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There was actually a British proposal some 30 years ago (Conservative MP) to rename the British Isles ‘ IONA ‘ (Islands of the North Atlantic), but it gained no traction.
Geographically acceptable to both sides, but the entire question is long-poisoned by politics.
The reason the term ‘British Isles’ stocks is due solely to the six counties that make up Northern Ireland.
Until – if ever – there is a united Ireland (or a massive jump in population) then you’re going to have great difficulty in getting the British Isles redrawn in any official capacity.
In other words, carry on as we are and the British will have a bigger say as there’s much more of them and they have a bigger voice.

And now for something completely different….

Ireland is part of the British isle , it is not part of Great Britton because the Great in great Britton refers to the larger island of the British Isle, it’s not political, these islands off Europe existed long before Irish , English , Scots or Welsh existed and will be here long after were gone. It is a name to describe a pair of Islands in close proximity nothing else.

Great stuff Stephen, very funny and witty comment there

You have made a mistake here Joe. The Great in Great Britain refers to Britain being bigger than Brittany in France. Previously these two regions were called greater Britain (now simply Great Britain) and lesser Britain (Brittany) as they were both occupied by celts known as Bretons. Ireland is in no way a british isle. Calling the archipelago the Celtic isles would make more sense in my opinion as it includes Bretons, scotish, manx, welsh, Cornish and irish and so the entire area has a connection to the historical celts.

So what you are saying is 95% of the people are stupid are you?
Do Americans think Canada and Mexico are different ? Do all the countries of Europe or Africa see them selves as different countries?
Me thinks if is you that is stupid

We need to send Enda over to DerryLondon so that he can tell Lizzie Windsor that its the Irish Isles.

Australa and New Zealanders, especially as a united military force are called Anzacs. Both countries are proud of the name. Terms like B&I or Celtic Islands can benefit the minor island, being Ireland… I have no time for the expression British Isles… It reminds me of the old term British Lions… Ireland is respected all over the world…and yes we are equal to the “poms”!

When Australia and New Zealand combine, especially in the theatre of war they are fondly called the Anzacs. I like the term Celtic Islands or B&I. Ireland is well respected all over the world, and equal with the “Poms”. We don’t need to go backwards!

Only certain Irish could get themselves so upset over nothing. The British Ordnance Survey view is the one most people throughout the world go by hence the Google results, they are the British Isles. It’s geographic but the usual Republican types want to make it political and a problem.

95% Mal how did you get that figure ? Did you do a poll of everyone you ever spoke to or are you just another one of those people that can’t distinguish between anecdotal evidence and fact.

I think great Britain only referred to England and Wales as they hadn’t taken over the Scottish at that stage

Most people think “America” only refers to the United States of America.
Eg. If I said in from America you would not think I’m from brazil.
People generalise, they may not be totally stupid.

What we are
And how we see it,
Has a way of affecting
The way we define it.
As long as the peace
Nips PSNI piecemeal
Simmering Pud for the DUP
Fading bling, the GBNI bing
While hope in the IRA SF Fairs;
To mould our land, the people who dare.
So we want our own union, not to share,
And their Union, they keep it there.
Our tribe be united, totally at ease
For us to divide up, as we please
By province, by county,
By Town, by team.
Now where’s the auld enemy, borders unseen.
This political divide is not for me,
The pomp has plagued my view you see.
While our geography is easier to map
It’s rock and water, so who gives a crap.
The cultures we share, our points of view
Not a million miles, not far askew.
Call me and Isle, call me Iona
I don’t give a feck, you can me Fiona.
I love this land, being part of the clan,
But taking it seriously; there should be a ban.

So we’re back to trying to ruin England then?!

And if they existed long before England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales or Britain, why call them British? Could just as easily call them the French Isles.

@Shane, yeah, your right, I should have said “most people I speak to”.
In any case, the point I was making is as the majority of people I’ve spoken to outside Ireland think of Ireland as part of Britain.

European Isles?

Great Britain actually comes from Grande Bretagne referring to the province of Brittany in France..

I call them the Celtic Isles. 3 of the 4 countries in it consider themselves Celtic.

You must be the brains of the group mal must be stimulating conversations with the other sharp pencils

And the one that has more population than the “celts” put together isn’t. So it’s a stupid idea.

