Anonymous #1 21w

North of Ireland is the preferred term

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Anonymous OP 21w

It’s unnecessarily pedantic to police the terminology to that degree. It’s legally called Northern Ireland. I will call it that so long as that is the legal term. It exists as its own legal entity for now. I feel that North of Ireland as a term does not acknowledge that it is currently its own legally separate territory. Should an Irish union happen (which I hope for), then the terminology may change.

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Anonymous #1 21w

Plus I feel that “Northern Ireland” is specific enough to refer to the legal entity. Whereas north of Ireland would also include donegal.

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Anonymous #1 21w

Not really. “Northern Ireland” is pro colonial and validating occupation and “north of Ireland” is anti colonial. Pretty big difference Who cares about the law, no one I’m referring to was speaking in an official sense. Doesn’t take much to respect what the ppl call their home

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Anonymous OP 21w

Northern Ireland is the term used by both the British and Irish governments and, most crucially, by the majority of its inhabitants. I support Irish unionism but I do not support a denial of the autonomy and freedom of choice for the majority of the inhabitants of the British-controlled area. Everyone born there has an equal right to choose their destiny. I don’t care whether their ancestors arrived 200 years ago or 2,000.

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Anonymous #1 21w

Nah I’d say it’s about 50/50 since it’s about 50/50 in Irish vs descendants of settlers

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Anonymous OP 21w

Honestly I’d like to see some polling on what most people use terminology wise. A bit surprised no one has done that yet. Generally speaking though sources say most everyday people say Northern Ireland. I generally don’t care what term is used, though politically I favor unification. But I generally default to what the inhabitants call a place, with some exceptions for exceedingly recent colonial efforts (like Imbros and Tenedos)

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Anonymous #1 21w

Plus I think usually clarity is the best use of a name. And in America most people will recognize Northern Ireland as the name.

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Anonymous #1 21w

And I have to emphasize that any Irish unification must be at the democratic will of the majority of the north’s inhabitants, and must include respect for the culture, autonomy, and identity of the Protestants. It would be unacceptable to unify only to suppress them because of when their ancestors got there. Arguments from “you deserve to live here less because my ancestors got here first” sucks and we’ve seen how that’s been weaponized in Israel.

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Anonymous #1 21w

Anyways that’s enough emphasis on my commitment to democracy. Back to listening to Óró sé do bheatha abhaile because I am still a huge supporter of Irish republicanism, just not against the will of the people.

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