BRITISH ISLES NAMING DISPUTE

There is 'dispute and disagreement over the term British Isles'. The term is defined in dictionaries as "Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands".^[1] However, the association of the term "British" with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,^[2] as well as its association with the island of Great Britain, cause the term to be regarded as objectionable or inappropriate to many people in the Republic of Ireland and in the nationalist community in Northern Ireland when it is used to include the island of Ireland.^[3]
The dispute is partly semantic: to many British readers the term is a value-free geographic one, while to many Irish readers the term is a value-laden political one.
The fact that the British Isles in general coincided with the geographic area of the former United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801—1922), from which most of Ireland seceded/became independent in 1922, is also highly relevant. The island of Ireland is currently occupied by two states; the Republic of Ireland occupies five sixths of the island and Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, occupies the remaining sixth.
No branch of the government of the Republic of Ireland officially uses the term,^[4] and although it is on occasion used in a geographical sense in Irish parliamentary debates, it is often used in a way that excludes the Republic of Ireland. A spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London has said use of the term would be discouraged.^[5]
The term "British Isles" is sometimes used in the same way as British Islands by major media institutions.^[6] This definition, excluding the Republic of Ireland, does not typically cause offence in Ireland but can be confusing as dictionary definitions have not yet recognised this usage.

Contents

Perspectives in Britain

Perspectives in the Republic of Ireland

Perspectives in Northern Ireland

Alternative terms

Footnotes

Perspectives in Britain

In general, the use of the term British Isles to refer to the archipelago has been common and uncontroversial within Great Britain, at least since the concept of "Britishness" was gradually but widely accepted in Britain after the 1707 Act of Union. For example, its use can be seen at A Reading University Meteorological Study, and regularly in the The Guardian newspaper November 9 2006, November, November In Britain it is commonly understood as being a politically neutral geographical term, although the term is sometimes used to describe the UK or Great Britain alone.^{[7][8][9][10][6]}
The problem with the term "British Isles" in relation to Ireland is increasingly recognised in books and other media in the UK and its use has been increasingly avoided. Many recent histories of Great Britain and Ireland, published by major British academic publishers like the Oxford and Cambridge University presses, have discussed how the term "British Isles" is no longer generally acceptable in Ireland, although some^[12] continued to use the term "for convenience".
Recognition of the Irish problems with the term, as well as problems over definitions and terminology was also discussed by the columnist Marcel Berlins, writing in The Guardian in 2006. Starting by saying "At last, someone has had the sense to abolish the British Isles", he gives his opinion that "although purely a geographical definition, it is frequently mixed up with the political entities Great Britain, or the United Kingdom. Even when used geographically, its exact scope is widely misunderstood". He also acknowledges that some people view the term as representing Britain's colonial past, when it ruled the whole of Ireland.^[13]

Perspectives in the Republic of Ireland

The perspective in Ireland is often quite different to the view in Britain.
From that Irish perspective the term ''British'' had never applied to Ireland until the late 16th century and onwards, a period that coincided with the Tudor conquest of Ireland, the subsequent Cromwellian activities in Ireland, then the Williamite accession in Britain and the Williamite War in Ireland, all of which resulted in severe impact on Irish people, landowners and native aristocracy, e.g. the Flight of the Earls and the Flight of the Wild Geese. From that perspective the term "British Isles" is not a neutral geographical description but is an unavoidably ''political'' term.
Use of the name "British Isles" is often rejected in the Republic of Ireland and amongst Irish Nationalists in Northern Ireland because its use implies a primacy of British identity over all of the islands, including the sovereign state of the Republic of Ireland as well as the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom, and many feel that the term does not apply to Ireland since secession/independence from the United Kingdom in 1922.^{[14][15][16][17]}
Many bodies, including the Irish Government, avoid describing the Republic of Ireland as being part of the British Isles. The term "British Isles" is occasionally used at governmental level in Ireland, as when a cabinet minister, Síle de Valera, delivered a speech containing the term in 2002, although this was contrary to stated government policy.^[18] ''British Isles'' has been used in a geographical sense in Irish parliamentary debates, including by government ministers^[19][20], although it is often used in a way that defines the British Isles as excluding the Republic of Ireland.^{[21][22][23][24]}
In October 2006, Irish educational publisher Folens announced that it was removing the term British Isles from its popular school atlas from January 2007.^[25][26] This attracted some press attention, primarily in Great Britain and Ireland, during which a spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London said "The British Isles has a dated ring to it, as if we are still part of the Empire".^[27]

