Sinn Fein in a huff over new signs

Ghandee

alastair wrote: »

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1948/en/act/pub/0022/print.html#sec2

You were pro fiscal treaty Al, and your all for quoting EU laws and tax issues on other threads.

Here, read this.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_state_of_the_European_Union

Seanchai

alastair wrote: »

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1948/en/act/pub/0022/print.html#sec2

Here we go again. "Description" is not synonymous with "name".

Bunreacht na hÉireann (Article 4).

MagicSean

Seanchai wrote: »

More ignorance. There is no country named the 'Republic of Ireland'. There never was such a country. For that matter, there was and is no state with that name. Anybody with a basic understanding of the English language and Irish law would know this remedial fact.

The name of the state is Ireland. The name of the island is Ireland. The name of the country is Ireland. If the Orange Order and all the Protestant churches can be named after the country of Ireland, what is your problem?



If you're going to engage in this debate at least have the decency to stop accusing people of personal insults when they point out your (repeated) inability to understand the very words and claims you are making. Your (repeated) inability to appreciate nuance is central to the flaws of your argument.

The island is Ireland and the Nation is Ireland but politically Ireland is divided into the countries of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Exactly what part of it do you not understand or accept? Is it that you have a crisis of identity when you think of political boundaries?

alastair

Ghandee wrote: »

You were pro fiscal treaty Al, and your all for quoting EU laws and tax issues on other threads.

Here, read this.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_state_of_the_European_Union

I didn't realise wikipedia warranted more credibility than our statute books. But if that's your bag: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland

Chuck Stone

haulagebasher wrote: »

^^^ I disagree with that. Nationalists were represented in the parliament and, again, Nationalists and their parties can hardly complain when THEY CHOSE to abstain from sending MPs to westminster.

Ideology is a funny thing.

Also, they'd probably figured out that blowing up Canary Wharf and the Manchester CBD would make things... happen quicker.

Remember the RUC were still forcing parades through places like the Garvaghy road and the 'never a Taig about the place' mentality was still alive and well in the minds of many Unionists.

Fenian Army

Magicsean you are obsessed with Sinn Féin arent you?

Anyone with nationalist leanings is automatically a "shinner"?

You must be looking forward to the not far off day when there will be a "shinner" minister for justice

alastair

Seanchai wrote: »

Here we go again. "Description" is not synonymous with "name".

It's not? What would you imagine they mean by description here then?

THE DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE SHALL BE THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Seanchai wrote: »

Bunreacht na hÉireann (Article 4).

Which comes first? 1937 or 1948?

Seanchai

MagicSean wrote: »

The island is Ireland and the Nation is Ireland but politically Ireland is divided into the jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

fyp.

Fenian Army

haulagebasher wrote: »

^^^ I disagree with that. Nationalists were represented in the parliament and, again, Nationalists and their parties can hardly complain when THEY CHOSE to abstain from sending MPs to westminster. Whats the bloody point of standing for election if you don't take the seat? ???:-(As such they had no say in central government. They can hardly give out about it if they freely chose to throw away their right to vote in government.Such policies are hardly going to get you more votes next time around are they?As regards Nationalists/Catholics vadalising and destroying the signs or other symbols, that behaviour just plays right into the hands of the hardline Loyalists who will use it to further their opinion of Nationalist Catholics as mindless uncivilised savages. Similar to the way the dirty protests were used by Loyalists to portray the protesters as filthy savages becasue it suited them to put it that way.Sometimes, Nationalists are their own worst enemy.

Oh yeah sure the stoops really represented peoples interests and had a major say in policy when they were in westminster, they stopped all the nonsense. Ditto with Bernadette Devlin McAliskey who wasnt even allowed talk about Bloody Sunday

Fenian Army

alastair wrote: »

It's not? What would you imagine they mean by description here then?





Which comes first? 1937 or 1948?

for fcuk sake, this is fairly simple stuff, the 26 counties is officially called "Ireland" not the republic of Ireland. There is no such country as "The republic of Ireland".

Cienciano

Seanchai wrote: »

What was your claim? Go back, read it. Now, support it. Your claim: "no one knew the irish name!"

"Someone", by the way, is not the same as "no one".

Ah, and because the locals that live in the actual town knew their towns name means you're right. Brilliant argument there :rolleyes:.
You actually thought I meant "not one person in the world, including the people who erected the signs"? Pedant much?

