Do you get annoyed when people say 'Eire'?

Ruudi_Mentari

Èire was my name; Debbie was hers and let me tell you, she was quite the debonéire

Absoluvely

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

The British government didn't want to refer to the internationally recognised state as Ireland as that was also the name of the 32 county island and so might be seen as recognition of Article 2. Instead they used the Irish language version, Éire.

They actually officially used Eire. Not Éire.

In 1938 the British government provided in the Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 that British legislation could henceforth refer to the Irish Free State as "Eire".

syntax1

Once on ERASMUS, a Spanish student asked me: 'Do you come from E I R E?'. Never been asked by a person from Britain but I have seen it on plenty of .co.uk websites, on British TV etc: 'Mainland UK only. Excludes Northern Ireland and EIRE.' 'Offer not valid in Eire'.

syntax1

Arcsin wrote: »

It's one of the official names of the state. I don't see the problem.

It's more specific than Ireland, which can be either the island or the state. Éire is always the state.

You mean 'Eire' in English refers to the state south of the border, the Republic.

'Éire' in Irish can either refer to the state or to the island as a whole, just as the word Ireland does in English.

MadsL

Is dat Suvvern Eye-Ur-land?

Meangadh

Chucken wrote: »

John Lennon airport in Liverpool has an arrivals area for "Eire and Channel Islands"...which is hilarious really because without the fada, "eire" means - a burden, load or encumbrance....;)

At least that's only missing a fada, in Dublin Airport there's a sign for the stairs that says "stira". Not the proper spelling of Staighre, but the phonetic spelling that a well known folding attic stairs company use. I'm more offended by that than Eire to be honest. People are paid to do signage and there are spelling mistakes all over the place, grrr!

Ruudi_Mentari

I always, state èire because in english to suggest a land of ire is not good

Galwayguy35

No but it pissed me off when someone mentioned to me that we are part of the "British Isles".

And before someone comes on here saying that it's true maybe it is but it gets on my tits to hear it.

mathepac

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

... What do you think?

What we think doesn't matter. The official constitutional name of our country is Eire (or Ireland in English)

mathepac

syntax1 wrote: »

... 'Mainland UK only. Excludes Northern Ireland and EIRE.' 'Offer not valid in Eire'.

Their big mistake of course being that there is no such thing as "mainland" UK; the UK is a collection of islands and part of ours.

Cushie Butterfield

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lg0eSfOQdw

gurramok

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

No but it pissed me off when someone mentioned to me that we are part of the "British Isles".

And before someone comes on here saying that it's true maybe it is but it gets on my tits to hear it.

Foreigner: Where you from?
Irish person: Ireland
Foreigner: Ah, the UK!
Irish person: No, Ireland
Foreigner: But you're in the British Isles so British so UK!
Irish person: No, Ireland, i'm Irish
Foreigner: you're Irish in the UK then?
Irish person: No, Ireland!
Foreigner: But Ireland is in the British Isles so you're British then!

Some muppets here actually agree with Johnny foreigner's mistake :mad:

OCorcrainn

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

...when they're speaking English? I've never heard an Irish person do it, but it seems to be common in the UK. I'm always being asked if I'm 'heading back to Eire' for a weekend and things like that. It sounds weird to me and comes off as really pretentious. Nobody would say 'I had a great week in Deutschland', would they? I've even been corrected when I've said I'm going to Ireland - 'which bit of Ireland? Do you mean Eire?' No, I mean Ireland.

What do you think?

I think people should spell it properly, it is spelt and pronounced as Éire not 'Eire'.

gobnaitolunacy

OCorcrainn wrote: »

I think people should spell it properly, it is spelt and pronounced as Éire not 'Eire'.

Acute accent nazi.

Duggy747

I get more bothered when I'm referred to as British than I am about saying something like Eire.

syntax1

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Acute accent nazi.

i gues speling duznt matter den

OCorcrainn

OCorcrainn wrote: »

I think people should spell it properly, it is spelt and pronounced as Éire not 'Eire'.

British people spell it Eire. That's the point.

Anyway, I'm just surprised by how common it is in the UK to use 'Eire'. People seem surprised when I don't use it myself. I suppose it's better than 'Southern Ireland' and obviously much better than people thinking all of Ireland is in the UK (depressingly common) but it grates a bit when people actually correct me.

mathepac

mathepac wrote: »

Their big mistake of course being that there is no such thing as "mainland" UK; the UK is a collection of islands and part of ours.

What do you think 'mainland' means? You might want to look it up.

houseinthesun

Not an issue with me, but can someone explain where 'londonderry' is?
I know where Derry is!

