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What's with GB at the Olympics though?

by markdown 4y ago

walthamstow 4y ago
~Each island competes as one.~ Edit - oops incorrect.
- Leherenn 4y ago
  They don't at the Olympics.
- another-dave 4y ago
  > Each island competes as one. I don't think that's technically correct. Anyone in NI has Irish citizenship (who wants it), so any NI athlete can represent Ireland. "Team GB" is the official team of the whole of the UK though, including Northern Ireland.
  - rocketbop 4y ago
    You are correct, the official name of the team is `Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team`
- argentier 4y ago
  For the Olympics you are incorrect but it varies. Rugby - one team for the island Soccer - one federation for each polity on the island, but Derry City plays in the League of Ireland (Republic of Ireland). Two international teams. Cricket - one team for the island Etc etc. There is some tiresome hand-wringing every time an athlete has decide on their allegiance. Basically, Ireland is a political Mandelbrot set.
benwad 4y ago
Weirdly, NI Olympic athletes can choose to compete for either Ireland or the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_GB#Calls_for_renaming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_GB#Calls_for_renaming
- another-dave 4y ago
  I think Northern Ireland is unique in that regard, where every person holds (or at least, is entitled to) dual citizenship from birth.
  - OJFord 4y ago
    I guess HKers are kind of simultaneously Chinese and not Chinese until they get old enough to form an opinion. And I'm not sure if they actually have 'dual citizenship from birth', but South Korea has an open door policy to North Korean.. immigrants/refugees.
  - justahuman74 4y ago
    I think one of the parents of the child has to be a UK or Ireland citizen. For example, German parents resident in and having a child in Northern Ireland, the child is only a UK citizen (and perhaps German? I don't know that part of it)
    - noodlesUK 4y ago
      UK nationality law is exceptionally complex (probably the most complex in the world). Irish nationality law is less complex but inherited a lot of warts from the UK In general if you’re born in NI and your parents are settled (that is they have permanent residency or are EU citizens with derived status) or are UK/IE citizens you are both British and Irish.
      - wiredfool 4y ago
        If one of your parents is NI born, it entitles you to have both UK (by descent) and Irish (by Good Friday) citizenship. Couple this with being born in the US, and my kids have 3 citizenships from birth.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- chrisseaton 4y ago
Leherenn 4y ago
The reasoning is that UK is still not actually correct (though more correct) because the Olympic committee also oversees places like the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and so on which are not technically part of the UK. Then it seems they keep it because of tradition and because the country code is GBR.
IanCal 4y ago
That's contentious. Technically the full name is the "Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team". Broadly the answer is "branding" and there isn't a strong enough push to change it.

What's with GB at the Olympics though?

walthamstow 4y ago

~Each island competes as one.~ Edit - oops incorrect.

Leherenn 4y ago
They don't at the Olympics.
another-dave 4y ago
> Each island competes as one. I don't think that's technically correct. Anyone in NI has Irish citizenship (who wants it), so any NI athlete can represent Ireland. "Team GB" is the official team of the whole of the UK though, including Northern Ireland.
- rocketbop 4y ago
  You are correct, the official name of the team is `Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team`
argentier 4y ago
For the Olympics you are incorrect but it varies. Rugby - one team for the island Soccer - one federation for each polity on the island, but Derry City plays in the League of Ireland (Republic of Ireland). Two international teams. Cricket - one team for the island Etc etc. There is some tiresome hand-wringing every time an athlete has decide on their allegiance. Basically, Ireland is a political Mandelbrot set.

benwad 4y ago

Weirdly, NI Olympic athletes can choose to compete for either Ireland or the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_GB#Calls_for_renaming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_GB#Calls_for_renaming

another-dave 4y ago
I think Northern Ireland is unique in that regard, where every person holds (or at least, is entitled to) dual citizenship from birth.
- OJFord 4y ago
  I guess HKers are kind of simultaneously Chinese and not Chinese until they get old enough to form an opinion. And I'm not sure if they actually have 'dual citizenship from birth', but South Korea has an open door policy to North Korean.. immigrants/refugees.
- justahuman74 4y ago
  I think one of the parents of the child has to be a UK or Ireland citizen. For example, German parents resident in and having a child in Northern Ireland, the child is only a UK citizen (and perhaps German? I don't know that part of it)
  - noodlesUK 4y ago
    UK nationality law is exceptionally complex (probably the most complex in the world). Irish nationality law is less complex but inherited a lot of warts from the UK In general if you’re born in NI and your parents are settled (that is they have permanent residency or are EU citizens with derived status) or are UK/IE citizens you are both British and Irish.
    - wiredfool 4y ago
      If one of your parents is NI born, it entitles you to have both UK (by descent) and Irish (by Good Friday) citizenship. Couple this with being born in the US, and my kids have 3 citizenships from birth.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
chrisseaton 4y ago

Leherenn 4y ago

The reasoning is that UK is still not actually correct (though more correct) because the Olympic committee also oversees places like the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and so on which are not technically part of the UK. Then it seems they keep it because of tradition and because the country code is GBR.

IanCal 4y ago

That's contentious. Technically the full name is the "Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team". Broadly the answer is "branding" and there isn't a strong enough push to change it.