Perspectives in Northern Ireland

Different views on terminology are probably most clearly seen within Northern Ireland, where the political situation is difficult and national identity is contested. A survey in Northern Ireland found that unionists generally considered the British Isles to be a natural geographical entity, considering themselves primarily British with a supplementary Irish identity. Another survey highlighted the British and Irish identity of the Protestant community, showing that 51% of Protestants felt "Not at all Irish" and 41% only "weakly Irish"^[28][29] In contrast, nationalists considered their community to be that of the Irish nation as a distinct cultural and political community extending across the whole of Ireland. Identities were diverse and multi-layered and Irishness was a highly contested identity, and nationalists expressed difficulty in understanding unionist descriptions of Britishness.^[30]
The overall opinions of people in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland about the term have never been formally gauged. Politicians from the Irish Unionist and Northern Ireland Unionist traditions do readily use the term "British Isles"^[31][32] The contrast between Unionist and Nationalist approaches to the term was shown in December 1999 at a meeting of the Irish cabinet and Northern Ireland executive in Armagh. The First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, told the meeting
In contrast, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, did not use the term in his address to the meeting.^[33]
At a gathering of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body (15th plenary session, in 1998), the sensitivity about the term became an issue. Referring to a plan for a "Council of the Isles" which was being supported by both Nationalists and Unionists, British MP for Falkirk West Dennis Canavan was paraphrased by official note takers as having said in a caveat:
In a series of documents issued by the United Kingdom and Ireland, from the Downing Street Declaration to the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Agreement), relations in the British Isles were referred to as the ''East-West'' strand of the tripartite relationships defined.^[34]

Alternative terms

There are several terms that are used as alternatives for the term ''British Isles''.
Sometimes, an ambiguous phrase such as "these Isles" or "the Isles" is used, thus utilising the same logic used when referring to the Persian Gulf as "the Gulf". "These Islands" was used in Strand Three of the Good Friday Agreement to establish the British-Irish Council, and has been described as the favoured term of Irish politicians.^[35]
Probably the most common alternative term in modern usage is "Great Britain and Ireland", or more simply, "Britain and Ireland". This is very common and almost entirely uncontroversial, although it may be felt to neglect smaller islands in the archipelago and is ambiguous concerning the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
Although considerably less common another term that is sometimes used is ''British Isles and Ireland''. Similar to "Great Britain and Ireland", this has been used in a variety of areas; among others religion,^[36] nursing,^[37] zoological publications,^[38] academia,^[39] and other sources. This form of title is also used in some book titles^[40] and in various legal publications.^[41] This usage, however, implies that Northern Ireland is not part of the British Isles, which causes problems in itself.
Some live UK television shows such as the X Factor allow voting from the Republic of Ireland and hold auditions in Dublin, and use terminology such as "UK and Ireland" on voting lines. This is also common for copyright notices on DVDs and CDs.
In the context of the Northern Ireland peace process the term ''Islands of the North Atlantic'' (IONA), a term initially created by then Conservative Party MP Sir John Biggs-Davison,^[42] has been used as a neutral term to describe the "British Isles", but in a wider context the term might be misunderstood as including Iceland, Greenland, the Azores and other islands.
IONA has been used by among others the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.
Others have interpreted the term more narrowly to mean the ''Council of the Isles'' or ''British-Irish Council''. Peter Luff MP told the British House of Commons in 1998 that
His interpretation, as Ahern's comment earlier shows, is not widely held, particularly in Ireland, where IONA is seen as a parallel to either the ''British Islands'' or the ''British Isles''. In 1997 the leader of the Green Party, Trevor Sargent, discussing the ''Strand Three'' (or ''East-West'') talks between the Republic and the United Kingdom, commented in Dáil Éireann:
His comments were echoed by Proinsias De Rossa, then leader of Democratic Left and later President of the Irish Labour Party when both parties merged, who told the Dáil "The acronym IONA is a useful way of addressing the coming together of these two islands."^[43]
'Anglo-Celtic Isles' has been used in academia for the isles.^[44][45] This reflects the supposed ethnic make up of the islands of the 'Celtic' peoples — the Irish, Manx, Scottish, Cornish and Welsh — and the 'Anglo-Saxon' peoples, the English.
The 'Celtica' often referred to by political Celticists such as the Celtic League, which includes all of the islands ''and'' Brittany in Western France (excluding England and the Channel Islands), is one of the many cultural-political ways of interpreting a future for the geographical region. If highly fanciful, it is not without romantic merit.
The British government currently uses British Islands (as defined in the ''Interpretation Act, 1978'') to refer to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, together with the Crown dependencies: the Bailiwicks of Jersey and of Guernsey (which in turn includes the smaller islands of Alderney, Herm and Sark) in the Channel Islands; and the Isle of Man.
Some academics in the 1990s and early 2000s also used the term ''northwest European archipelago''.^[46] Usage however appears sporadic in historiography and rarely repeated outside it, to date.
The name ''the West European Isles'' is one translation of the islands' name in Irish^[47] and Manx Gaelic^[48]—but explicit "British Isle" terms also exist in Irish^[49] and Manx.^[50] A somewhat similar usage exists in Iceland. "Westman" is the Icelandic name for a person from Ireland or Scotland and "Western Lands" is the translation of the name for these islands in Icelandic.^[51]
A return to Pytheas's original term, 'Pretanic Isles' (or 'Pretannic Isles') has been suggested sporadically and has seen some usage in academic contexts, particularly in reference to the islands in a pre-Roman context.^[52]

