To want to shout at people who write Southern Ireland

[ParadiseCity]

THERE IS NO SUCH FUCKING COUNTRY! And if you really were as clever as you pretend to be, you might just fucking know that. Arrrgghhh.

I feel a bit better for that. Please feel free to add your own

Could history between GB and Ireland have been 'ignored' in schools because it's difficult to teach in a politcally neutral way?

Of course not. Irish children learn about the Civil War/Partition/The Troubles in exhaustive detail. Doesn't turn any of them radical!

abigcup, to be fair, the island was called Ireland a looooooooong time before the state was, so surely it is at least as valid to refer to Ireland which consists of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (where 'Republic of' is a description, much as 'island of' is in your version)?

TBH, I get really annoyed when people act like I am some sort of second-class Irish person because I am from NI. I am from Ireland every bit as much as someone from Cork.

A pp said her husband refers to the Republic as 'Proper Ireland', so it does happen.

'Team GB' also includes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man and they are neither GB nor UK.

Yes in the case that annoyed me today it is exactly that! If you want to differentiate between the island and the Republic how about just using 'the Republic of Ireland' which is after all it's name?!

See this just annoys me, you're giving out about
people saying Southern Ireland which I also find very annoying. However you then tell people that the country is called the Republic of Ireland when it's not. The name of the country is Ireland, no more and no less.

Could history between GB and Ireland have been 'ignored' in schools because it's difficult to teach in a politcally neutral way?

Well you can't teach anything in a politically neutral way, but Irish children learn it all well enough, so why can't British children?

Oh, and I didn't want to say that using North/South never offends anyone here, in case my ass was handed to me by offended person.

Northwest of Ireland for Donegal would hit the spot nicely. Makes more sense really from a geographical point of view.

Another way is is to describe Northern Ireland as the six counties.

Pretty confusing actually when you see it all written down. Anyway, no biggie in my neck of the woods, we take it any which way it comes. Most of us are able to see that offence is not meant. Unless offence is actually meant obviously. Then we're hard as fuck and you'd be advised to sleep with one eye open.

My husband is Irish. He is from just about as Republican family as you can get. He can point out his family on IRA war memorials, one of our children is named after one of said people. His family still argue about whether Dev or Collins was right. His family all have pics up of various Grannies meeting Adams and McGuiness coz of the family 'war effort'.

He quite often refers to it as Southern Ireland as do his family. Partly, I think, because they see it as the same country rather than split. So when he says where he's from he might say southern Ireland (Cork) rather than the republic as it is literally in the south.

He might use the ROI when referring to it's official name, but not to express geographical location between ROI and NI IYSWIM.

Can you imagine? Watching the TV through the 70s and 80s saying "Oh dear, another big parking dispute in Belfast, Bernard".

Batout, that is changing now with more advantages of having a UK and an EU passport.

Also, this was the funniest thing about Brexit.

Nationalists in the occupied 6 counties will often refer to north and south entirely in geographical terms, ignoring the political divide / border because in our eyes it shouldn't exist.
Pretty much the same way people in England refer to northern and southern England.

When I was growing up in Northern Irish border country in the early 1990s, it was frequently referred to as Mexico runs and hides

I live in Dublin now. I'm not particularly bothered by the terminology, but then I'm not what you'd call patriotic.

I'm in Dublin and we call NI the north.

I went to school in London and we actually touched on NI when doing GSCE History but to be honest you only get told it from that side which teaches you very little.

At that time my grandmother was still alive my dad told us stories of when she was a young woman and her and her mother once hid a British soldier who was injured.

If more British people tried to find out a bit more about that period they might well be a little ashamed at the carryings on.

Lol @laurieMarlow. Our area was described as Bandit Country. Same thing what with all Mexican's being Bandits. That's PC, right?

This is so embarrassing, I know absolutely nothing about Irish political history. It was never mentioned in school and I don't remember anything on tv about it. I'm 35 and quite well educated believe it or not! But even I know it is ROI and NI...

Ah, well do I remember the friend from Dublin who met two Australians who INSISTED that Thatcher had been prime minister of Ireland. Goodness me, she was cross about it.

My dad's from cork he always told me he was from southern Ireland I thought he said Sudden Ireland for years must be his accent.

I find it annoying when Sinn Fein politicians call Northern Ireland "The North of Ireland".

If I'm referring to southern Ireland I do actually mean the south coast, though, normally I call it Ireland.

choccy - quite possibly you will only have heard about the birmingham 6/guildford 4 as it was on the news but nothing taught in schools really.

If it makes anyone feel any better, check out Macedonia.

I find it annoying when Sinn Fein politicians say anything, ever.

My dad's from cork he always told me he was from southern Ireland

Cork is in southern Ireland. That, however, is not the point here.

Cork is literally as south as you can get in Ireland!

NI is part of the UK but not part of Great Britain afaik.

Both NI and the Republic are part of the British Isles though.