Anyway, go into a few gaeltacht towns and you'll see black paint underneath the irish only placename/signpost because almost everyone in the world from outside the general area doesn't have a clue what the irish translation is.

Seanchai

alastair wrote: »

It's not? What would you imagine they mean by description here then?





Which comes first? 1937 or 1948?

Clearly, the Constitution is superior as legislation has to be constitutional (which explains why we have to have referenda to amend the constitution). The Republic of Ireland Act did not rename the state (declaring the state a republic was a requirement of Seán MacBride's Clann na Poblachta in return for their support for the Fine Gael-led coalition government, 1948-1951).

The 1948 Republic of Ireland Act merely set an official description for the state. The name of the state was unaffected and remains, in English, Ireland.

haulagebasher

Cienciano wrote: »

Ah, and because the locals that live in the actual town knew their towns name means you're right. Brilliant argument there :rolleyes:.
You actually thought I meant "not one person in the world, including the people who erected the signs"? Pedant much?

Anyway, go into a few gaeltacht towns and you'll see black paint underneath the irish only placename/signpost because almost everyone in the world from outside the general area doesn't have a clue what the irish translation is.

Same thing in cork city where i live. 75% of the tourist site signs (the brown ones) are in Irish. I mean WTF, a tiny portion of Irsih people speak the language on a daily basis and (for all practical purposes) NO foreign tourist would speak it. Even if there were was a non trivial amount of irish speakers, there would be very very few if any of those who did not speak English also. Conclusion: English signage will reach virtually all the population whether domestic or tourists. Irish signage creates only confusion and hassle. Is it not high time that we finally get over this DeValeraite delusion that Irish is a commonly spoken language necessitating such measures. I often compare Irish language to a brain dead patient - without intensive support it would quickly die but is being artificially kept alive (or just not dead) by artificial means. In this case the life support machine being mandatory education et al. I speak in the context of the larger general poulation - i recognise that there will always be a small core of harliners that will continue to maintain its use, however even such projects are not natural - they are concious efforts.

Seanchai

Cienciano wrote: »

You actually thought I meant "not one person in the world, including the people who erected the signs"?

As mad as it sounds, I thought when you said "no one" that you meant, er, "no one". Crazy, eh.

Seanchai

haulagebasher wrote: »

75% of the tourist site signs (the brown ones) are in Irish.

Whatever about the "Irsih" people, the fact that you have a chip on your shoulder about bilingual signs in Ireland is cultural fascism at its finest.

Cienciano

haulagebasher wrote: »

Same thing in cork city where i live. 75% of the tourist site signs (the brown ones) are in Irish. I mean WTF, a tiny portion of Irsih people speak the language on a daily basis and (for all practical purposes) NO foreign tourist would speak it. Even if there were was a non trivial amount of irish speakers, there would be very very few if any of those who did not speak English also. Conclusion: English signage will reach virtually all the population whether domestic or tourists. Irish signage creates only confusion and hassle.

And the thing is, on maps everything is in english. One town I know, the signposts are all in english, but as you get closer the directional signs change to the irish translation which no one knows.

Seanchai wrote: »

As mad as it sounds, I thought when you said "no one" that you meant, er, "no one". Crazy, eh.

No you didn't, stop trolling.

lugha

Fenian Army wrote: »

for fcuk sake, this is fairly simple stuff, the 26 counties is officially called "Ireland" not the republic of Ireland. There is no such country as "The republic of Ireland".

Neither are there such countries (or jurisdiction!) as the “26 counties” or “six counties” but I suspect the usage of those terms don't bother you too much?

And it is rather curious that some are so proper about names and descriptions but favour a more casual approach to adapting the pretty much universal practice of clearly marking the boundaries of distinct jurisdictions?

Of course, the motivation for erecting these signs is probably the same as that which prompts nationalists to demand Irish signage. In both cases, it is hardly practically necessary, but has to with asserting one’s cultural identify / tribal pissing contest (delete according to your sensitivities to matters on going in the North-East of this island)

alastair

Seanchai wrote: »

The 1948 Republic of Ireland Act merely set an official description for the state. The name of the state was unaffected and remains, in English, Ireland.

