The british isles and Ireland.

Dave!

Confine your thoughts to 1 post, FFS!!!

robnubis

Meh, sure in the end, most ppl worldwide dont refer to it as the British Isles, its usually just British ppl who do that.

I mean its just the way things are, i mean are Canadian and Mexican ppl happy with living in "North America"?

We are the Emerald Isle, and me thinks that sounds a lot nicer.

and on the Irish Sea thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Sea#Origin

Pocari Sweat

If this is a boring thread that keeps getting repeated, and certain views that the OP doesn't like keep getting erased, then why prompt posters to reply and then erase their posts, and threaten them?

Terry

very thin line.

gurramok

WhiteWashMan wrote:

people get upset by things that they want to get upset by.

personally i think its a stupid purile waste of time to get upset over the naming of a geographic area, but then again, im an intelligent human being.

perhaps those people that get upset just have issues with their own identy and nationalism?

Err, nope, its the other way around!

People who don't care about where they're from don't care about their identity and let themselves be labelled as citizens of a foreign nation whether that nation is British, Timbuktuish r whatever, they might as well forfeit their Irish passports, they are the ones with the issues

Gurgle

gurramok wrote:

People who don't care about where they're from don't care about their identity and let themselves be labelled as citizens of a foreign nation whether that nation is British, Timbuktuish r whatever, they might as well forfeit their Irish passports, they are the ones with the issues

Nationality: Irish
Country of birth: Republic of Ireland
Geographical location: Ireland, second largest of the Brittish Isles, Northwestern europe.

Does the above somehow indicate that I'm a citizen of 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'?

There are just so many twats in this country still sulking about Cromwell. He's dead. Thatcher is retired. Get over it.

Brian Capture

Many people who dislike the term 'The British Isles', chose to express their national pride by supporting a Scottish football club.

Terry

don't go there.
i don't really want to hear arguments about how it was set up by an Irish nun or something.

WhiteWashMan

Brian Capture wrote:

Many people who dislike the term 'The British Isles', chose to express their national pride by supporting a Scottish football club.

you mean a british football team?

gurramok

Gurgle wrote:

Nationality: Irish
Country of birth: Republic of Ireland
Geographical location: Ireland, second largest of the Brittish Isles, Northwestern europe.

Does the above somehow indicate that I'm a citizen of 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'?

There are just so many twats in this country still sulking about Cromwell. He's dead. Thatcher is retired. Get over it.

Do you not see the irony here?

In your own words, your from the British Isles so your British.

All citizens in UK are British, we are not in UK hence being labelled a foreign term is offensive.

Where does it say in the irish constitution(http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/Pdf%20files/Constitution%20of%20Ireland.pdf) that we are part of 'British Isles'?

Please point that out.

Captain Trips

Hellm0 wrote:

dont really like the term "Great Britain". What the hells so great about it*.

I always presumed that the "Great" bit in Britain was just as in "Greater", like you describe an area (e.g., Greater Manchester), and it was related to Ireland being renamed West Britain in the Act of Union in 1802 or something like that. So then there was Great(er) Britain and West Britain.

That said, I have started to refer to the UK as East Ireland. I also am starting a campaign to rebrand the term Irish for our language as English. Then we will have over a billion Irish speakers instantly and will rule to the world from Great Ireland.

r3nu4l

Brian Capture wrote:

Many people who dislike the term 'The British Isles', chose to express their national pride by supporting a Scottish football club.

Many but not all, I certainly don't! Nor do I support any British football clubs. I support GAA I don't support Sinn Féin or any self styled armies either for that matter. I'm a real, democratic Republican and accept that Northern Ireland is a part of Britain and rightfully so since we relinquished our claim to that part of the country.

If only everyone saw things the way I do...then the world would be a very peaceful and admittedly probably a very boring place too

Capt'n Midnight

gurramok wrote:

All citizens in UK are British, we are not in UK hence being labelled a foreign term is offensive.

Can you clarify why they need to include the word "and" if NI is in GB, ?