Here’s another nugget to confuse you all. While Ireland shared aspects of Celtic culture, there’s no evidence that the Celts ever actually came to Ireland. The research at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) into the origins of Ireland’s population found no substantial evidence of the Celts in Irish DNA, and concludes they never settled here en masse.
http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119605

In fact the more you delve into it the more you learn that Ireland was/ is not a Celtic country. The term was allegedly assigned to Ireland in the eighteenth century by a Welsh linguist- and was seized by the Irish nationalist movement as evidence of an us and them heritage.
The original inhabitants of Ireland pre-date the Celts. It seems that Ireland and Britain copied aspects of Celtic art and culture via trade links and this has later been misinterpreted. Rather like Europeans who take on aspects of American culture via TV and media.

That mean we have to include Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Cyprus, the Greek, Italian and Balkan islands not to mention the Scandinavian, Iberian and Portuguese. Won’t work.

Wouldn’t us David Icke as reference for anything however check out a tv series from RTE/Cinegall in the 80′s called Atlantean and your eyes will be opened.

There are more references and scholarly articles that all seem to have a consensus about the Celtic heritage. I had a look at references to Atlantean – looks very interesting! Thanks for that.
The idea of being part of a common ‘Atlantean’ culture including the western seaboard of Europe and North Africa is intriguing and attractive. What parallels to the British Empire then EU Federacy much later? Interesting….

That is just not true. The “great” part comes from French and is used distinguish between big bretagne and little bretagne. The Islands existed a long time before the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish arrived, however the term British Isles was invented a long time after their arrival and can be changed as and when people want to change it.

Personally I don’t really care all that much, you rarely if ever hear the term ‘British Isles’ being used these days so it’s not really a live issue. Obviously it was a very slow day at journal.ie so they decided to wind up those who are very easily wound up by making up a non story.

You sound a bit wound up, Niall.

The ‘Great’ in Great Britain does not refer to the larger island of the British Isles. ‘Great’ or ‘Greater’ Britain was used to distinguish the isle from ‘Britannia minor’ or ‘Lesser Britain’, the continental region which approximates to modern Brittany.

Incorrect. Great Britain is the island of England, Scotland and Wales. The term “great” was used to distinguish it from what is now Brittany. No connection to the island of Ireland

No, that s not correct. Great Britain is the island of England, Scotland and Wales. The term “Great” was used to distinguish it from “lesser” Britain, what is modern Brittany. No connection to the island of Ireland.

@Niall H: the wrong answer.they teach the wrog answer in Britain,apparently.

*end up. that’s me for tonight on here, I’ve made a show of myself.

Britain is an island off the east coast of Ireland so why not refer to us collectively as the Irish isles………….

That field the farmer turned into there was a scarecrow who won an oscar for being outstanding in his field. Deliver is all over the shop. Sorry

There was a mouse living in the tractor tyre. The tyre got a puncture, now the mouse lives in a flat.

Feck off with yizzer ‘British Isles’ …. If they haven’t got the boot on our throat, it’s NOT the British Isles, it’s the island of Ireland and some offshore islands…

I have a question for anyone viewing this, do you have any holes in your socks? If not, how do you get your feet into them?

Haven’t seen the new tractor film? Just watch the trailer

When he got out of the tractor the farmer was out standing in his field….
I’ll get my coat…

@Vinny: it could be,because of all the Brits with Irish grandparents….

That’s wonderful Lorna is there any point to your point or is it pointless

There are many other small islands on the west coast

And all the other Islands off our coast…

Matt that’s all you’ll get in Santa Ponza

When you do tell them your Irish…..you get better treatment and service…..

Em there aren’t any Irish people running around with Spanish or Portuguese blood. The Americans just propagated the inane term “black-Irish” because they cannot/refuse to accept the fact that all Irish people don’t have red hair and speak like this “begorrah”.

Yes, you’re right Art, no Spanish person has ever got on a boat and traded with Ireland, or was on a boat that was shipwrecked off the Irish coast, that never, ever happened! *sigh*

It’s nothing to do with America – do you know anything about the connections between Ireland and Spain in medieval period? The level of trade that occurred between both areas? The fact that thousands of pilgrims from Ireland visited Spain? Seriously, don’t try that shite with a historian!

Things aren’t as linear as dumbass Americans think.

There are plenty of Spaniards and Portuguese with fair features and light hair. Red hair originated in Scandinavia. Irish people are capable of having black hair without having had a Latin ancestor.