Footnotes

1. Definitions from Dictionary.com
2. Outsiders Inside: Whiteness, Place, and Irish Women, , Bronwen, Walter, Routledge, 2000,
3. An Irishman's Diary Myers, Kevin; The Irish Times (subscription needed) 09/03/2000, Accessed July 2006 'millions of people from these islands - oh how angry we get when people call them the British Isles'
4. "Written Answers - Official Terms", Dáil Éireann - Volume 606 - 28 September, 2005. In his response, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that "The British Isles is not an officially recognised term in any legal or inter-governmental sense. It is without any official status. The Government, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, does not use this term. Our officials in the Embassy of Ireland, London, continue to monitor the media in Britain for any abuse of the official terms as set out in the Constitution of Ireland and in legislation. These include the name of the State, the President, Taoiseach and others."
5.
New atlas lets Ireland slip shackles of Britain David Sharrock [spelling "useage" is from the original article]
6. For example, see Google searches of
the BBC website.
7. "[1] Website on Megalithic Monuments in the British Isles and Ireland. Ireland in this site includes Fermanagh, which is politically in Northern Ireland."
8. "[2] The website uses the term "British Isles" in various ways, including ways that use Ireland as all of Ireland, while simultaneously using the term "The British Isles and Ireland", e.g. 'Anyone using GENUKI should remember that its name is somewhat misleading -- the website actually covers the British Isles and Ireland, rather than just the United Kingdom, and therefore includes information about the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.'"
9. "[3] Guide to Narrow Gauge rail in the British Isles and Ireland which includes Belfast lines under the section on Ireland."
10. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/britain_01.shtml British Weather (Part One)] This BBC article referred to 'a small 'country' such as the British Isles' between at least April 2004 and January 2007 (checked using the Wayback Machine at http://web.archive.org. Last accessed and checked 01/01/07. It was changed in February 2007 and now reads 'a small 'area' such as the British Isles'
11. For example, see Google searches of
the BBC website.
12. Dawson, Jane E.A. (2002). The Politics of Religion in the Age of Mary, Queen of Scots: The Earl of Argyll and the Struggle for Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2. " Whilst accurate, the term 'Atlantic archipelago' is rather cumbersome so, for convenience, I have used the following as virtual synonyms: the islands of Britain; these islands; the British Isles, and the adjective, British. Without intending to imply any hidden imperial or other agenda, they describe the kingdoms of Ireland, Scotland, and England and Wales as they existed in the sixteenth century, following the definition of the British Isles in the Oxford English Dictionary: 'a geographical term for the islands comprising Great Britain and Ireland with all their offshore islands including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands'."
13. [4] Is it really so morally objectionable for the father of a murder victim to accept £450,000 'blood money'? The Guardian, October 4 2006.
14. The readers' editor of ''The Guardian'', Ian Mayes, noted indirect reports of concerns. "Where are we?", ''The Guardian'', August 11, 2001.
15. On 18 July 2004 ''The Sunday Business Post'' questioned the use of ''British Isles'' as a purely geographic expression, noting:

[The] "Last Post has redoubled its efforts to re-educate those labouring under the misconception that Ireland is really just British. When British Retail Week magazine last week reported that a retailer was to make its British Isles debut in Dublin, we were puzzled. Is not Dublin the capital of the Republic of Ireland?...Archipelago of islands lying off the north-western coast of Europe?