Someone would need to tell the Dept of Foreign Affairs then: http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=80823

haulagebasher

Seanchai wrote: »

Whatever about the "Irsih" people, the fact that you have a chip on your shoulder about bilingual signs in Ireland is cultural fascism at its finest.

I have no grudges and as I said before, I am not anti-Irish or anything. I am as Irish as the next fella. I am speaking froma purely practical POV. Also I am not that against bilingual signage - what I am dead against is signs that are only in Irish. So rather than making accusations, perhaps would you comment on my above post and answer this Q - would it or would it not be more practical and less confusing if all signage were in English only or at least bilingual???Now if I was to get all nit-picky, I might even say that Irish only signs were discriminatory against English speakers. I won't go that far though but like so many other things these days I must ask: If the shoe was on the other food, and it were some other language that were omitted in favour of another, there would be uproar from certain quarters. Like so many things, theres one rule for one group and totally different rule for another. A lot of it is only pandering to minorities which these days seems to be somthing of a national tradition.

Seanchai

Cienciano wrote: »

No you didn't

Interesting. You can now not only apply your own idiosyncratic meaning to words in the English language but you can tell a poster what they were actually thinking when they followed the general understanding of the same words, i.e. "no one" means nobody.

This just gets more bizarre. Perhaps you should write your own dictionary and give us all a heads up on it beforehand?

Seanchai

alastair wrote: »

Someone would need to tell the Dept of Foreign Affairs then: http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=80823

No, they obviously wouldn't. But troll away.

Chuck Stone

lugha wrote: »

And it is rather curious that some are so proper about names and descriptions but favour a more casual approach to adapting the pretty much universal practice of clearly marking the boundaries of distinct jurisdictions?

There are few places in the world where boundaries are clearly demarcated in times of peace.

Borders are fleeting fabrications of the minds of men unless they are purposefully constructed with brick or barbed wire.

alastair

Seanchai wrote: »

No, they obviously wouldn't. But troll away.

What's that Lassie? The State 'describes' itself as what, the what of what? What's that name again? And what's the other place called - the place up North?

If you are resident in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, please apply to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin. For information about Irish citizenship in general, please click here.

http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=80823

Cienciano

Seanchai wrote: »

Interesting. You can now not only apply your own idiosyncratic meaning to words in the English language but you can tell a poster what they were actually thinking when they followed the general understanding of the same words, i.e. "no one" means nobody.

This just gets more bizarre. Perhaps you should write your own dictionary and give us all a heads up on it beforehand?

This coming from the man who draws his own countries borders to suit himself? :eek:

alastair

Seanchai wrote: »

Interesting. You can now not only apply your own idiosyncratic meaning to words in the English language but you can tell a poster what they were actually thinking when they followed the general understanding of the same words, i.e. "no one" means nobody.

This just gets more bizarre. Perhaps you should write your own dictionary and give us all a heads up on it beforehand?

Meanwhile: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Dingle-An_Daingean_graffiti.jpg

Seanchai

haulagebasher wrote: »

I have no grudges and as I said before, I am not anti-Irish

Clearly, and obviously, you do. But I won't bite any further. I'm not sure if you remind me of gbee or gigino, both of whom had serious problems expressing themselves in English when it came to their hatred of the Irish language generally and bilingual signs in particular.

MagicSean

Fenian Army wrote: »

Magicsean you are obsessed with Sinn Féin arent you?

Anyone with nationalist leanings is automatically a "shinner"?

You must be looking forward to the not far off day when there will be a "shinner" minister for justice

Hopefully that day is a long way off. The day a party who agrees with the murder of Gardaí and police officers takes the position of justice minister will be a sad day.

Seanchai wrote: »

fyp.

My post was grand but I accept that you were out of arguments so had to resort to internet memes.

haulagebasher

Seanchai wrote: »

....... I'm not sure if you remind me of gbee or gigino, ..........

Should I be reading anything into that statement? Are there any insinuations there? If there is, I can assure you that they are baseless.To clarify, I am not anti-irish in any way. I am just making observations on how confusing and unncecesary it is to have irish only siagnage. Bilingual, I shall tolerate.Anyway, this thread has gone completely off topic. So here, I think the NI signs should stay. If necessary to ensure their acceptance, I would think a biligual sign would be an acceptable compromise. Such a monolingual/bilingual measure could be implemented based on the wishes of the local community whether they wanted it or not. But as for Irish only signs, that is right out as next to no-one speaks it. What do others think of this compromise arrangment? Bilingual if the locals want it, English only where the locals want it.In the end, I think only the opinions of normal right minded folks should be listened to - the ravings of extremeist hardliners on both sides should be disregarded as they have been responsible for decades of suffering on these islands.

