[WikiEN-l] [Foundation-l] Trouble in Ireland

[Angus McLellan]

> On 26 Nov 2008, at 19:29, phoebe ayers wrote:
>
>>> Most probably, most users who type in "Ireland" are looking for the
>>> article
>>> about the Republic of Ireland. However, we can't escape the fact
>>> that the
>>> term Ireland is ambiguous. Some users would be unaware that six of
>>> the 32
>>> Irish counties are not currently part of the Republic.
>>
>> I would actually argue that a reader who doesn't know anything about
>> Ireland (picture a schoolchild in the US doing a project for St.
>> Patrick's day)
>
> I don't think Ireland is all that obscure.

Well, no, you wouldn't, nor would I. But is it possible that not every
English-speaker in the world is quite so well informed on the subject?
Anybody who can name all 32 counties, or even all four provinces, is
probably a poor judge of the matter.

Disambiguation pages are to make the ambiguous unambiguous. So is
Ireland ambiguous? I reckon the answer, as so often, would be that it
depends. If you're looking for stuff on natural sciences, chances are
you want the island. The current situation suits just fine. Same for
history. Current events? The current situation is icky. Culture? High
culture, ok. Pop culture, probably not. Biographies? Dead people
handily outnumber the living, so the present setup should be good,
although in practice it may not be until other groups are as well
represented as TDs, hurlers and gaelic footballers.

In my humble opinion, this is just more old bollocks of the kind we
have more than enough of on topics like Macedonia. If it's not what to
call the political entity formerly known as the Free State, it's
British Isles versus Britain and Ireland, or some nonsense with the
Troubles or the Famine. Ireland an honorary Eastern European subject?
It makes sense.

Angus McLellan