There are plenty. Have you never been to Galway? My own name, when translated from Irish is ‘dark foreigner’. Get real.

I hate to burst your bubble but this myth was debunked.

Art why are you banging on about America and Americans? There is plenty of evidence of interactions between Ireland and continental Europe, including Spain.

And I think calling Americans dumbasses says much more about you than it does about Americans.

What difference does it make, The asteroid is on it’s way in 2029 . We’re all doomed Mr Mannering.

I’m not a dumbass,…….dumbass

We are strangers at home,
We are exiles in Erín.

The whole black haired Irish people are descended from Spaniards myth originated from the sinking of the Armada fleet. Problem is most of the Spanish died in that assault and only a proportionally tiny amount of them survived the wreck. The Spaniards that survived the wreck were hanged once they got on mainland soil. The rest didn’t hang around in Ireland.

Galway and west cork are full of people who share a common genetic pattern with French and Spanish bretons. These researches, by DNA sampling, have been carried out in recent years and have nothing to do with who did, or did not, survive the wreckage of the Spanish armada.

Ah mark how’s about you stop spouting your f#cking shit. What’s wrong with an Irish person being proud of where they are from and having everything belonging to it been called what it should. You tosser!

Well said Mark, the Irish are just another mongrel nation made up people from other parts of the British isles, mainland Europe and beyond. There is no such thing as pure Irish or English for that matter. Irish people have iron age ancestors the whole ‘Celtic’ thing is a nonsense, Ireland has less claim to being a Celtic nation than Poland or even Switzerland. The ‘Gaelic revival’ in the early part of the 20th century saw the whole Celtic mythology and romanticism as an opportunity to differentiate the Irish from the British for political reasons, which in itself is absurd given that a big number of British are in fact ‘Celtic’ according to themselves, ie Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Manx and even the pre Roman ‘Britons’ who shared a common language, religion and society with their Irish counterparts. All of this nonsense over a geographic term is pathetic and just shows how some Irish people just can’t get this inferiority complex out of their heads, the chip on the shoulder must weigh heavy on some people to the point that they are bent over. Ireland is in the British Isles, we were (are) also in Europe geographically long before we were ever in the EU but then that doesn’t matter does it, because it hasn’t got “British” in the title. How ironic that the word British derives from Bretonic/Brythonic which is in fact just another word for ‘Celtic’. A name in itself which merely describes a language not a race of people, Keltoi in Greek referred to the language(s) spoken by Northern tribes in mainland Europe.

@Art “The Spaniards that survived the wreck were hanged once they got on mainland soil. The rest didn’t hang around in Ireland.” – Complete bull crap. May I suggest reading up on the Battle of Kinsale. 15 years after the sinking of the Armada, 35,000 Spanish troops arrived into Kinsale to help the Irish fight the English. At the time many Irish were also spreading across Europe to fight for other countries too.

the orginal term the greeks used was the tin islands . not sure how they messed this one up . they even mis translated Ireland name mutible times , and got it wrong evertime lol they called itHibernia the real name was Lerne , which is related to Éiru and Éire . also Irish arent Byrtonic there Goidelic so it dosent even make sense . Brytonic and Goidelic are completly differnt brances of the indo european and are barely related only the fact that there celtic . so calling it Brythonic is not correct . Góidelic is not Brytonic

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion
Albion (Ancient Greek: Ἀλβίων) is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain.
Judging from Avienus’ Ora Maritima to which it is considered to have served as a source, the Massaliote Periplus (originally written in the 6th century BC, translated by Avienus at the end of the 4th century), does not use the name Britannia; instead it speaks of nēsos Iernōn kai Albiōnōn “the islands of the Iernians and the Albiones”.[6] Likewise, Pytheas of Massilia (ca. 320 BC), as directly or indirectly quoted in the surviving excerpts of his works in later writers, speaks of Albion and Ierne (Britain and Ireland).

I’m sure the millions who have died on this island due to British occupation would tent to disagree with you.”
– if they saw the country today that they gave their lives for I doubt they would do it again – ie die for ” Ireland ” .
Anyway the idea of countries is old hat – the people who rule us the MNC – the bankers – they do not care about nation states etc – except to use them as tax havens or sources of cheap labour .

Outdated pathetic ramblings. Those who died blah blah. Maybe be a little more worldly and concentrate on relevant issues that effect people day to day….
Potatoe potato who gives a hoot what were called, let’s be mature and work together as universal people and not focus on past rivalries

Have some respect would you.