The United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland.

Bob the Builder

British isles is a geographical term that used since we were being controlled by britain. Now, ireland is a free country with a booming economy, why should we give a pokey crap who we're being associated with.

Ok, Ok, maybe they could change the name to something a bit more irish aimed like UK-IRE or something of the like but we should relax a bit more, UK ain't controlling us anymore and they ain't taking our taxes, Ireland is catching up to the UK in every way, we should be proud of being Independently controlled as the state of Ireland, we shouldn't care what it says on Maps, Our economy/cultre has us more on a map than a cartographer will ever be able to do....We're Ireland, We're proud!

Andrew 83

Well while it is used as a geographic term the way these terms come into use is inherintly political. I'm sure the term British Isles was originally used as Britain owned them all, the geographic was determined by the political. Therefore I would say that when we gained independence we departed the British Isles as we are no longer ruled by them in any way. I wouldn't go about calling Kenya British East Africa as it used to be or start referring to the Belgian Congo. These two were geogrpahical names determined by the political.

I think that names do imply certain things. Someone from Spain or Portugal would generally be referred to as Iberian if these make up the Iberian Peninsula, those from Scandinavia are Scandinavian, those from the Balkans are Balkan, and so on. By this logic (which those who are not fully au fait with the political situation would understandably follow and assume), those in the British Isles are British.

As the geographical term was in all probability only invented to suit the political situation, now that we are not part of that political situation there is no reason why we should be labelled as being part of the 'British Isles'.


[On a sidenote America and the Americas at large are named after Amerigo Vespucci. This probably means that many of those who now live in the Americas are happy with the name and don't feel it implies any rule from the United States (as the term pre-dates that country), I am not convinced that all indigenous people's of the Americas would be so happy with the name. While there may not be many left in what is now the United States, there are in Central and South America. For them the region's history did not begin when Europeans 'discovered' it and realised it not to be East Asia.]

JaysusMacfeck

As I mentioned before, the Act of Union renamed the island of Ireland to "West Britain". It never really stuck for some reason. What were they thinking? Anyway, my point is that if the renaming to "West Britain" was successful, we'd probably still be called that today by the British and other countries in Europe because of Britain's influence.

"The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of West Britain"

Count your lucky harps that that's not the case.

Andrew 83 wrote:

I think that names do imply certain things. Someone from Spain or Portugal would generally be referred to as Iberian if these make up the Iberian Peninsula, those from Scandinavia are Scandinavian, those from the Balkans are Balkan, and so on. By this logic (which those who are not fully au fait with the political situation would understandably follow and assume), those in the British Isles are British.

A very good point.

User45701

omg i cant blive that 30% of u actually think ireland is part of the brittish isles i mean WTF i thought that 1/3 of americans where dumb but i guess its 1/3 of our population aswell

Kwekubo

JaysusMacfeck wrote:

As I mentioned before, the Act of Union renamed the island of Ireland to "West Britain". It never really stuck for some reason. What were they thinking? Anyway, my point is that if the renaming to "West Britain" was successful, we'd probably still be called that today by the British and other countries in Europe because of Britain's influence.

"The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of West Britain"

Count your lucky harps that that's not the case.

And at which CIRA rally did you hear this gem? No trace of "West Britain" in this copy of the act, could you provide a source for this?

Seriously lads, it's an old geographical term. It does not imply you're British. Why the fuss?

gurramok

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Can you clarify why they need to include the word "and" if NI is in GB, ?

The United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland.

Ask them why they have it ..Its down to governance and who owns what.

At the mo, NI is ruled by GB hence all citizens in the UK(GB & NI) are British.

Those that do not wish to be British take out Irish passports like the Irish do in N.I. as well as GB itself.

professore

jebuz wrote:

doesn't bother me, why should it, its just a name. the majority of people would know that we're independant of britain, mind you i'd wouldn't include the americans in that majority!

quote from an american guy when i was over there for the summer...