Retrieved 17 July 2006
16. Norman Davies, ''op.cit'' p.xxii.
17. "Irish Genealogical Sources No. 25 - History of the Royal Hibernian Military School, Dublin" uses the term "then British Isles" to refer to Ireland's relationship association with it prior to 1922.
18. Speech by Síle de Valera, T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands at the opening of the Clare Drama Festival in Scarriff Community College
19. Response by the Minister for Health and Children to a question in Parliament
20. Official Report of the Parliament of Ireland. [5], , , , , ,
21. http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=EDJ20051117.xml&Node=73
22. http://www.gov.ie/oireachtas/Committees-29th-D%E1il/jcmnr-debates/jcmnr120303.rtf
23. http://www.gov.ie/oireachtas/Committees-29th-D%E1il/jcaf-debates/JAF230903.rtf
24. http://www.gov.ie/oireachtas/Committees-29th-D%E1il/jcesb-debates/jesb10703.rtf
25. Áine Kerr, "Folens to wipe 'British Isles' off the map in new atlas", ''Irish Times'', 2 October 2006
26. Details of current editions of Folens atlases: Primary Post-primary
27. "New atlas lets Ireland slip shackles of Britain". A spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London said: “The British Isles has a dated ring to it, as if we are still part of the Empire. We are independent, we are not part of Britain, not even in geographical terms. We would discourage its usage [''sic''].”
28. Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 1999. Module:Community Relations. Variable:IRISH.
29. Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey. Module:Community Relations. Variable:BRITISH. Summary: 78% of Protestants replied "Strongly British."
30. CAIN: Democratic Dialogue: With all due respect - pluralism and parity of esteem (Report No. 7) by Tom Hennessey and Robin Wilson, Democratic Dialogue (1997)
31. Speech by Rt. Hon. David Trimble to the Northern Ireland Forum Retrieved 16 July 2006.
32. Speech by Mr. David Trimble to the AGM of the Ulster Unionist Council, 20 March 1999. Retrieved 16 July 2006.
33. ibid.
34. Three sets of relationships were defined. (i) Within Northern Ireland. (ii) ''North-South'' for the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic, and (iii) ''East-West'' for relationships on the islands.
35. in Linnean, Hugh; 'The Islands in the Stream'; The Irish Times; July 15, 2006'
36. Prayer Association of British Isles and Ireland.
37. Macey & Morgan, ''Learning on the road: nursing in the British Isles and Ireland'' (Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, 1988)
38. Badham, M., and Richards, V. (1991). ''Gibbon Regional Studbook: British Isles and Ireland'', 13th Edition, Twycross Zoo, East Midland Zoological Society, Twycross.
39. FOLK 547 640 Folklore of the British Isles and Ireland. A course in the University of Pennsylvania; British archaeology
40. For example, P. North, ''The Private International Law of Matrimonial Causes in the British Isles and the Republic of Ireland'' (1977).
41. See "Law Society Gazette", Law Society of Ireland, July 2001.42. Open Republic. Retrieved 5 July 2006.
43. [http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0484/D.0484.199712090003.html Dáil Debates. Vol 484. Col.466. 9 December 1997.
44. Dolley, Michael). R A Hall ed. "The Anglo-Danish and Anglo-Norse coinages of York". Viking Age York and the North; CBA Research Report No 27, pp. 26-31, Council for British Archaeology. Retrieved on.
45. The British-Irish Council is a...potential shift of the geopolitical centre of gravity of the Anglo-Celtic isles Harvey, David C.; Rhys Jones, Neil Mcinroy, Christine Milligan (2001). Celtic Geographies: Old Culture, New Times. New York: Routledge, p. 241.
46. David Armitage, "Greater Britain: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis?" in ''American Historical Review'', Vol. 104, No. 2 (Apr., 1999) p.427.
47. ''Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa'' seems rather appropriate, in Patrick Dinneen. 1927. ''Irish–English Dictionary''. Dublin: Irish Texts Society
48. ''Ellanyn Sheear ny hOarpey'' in Douglas C. Fargher. 1979. ''Fargher's English-Manx dictionary''. Douglas: Shearwater Press.
49. ''Na hOileáin Bhreatanacha'', in T. J. Dunne, tr. Toirdhealbhach Ó Raithbheartaigh. 1937. ''Tír-Eóluíocht na h-Éireann''. Baile Átha Cliath: Oifig Díolta Foillseacháin Rialtais
50. ''Ny hEllanyn Goaldagh'' s.v. 'British-Isles', in Douglas C. Fargher. 1979. ''Fargher's English-Manx dictionary''. Douglas: Shearwater Press.
51. "Vest-madr", "Vestr-lond" R Cleasby & G. Vigfusson Icelandic - English Dictionary Oxford 1874
52. Google search for term "Pretanic Isles" and "Pretannic Isles"