Irish together in one sentence.

alt+shift+e folks

mike65

"Look old bean if the bog trotters of the er Dial thingy wish you be known as
Eire so be it! Its nice the Free State government has come up with such an innovative employment scheme.

Toodle pip"

---

As for Americans well, they'll just think its quaint. God help all of us.

Mike.

oscarBravo

lostexpectation wrote:

...we Irish should use Éire and not be afraid to use Éire.

I'm not afraid to use it - when speaking (or writing) Irish. It's just silly to use it in English.

lostexpectation wrote:

alt+shift+e folks

...or, if you use a real operating system, Compose, ', E.

monument

To agree with others, it’s not a big deal, it is silly when used in English, and 'Éire – Ireland' just sounds wrong.

Dyr

seamus wrote:

From the Irish constitution:

Afaik, the use of Éire as a derogatory term is an attempt at a "We still own 6 counties of your island". It's subtle, but the insult is completely defunct in this day and age, and no Irish person should take offence at its use. Quite the opposite.

Its funny, i was on the phone to a union rep in the UK today and everytime she said "eire" my teeth grinded. Of course the majority of english people just use that word because they probably think it's the correct term but it doesnt change my suspicion that "éire" was used originally because the british media etc couldnt bring themselves to say "republic of ireland" :rolleyes:

lostexpectation

Bambi wrote:

Its funny, i was on the phone to a union rep in the UK today and everytime she said "eire" my teeth grinded. Of course the majority of english people just use that word because they probably think it's the correct term but it doesnt change my suspicion that "éire" was used originally because the british media etc couldnt bring themselves to say "republic of ireland" :rolleyes:

you should have gently corrected her, she would have thanked you later for it

zuma

Bambi wrote:

Its funny, i was on the phone to a union rep in the UK today and everytime she said "eire" my teeth grinded. Of course the majority of english people just use that word because they probably think it's the correct term but it doesnt change my suspicion that "éire" was used originally because the british media etc couldnt bring themselves to say "republic of ireland" :rolleyes:

Its also probable got to do with the fact that they shorten Northern ireland to Ireland which thn relegates us to Éire!

I get the shakes as well when non Irish refer to this country as Éire while speaking English and having ZERO knowledge of the irish language!

oscarBravo

lostexpectation wrote:

you should have gently corrected her, she would have thanked you later for it

I've had one person get the hump in a big way. He thought he was going out of his way to be correct.