Talk:British Isles

Excellent
A Venn diagram is an excellent way to teach this lesson. Murphynw 14:39, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

The term
The term "British Isles" is a Political term and not an indication of a Geographical Area if it includes Ireland!

Ireland is a Soveriegn Independant State, a member of the United Nations, the European Community and other international bodies. It is a Term that is not used by the Government of Ireland, Irish Regulatory Bodies and Irish citizens in general. Even though Northern Ireland is part of the " United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland" a large portion of it's citizens are also guaranteed, by International Treaties, to have their Irish rather than British identity respected.

The term "British Isles" is usually used in two ways,

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Doughcloyne (talk&thinsp;|&thinsp;contribs) 23:33, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
 * 1) Used by journalists, and others, as a lazy way to describe a grouping that includes Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland.
 * 2) The more problematic use of the term is by those who do not accept that Ireland is no longer a member of the British Empire and has not been since 1916 -1922 depending on starting date used.
 * 3) It is used as means to insult or be condecending to people of Irish Nationality or Decent especially when they are told, if they object, that it is only a Geographical Location or other dismissive reason.


 * Hi, no disrespect or insult is intended by using the term "". The image used in the article was developed by contributors of Wikipedia. I have today added the Wikipedia FAQ about the image, to the image description page. I know that the different terminology that is used around this issue is a sensitive subject. The Research Wiki aims to provide help to those researching their family history and this article is intended to help researchers understand what the term "British Isles" means now and also what it's meaning was in the past as it relates to historical documents that they find.


 * I have added a new section to the article, Disagreement over the term. Please go ahead a make changes to this, if I've not captured the right message. --Steve 16:37, 26 March 2012 (UTC)