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 _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
