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
- DrKiernan (talk) 12:08, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
- BastunBaStun not BaTsun 23:30, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
Users that oppose this summary
- 78.16.4.12 (talk) 23:16, 11 February 2009 (UTC)I am unhappy with points 3 and 4 regarding its use in Ireland and internationally. "Ireland, Republic of" does not equal Republic of Ireland and a solitary use on one news site does not mean it is used regularly internationally by any stretch of the imagination. Also a google search of the term ROI means nothing; it doesn't say anything about how the term is used in Ireland.