"ireland eh, that sure must have been some drive"

I lived in Belgium for 5 years and most people there thought Ireland was part of the UK. Better educated people mostly knew but the average punter - no idea.

professore

julep wrote:

120 years to be exact. that still doesn't change the fact that we are not british. there are lots of small islands off the coast of Ireland. they seem to also fall into the catergory of "british isles". why are they not now referred to as "Irish isles"?
been to bombay lately? you won't find that on a new map. it's now called "Mumbai". it's not that difficult to change the name of a place and it would be relatively east to omit the term "british isles" from future maps of this area, or make it so that the term is restricted to islands under british control.
northern Ireland doesn't count because it has the name Ireland attached to it and is part of the island of Ireland.



the name britan is a derivative of the name britannia, which is the name given to parts of england and wales by the romans. that's what they have to do with it.


i agree with you on that. it isn't referred to as "londonderry" in any Irish make maps that i have ever seen. and rightly so.



most of the english people i have spoken to feel that Ireland is the exact same as england in every way and that we are the same people. i disagree with that and those people have learned the error of their ways after spending time here. they have gotten to know that Ireland and england are not the same culturally.




i think the poll speaks for itself.
most people don't recognise Ireland as part of the british isles.
and there i was thinking that i would have to edit the poll to fit my own agenda.

Really? It seems to me that Ireland is every day more and more like the UK. What you say may have been true in the past but it aint true anymore. Face it mate - we're all culturally British now. People say mate all the time here now - 10+ years ago that immediately marked you out as English.

Walk down any "High Street" in Ireland today (BTW when did they stop being Main Streets?) and look at the shops. Look at our identikit housing estates and their names. Look at what people watch on TV, what they wear etc. The way people don't talk to each other the way they used to. What makes us so different?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

JaysusMacfeck

katrien_ie wrote:

I lived in Belgium for 5 years and most people there thought Ireland was part of the UK. Better educated people mostly knew but the average punter - no idea.

This is the same in the NL and France. They get BBC 1 over there on TV and when the weather comes on, they show Britain and Ireland with Belfast as the only city. It's misleading. A lot of people think Belfast is the capital and largest city in Ireland.

JaysusMacfeck

katrien_ie wrote:

Face it mate - we're all culturally British now.

Are the Gaeltachtaí population culturally British too or are they the only 'true' Irish people left?

Sleepy

It bothers me more that I live in a country where people get upset over something so stupid.

Though, admittedly, I'd rather live in a United Europe than a United Ireland. (and a United Earth even more so)

GreenKnight

Andrew 83 wrote:

I think that names do imply certain things. Someone from Spain or Portugal would generally be referred to as Iberian if these make up the Iberian Peninsula, those from Scandinavia are Scandinavian, those from the Balkans are Balkan, and so on. By this logic (which those who are not fully au fait with the political situation would understandably follow and assume), those in the British Isles are British.

Very good point. I dont recognise the term 'British isles' in relation to Ireland.

Hydroquinone

These sort of threads always bamboozle me. I can safely say that I have never heard anyone actually say the words British Isles. Who is it that is supposed to use that terminology?
Right enough, I've seen it written down - usually in feckin' threads like this on boards.ie, , but I've never heard anyone actually say it.

Who is it that those of you who don't like it are complaining about? Michael Palin? Is he it? Really? So some British entertainer said in America that he thinks Ireland is part of the British Isles. Big deal. Why would anyone be bothered what he thinks? Or even, you know, reading it again, maybe not. Maybe he just didn't actually know that Colin Farrell came from Ireland and was attempting to cover up his lack of knowledge by rambling on as he did, thinking he was being clever or sardonic or funny. Or maybe he's a xenophobic old bastard who hates foreigners with the passion of a thousand suns and reserves a special place of ire in his blackened, shrivelled up, hate-filled excuse for a heart for Ireland. And even if that is the case - so what?

A lot of people who aren't Irish don't give a feathery fig about Ireland. If this is news to anyone, they need to get out more.

