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"Eire" is a weird exonym. The country this happened in is called Ireland (officially and colloquially). It's a republic and shares the island (also called Irela

by Y_Y 2y ago

"Eire" is a weird exonym. The country this happened in is called Ireland (officially and colloquially). It's a republic and shares the island (also called Ireland) with a non-sovereign country called Northern Ireland. It's often referred to as the Republic of Ireland, which is a fine description, but not the official name. In the Irish language, the name of the country is "Éire", but saying that in English is like saying Magyarország instead of Hungary. The accent on the first letter isn't optional, and the pronunciation is difficult, it's hardly worth it. Please just say "Ireland".

graemep 2y ago
Ireland can also refer to the whole island though, so it can be ambiguous. We have the same problem, even worse, with people calling the EU "Europe".
- hackernewslurke 2y ago
  [dead]
- Macha 2y ago
  Do you also avoid using the names of Korea, Georgia and China?
- dtf 2y ago
  The diplomatically neutral term is "the island of Ireland" for the whole thing. "These islands" refers to the British Isles, in the context of Anglo-Irish relations. It's some fascinating wordplay, born out of the Good Friday Agreement, trying not to step on various people's buttons.
- calmoo 2y ago
  It's not really ambiguous. When talking about Ireland in an economic sense, we generally refer to the Republic of Ireland. Geographically you would say the island of Ireland if you were to include Northern Ireland.
librasteve 2y ago
will do
- librasteve 2y ago
  btw I think I got the idea that its the official name from the word Éire being stamped on all the coins
  - Macha 2y ago
    There was also a long tradition of the British government (and by extension, the BBC) using Eire as they didn't want to acknowledge the name Ireland in case it was seen as a recognition of claims on Northern Ireland. Since the Good Friday Agreement in the 90s however, that was resolved, and now even the British government uses Ireland and most style guides in the UK media advise people away from "Eire" (It slips through occasionally though).

by Y_Y 2y ago

graemep 2y ago

Ireland can also refer to the whole island though, so it can be ambiguous. We have the same problem, even worse, with people calling the EU "Europe".

hackernewslurke 2y ago
[dead]
Macha 2y ago
Do you also avoid using the names of Korea, Georgia and China?
dtf 2y ago
The diplomatically neutral term is "the island of Ireland" for the whole thing. "These islands" refers to the British Isles, in the context of Anglo-Irish relations. It's some fascinating wordplay, born out of the Good Friday Agreement, trying not to step on various people's buttons.
calmoo 2y ago
It's not really ambiguous. When talking about Ireland in an economic sense, we generally refer to the Republic of Ireland. Geographically you would say the island of Ireland if you were to include Northern Ireland.

librasteve 2y ago

will do

librasteve 2y ago
btw I think I got the idea that its the official name from the word Éire being stamped on all the coins
- Macha 2y ago
  There was also a long tradition of the British government (and by extension, the BBC) using Eire as they didn't want to acknowledge the name Ireland in case it was seen as a recognition of claims on Northern Ireland. Since the Good Friday Agreement in the 90s however, that was resolved, and now even the British government uses Ireland and most style guides in the UK media advise people away from "Eire" (It slips through occasionally though).