FTA69

They're only trying to differentiate between the two states in Ireland. "Southern Ireland" is much more common and I don't see the sh*t fit about people using it to be honest, it's a natural extension from "Northern Ireland" and makes them sound less of a tit than use of the word "Éire".

What winds me up are the umpteen eejits over here that think the whole of Ireland is in the UK and we're all just wannabe Brits. To be fair, a lot of people in most countries refuse to differentiate between the two. I work with Latin Americans who seem to uniformly believe that we're British and will have the gall to argue the point when corrected. Of course say Colombians are the same as Venezuelans and the sh*t hits the fan.

FTA69

FTA69 wrote: »

They're only trying to differentiate between the two states in Ireland. "Southern Ireland" is much more common and I don't see the sh*t fit about people using it to be honest, it's a natural extension from "Northern Ireland" and makes them sound less of a tit than use of the word "Éire".

What winds me up are the umpteen eejits over here that think the whole of Ireland is in the UK and we're all just wannabe Brits. To be fair, a lot of people in most countries refuse to differentiate between the two. I work with Latin Americans who seem to uniformly believe that we're British and will have the gall to argue the point when corrected. Of course say Colombians are the same as Venezuelans and the sh*t hits the fan.

I think I've posted this here, but a couple of years ago, myself and my boyfriend were heading to Spain from London with good old Ryanair. We were standing in the queue and one of the Ryanair staff was working her way up the queue asking if everyone was British (don't know why). My boyfriend said, 'no I'm Irish' and she just rolled her eyes and huffed, as if he was being ridiculous or pedantic. I said, 'excuse me, what's the issue?' and she said, 'it's the same thing'. An airline worker who checks passports all day long and doesn't know that Ireland is a country.

My boyfriend says it happens all the time in the UK, people rolling their eyes at him as if he's trying to make some political point by saying he's not British.

gobnaitolunacy

Any reference to Britain as the 'mainland' bugs the tits off me.

Not for nationistic reasons, but gives the impression that Ireland is some sort of seagull sh*t splattered Craggy Island type of place.

FTA69

My boyfriend says it happens all the time in the UK, people rolling their eyes at him as if he's trying to make some political point by saying he's not British.

With the colonisation of Ireland came a narrative within England (and later the UK) to justify it. Namely that Ireland due to its proximity was by extension a rightful domain of Britain. Coupled with this was the spin that the Irish were incapable of governance (probably right there) and were less civilised etc. If you mix the above in with the common theme of larger countries thinking the world revolves around them then it's no surprise Brits and others lump us in as British.

To be fair many people lump Poles, Czechs, Kazakhs and Ukranians in as "Russians"precisely due to the fact they come under that sphere of influence.

Gobnait,

Any reference to Britain as the 'mainland' bugs the tits off me.

That and it implies ownership. Britain is no more the "mainland" for Ireland than Australia is for New Zealand or Japan is for China. (Bad examples but you get the gist.)

Galwayguy35

FTA69 wrote: »

With the colonisation of Ireland came a narrative within England (and later the UK) to justify it. Namely that Ireland due to its proximity was by extension a rightful domain of Britain. Coupled with this was the spin that the Irish were incapable of governance (probably right there) and were less civilised etc. If you mix the above in with the common theme of larger countries thinking the world revolves around them then it's no surprise Brits and others lump us in as British.

To be fair many people lump Poles, Czechs, Kazakhs and Ukranians in as "Russians"precisely due to the fact they come under that sphere of influence.

Gobnait,



That and it implies ownership. Britain is no more the "mainland" for Ireland than Australia is for New Zealand or Japan is for China. (Bad examples but you get the gist.)

He would be a brave man that would call a Polish guy a Russian and nearly as dumb as someone who can't tell the difference between Ireland and Britain.

ONeill2013

I've only heard English people call it that when referring to the republic. It irritates me more that the republic is called 'Ireland' it makes us in the north sound like such plastic paddies but ROI's officially called Ireland unfortunately.

An tAthair MacSuibhne

What annoys me more is getting a letter from the six counties that's addressed as Ireland (Republic of). This is so stupid, it's as if the postman is going to get confused and send a letter addressed to Dublin back to Belfast.
To counter this political incorrectness I normally address letters to the north as Ireland (northern) or Ireland (the six counties).

Iwasfrozen

An tAthair MacSuibhne wrote: »

What annoys me more is getting a letter from the six counties that's addressed as Ireland (Republic of). This is so stupid, it's as if the postman is going to get confused and send a letter addressed to Dublin back to Belfast.
To counter this political incorrectness I normally address letters to the north as Ireland (northern) or Ireland (the six counties).

Except what you do is more politically incorrect then what they do. It's a funny thing to get annoyed about though.