Capt'n Midnight

gurramok wrote:

Ask them why they have it ..Its down to governance and who owns what.

At the mo, NI is ruled by GB hence all citizens in the UK(GB & NI) are British.

Those that do not wish to be British take out Irish passports like the Irish do in N.I. as well as GB itself.

http://www.passport.gov.uk/images/biometrics4.jpg

Those passports say UK of GB AND NI on them..

JaysusMacfeck

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

http://www.passport.gov.uk/images/biometrics4.jpg

Those passports say UK of GB AND NI on them..

If Ireland was still in the UK, our passports would be just like that. "The UK of GB and Ireland." We would all be British.

dSTAR

This debate raises a few questions for me...

Why do so many Irish people have an aversion to being considered British?

How much of a difference would it make if Ireland were a part of a United Kingdom?

Why is it acceptable to be a part of a European Union but not part of a United Kingdom?

As far as I can see it modern Irish culture/society is more similar to British culture than different and so far apart from say Lithuania, Slovenia or Slovakia yet share the same currency.

I am well aware of the historical significance between Britain and Ireland and don't really need another pro-Irish / anti-British history lesson.

Dave!

dSTAR wrote:

Why is it acceptable to be a part of a European Union but not part of a United Kingdom?

Presumably because we chose to join the EU.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

dSTAR

DaveMcG wrote:

Presumably because we chose to join the EU.

Maybe I should have asked;

Why is it preferable to be a part of a European Union but not part of a United Kingdom?

Without the EU handouts that were dropped into Ireland's begging bowl a few years ago I cannot really see how Ireland has benefited all that greatly from EU membership.

JaysusMacfeck

dSTAR wrote:

Why do so many Irish people have an aversion to being considered British?

I will admit that I am quite bitter about previous British administrations in Ireland, even up until the late 20th century. Saying "We might as well be British" is a kick in the face for all those who fought for our independence. If Ireland never achieved independence, it would NOT be as peaceful a country as it is now. Look at how Catholics have been treated in NI. This would have been the same in current Republic, perhaps not as extreme, but there would have been discrimination against us, and undoubtedly, the IRA would have flourished all over the island.

I'm annoyed at the fact that England forced their culture on all the Celtic cultures on these islands. The UK is a bombastic farce of Royal oppression, and I, for one, am delighted that Ireland is no longer part of a Kingdom that treated our own people so badly. Irish citizens who think otherwise should question their Irish citizenship. If I was alive in Ireland in the 19th or early 20th century and feeling what I do now, I would have definitely spared my life to fight against the British.

It's pathetic when people accuse me of being pro IRA and anti-British. I'm not. I have a right to be patriotic about my country. I have lived in Britain and have British friends. I acknowledge that there is a great similarity between the present culture of these two islands, but I refuse to be lumped under the term “British” due to their disgraceful actions against my own people.

I want other nations to recognise that Ireland was (culturally) the complete opposite of Britain. Different language, religion. Different attitude and character in the Irish people which stems from Irelands Gaelic/Celtic past. Ireland suffered the worst at the hands of the British than Wales, Scotland and Cornwall; they had it easy. For this reason, it bothers me when people from other countries assume that the Irish people are British. They don't know the history so I don't blame them, but they ought to know why Ireland is independent and the home nations of the UK are not.

Brittany, Basque Country and Catalonia, to name a few, are regions which suffered cultural wipe-out like Ireland did, only that we achieved independence, they unfortunately didn’t. Many Irish people take it for granted, I certainly do not.

Weather you like it or not, Ireland has a strapping Gaelic/Celtic heritage.
Irish language, music, sports - our culture has survived and it is available for every Irish person to take an interest in. It's a pity that some refuse to acknowledge this and instead look to Britain for their national identity.

Mr.Nice Guy

Why do I have an aversion to being considered British? Because I'm not. I was born in the island of Ireland thus I am Irish. If I was born in Britain then it could be argued I was British.

I'd have an aversion to being called French/Spanish/German etc. for the same reason.

