This page in a nutshell: Notwithstanding the contitutional position of Northern Ireland, the country of Ireland and the island of Ireland are essentially one and the same, so a single article should suffice for it.
Statement in support of Option A - merge "Ireland" and "Republic of Ireland" into one article
Most Wikipedians, like most people in real life, subscribe to the Principle of consent, which acknowledges the constitutional position of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. This is not inconsistent with the common perception that there is a country called Ireland, and that the country of Ireland and the island of Ireland are essentially one and the same.
There is a great deal of overlap between the two articles currently titled Ireland and Republic of Ireland. This has been bemoaned by editors in the past, who saw it as one article containing material that legitimately only belongs in the other. In fact, however, it is in the very nature of the two articles, and of the two subjects. What is true of the island is in many – indeed in most – cases true of the country.
The geography of Ireland is the geography of the whole country – there is no great river or mountain range separating "north" from "south". Irish culture is common to both parts of the island. The Irish language, though a minority language, is spoken throughout the island. Ulster Scots is spoken on both sides of the border. Irish music and dancing is performed in Belfast; Orange bands march in County Donegal. Rugby, Gaelic games and other sports are organised on an all-Ireland basis, and even (Association) football has an all-Ireland competition, the Setanta Cup.
The fact that Encyclopedia Britannica has only one "Ireland" article, covering both the country and the island, [1] is compelling evidence that such an approach is indeed encyclopaedic.
Historically, Ireland was one country from at least the tenth century, when provincial kings fought for the title of Rí Érenn – King of Ireland[2] up to December 1921, when Northern Ireland was allowed one month to "opt out" of the new Free State[3] (NB it is not possible to opt out of something you are not part of). Even after 1921, the history of Northern Ireland is part of the history of Ireland – see A New History of Ireland in the introduction to the chronology, 1921-76: "Both parts of Ireland are treated on the same criteria of selection, but inevitably Northern Ireland receives proportionately greater attention from 1969 onwards."[4]
Bertie Ahern, addressing a Joint Meeting of the United States Congress on 30 April 2008, said, "After so many decades of conflict, I am so proud, Madam Speaker, to be the first Irish leader to inform the United States Congress: Ireland is at peace."[5] Neither Madam Speaker nor anybody else in Congress questioned the assumption that the Ireland of which he was leader and the Ireland that was at peace were the same. Nor, as far as I know, did anybody in the British establishment or the British press.
The Good Friday Agreement states that the British and Irish governments "recognise the legitimacy of whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland with regard to its status, whether they prefer to continue to support the Union with Great Britain or a sovereign united Ireland" and affirm that "if in the future, the people of the island of Ireland exercise their right of self-determination...to bring about a united Ireland, it will be a binding obligation on both Governments to introduce and support in their respective Parliaments legislation to give effect to that wish." The governments also "recognise the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose."[6] As a result of that agreement the Constitution of Ireland was changed; Article 2 now reads,"It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish Nation."[7] Thus both peoples, British and Irish, while accepting the constitutional position of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, acknowledge the existence of an "Irish Nation", coterminous with the island of Ireland, that may (or may not) be united in the future.
