to wish people would use the correct name for my country?

[Buttercup2926]

I love living in the UK but I do wish people were better educated about the country right next door. Particularly its name.

The Constitution of Ireland sets out that there are two official names for the country, Ireland and Éire. Éire should only be used when speaking in the Irish language. Therefore it is correct for people in the UK to say Ireland when talking about that fab country next door!

Northern Ireland is a seperate place and is part of the UK.

Republic of Ireland is a description as opposed to a name. For political reasons FIFA forces the football team to use this name.

The term 'Southern Ireland' is very offensive and should not be used ever. It has strong historical connotations and was used by the English government as a way to avoid recognising the independence of Ireland. I understand that people genuinely do not know this and don't always mean to be offensive as so many people in England use it so casually.

I often see on here people referring to Irish accents and sayings as 'regional'. This is incorrect, Ireland is not a region of the UK no more than France or Spain are.

What do you call an Englishman in the knockout stages of the World Cup? A Referee.

I am now leaving this thread to go and feed my DC. I don't like them going hungry unlike some people I know.

I think the only thing you can do is gently correct people.

I can't say I have ever heard anyone use the term 'Southern Ireland'. I don't think my husband who is Irish though would be offended if someone asked if he was from there. He does technically come from Southern Ireland though (cork).

Btw my Mum is Dutch and is not offended by people calling her country Holland instead of The Netherlands. I frequently hear people say "England" when they mean "Britain" or the "UK". It is just misinformation, not some great conspiracy as far as I am aware.

Just stirring testing.....

I did make me laugh nervously when some BBC moron called them the British Lions. To Keith bloody Wood!

Hope they love spuds.

Is she from actual Holland though, Reincarnated? Or from one of the other Provinces?

I refer to it as Ireland Ireland or proper Ireland? Genuine question-Is this offensive?

Hilarious Grovel, laugh out loud funny. I have just come up with a solution to the Irish issue - The British government should just LTB. On that note ... din dins

Ireland Ireland or Proper Ireland?

Which is which??

Oh I see, you mean you use both terms to refer to Ireland.

I've always said southern Ireland. Had no idea that that was offensive. Sorry, my history is quite rusty.

I think I have the solution to the argument. A Greek friend once said to me 'But you are not from Northern Ireland, right? You're from... I don't know...' and paused while our mixed group of British and Irish friends worried she was going to say something inappropriate and she said '...proper Ireland?'.

So there you have it: Proper Ireland. It's the official new name and that solves all the arguments once and for all... I think Ireland should adopt this as the new official name in our Constitution

To be honest, the Irish are the worst offenders themselves when it comes to misnaming the UK. My mother once sent a letter to me in Scotland with 'Whatever Street, Edinburgh, Postcode, Scotland, England' on it!! That had my Scottish husband foaming at the mouth.

Irish people are terrible for referring to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as 'England' e.g. the English Government (OP, I'm looking at you), the English army, " 'he's working in England' 'Where?' 'Cardiff' " and so on. Before we start throwing stones we should make sure we're not living in a glass house!

I am technically Irish. But was mostly brought up in England. I know a lot of Irish history, politics, culture etc. having had it drummed into me since birth.

It always irritated me when I was living in Ireland that most of the people there knew a lot less than me about their own history. They were not taught parts of it in school or were taught different versions of it from very different perspectives.

But while I was there what I found most irritating was that every single day people would say things like "the English government", "the English prime minister", "the English olympic team". And many more. Used to drive me mad.

Also I have some relatives born in Belfast who on principl will insist on saying they were born in Ireland, and will correct you if you said they were born in Northern Ireland. So it can be difficult not to offend even when you know the official terms.

The majority of my large Number of Irish family and friends would find the term 'Southern Ireland', stupid, wrong and irritating but definitely not offensive.

I just like to say Southern Ireland to some Irish people just for the wind up value.

When I am in Ireland I can find being called a "Brit" very offensive sometimes but I wouldn't if I was called in another part of the world.

It's all relative. However I do find some Irish people get very offended by things like this which is understandable. But very annoying when the same people go on to make similar comments to me and their cannot see how offensive theyare being.

But I am used to it now.

I am used to to being told I invaded another country. Used to being blamed for the famines. Used to being called a dirty Brit cunt because I killed Bobby Sands. Used to being blamed for Thatcher even though I was too young to vote for her and when older campaigned against her and like the majority of the British electorate never voted for her. Used to my head of state being called a bitch. Used to being kicked and spat on when in primary school in Ireland because of my London accent.

I

Are you my Greek friend, vichill?

Exactly, redshifter. I never noticed this growing up in Ireland but I do remember kids from families who came back from England being bullied for their accents. And as I said, so many Irish people I know refer to the UK & NI as 'England'. It's terrible. I always pull Irish people up on it, including my own parents, if I hear it.

And yes. Irish people consistently call the Netherands "Holland". They really should know better. They should know that a lot of people from the Netherlands would find that offensive.

whitesugar points for the 'going hungry ' bit

If you're going back to the 1850s I want to discuss how you got the Island of Ireland in the first place. Are you not all illegal immigrants circa 8000 BC?. Coming over here taking all our peat!

So you can use a term for the wind-up value, but get offended at being called a Brit for the windup value?

I think you've all missed the major point here, and that is Northern Ireland is not pronounced 'Northern Ireland', it's 'Norn Irn'.

It's (I believe) the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Holland being only one of them I can't name any others. Friesland? Is that a thing? Netherlands simply means Low Lands, I think. As in your nether regions being your undercarriage.

Dutch I think comes from the same word root as Deutsch. I was told on my German Linguistics course that the only reason that Dutch was/is regarded as a separate language to German, rather than simply a Low German dialect, is a political one. I don't know how true that actually is.

I love talking about Stuff.

Netherlands means Low Countries. We use that term to cover Belgium and Holland. Confusing, innit?

My parents were born in Wexford. I describe them as being from Southern Ireland just as I , living in Devon, now live in Southern England.

If you find that offensive then I suggest you have too much time on your hands..