I quite like the British. I enjoy the Premiership, I enjoy British sitcoms, several British bands and find them to be a pleasant sort for the most part.

But they're not my compatriots.

They don't understand the ways of Ireland as evidenced by the fact that we decided to break away from them and attain independence.

JaysusMacfeck

dSTAR wrote:

Why is it acceptable to be a part of a European Union but not part of a United Kingdom?

What a stupid question.

It was never acceptable for Ireland to be part of the UK. Ireland was part of the UK from 1801. Do you think it was acceptable that roughly four million Irish people vanished from Ireland during UK rule?

Modern Ireland had a choice to join the EU. Due to Ireland's fragile state during the late 20th century, joining the EU was the best option for us.

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

They don't understand the ways of Ireland as evidenced by the fact that we decided to break away from them and attain independence.

That's exactly it.

dSTAR

JaysusMacfeck wrote:

I'm annoyed at the fact that England forced their culture on all the Celtic cultures on these islands. The UK is a bombastic farce of Royal oppression...blah, blah, blah...

The term living in the past springs to mind...

Build a bridge and get over it!

JaysusMacfeck wrote:

Ireland has a strapping Gaelic/Celtic heritage...

It really annoys me that Irish people fantasise about some mythical Celtic era when Ireland was united. Ireland was colonized because the Celts were constantly fighting amongst themselves and opened the door to a much more dominant culture to come and rule them because they were incapabable of it.

The only thing that is different now is that the British don't have to use force anymore because Irish people have willingly allowed British (and American to a degree) culture to become the dominant culture. Colonization by a more dominant culture on a lesser one is just one of those facts of life and something that is very hard to resist.

So you say...

JaysusMacfeck wrote:

Ireland is independent and the home nations of the UK are not.

Fundamentally how are the majority of Irish people different from their British counterparts?

JaysusMacfeck

"Living in the past". I knew you'd come back with a comment like that.

This has nothing to do with me "living in the past". Just because I have an affinity with Ireland and everything Irish doesn't mean that I sob about Ireland's past misfortune. Such a typical comment, and if you’d read my post above properly you will have understood that this is not what I was on about.

the Celts were constantly fighting amongst themselves and opened the door to a much more dominant culture to come and rule them because they were incapabable of it.

This is a view that the minority of Irish people hold.

You were brought up to believe that Ireland faired well under the pressure of 'pristine' English culture. You also condone the English administration that ethnically cleansed Gaelic Ireland. You believe that the people of Ireland were underperforming and backward. Might that have been because the English jurisdiction didn't allow such a culture to progress unless they transformed from Gaelic Catholicism to Protestant English, even if it meant that the people had to perish as a result? A very short-sighted view indeed. To me, this is a discusting notion.

Might I ask you again: Do you think it was acceptable that roughly four million Irish people vanished from Ireland during UK rule? This death and emmigration would not have happened if Ireland was ruled by its own people. Of course, you won't have a reply to this because it's true.

dSTAR

JaysusMacfeck wrote:

...Of course, you won't have a reply to this because it's true...

Truth is one of those words that is often abused. I don't deny certain historical facts. But this version of 'truth' doesn't seem to be setting you free but rather making you a prisoner to the past - as is evidenced by your use of emotive terms such as ethnical cleansing of Gaelic Ireland or the view that the UK is a bombastic farce of Royal oppression.

This seems to me to be the worst form of selective amnesia in my opinion and a classic symptom of a post colonial victim mentality. I don't deny anyones right to self determination and national pride BUT Irish people are just as guilty of discrimination and violence on their own backyard- not to mention the oppression and slaughter of indigenous peoples in the New World which would make their colonial masters look like amateurs. There is abundant historical evidence to back this assertion up but it is a reality is conveniently brushed under the carpet.

