There is dispute and disagreement over the term British Isles. The term is defined in dictionaries as "Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands".^[1] However, the association of the term "British" with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,^[2] as well as its association with the island of Great Britain, cause the term to be regarded as objectionable or inappropriate to many Irish people^[3][4]. Alternative terms suggested include "these islands" or "these isles", "Anglo-Celtic Isles", "Islands of the North Atlantic" (IONA), "Northwest European Archipelago" or "West European Isles", none of which have wide currency.

The dispute is partly semantic: to some readers the term is a value-free geographic one, while to others the term can be a value-laden political one. That the British Isles were all, with the exception of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, included in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1922, when most of Ireland left, is also highly relevant to some. Although early variants of the term date back to Ancient Greek times, the term fell into disuse for over a millennium and was introduced into English in the late 16th or early 17th centuries by English and Welsh writers whose writings have been described as propaganda and politicized^[5][6][7]. The term was not in wide use in Britain before at least the second half of the 17th century. The term was widely accepted from the late 18th century to at least the early 20th and problems with the term date mostly to the period after Irish independence.

The island of Ireland is currently occupied by two states:Ireland occupies five sixths of the island and Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, occupies the remaining one sixth. The respective names of the two states: Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland were themselves also the subject of a long dispute between the Irish and British governments. It should also be noted that the dispute does not generally extend to adjectives; there is no distinct adjectival form of "British Isles", or most of the alternatives, and it is generally agreed that "British" does not include "Irish".

No branch of the government of Ireland officially uses the term British Isles,^[8] and although it is on occasion used in a geographical sense in Irish parliamentary debates, it is often used in a way that excludes Ireland. A spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London has said use of the term would be discouraged.^[9]

Its use is also avoided in relations between the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom, who generally employ the term these islands.^[10][11]

The term "British Isles" is sometimes used in the same way as British Islands.^[12] This definition, excluding the Republic of Ireland, does not typically cause offence in Ireland but can be confusing as dictionary definitions have not yet recognised this usage.

Perspectives in Britain

Euler diagram of the British Isles

In general, the use of the term British Isles to refer to the archipelago is common and uncontroversial within Great Britain,^[13] at least since the concept of Britishness was gradually but widely accepted in Britain after the 1707 Act of Union. In Britain it is commonly understood as being a politically neutral geographical term, although the term is sometimes used to describe the UK or Great Britain alone.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

Issues with the term British Isles in relation to Ireland has been recognised in the UK and its use has been removed. Recent histories of Great Britain and Ireland, published by major British academic publishers like the Oxford and Cambridge University presses, have discussed the acceptability term British Isles in Ireland, although one has continued to use the term "for convenience".^[19] Recognition of the issues with the term, as well as problems over definitions and terminology was also discussed by the columnist Marcel Berlins, writing in The Guardian in 2006. Starting by saying "At last, someone has had the sense to abolish the British Isles", he gives his opinion that "although purely a geographical definition, it is frequently mixed up with the political entities Great Britain, or the United Kingdom. Even when used geographically, its exact scope is widely misunderstood". He also acknowledges that some view the term as representing Britain's imperial past, when it ruled the whole of Ireland.^[20] Another historian of British and Irish history has described the term as "politically loaded"^[21].

Perspectives in Ireland

The perspective in Ireland is often quite different from the view in Britain. From the Irish perspective, the term British had never applied to Ireland until the late 16th century and onwards, a period that coincided with the Tudor conquest of Ireland, the subsequent Cromwellian activities in Ireland, then the Williamite accession in Britain and the Williamite War in Ireland, all of which resulted in severe impact on Irish people, landowners and native aristocracy, e.g. the Flight of the Earls and the Flight of the Wild Geese. From that perspective the term "British Isles" is not a neutral geographical description but is an unavoidably political term. Use of the name "British Isles" is often rejected in the Republic of Ireland and amongst Irish Nationalists in Northern Ireland because its use implies a primacy of British identity over all of the islands, which include the states of Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands as well as the United Kingdom, and many feel that the term does not apply to Ireland since secession from the United Kingdom.^{[22][23][24][25]}

Many bodies, including the Irish Government, avoid describing the Republic of Ireland as being part of the British Isles. The term "British Isles" is occasionally used at governmental level in Ireland, as when a cabinet minister, Síle de Valera, delivered a speech containing the term in 2002, although this was contrary to stated government policy.^[26] British Isles has been used in a geographical sense in Irish parliamentary debates, including by government ministers,^[27][28] although it is often used in a way that defines the British Isles as excluding the Republic of Ireland.^{[29][30][31][32]} In October 2006, Irish educational publisher Folens announced that it was removing the term from its popular school atlas from January 2007. The decision was made after the issue was raised by a Geography teacher. Folens stated that no parent had complained directly to them over the use of "British Isles", and that they had a policy of acting first on the appearance of a "potential problem".^[33][34] This attracted some press attention in the UK and Ireland, during which a spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London said, "The British Isles has a dated ring to it, as if we are still part of the Empire".^[35]

Perspectives in Northern Ireland

Different views on terminology are probably most clearly seen in Northern Ireland, where the political situation is difficult and national identity is contested. A survey in Northern Ireland found that unionists generally considered the British Isles to be a natural geographical entity, considering themselves primarily British with a supplementary Irish identity. Another survey highlighted the British and Irish identity of the Protestant community, showing that 51% of Protestants felt "Not at all Irish" and 41% only "weakly Irish"^[36][37] In contrast, nationalists considered their community to be that of the Irish nation, a distinct cultural and political community extending across the whole of Ireland. Identities were diverse and multi-layered, and Irishness was a highly contested identity, and nationalists expressed difficulty in understanding unionist descriptions of Britishness.^[38]

