Wikipedia:WikiProject Ireland Collaboration/statementby78.152.253.163

Part 1: Background
"Ireland" is a proper noun that can refer to two things: an island and a contemporary state:


 * Use of the term to refer to the island has developed etymologically from ancient roots and is perceived as 'natural' and 'uncontroversial'.


 * Use of the term to refer to state is complicated by the fact that the current territory of current state known by that name is not the equal to the territory of the island:
 * Prior to 1801 successive states existed that were known as "Ireland".
 * These states were the same in territorial extent as the island.
 * Between 1801 and 1920 a constituent country of the United Kingdom was known as "Ireland"
 * This country was the same in territorial extent as the island.
 * Between 1920 and 1937, "Ireland" referred exclusively to the island.
 * In 1937 a new state was enacted:
 * This state was called "Ireland" in its constitution
 * This state was defined has having the same in territorial extent as the island in its constitution.
 * The constitutional name of this state and it territorial claim were initially not internationally recognised.
 * The Irish-language name of the state (Éire) were used to refer to it.
 * Over the subsequent decades the name of the state became internationally recognised
 * The claimed territorial extent of the state was never internationally recognised.
 * In 1949, the state "described" itself as "Republic of Ireland"
 * This terminology was immediately internationally recognised.
 * This terminology replaced "Éire" as the common means to refer to the state without using its constitutional name.
 * In 1999, as part of an agreement with the United Kingdom (with which the state disputed its territory), the state ceased to be territorially equal to the island under its own constitution.
 * Under that agreement, the United Kingdom agreed to recongise the state by whatever name it referred to itself by.

Both senses of the word "Ireland" can be described as a being a "country". Only the sense of the word that means the state can be described as being a "state".

Part 2: Usage
In most cases, use of the term "Ireland" can be assumed to mean the island. E.g.:


 * A book called "The History Ireland" will almost certainly mean the history of the island, its occupants and their history. It is very unlikely to refer only to the history of the state by that name, 1937-present.
 * A talk on the "geography of Ireland" will almost certainly mean the geography of the island. It is very unlikely to refer only the the geography of the territory of the state by that name, 1937-present.
 * Discussion of the "culture of Ireland" will almost certainly mean the culture of the island, meaning the culture of its inhabitants. It is very unlikely to refer only to the history of the sate by that name, 1937-present.
 * A website about the "politics of Ireland" will very likely mean the politics of the island, meaning the politics of the states and constituent country that existed on the island before 1920 and the politics of the two jurisdictions that have existed on the island since then. It is unlikely to refer only to the politics of the sate by that name, 1937-present.
 * A TV documentary about the "literature of Ireland" will almost certainly mean the literature of the island, meaning the literature created by its inhabitants. It is very unlikely to refer only to the literature of the sate by that name, 1937-present.
 * A meteorological report predicting the weather in "Ireland" will almost certainly mean the island. It is very unlikely to refer only to the weather in the territory of the sate by that name, 1937-present.
 * A sporting organisation representing "Ireland" will almost certainly mean the island, and represent clubs and players from the across the island. It is very unlikely to represent only clubs and players from the territory of the sate by that name, 1937-present.
 * A guidebook for travelers to "Ireland" will almost certainly mean the island. It is very unlikely to refer only to the sate by that name, 1937-present.

There are some areas when "Ireland" should be understood unequivocally to mean the state e.g. a "citizen of Ireland" means a citizen of the sate by that name, 1937-present. These circumstances are limited to areas that, by their context, can be understood to refer to the business of contemporary state and its apparatus.

When necessary to distinguish between the two "Ireland"s, alternative terminology is used to refer to the state (e.g. "Éire", "Republic of Ireland", "the Republic", "the 26 counties", "the south"). No alternative terminology is used to disambiguate the island, which is always called "Ireland". (Rarely from the clarifier, "the island of Ireland", is used for emphasis.)

Part 3: Ireland (and Republic of Ireland) on Wikipedia

 * On 14 October 2001 an article was created at Ireland that dealt with both the island, its geography, politics and culture. (A lengthy paragraph on the the state was copied-and-pasted from the CIA Worldbook.)
 * On 15 November 2002 the section dealing with the state was moved to Republic of Ireland and the article at Ireland became a disambiguation page between articles at Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
 * On 18 January 2003 the disambiguation page at Ireland became an article on the island, its geography, history, politics and culture.

The article on the island, is the 252th most linked to article on Wikipedia (20,756 links). Last month, the article on the island as viewed 325,538 times making it the 467th most viewed article on the English-language Wikipedia.

The article on the state is the 797th most linked to article on Wikipedia (7,672 links). Last month, the article on the state as viewed 132,571 times making it the 1,877th most viewed article on the English-language Wikipedia.

(See Special:MostLinkedPages and stats.grok.se.)

Users that endorse this summary

 * 1) Kittybrewster   &#9742;  00:14, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 2) Brown HairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 02:59, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 3) Mooretwin (talk) 11:20, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 4) ClemMcGann (talk) 14:11, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 5) — Blue-Haired Lawyer 14:28, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 6) ras52 (talk) 15:46, 20 March 2009 (UTC) (with some reservations about parts of 2)
 * 7) Fmph (talk) 12:41, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 8) Bastun BaStun not BaTsun 21:49, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Users that oppose this summary

 * 1) MusicInTheHouse (talk) 00:54, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 2) -- Domer48 'fenian'  09:06, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 3) Oppose P.2., agree with other parts --HighKing (talk) 13:25, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 4) SarekOfVulcan (talk) 14:59, 3 June 2009 (UTC)