British Isles: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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|additional info = '''1'''   May appear in '''[[Scots language|Scots]]''' as '''''"Breetish" Isles'''''.<ref>For ''"Breetish"'' see [http://www.dsl.ac.uk/getent4.php?plen=380&startset=2223217&query=BREETAIN&fhit=breetish&dregion=entry&dtext=snds#fhit Dictionary of the Scots Language (DSL) & Scottish National Dictionary Supplement (1976) (SNDS)]. For use in term ''"Breetish Isles"'' see [http://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/1086 Scots Language Centre] website ("Show content as Scots").</ref>

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The '''British Isles''' are a group of [[island]]s off the northwest coast of [[continental Europe]] that include [[Great Britain]], [[Ireland]] and numerous smaller islands.<ref name="ReferenceB">"British Isles," ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref> There are two [[List of sovereign states|sovereign states]] located on the islands: the [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]], and ~~the~~ [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]].<ref>The diplomatic and constitutional name of the Irish state is simply ''Ireland''. For disambiguation purposes "Republic of Ireland" is often used although technically not the name of the state but, according to the ''[[Republic of Ireland Act]] 1948,'' its "description". ''Article 4, Bunreacht na hÉireann. Section 2, Republic of Ireland Act, 1948.''</ref> The British Isles also includes the [[Crown Dependencies]] of the [[Isle of Man]] and, by tradition, the [[Channel Islands]], although the latter are not geographically part of the island group.<ref>[http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/] Collier's Encyclopedia, 1997 Edition Don Aitken, "[http://alt-usage-english.org/whatistheuk.html#bi What is the UK? Is it the same as Britain, Great Britain or England?]", February 2002 {{blockquote|Usage is not consistent as to whether the Channel Islands are included [in the British Isles] - geographically they should not be, politically they should.}}</ref>

The term ''British Isles'' is [[British Isles naming dispute|controversial]] in relation to Ireland,<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Myers"> [http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2000/0309/archive.00030900085.html An Irishman's Diary] Myers, Kevin; The [[Irish Times]] (subscription needed) 09/03/2000, Accessed July 2006 "millions of people from these islands - oh how angry we get when people call them the British Isles".</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=rasBRQwwOIIC&pg=PA7 Social work in the British Isles by By Malcolm Payne, Steven Shardlow] When we think about social work in the British Isles, a contentious term if ever there was one, what do we expect to see?</ref> where there are objections to its usage due to the association of the word "British" with Ireland. The [[Government of Ireland]] discourages its use,<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article658099.ece ''The Times'': "New atlas lets Ireland slip shackles of Britain".]</ref><ref>"[http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/D/0606/D.0606.200509280360.html Written Answers - Official Terms"], [[Dáil Éireann]] - Volume 606 - 28 September, 2005. In his response, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that "The British Isles is not an officially recognised term in any legal or inter-governmental sense. It is without any official status. The Government, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, does not use this term. Our officials in the Embassy of Ireland, London, continue to monitor the media in Britain for any abuse of the official terms as set out in the Constitution of Ireland and in legislation. These include the name of the State, the President, [[Taoiseach]] and others."</ref> and in relations with the United Kingdom the words "these islands" are used.<ref> [http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/index.asp?locID=558&docID=3427 Bertie Ahern's Address to the Joint Houses of Parliament], Westminster, 15 May 2007</ref><ref> [http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/blair.htm Tony Blair's Address to the Dáil and Seanad], November 1998 </ref> Although still used as a geographic term, the controversy means that [[British Isles naming dispute#Alternative_terms|alternative terms]] such as '''"Britain and Ireland"''' are increasingly preferred.<ref>British Culture of the Postwar: An Introduction to Literature and Society, 1945-1999, Alistair Davies & Alan Sinfield, Routledge, 2000, ISBN 0415128110, Page 9.</ref><ref>The Reformation in Britain and Ireland: An Introduction, Ian Hazlett, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003, ISBN 0567082806, Chapter 2</ref>