I am not trying to negate what you have to say. In fact I would say that our views are probably very similar in many ways. Much like yourself I too feel very passionate about Ireland. But at the same time I am UNWILLING to blindly accept the prepackaged version of Irish history. A history which may have served Ireland in the past but holds her back now. History is awash with man's inhumanity to man. It is not exclusive to the British. But before you accuse me of being a revisionist of some sort let me just finish by saying that if the English hadn't colonized Ireland would she not be a cultural backwater isolated from the rest of the world or worse; another colonial power inflicting on others what the English did to the Celtic peoples?

Froot

julep wrote:

do you see Ireland as part of the british isles, or are you as digusted as me by the term?
dicksuss.

Yes. God save the queen.

fly_agaric

dSTAR wrote:

This debate raises a few questions for me...

Why do so many Irish people have an aversion to being considered British?

...

...

As far as I can see it modern Irish culture/society is more similar to British culture than different and so far apart from say Lithuania, Slovenia or Slovakia yet share the same currency.

I am well aware of the historical significance between Britain and Ireland and don't really need another pro-Irish / anti-British history lesson.

You can't separate out the history and ask the question "why do the Irish have an aversion to seeing themselves as British" in a vacuum.

Why do the people in the baltic states not consider themselves Russians? And now they've also gone and joined the dreaded EU which seems to be seen as the root of all evil in the UK. They'd probably be much better off in the Russian Federation, wouldn't they?

If you want to ignore history and look just at the culture/society similarities - you could ask why don't the British (and ourselves too!) see themselves as American?

dSTAR wrote:

would she not be a cultural backwater isolated from the rest of the world

What aload of crap. Irish history minus the English conquest != no contact between Ireland and the rest of the world whatsoever.

dSTAR wrote:

or worse; another colonial power

I doubt it. You never know though.

Pretty depressing view you seem to have. Either a country holds the whip itself or it's beaten down by someone else.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Terry

dSTAR wrote:

This debate raises a few questions for me...

Why do so many Irish people have an aversion to being considered British?

because of the brutality of the british regime in Ireland and the fact that we are our own people.
there is alsot eh fact that we are not british. just as much as we are not french or dutch or german etc.

How much of a difference would it make if Ireland were a part of a United Kingdom?

for one, we would be involved in that farce of an invasion in the middle east right now. we would have had to fight for civil rights for much of the last century too. see N.I. for an example on that one.

Why is it acceptable to be a part of a European Union but not part of a United Kingdom?

already been answered. choice choice choice.
the british people are quite averse to being part of the EU. so much so, they don't want to join the euro because they want to keep the queen on their money. yes, that is one of the main reasons the british general public have given.

As far as I can see it modern Irish culture/society is more similar to British culture than different and so far apart from say Lithuania, Slovenia or Slovakia yet share the same currency.

we don't share the same currency. where have you been?
oh yeah. on the far side of the world.
yes, the culture is similar. much as the portugese and spanish cultures are similar. or the american and canadian. or the german and austrian. need i go on?

I am well aware of the historical significance between Britain and Ireland and don't really need another pro-Irish / anti-British history lesson.

then why do you bother asking?
our history is a huge part of who we are and it is also a quite recent history. it has been less than 100 years since we gained independence from the british and those in the north of the country are still fighting against prejudice. not as much as in the past, but there is still a lot of tension there.

dSTAR wrote:

JaysusMacFeck wrote:

I'm annoyed at the fact that England forced their culture on all the Celtic cultures on these islands. The UK is a bombastic farce of Royal oppression...blah, blah, blah..

The term living in the past springs to mind...