I’m really trying Donal, but when thickos waffle on about occupation in 2013, it really makes me question the intelligence of us paddy a

You make fair points but just think we need to respect those who died is all Billie!…no offence…

Millions who have died? It’s not Rwanda we live in

“Millions died on this island due to British occupation”

Really? Where did you get the stats for that little throwaway observation? Please don’t dredge up the famine – the British government reacted badly to it, but the cause of it was centuries of breeding, having too many children and dividing up plots of all between all these children until holdings were too small to sustain everyone. Plus, relying on one crop was also a bit idiotic.

The problem with the Irish then and now is that it’s always someone else’s fault. We’re great at complaining but really quite crap at rolling our sleeves up and doing something about it. We secretly enjoy being victims because it gives us the opportunity to piss and moan about it.

That form of inheritance was part of the penal laws, Protestants were allowed to pass on the farm to the eldest son, not allowed for Catholics. The desired result may not have been the famine, but the impoverishment of the natives who refused to convert was very much a foreseen and intended consequence.

Did the penal laws also insist that we breed like rabbits?

Guess what happens when there are more people than the land can support? Guess what happens when a population becomes over-reliant on one crop that is quite susceptible to disease?

The British government may have supplied enough lifeboats, but we’re the ones who crashed full-speed into the iceberg.

Mark you do realise that there was more than enough food produced on the island of Ireland during the famine to feed the entire population. Food was exported while millions died or emigrated, and we were part of the UK back then with no Dublin parliament, but the London government did very little compared to what it could have done. Some British politicians at the time claimed it was Gods punishment to the Irish and they were better off doing nothing so the population growth could be halted.

There were several famines in Scotland similar to the Irish one and minuscule amounts of people died compared to in Ireland due to the efforts of the authorities. This is not about the Irish always blaming others, it is fact that the effects of the Great famine could have been far less severe if the authorities had put their full effort into feeding the victims but it is fact the they didn’t. Obviously you are going to blame the government (which happened to be in London) for not doing as much as they could have done.

And how did a population become entirely dependent on Mexican food? Malthusian population capacity is part of it but there has never been a famine in a democracy. They aren’t naturally occurring phenomena.

Billie, New Zealand has the same relationship with Australia. It doesn’t make them Australian, does it?

I said in a previous post that the British government handled it badly – I’m a historian, so I’m well aware of the effects of famine. The food that was produced in Ireland belonged to someone (not the British government). Are you saying it should have been removed from it’s owners?

Yes. When millions are starving that’s what a responsible democratic government should do. In a national emergency that’s what happens.

Mark for a historian you certainly are over simplifying the Irish famine!

http://www.irishholocaust.org/officialbritishintent

http://www.irishholocaust.org/thefoodremoval
“In Belmullet, Co. Mayo the mission of 151 soldiers 5 of the 49th Regiment, in addition to escorting livestock and crops to the port for export, was to guard a few tons of stored meal from the hands of the starving; its population falling from 237 to 105 between 1841 and 1851. Belmullet also lost its source of fish in January, 1849, when Britain’s Coast Guard arrested its fleet of enterprising fishermen ten miles at sea in the act of off-loading flour from a passing ship. They were sentenced to prison and their currachs were confiscated.”

I dont think too many priests died during the famine.

Are you actually serious Mark, of course the government should have taken all necessary measures to ensure that people did not die of starvation. In a national emergency all resources should be diverted to alleviate the problem so of course they should have stopped food stuffs from been exported in a famine. Similarly in a state of war or after a natural disaster you divert everything at your disposal to help in the effort. The British government of the time exasperated the problem by their negligence and most politicians were not willing to believe that the famine was as bad or widespread as it actually was.
If the same famine had occurred in England you would have certainly seen a wholly different response.

Your right there Paul, as Bull McCabe says in The Field no priests died of hunger in the famine!

“The Famine Plot” by Tim Pat Coogan should educate you. It’s written by an actual historian, not a self-professed one.

Alan Carroll; “Australia has the same relationship with New Zealand” …. what are you on about? Australia has never occupied or ruled NZ, and Australia has never been attacked by NZ terrorists. In fact, there has never even been any serious political disagreement between the two countries. They’re also not even that close to each other – Sydney to Auckland is about the same distance as Dublin to Moscow!