Wikipedia:WikiProject Ireland Collaboration/Poll on Ireland article names/Ballot paper (draft)

Summary of result of Ireland Collaboration Project

The name "Ireland" is considered to be ambiguous with respect to a number of meanings, but primarily between two entities: the island named "Ireland", and the state that occupies about 83% of it, also named "Ireland". (Northern Ireland, which comprises the remaining portion of the island, is part of the United Kingdom.) Currently, the state is located at "Republic of Ireland" while the island is located at "Ireland" (there is also an Ireland disambiguation page). Both uses of the name "Ireland" are considered equally valid and neither can be selected as the most common per standard naming convention rules, which has led to long debates (and edit wars) about the issues. Other naming conflicts that involve countries do not provide consistent advice for resolution of this issue (compare, for example, Luxembourg, Georgia (country), Tasmania, and People's Republic of China).

As there is a stalemate in achieving consensus on the issue, it has been decided to use the results of a poll of all Wikipedia editors to resolve the matter. The six most likely options, based on solutions used for other country names, from the Ireland Collaboration Project are listed below. They are presented in no particular or preferential order, along with links to essays from its participants which voters are strongly encouraged to read before making their choice.

Regardless of the solution, appropriate hatnotes will be used to guide readers to the appropriate articles. Further discussion at the Ireland Collaboration Project will also take place before renaming to resolve other issues such as how the state will be referred to in the text of other articles.

Statements by individual members of the project

Position statements by some of the Ireland Collaboration Project's editors can be viewed on the Position statements page.

Ballot

Option A: Merge Ireland and Republic of Ireland into one article at Ireland. More info?
Option B: The state at Ireland. The island at Ireland (island). More info?
Option C: A general "all-Ireland" topic at Ireland. The island at Ireland (island). The state at Ireland (state). More info?
Option D: The island at Ireland. The state at Ireland (state). More info?
Option E: A disambiguation page at Ireland. The island at Ireland (island). The state at Ireland (state). More info?
Option F: The island at Ireland. The state at Republic of Ireland. More info?

Please read through the detailed information below, which makes precise what ramification each option will have, for instance in the first sentence of the different articles. The place for actual ballotting follows that section.

Detailed information about ballot options

A: Merge Ireland and Republic of Ireland into one article at Ireland.

(Ireland + Republic of Ireland) → Ireland
Ireland (disambiguation) → no change

Name of page	Initial text (the first sentence in the article)
Ireland	Ireland is a European island and an independent state of the same name. (The text here was based on the article on Tasmania.)
Ireland (disambiguation)	Ireland commonly refers to: ...

Back up.

B: The state at Ireland. The island at Ireland (island).

Name of page	Initial text (the first sentence in the article)
Ireland (island)	Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world.
Ireland	Ireland is an independent state in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921.
Ireland (disambiguation)	Ireland commonly refers to: ...

Back up.

C: A general "all-Ireland" topic at Ireland. The island at Ireland (island). The state at Ireland (state).

Name of page	Initial text (the first sentence in the article)
Ireland (island)	Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world.
Ireland (state)	Ireland is an independent state in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921.
Ireland (disambiguation)	Ireland commonly refers to: ...
Ireland	Ireland is a modern independent state, a geographic entity, an historic nation, and a cultural identity, all based on the island of Ireland. (The text here was based loosely on the article on China.)

Back up.

D: The island at Ireland. The state at Ireland (state).

Name of page	Initial text (the first sentence in the article)
Ireland	Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world.
Ireland (state)	Ireland is an independent state in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921.
Ireland (disambiguation)	Ireland commonly refers to: ...

Back up.

E: A disambiguation page at Ireland. The island at Ireland (island). The state at Ireland (state).

Name of Page	Initial text (the first sentence in the article)
Ireland (island)	Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world.
Ireland (state)	Ireland is an independent state in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921.
Ireland	Ireland commonly refers to: ...

Back up.

F: The island at Ireland. The state at Republic of Ireland.

Ireland → no change
Republic of Ireland → no change
Ireland (disambiguation) → no change

Name of page	Initial text (the first sentence in the article)
Ireland	Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world.
Republic of Ireland	Ireland is an independent state in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921.
Ireland (disambiguation)	Ireland commonly refers to: ...

Back up.

Procedure for voting

Please vote using PRSTV (i.e. rank your preferences in order e.g. "A, B, C, D, E, F")
To do this you may use the template * {{stv-ballot|A=0|B=0|C=0|D=0|E=0|F=0|~~~~}} — Select it from the asterisk * to the last curly bracket } and Copy, then Paste when you go down to the Balloting Area below. To make your vote, simply put the number with the appropriate letter (X=1 is your most favourite, Y=6 is your least favourite, Z=0 gives no support at all to an option).
You are not obliged to express a preference for any of the options that you do not wish to support (or have no preference about); it is easiest to leave the number as zero, i.e. Z=0, rather than deleting the letter.
Sign and date your vote but do not append any comments to your vote; they will be removed.

Notes:

Before voting please familiarise yourself with policy on naming convention and guidelines for disambiguation.
Closing date/adjudication:

Voting will end at 21:00 (UTC) of the evening of 28 July 2009 (that is 22:00 IST and BST).
A member of the ArbCom committee will adjudicate the result of the vote
Results of the vote are final and binding for a period of two years

Procedures for dealing with fraud:

Unregistered users may not vote (to prevent fraud) but may contribute comments on the Talk page
Users who registered after 1 June 2009 may not vote (per Project consensus) but may contribute comments on the Talk page
Non-trivial sanctions will be imposed for canvassing, forum shopping, ballot stuffing, sock puppetry, meat puppetry or otherwise manipulating the ballot (or attempting to do so)
Votes by sock puppets or meat puppets (and their masters) or similar will be removed from the balloting area

Balloting area

Do not make comments in this area—only your vote.

Comments

Comments go here.

Summary of result of Ireland Collaboration Project

Statements by individual members of the project

See also

Ballot

Detailed information about ballot options

Procedure for voting

Balloting area

Comments