4 ms·
> The only part of the British Isles with legitimate grievance against England is Ireland. Ireland is not in the British Isles. The term "British Isles" is co
by rmc 11y ago
> The only part of the British Isles with legitimate grievance against England is Ireland.
Ireland is not in the British Isles.
The term "British Isles" is controversial, and many people and places in Ireland and the UK do not use it, and do not use it to include Ireland. Even the Queen doesn't include Ireland in "British Isles"[1].
It's quite common for UK organisations to use "British" to mean English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish. Most recent example was a UK award for "Best British Actor", with 2 of the 3 nominees being Irish.
[1] Read Q9 of her FAQ http://www.royal.gov.uk/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/20%20most%20asked%20questions.aspx http://www.royal.gov.uk/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/20%20most%2...
- peteretep 11y agoYou could probably do Wikipedia a massive favour by updating their article, or at least adding a controversy section? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles
- rmc 11y agoIt's already there. In the last paragraph of the introduction. There's a whole article on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute
- lmm 11y agoThe first line of that article: "In standard English usage, the toponym "the British Isles" refers to a European archipelago consisting of Great Britain, Ireland and adjacent islands." Rather contradicts your original claim that "Ireland is not in the British Isles."
- DanBC 11y agoNote also that naming of bits of Britain regularly appears on ANI and has had Arbcom measures applied. relying on wikipedia for information about contentious stuff is sub-optimal.
- corin_ 11y agoThat FAQ answer doesn't mean Ireland is not in the British Isles. And you're wrong that Ireland is not in the British Isles.
- rmc 11y agoThe FAQ entry show how there is disagreement over what "British Isles" means. It shows that high up in the British Government (potentially the highest), that "British Isles" does not include Ireland.
- corin_ 11y agoNo... the FAQ wording would still be accurate even if the Queen does include "Ireland" in "British Isles". It therefore offers no reason to think she doesn't.
- rmc 11y agoThe Queen is not the head of state of Ireland. In no way does the Queen, nor the British Government, claim that the Queen is the head of state of Ireland. Official websites from governments, like this, will be examined carefully by diplomatic corps, to ensure there is nothing that can cause upset or diplomatic incidents. The queen claiming to be head of state of Ireland would be a diplomatic incident. Ergo, the queen (or at least the official office of the queen) does not include Ireland in the term "British Isles".
- corin_ 11y ago"Including the British Isles" doesn't have to mean "all of the British Isles", it can be parsed equally as "Including the ones in the British Isles. For example, "Including the European countries, I have been to 20 countries" does not mean I have been to every European country.