Cody Pomeray

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

...when they're speaking English? I've never heard an Irish person do it, but it seems to be common in the UK. I'm always being asked if I'm 'heading back to Eire' for a weekend and things like that. It sounds weird to me and comes off as really pretentious. Nobody would say 'I had a great week in Deutschland', would they? I've even been corrected when I've said I'm going to Ireland - 'which bit of Ireland? Do you mean Eire?' No, I mean Ireland.

What do you think?

Maybe they are trying to be politically sensitive by using the name of our country using our language in accordance with what our constitution says.

You have to admit there is a logical advantage of using "Eire" or "The Republic of Ireland", in that there is a geographical Ireland and a political Ireland, and it isn't always clear which one is intended.

FTA69

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

He would be a brave man that would call a Polish guy a Russian and nearly as dumb as someone who can't tell the difference between Ireland and Britain.

I've seen it happen in Ireland once. I've definitely seen the "what's the difference" attitude toward all Slavic countries displayed countless times. I imagine many Latin Americans in the USA are perpetually referred to as "Mexicans" despite being from El Salvador or somewhere.

Jimoslimos

Tis a strange one alright. Not sure what I should be offended by. The DM are fond of using the term which leads me to be automatically suspicious of anyone else (British) using it. Perhaps wrongly so.

Perhaps it's because of an inherent fear of the word 'republic', given their less than perfect past experiences with it (from Cromwell to Irish 'republican' terrorists)

As said earlier, 'Southern Ireland' is more grating. Then again I wonder do Koreans feel the same when referred to as North or South Korean (given that neither of these two countries exist) or did Germans object to East or West Germany references, Vietnamese, etc.

kowloon

Lived in the UK and can't remember anyone using the term. They do get confused when you say Ireland though. I often got asked if I came from 'Southern Ireland'. I enjoyed messing with their heads and saying I came from the free state, or the liberated counties or whatever. Nothing like creating a bit of tension before you tell them you're just playing with them.

The True Puka

I cannot stand when usually well meaning British people refer to the current 26 county state as Eire. It comes across as condescending and patronising.
In any case I would not recognise it. Not do I agree with it being referred to as the Republic of IReland. Personally, the only term I recognise for the 26 county state is "Southern Ireland". It's not reflected in reality but that is my opinion.

LordSutch

kowloon wrote: »

Lived in the UK . . .

That's^ another term that causes total confusion and irritance among many Irish people, and non Irish people!
So here is the lowdown on what the term "UK" actually means > > http://youtu.be/rNu8XDBSn10

Maybe somebody could knock-up a similar one with reference to EIRE, Ireland, Republic of, etc etc etc . . .

Lightbulb Sun

kowloon

LordSutch wrote: »

That's^ another term that causes total confusion and irritance among many Irish people, and non Irish people!
So here is the lowdown on what the term "UK" actually means > > http://youtu.be/rNu8XDBSn10

Maybe somebody could knock-up a similar one with reference to EIRE, Ireland, Republic of, etc etc etc . . .

I chose not to use England because someone would likely have a problem with that. In short: you can't ****ing win .

Son Of A Vidic

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

it seems to be common in the UK. I'm always being asked if I'm 'heading back to Eire' for a weekend and things like that.

Common in the U.K.? I suspect you are living in a time warp. I spent 10 years living in the U.K. and I never heard anyone ever mentioned the word 'Eire'.

Corvus Maximus

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Common in the U.K.? I suspect you are living in a time warp. I spent 10 years living in the U.K. and I never heard anyone ever mentioned the word 'Eire'.

Or perhaps we just met different people? Why would I lie? I hear it on a regular basis. There are a few different people at work who use it, a couple of lecturers used to use it and I hear it randomly quite a lot. Not as much as 'Southern Ireland', but still, quite a lot.

People of my generation generally don't, probably because they don't know it, but people of say, 40+? It's really quite common.

Jimoslimos

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Tis a strange one alright. Not sure what I should be offended by. The DM are fond of using the term which leads me to be automatically suspicious of anyone else (British) using it. Perhaps wrongly so.

Perhaps it's because of an inherent fear of the word 'republic', given their less than perfect past experiences with it (from Cromwell to Irish 'republican' terrorists)

I don't think it's offensive, or supposed to be offensive. The people who use 'Eire' are usually well-meaning and trying to show off how much they know, but actually doing the opposite. They don't realise that nobody in Ireland would refer to the country as 'Eire' while speaking English.

As said earlier, 'Southern Ireland' is more grating. Then again I wonder do Koreans feel the same when referred to as North or South Korean (given that neither of these two countries exist) or did Germans object to East or West Germany references, Vietnamese, etc.

