There is no Southern Ireland

[Needeyebrows]

So sick of hearing people say say Southern Ireland when referring to anywhere outside of Northern Ireland. Any place outside of Northern is the Republic of Ireland. We do not have southern Ireland..

My dad from Donegal. They call it The Republic of Ireland .

Why is anyone using an Irish word speaking English?
Well exactly @Shopgirl1

What? Are you saying why is an english speaking person speaking Irish? Maybe they want to learn the language.

Also a lot of people who live in England have Irish parents, so maybe they want to learn the language for that reason

Why did you do french or German at school in Ireland . People learn other languages

Nice try @Mooshamoo

You are right, as ever @JaneJeffer. Beidh mé ciúin.

That makes no sense whatsoever.

People from one country learn and use other languages. And most people never get them perfectly right.

I recently went to France with my friend who goes to adult french classes once a week. We were walking round france and she was trying out the language. She definitely butchered a lot of words, but the local french people were happy she tried

Do not mention the word Try.

Nice try?

She said "why is anyone using an Irish word speaking English".

That makes no sense whatsoever.

What does she even mean by that.

That people in England shouldn't speak Irish at all? Why? We in Ireland learn and speak German and french

No, that’s not what I am saying. I think you need to read back over the thread. If people want to learn Irish they are welcome to. But if speaking English, then the country is called Ireland.

I was just talking about the rugby @Mooshamoo <innocent face> and oh yes the English have historically been very interested in learning Irish haven't they? How could that have slipped my mind.

How about now?

Only the poshos like rugby @JaneJeffer ! 😂 No one I know is watching it, except my one friend that went to a very posh private school. You must be posh!

I am exceedingly posh @Mooshamoo just ask my butler

Not sure why it’s so confusing for you. When I speak German, I refer to Deutschland, but when speaking English, it’s Germany. When speaking Spanish I refer to España, but when speaking English, it’s Spain. The same concept applies with Ireland.

But we can mix in and out of languages.

Again it's not something in any way to get offended about.

I work with a German man. He wouldnt give a shit if I said Germany or deutschland.

We need to not be perpetually offended at things in Ireland.

NOW YOURE TALKING !!!!!

Well Jane ! You are funny

@Doteycat ☘️

I don’t think “we” are perpetually offended at things in Ireland, we are actually pretty easy going.

There is no assumption people are deliberately getting things wrong. I haven't seen any extreme vitriol on this thread or in real life. When people have said Southern Ireland to me I understand why (as I said upthread). I don't challenge or embarrass them.
I suppose I do wonder why you are questioning what people are saying on here? Most people are making simple mistakes because they've never heard of any preferred usage. But it's a bit different in your case - the reasons behind the preferred use of Ireland as the country name have been explained on this thread a few times now but you still say you don't understand and I'm not sure why.
Half-time @JaneJeffer 😉

All I was trying to say was that there is normally nothing inherently bad, offensive or even that odd about using a country's own name for itself even if you do not speak that language. And nothing offensive about making genuine errors with accents. So anyone who is not aware of the politically-loaded nature of the name Éire might be pretty confused at the strong insistence on the English name being used. Maybe you find that lack of knowledge as unacceptable as deliberate offence though.

A lot of people in Ireland definitely don't speak Irish fluently or perfectly.

So if we don't, why do we expect others to.

No one I know in ireland ,bothers to learn Irish , or use it.

We all know that's true.

YANBU, I always politely correct people when they say 'Southern'. It's rarely intentional in their part but I'm happy to clarify it for them!

Ah leave her alone. She made a perfectly well made point.

People make mistakes in languages. We all do! Do you even speak Irish perfectly yourself?
Then why hold others to such high standards

Whether we want to or not, we all learn Irish in school so not sure why you say we don’t bother to learn it.
Thats not really the point being discussed here though.