Well fuck me pink and call me Rosie. AIBU?

[TooBigForMyBoots]

Do you know that Belfast and NI are in the British Isles? Are you aware that some British people claim they do not know that NI is in the same timezone as the rest of the UK?

YABU = You can't expect British people to know the history and geography of their country.
YANBU = Of course British people know this stuff. Anyone who says otherwise is having you on.

In his defence, that taxi driver will have had quite a lot of people from GB thinking the whole island is one country.

So, it's easier to say exactly what you mean and mean what you say which aren't necessarily the same thing if you recall the quote from Alice In Wonderland.

Island of Ireland will save any bother, basically. "Ireland" will open up the political Pandora's Box.

Who are these British people who don't realise NI is in the same time zone!?

That's really stupid. You only have to look at a map, if Portugal is in the same time zone as the UK then obviously Ireland is.

I get so frustrated by people on threads about Ireland policing what it's called.

It's not really stupid, it's just not knowing something! And what does Portugal have to do with it?

Portugal is the comparison. Everybody with a bit of awareness of the world around them knows that Portugal is in the same time zone. Although I'm in Ireland, I'm defending the British here by asking who are these supposedly unaware that Ireland is the same time zone as the UK. I am sceptical.

Scotland has its own legal system and own laws too. There's not a "UK" law.

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Well, I didn't know that Ireland was in the same time zone as Britain, so here's one person.

Everybody with a bit of awareness of the world around them knows that Portugal is in the same time zone is such a superior statement. Quite honestly, why should "everybody" know?

The depth of many people's ignorance about their own country let alone others never ceases to amaze me.

Who are these British people who don't realise NI is in the same time zone!?

In possibly the most MN move ever, as far as I can figure out it was one poster in the so-called feminist section asking about the time of an event, whether Belfast has BST or not. Naturally that has descended into the usual Irish thread shit show.

I'm still amazed such a blatant TAAT and personal attack on one poster has been allowed to stand. So we can do this, now?

This is not a TAAT. The consensus on this thread is that the majority of UK people know that the UK has one timezone. I agree with them.

I also agree that anyone who doesn't know it is probably from abroad., like Jourdain.

It is literally a thread started because someone on another thread asked whether NI was in same timezone as the rest of the U.K.
How you can claim otherwise I do not know.

You wouldn't be insinuating that moderation can be inconsistent would you?

In 2012 - the year of the Olympics and Jubilee - I worked with a British woman in her early 20s who didn't know we had a Queen. Since then, nothing surprises me about what some people are oblivious to and ignorant about.

Personally, I think many non-British people shouldn't have a hard time understanding that Northern Ireland isn't a separate country from Great Britain.

Northern Ireland is a separate country from Great Britain. Hence "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"

The most northerly point on the island or Ireland is not in Northern Island.😁

I agree in general. Sneering at people who have had fewer educational opportunities is unpleasant.

But the OP and others are correct that general knowledge in the UK specifically about Ireland is woefully poor and that this is a problem.

My partner is from N Ireland and some of his close (English) friends seem not to be able to grasp that he is not from the Republic or to understand the nuance of having grown up In Belfast during the Troubles. They will say things like: “oh we should all go to Dublin one weekend and hang out with X’s family”. When my partner is of Protestant heritage, grew up in Belfast an and didn’t go south of the border until he was in his 20s.

It’s not that it’s offensive: like many N Irish people he is bored of talking about the Troubles and hates sectarianism and would be repulsed by the idea that he would not visit Dublin because of his religious background. But the lack of understanding of the context and historical burden sometimes brings me up short in shock.

Thats political. It’s partly a result of the fact that British people have been deliberately under educated about the way Britain treated Ireland for centuries and the role this has played in the creation of NI. It’s not necessarily these people’s faults but it is concerning that no one has thought to address this in their education.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is part if the United Kingdom.

Great post @Thepeopleversuswork

I've had my fun, and that's all that matters.

True, IIRC Henry VIII established the OS because he didn't know how many castles and armaments where in his kingdom.

I'd like think that they would but there are some incredibly ignorant people out there.

Great Britain is literally the name of the island. For the same reason, neither are the Isle of Man, the Shetlands and Orkneys or the Îles Normandes part of Great Britain.

Actually , no, you're focusing on the wrong word which you think is a key word.

The keyword is actually "United" and this tells us that Great Britain and Northern Ireland are united as one sovereign country. Hence, Northern Ireland isn't separate from Great Britain which the Belfast Agreement explicitly acknowledged. It's an INTEGRAL part of the United Kingdom until or unless we in Northern Ireland decide to leave the Union.

In the context of the full name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the term "and" does not itself imply separation:

"And" - "used to connect words of the same part of speech, clauses, or sentences, that are to be taken jointly."

This doesn't imply separation. It implies unity of the two into one.

You have to bear in mind that for most of human history the sea was NOT a "natural barrier" and didn't itself suggest a separation of places. This concept still survives in the 21st Century in places such as the USA, Portugal, Spain, Indonesia, etc as well as within the United Kingdom.

In contrast, the word "and" in this sentence "Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland" implies there is NOT one Ireland....but two. In that context, it spells out separation which is also the corresponding reality.

In fairness, ignorance can occur in NI as well. I'm from Dublin but have lived in NI since I left university. In 2016 more than one person asked if I was going to apply for my British passport and seemed puzzled when I explained that I wasn't entitled to one. Even my Catholic FIL who very strongly identifies as solely Irish couldn't grasp that I'm wholly, unambiguously, boringly, just Irish.