But there is a country called South Korea. The whole problem with Southern Ireland is that Southern Ireland doesn't exist. It's natural to assume that when there's a 'Northern X', there must be a 'Southern X', but it's wrong. Not least because the northernmost part of the island is part of the Republic. It's just factually incorrect, that's what I think bugs people.

Jimoslimos

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

But there is a country called South Korea. The whole problem with Southern Ireland is that Southern Ireland doesn't exist. It's natural to assume that when there's a 'Northern X', there must be a 'Southern X', but it's wrong. Not least because the northernmost part of the island is part of the Republic. It's just factually incorrect, that's what I think bugs people.

There isn't. There's a country called Republic of Korea and another one to the North called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Which one do you mean?

Jimoslimos

Jimoslimos wrote: »

There isn't. There's a country called Republic of Korea and another one to the North called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Which one do you mean?

And because the two names are so similar, the citizens of South Korea (don't know about North Korea) are more than happy to tell you they're South Korean. South Korean is accepted as an official nationality.

How many Irish people say they're Southern Irish? And on what document is it printed that you're 'Southern Irish'?

Iwasfrozen

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

And because the two names are so similar, the citizens of South Korea (don't know about North Korea) are more than happy to tell you they're South Korean. South Korean is accepted as an official nationality.

How many Irish people say they're Southern Irish? And on what document is it printed that you're 'Southern Irish'?

Wrongly called South Korea, there is no country. It's just a term of convenience. Like Southern Irish. Really if this annoys you you have little to be worrying about.

Iwasfrozen

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Wrongly called South Korea, there is no country. It's just a term of convenience. Like Southern Irish. Really if this annoys you you have little to be worrying about.

Yeah, because the rest of the threads in AH are of crucial importance. :rolleyes:

The point is that South Koreans call themselves South Korean. Nobody says they're 'Southern Irish'.

kravmaga

I remember back in 2002 the following happened.

Was in a post office in city of London after work and was asking for stamps for Dublin, Ireland. The elderly English lady behind the counter looked up at me and asked is that Northern or Southern Ireland?, I answered , neither, Republic of Ireland with a smile.

She then blurted out quite loudly , no you mean EIRE, young man, a few people in the Q behind started laughing.

And in the 6 yrs I lived in London , heard EIRE mentioned a lot by older English and Southern Ireland used by the younger, which I tried in vain many times to explain, there is no country called Southern Ireland, its ROI.

A lot of English have no got a clue about the geography of their neighbour, even work colleagues over there said the school system never covered Irish history or geography.

Iwasfrozen

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

Yeah, because the rest of the threads in AH are of crucial importance. :rolleyes:

The point is that South Koreans call themselves South Korean. Nobody says they're 'Southern Irish'.

You're complaining about people wrongly using the term Southern Ireland because people in South Korea wrongly use the term South Korea? What?

DerekDGoldfish

The english language page of the United Nation list of member states lists it as "Ireland", just print that off take it with you when you are abroad shoving it into the face of anyone that comes within 20 feet of you.

mathepac

FTA69 wrote: »

They're only trying to differentiate between the two states in Ireland. "Southern Ireland" is much more common and I don't see the sh*t fit about people using it to be honest, it's a natural extension from "Northern Ireland" and makes them sound less of a tit than use of the word "Éire". ....

The could also use "Ireland" and "Northern Ireland", they sound differentiated enough for me.

mathepac

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

What do you think 'mainland' means? You might want to look it up.

Nah, I probably wrote the dictionary entry.

Gran Hermano

I received an email from an English colleague earlier today telling me he'd be visiting Eire next week.
As mentioned above and knowing the chap, I'd attribute his usage to some misguided belief it's a more politically correct term.

The only time I find the use of Eire non-grating is if it is used by a person speaking/writing in Irish.

Gran Hermano

Amari Flaky Rocker wrote: »

What do you think 'mainland' means? You might want to look it up.

If an English person tells me they're going to France, I will ask them in jest why they're visiting the mainland.

mathepac

The True Puka wrote: »

I cannot stand when usually well meaning British people refer to the current 26 county state as Eire. ...

You should thank them for their accuracy, insight and courtesy.

The True Puka wrote: »

... It comes across as condescending and patronising....

I think I can understand why you'd feel condescended to and patronised.

The True Puka wrote: »

... In any case I would not recognise it. ....

That's OK, the UN and other international organisations probably carry more sway than you do.

The True Puka wrote: »

... Not do I agree with it being referred to as the Republic of IReland. ...

Good, good.

The True Puka wrote: »

... It's not reflected in reality but that is my opinion.

You're right there, FWIW