On 26 Nov 2008, at 13:33, Andrew Gray wrote:
Having had a look at these debates once or twice before (and a similar set involving the term "British Isles"), yeah, they're big and messy and affect a lot of articles. A resolution would be good for everyone.
Ain't that the truth. It would be nicer to be able to improve the articles than to fight a battle that isn't even being fought any more.
A quick summary of the background, for those who (like me) have to keep reminding themselves of the nuances:
"Ireland" is a big lump of land northwest of France. It contains two political entities, "Ireland" (that's the formal name), an independent nation state sometimes known as "Eire" or (mostly in the UK) "the Republic of Ireland", and "Northern Ireland", which is a part of the UK. Prior to the 1920s, both were one and the same political entity, which occupied all of the geographical island; this historical period is described under [[Kingdom of Ireland]], etc.
To be specific, the Constitution of Ireland says that the name of the State is "Ireland" in English and "Éire" in Irish. A later Act defines "Republic of Ireland" to be the "description" of the State, but that is not its name. (Arcane? Yes, but nevertheless. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_Act)
Currently:
[[Ireland (disambiguation)]] - disambiguation page. [[Ireland]] - geographical entity, primary title [[Republic of Ireland]] - political entity
This one has two "political" disadvantages. Oversimplifying hugely, Northern Ireland editors seem to like calling Ireland "The Republic of Ireland" and this annoys Ireland editors.
Proposal #1 above:
[[Ireland]] - disambiguation page, primary title [[Ireland (island)]] - geographical entity [[Ireland (state)]] - political entity
This one seems to me to be the only true compromise.
Proposal #2 above:
[[Ireland (disambiguation)]] - disambiguation page. [[Ireland (island)]] - geographical entity [[Ireland]] - political entity, primary title
This one has two "political" disadvantages. Oversimplifying hugely, Ireland editors seem to like calling Ireland "Ireland" and this annoys Northern Ireland editors.
Michael Everson * http://www.evertype.com