Build a bridge and get over it!

followed by:

dSTAR wrote:

This seems to me to be the worst form of selective amnesia in my opinion and a classic symptom of a post colonial victim mentality. I don't deny anyones right to self determination and national pride BUT Irish people are just as guilty of discrimination and violence on their own backyard- not to mention the oppression and slaughter of indigenous peoples in the New World which would make their colonial masters look like amateurs. There is abundant historical evidence to back this assertion up but it is a reality is conveniently brushed under the carpet.

what's that about living in the past?

lets ask the choktaw indians how pissed off they were at the Irish "colonists"

In 1847, midway through the Irish Potato Famine, a group of Choctaws collected $710 and sent it to help starving Irish men, women and children. "It had been just 16 years since the Choctaw people had experienced the Trail of Tears, and they had faced starvation… It was an amazing gesture. By today's standards, it might be a million dollars." according to Judy Allen, editor of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's newspaper, Bishinik, based at the Oklahoma Choctaw tribal headquarters in Durant, Okla. To mark the 150th anniversary, eight Irish people retraced the Trail of Tears. [2]

yep. they seemed really pissed off at those who stole their land.

dSTAR wrote:

Maybe I should have asked;

Why is it preferable to be a part of a European Union but not part of a United Kingdom?

Without the EU handouts that were dropped into Ireland's begging bowl a few years ago I cannot really see how Ireland has benefited all that greatly from EU membership.

i have to ask. have you ever actually been to Ireland?
did you grow up in Ireland in the 70's and 80'?
did you and yours experience the high unemploymen during that time?

Ireland is now more prosperous than it has ever been, even when we were part of the richest empire in the world.

in another thread you ask what have you done for your country lately?.
i'm really beginning to think you are a troll. you come across in your posts as very anti- Irish patriotism.

all this coming from someone who lives in "The new world". the one that Irish people colonised and decimated.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

katrien_ie wrote:

I lived in Belgium for 5 years and most people there thought Ireland was part of the UK. Better educated people mostly knew but the average punter - no idea.

Yeah well... that's the Dutch for you...

Ickle Magoo

julep wrote:

do you see Ireland as part of the british isles, or are you as digusted as me by the term?
dicksuss.

I wouldn't say I'm disgusted at the term but I always think of the Island of Ireland & the UK - with there being a bit of a grey area in N. Ireland that can be counted in either or both...

Why do so many Irish people have an aversion to being considered British?

Well, technically I'm British but I would much rather be referred to as Scottish than British so I can only imagine how annoying, insulting & wrong it is to refer to someone who is not even from the UK as British! :eek:

Fighting Irish

julep wrote:

do you see Ireland as part of the british isles, or are you as digusted as me by the term?
dicksuss.

don't care, my life is grand either way

dSTAR

julep wrote:

...i have to ask. have you ever actually been to Ireland?
did you grow up in Ireland in the 70's and 80'?...i'm really beginning to think you are a troll.

Honestly is that the best reply you can come up with??

Julep were YOU EVEN born in Ireland in the 70's?

To be honest I couldn't even be bothered giving you the privilege of banning me even though I know how bad you are itching for it.

I would prefer an open and honest debate without accusations or threats.

JaysusMacfeck

dSTAR wrote:

this version of 'truth' doesn't seem to be setting you free but rather making you a prisoner to the past.

LOL

dSTAR wrote:

let me just finish by saying that if the English hadn't colonized Ireland would she not be a cultural backwater isolated from the rest of the world

You have to be taking the piss.

dSTAR

JaysusMacfeck wrote:

You have to be taking the piss.

Pish posh...

Top o' the morning to ya Bejebus

darkman2

ffs look at the facts:


FACT: Ireland (Rep of) is a sovereign nation.

FACT: The UK is a different sovereign nation.

FACT: Ireland is a Republic (thats far more then can be said for Austrailia!) The UK is a Monarchy

FACT: If you are born in the Republic of Ireland you are NOT British. If you are born in NI you ARE British but you can opt for Irish nationality

FACT: Ireland (Rep of) is NOT part of the 'British Isles'. It was but not anymore. To even suggest it is sounds completely stupid and id question the literacy levels of those who do use it in this country. The term 'British' in the phrase is completely wrong when applied to the Republic and its Islands. For those who use it in the UK I suggest they take geography lessons IF they use it in reference to OUR country. This is NOT their Island (appart from the North)

FACT: This term is always used in an antagonistic fashion by Northern Unionists and those in the UK. That says more about them then it does about us.