Wikipedia:WikiProject Ireland Collaboration/statementbyDrkiernan

Statement by DrKiernan

Using "Republic of Ireland" as the name for an article describing the republican state comprising five-sixths of the island of Ireland is supported by eight points:

It is unambiguous, and can not be confused with the island itself or other states that do exist or have existed on the island of Ireland.
It is a commonly used term (Google searches for "Republic of Ireland" return over 5 million hits: [1]).
It is in use internationally, e.g. Columbia encyclopedia "Ireland, Republic of" and CNN "The Republic of Ireland will resume...".
It is in use in Ireland itself, e.g. ie-domain-specific google search.
It is the official description of the state, see Republic of Ireland Act 1948 section 2.
It is in use on official Irish government web-sites, e.g. the General Register Office and William Nolan, Professor of Geography at University College Dublin, on the official government of Ireland web site: "The Republic of Ireland occupies 70,282 sq. km. of the island of Ireland".
It is comparable to the article names of other divided nations, e.g. China, People's Republic of China, and Republic of China.
It can be used in prose without a piped link, where the meaning is unclear and requires disambiguation.

However, use of "Republic of Ireland" as an article name is opposed because:

It is perceived as a British-imposed or influenced construction, which some Irish editors find offensive, e.g. [2].
It is not the official name of the state, see Republic of Ireland Act 1948 section 2.

Point 1 of the opposing argument is countered by points 3, 4 and 5 of the supporting arguments: the phrase was developed by the Irish government, approved by the Irish parliament, and is in use in Ireland, both officially and unofficially. Countering these points is the argument that, despite its mention in Irish law, the phrase is nevertheless still perceived as offensive by some Irish editors.

Using "Ireland (state)" as the name for an article describing the republican state comprising five-sixths of the island of Ireland would use the official name of the state coupled with a simple disambiguator. In favour of this option are:

It uses the official name of the state.
It does not use "Republic of Ireland", which is perceived as a British-imposed or influenced construction.

However, this option is opposed by four points:

Editors from outside of Ireland have found "Ireland (state)" to be confusing, as it sounds like a state in the American or Australian sense, i.e. a province of a larger sovereign nation: e.g. [3]; compare with Georgia (state), Victoria (state).
It is unlikely to be used as a search term by readers.
It cannot be used fluidly within prose without a piped link.
It is not apparently in use by other encyclopedias as a disambiguator.

Users that endorse this summary

Bastun^{BaStun not BaTsun} 23:30, 9 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
ras52 (talk) 09:41, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
RTG ~RTG 14:58, 12 February 2009 (UTC) Off topic text added by RTG was removed from this section by Gnevin. This may lead to a confusing flow in this section's text. For the original text see [4].[reply]
Kittybrewster ☎ 23:02, 12 February 2009 (UTC) Off topic text added by Kittybrewster was removed from this section by Gnevin. This may lead to a confusing flow in this section's text. For the original text see [5].[reply]
BritishWatcher (talk) 01:15, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Djegan (talk) 14:18, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Fmph (talk) 20:06, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Red King (talk) 19:45, 19 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Rockpocket 01:06, 2 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
waggers (talk) 11:29, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Mooretwin (talk) 13:03, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Bazza (talk) 15:06, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Phoenix (talk) 02:12, 7 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
— Blue-Haired Lawyer 16:39, 7 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 02:45, 13 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Srnec (talk) 04:36, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
SarekOfVulcan (talk) 14:38, 3 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Users that oppose this summary

78.16.4.12 (talk) 23:16, 11 February 2009 (UTC) Off topic text added by 78.16.4.12 was removed from this section by Gnevin. This may lead to a confusing flow in this section's text. For the original text see [6].[reply]
HighKing (talk) 14:21, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Redking7 (talk) 22:02, 18 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
User:Jeanne boleyn --Jeanne Boleyn (talk) 18:20, 5 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
MusicInTheHouse (talk) 16:13, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
--Snowded (talk) 12:49, 12 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
86.44.111.162 (talk) 18:43, 22 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]