LordSutch

Seanchai wrote: »

More ignorance. There is no country named the 'Republic of Ireland'. There never was such a country. For that matter, there was and is no state with that name. Anybody with a basic understanding of the English language and Irish law would know this remedial fact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/republic-of-ireland-abandoning-religion-faster-than-almost-every-other-country-16195112.html

http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=irl/index.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/republicofireland

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18421262

http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/region/republic-ireland

http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/teams/team=500064/index.html

The Republic of Ireland, also known as Ireland or Eire, a seperate country from Northern Ireland, which is a Region within the United Kingdom. As a school teacher you should know this, I should also say that you seem to be very angry and antagonistic in your arguments (for a school teacher)!

Cú Giobach

haulagebasher wrote: »

Should I be reading anything into that statement? Are there any insinuations there? If there is, I can assure you that they are baseless.To clarify, I am not anti-irish in any way. I am just making observations on how confusing and unncecesary it is to have irish only siagnage. Bilingual, I shall tolerate..

I'll bet you are a hell of a lot more annoyed to see these Irish only signs than you were to see no signs at all, think about it, you might realise something about yourself.

Nodin

MagicSean wrote: »

.........


Doesn't take the Sinners long to get insulting when people don't accept their viewpoint does it?

Given your posting history, it would seem you're a bit of a "sinner" in that regard yourself.

Sonics2k

Ghandee wrote: »

That's easy for you to say as your location is Dublin.

Some people in the border areas affected obviously are offended by it though.

As previously pointed out, I'd imagine their could be outrage by unionists if signs were erected at Belfast or Derry airports saying 'welcome to the island of Ireland'

Same argument.

And they should also get over it, because it's factually correct.

Bitch and moan about it all you want, Northern Ireland -is- a different country, and it's a bloody waste to get annoyed about a sign that simply states this fact.

It's like being Scottish and complaining about a sign that says 'Welcome to Scotland'. It's still a different bloody country.

Cienciano

LordSutch wrote: »

I should also say that you seem to be very angry and antagonistic in your arguments (for a school teacher)!

I noticed this too, I'm very surprised a little irelander would write in that fashon

Il Trap

I've only read the first six pages of this thread and the sheer f**king ignorance of an awful lot of posters regarding identity and and the history of the north - I mean the basic facts - is just incredible!

Ireland has just come out of a really dirty 30 year war and the lack of empathy and understanding of the situation demonstrated by some here is simply galling.

Seanchai

LordSutch wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/republic-of-ireland-abandoning-religion-faster-than-almost-every-other-country-16195112.html

http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=irl/index.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/republicofireland

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18421262

http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/region/republic-ireland

http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/teams/team=500064/index.html

None of these support your (rather silly) contention that Ireland is not the sole official and internationally accepted name of the state in the English language. It is, so get over it.

If, despite all evidence, you persist in claiming otherwise you can only be a) obtuse beyond reasoning, or b) trolling.

The Republic of Ireland, also known as Ireland or Eire, a seperate country from Northern Ireland, which is a Region within the United Kingdom. As a school teacher you should know this

Please stop talking unadulterated shíte. Thank you.

Seanchai

Cienciano wrote: »

I noticed this too, I'm very surprised a little irelander would write in that fashon

I can't honestly say I'm surprised at either the style or substance of the posts by you, Lord Sutch, Alastair or your fellow anti-Irish travellers in this thread.

The abysmal level of education on a topic you've chosen to contribute to combined with your sheer resistance to indisputable, easily verifiable facts is astounding.

Cienciano

Seanchai wrote: »

I can't honestly say I'm surprised at either the style or substance of the posts by you, Lord Sutch, Alastair or your fellow anti-Irish travellers in this thread.

The abysmal level of education on a topic you've chosen to contribute to combined with your sheer resistance to indisputable, easily verifiable facts is astounding.

