Quote:
Originally Posted by tazzy
That's the Republic of Ireland.
Northern Ireland has just as much right to the Irish name as Eire.
And most southern Irish people don't havem uch animosity towards the UK these days at all.
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I think that's a whole other debate . . . but in my experience "Ireland" is almost exclusively used for the south, and "Northern Ireland" for the north. You may be right, both have a right to the name, and both are - in some respects - essentially 'Ireland', but in a discussion about the UK it is incorrect (and possibly confusing) to simply label the north as "Ireland". They are two seperate countries with highly similiar names and histories, to say "Ireland" when one means the north is asking for confusion. That's just one opinion though.
I know that the majority of the Irish are fine, upstanding people, however there are a large minority with animosity towards the UK, and these people are vocal and dangerous. I only need to point out the recent controversies, extreme security, and worry concerning the queen's visit to give evidence of that.