The overall opinions of people in Northern Ireland about the term, like the opinions of those in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain, have never been formally gauged. Politicians from the Irish Unionist traditions do readily use the term "British Isles"^[39][40] The contrast between Unionist and Nationalist approaches to the term was shown in December 1999 at a meeting of the Irish cabinet and Northern Ireland executive in Armagh. The First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, told the meeting:

In contrast, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, did not use the term in his address to the meeting.^[41]

At a gathering of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body in 1998, the sensitivity about the term became an issue. Referring to plans for the then-planned British-Irish Council, which was being supported by both Nationalists and Unionists, British MP for Falkirk West Dennis Canavan was paraphrased by official note takers as having said in a caveat:

In a series of documents issued by the United Kingdom and Ireland, from the Downing Street Declaration to the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Agreement), relations in the British Isles were referred to as the East-West strand of the tripartite relationships defined.^[42]

Alternative terms

There are several terms that are used as alternatives for the term British Isles.

These Isles

Sometimes an ambiguous phrase such as these Isles (or, much less often, the Isles) is used, thus utilising the same logic used when referring to the Persian Gulf as the Gulf. These Islands was used in Strand Three of the Good Friday Agreement to establish the British-Irish Council, and has been described as the favoured term of Irish politicians.^[43] Clearly these terms are only useful inside "these islands".

(Great) Britain and Ireland

Probably the most common alternative term in modern usage is "Great Britain and Ireland", or more simply, "Britain and Ireland". This is very common and almost entirely uncontroversial, although it may be felt to neglect smaller islands in the archipelago and is ambiguous concerning the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Because of its similarity to the former name of the United Kingdom before the secession of what would become the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, it has been suggested that this may be problematic, although in common practice it is not.

British Isles and Ireland

Another term that is sometimes used is British Isles and Ireland. Similar to "Great Britain and Ireland", this has been used in a variety of contexts - among others religion,^[44] nursing,^[45] zoological publications,^[46] academia,^[47] and other sources. This form of title is also used in some book titles^[48] and legal publications.^[49] This usage, however, implies that Northern Ireland is not part of the British Isles, which causes problems in itself.

United Kingdom (or UK) and Ireland

Some live UK television shows such as the X Factor allow voting from the Republic of Ireland and hold auditions in Dublin, and use terminology such as "UK and Ireland" on voting lines. This is also common for copyright notices on DVDs and CDs. The UK and Ireland are two countries that are located within the archipelago not the archipelago itself. However, the United Kingdom often interpreted, in some cases legally, as including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, in which case the term does in fact cover the entire geographic area of the archipelago. Often though, it is indeed the two countries that are being referred to specifically, sometimes with legal meaning, thus the term "British Isles" would be incorrect and vague in any case.

Islands of the North Atlantic (or IONA)

In the context of the Northern Ireland peace process the term Islands of the North Atlantic, and its acronym. IONA, was a term initially created by then Conservative Party MP Sir John Biggs-Davison,^[50] has been used as a neutral term to describe "the British Isles", employing the history of the Scottish island of Iona to draw the ancient and mutually-honoured shared history between Britain and Ireland. In a wider context, the term might be misunderstood as including Iceland, Greenland, the Azores and other islands.

IONA has been used by, among others, the Irish Taoiseach (Prime minister), Bertie Ahern:

Others have interpreted the term more narrowly to mean the Council of the Isles or British-Irish Council. Peter Luff MP told the British House of Commons in 1998 that

His interpretation, as Ahern's comment earlier shows, is not widely held, particularly in Ireland. In 1997 the leader of the Irish Green Party, Trevor Sargent, discussing the Strand Three (or East-West) talks between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, commented in Dáil Éireann (the Irish House of Representatives):

His comments were echoed by Proinsias De Rossa, then leader of Democratic Left and later President of the Irish Labour Party, who told the Dáil, "The acronym IONA is a useful way of addressing the coming together of these two islands."^[51]

Anglo-Celtic Isles

Anglo-Celtic Isles has been used in academia for the isles^[52][53] and romantically. This reflects the supposed ethnic make up of the islands of Celtic peoples ? the Irish, Manx, Scottish, Cornish and Welsh ? and the Anglic people ? the English.

In 2003 Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price suggested Liverpool to replace London as the capital of the United Kingdom, describing Liverpool as "an Anglo-Celtic city that's ethnically diverse and infectiously inclusive."^[54]

Northwest European Archipelago

Some academics in the 1990s and early 2000s also used the term Northwest European archipelago.^[55] Usage however appears sporadic in historiography and rarely repeated outside it, to date.

West European Isles

The name the West European Isles is one translation of the islands' name in the Gaelic languages of Irish^[56] and Manx^[57], alongside equivalent terms to British Isle^[58] and Manx.^[59] In Irish, Éire bain agus an Bhreatain Mhór, literally Ireland and Great Britain, is the more common term.^[60]

A somewhat similar usage exists in Iceland. Westman is the Icelandic name for a person from Gaelic areas of Britain and Ireland (Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man), and the Western Lands is the translation of the name for the islands in Icelandic.^[61]

Pretanic Isles

A return to the Greek term Pretan(n)ic Isles has been suggested and has seen some usage in academic contexts, particularly in reference to the islands in a pre-Roman context.^[62]

Insular

Insular art and Insular script are uncontroversial terms in art history and paleography for the early medieval art and script of all the islands. Insular Celtic is a similar term in linguistics. However this adjective is used only in relation to contexts originating over a thousand years ago.

Footnotes