Maybe you should release an atlas with your own countries marked out the way you think they should be? I reckon it would be a big seller.
Not agreeing with you does not equal anti irish, stop talking shíte. "Ohh, he said we're anti irish, we better agree with him" :rolleyes:

alastair

Seanchai wrote: »

I can't honestly say I'm surprised at either the style or substance of the posts by you, Lord Sutch, Alastair or your fellow anti-Irish travellers in this thread.

The abysmal level of education on a topic you've chosen to contribute to combined with your sheer resistance to indisputable, easily verifiable facts is astounding.

Meanwhile - a distance beyond Northern Ireland, in the Republic of Ireland: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Dingle-An_Daingean_graffiti.jpg

LordSutch

Cienciano wrote: »

Maybe you should release an atlas with your own countries marked out the way you think they should be? I reckon it would be a big seller.
Not agreeing with you does not equal anti irish, stop talking shíte. "Ohh, he said we're anti irish, we better agree with him" :rolleyes:

Why do you say anti irish? and why are your posts so angry? I am surprised at your tone considering your claims as a teacher in the Edu forum. You dont come across as a very tolerant teacher type of person, that's for sure . . .

Seanchai

Good question, Lord Sutch (glad to see you on top of things as always).

haulagebasher

This whole opposition to signage is fuctionally equivalent to Protestants living in the South whining about signs at Dublin airport saying welcome to Ireland or ROI or whatever. However I suspect that this is not coming from Catholic community but from Sinn Fein and their hangers on who think that they must be seen to be complaining about "d'Brits" to placate the hardliners. Why not throw in a reference to the infamous 800 years while they're at it.

TheChizler

Bear in mind I think most people in the thread would assume we're using the definition of country in the context of a state or nation, or territory of a nation. Not as a landmass or geographical definition. Purely political.

Would you accept that when people say the Republic of Ireland that they are referring to the south? It's purely to aid clarity.

Ghandee

LordSutch wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/republic-of-ireland-abandoning-religion-faster-than-almost-every-other-country-16195112.html

http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=irl/index.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/republicofireland

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18421262

http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/region/republic-ireland

http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/teams/team=500064/index.html

The Republic of Ireland, also known as Ireland or Eire, a seperate country from Northern Ireland, which is a Region within the United Kingdom. As a school teacher you should know this, I should also say that you seem to be very angry and antagonistic in your arguments (for a school teacher)!

Please refer to our Constitution Lord......

Characteristics of the nation and stateNational sovereignty: The constitution asserts the "inalienable, indefeasible, and sovereign right" of the Irish people to self-determination (Article 1). The state is declared to be "sovereign, independent, [and] democratic" (Article 5).
Popular sovereignty: It is stated that all powers of government "derive, under God, from the people" (Article 6.1). However, it is also stated that those powers "are exercisable only by or on the authority of the organs of State" established by the Constitution (Article 6.2).
Name of the state: The Constitution declares that "[the] name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland" (Article 4). Under the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 the term "Republic of Ireland" is the official "description" of the state; as ordinary legislation, however, this has left unaltered "Ireland" as the formal name of the state as defined by the Constitution.United Ireland: Article 2, as substituted after the Good Friday Agreement, asserts that "every person born in the island of Ireland" has the right "to be part of the Irish Nation"; however, Article 9.2 now limits this to persons having at least one parent as an Irish citizen. Article 3 declares that it is the "firm will of the Irish Nation" to bring about a united Ireland, provided that this occurs "only by peaceful means", and only with the express consent of the majority of the people in Northern Ireland.
National flag: The national flag is defined as "the tricolour of green, white and orange" (Article 7).
Capital city: The Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament) must usually meet in or near Dublin (Article 15.1.3°) ("or in such other place as they may from time to time determine"), and the President's official residence must be in or near the city (Article 12.11.1°).

Dont argue with me, its in the constitution.

Ireland is the official name.

Republic of Ireland a 'description'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Ireland#Preamble_.28full_text.29

Ghandee

TheChizler wrote: »

Bear in mind I think most people in the thread would assume we're using the definition of country in the context of a state or nation, or territory of a nation. Not as a landmass or geographical definition. Purely political.

Would you accept that when people say the Republic of Ireland that they are referring to the south? It's purely to aid clarity.

Please see above ^^^^

Sunnyisland

Nobody is looking good in this I fear, The signs do smack of the work of petty tokenism,a form of gloating and as I posted earlier and given the history of Ireland just put up to wind up and annoy other sections of the community,But the reactions and outrage by some people to them are a bit over the top imo and are giving certain Unionists and there supporters the satisfaction of getting such a response.

haulagebasher

That Republic! Seriously though, I think republic or perhaps the south or southern Ireland should be used for clarity when refering to the 26. When refereing to the island just to use Ireland is fine. Using just Ireland as a ploitical name of a state still smacks of the south still seeing itself as rightfull ruler or Northern Ireland - it has in fact retracted it's claim to rule NI in the GFA. Simply becasue the state in the 26 is not Ireland, it is only a part of it. personally if I had my way I would have had the GFA reflect this to tie in with the repeal of the claim to 6 counties by having the state in the 26 rename itself Southern Ireland. Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland would be far less ambiguous naming and historically, Southern Ireland was the name of this state long before any Republic came about. However, I can understand why a lot of people here would not agree to it but if it were to go along with all the benefits of the GFA it probably would have been passed anyway. TBH the Republic of Ireland is a name that is acceptable to use in public. I think most of us here are just greatful that the "Irish Republic" never came about or the name never came into colloquial use. I feel sick when I hear them on about the IR.

haulagebasher

realies wrote: »

Nobody is looking good in this I fear, The signs do smack of the work of petty tokenism,a form of gloating and as I posted earlier and given the history of Ireland just put up to wind up and annoy other sections of the community,But the reactions and outrage by some people to them are a bit over the top imo and are giving certain Unionists and there supporters the satisfaction of getting such a response.

Well if that was indeed the mostivation to erect the signs, well then the nationalists and SF are just as bad to be rising to it and taking the bait. Again, like I said earlier, that is just playing into Loyalist hands and giving them the reaction the set out to provoke. The reaction of SF just shows how petty, immature and insecure a grouping they are to be creating a hullabaloo over a peice of tin on a stick.

Ghandee

haulagebasher wrote: »

That Republic! Seriously though, I think republic or perhaps the south or southern Ireland should be used for clarity when refering to the 26. When refereing to the island just to use Ireland is fine. Using just Ireland as a ploitical name of a state still smacks of the south still seeing itself as rightfull ruler or Northern Ireland. Simply becasue the state in the 26 is not Ireland, it is only a part of it. personally if I had my way I would have had the GFA reflect this to tie in with the repeal of the claim to 6 counties by having the state in the 26 rename itself Southern Ireland. Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland would be far less ambiguous naming and historically, Southern Ireland was the name of this state long before any Republic came about. However, I can understand why a lot of people here would not agree to it but if it were to go along with all the benefits of the GFA it probably would have been passed anyway. TBH the Republic of Ireland is a name that is acceptable to use in public. I think most of us here are just greatful that the "Irish Republic" never came about or the name never came into colloquial use. I feel sick when I hear them on about the IR.

Sweet Jesus.....

no..................

Defiler Of The Coffin

haulagebasher wrote: »

That Republic! Seriously though, I think republic or perhaps the south or southern Ireland should be used for clarity when refering to the 26. When refereing to the island just to use Ireland is fine. Using just Ireland as a ploitical name of a state still smacks of the south still seeing itself as rightfull ruler or Northern Ireland. Simply becasue the state in the 26 is not Ireland, it is only a part of it. personally if I had my way I would have had the GFA reflect this to tie in with the repeal of the claim to 6 counties by having the state in the 26 rename itself Southern Ireland. Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland would be far less ambiguous naming and historically, Southern Ireland was the name of this state long before any Republic came about. However, I can understand why a lot of people here would not agree to it but if it were to go along with all the benefits of the GFA it probably would have been passed anyway. TBH the Republic of Ireland is a name that is acceptable to use in public. I think most of us here are just greatful that the "Irish Republic" never came about or the name never came into colloquial use. I feel sick when I hear them on about the IR.

Why on earth would Ireland name itself "Southern Ireland"? The most northerly point on the island is in the republic. What other countries call themselves is their business, 'Ireland' as a name for the State is perfectly fine.

Captain Commie

Can't say I am surprised by this at all, Sinn Fein will not be happy until it is a United Ireland, pure and simple.

This latest is purely so that they are not reminded every time they cross the border themselves.

Personally I think the signs are needed, as the speed limits are different, 120km/h is not 70mp/h and it is easy to get caught out.