Northern Ireland naming dispute

There are a number of alternative names used for the region of the island of Ireland officially called Northern Ireland.¹ The region, consisting of six historic counties, remains part of the United Kingdom following the secession of the other twenty-six counties to form the Irish Free State in 1922 (now Ireland). In addition to, and sometimes instead of, its official name, several other names are used for the region. Significant differences in political views between unionists, nationalists and republicans are reflected in the variations of names they use for the region.

Names

Legal name

The official and legal name of the region is Northern Ireland.² This is despite the fact that Malin Head in the Republic of Ireland actually extends further north than any of Northern Ireland. The legal name is used by both the British and Irish governments, internationally by governments around the world, and by most of its inhabitants. Some nationalists, however, reject the name Northern Ireland, as they believe it distinguishes the region from the rest of Ireland.

Political names

Unionist associated names

Ulster is often used by Unionists and in the rest of the UK. This is the Anglo-Norse form of the province of Uladh (pronounced "Ull-oo") (Irish Uladh and Old Norse ster, meaning "province," yields "Uladh Ster" or, in English, "Ulster"). Examples of official use of this term are the Ulster Unionist Party, the University of Ulster, BBC Radio Ulster and other organisations.

This term is disliked by some nationalists because the whole of the Province of Ulster consists of nine counties - three of which, County Monaghan, County Cavan and County Donegal, are in the Republic of Ireland. Unionists have argued that because Ulster's size has changed much over the centuries, Ulster can be applied to Northern Ireland alone. Indeed, as discussed below, the Government of Northern Ireland once considered a proposal to change the official name to Ulster.

The Province is also sometimes used, referring directly to the status of Northern Ireland as a "province" of the United Kingdom. This also, however, could be obliquely used to refer to the province of Ulster; and since no other constituent part of the United Kingdom is known as a province, a less controversial usage is "the region".

Nationalist associated names

Nationalists in the region and their supporters abroad commonly refer to it as The North of Ireland, The North-East or The North. This can be used to implicitly deny British sovereignty by placing it into the rest of Ireland, at least linguistically. It does, however, contain the same geographic anomaly as it does not contain Ireland's most northerly point.

The Six Counties is another popular name among republicans, as it can portray the region as a mere collection of Irish counties, rather than a legal political entity. Some also reject the claim of the Republic of Ireland to have inherited the tradition of the Irish Republic of the Irish War of Independence, because it excludes the northeast, and refer to the Republic variously as the Free State or The Twenty-Six Counties.

The Occupied Six Counties is a phrase sometimes used by more extreme republicans, especially since the arrival of British troops, but originally employed simply to suggest the illegitimacy of the British presence. This is sometimes rendered as The Occupied Zone or The OZ.

Other names

In the Republic of Ireland, people typically refer to the region simply as the North, though Northern Ireland is becoming more popular in the media, by politicians and by the general public.

Similarly, and more commonly, in Northern Ireland, the South is sometimes used as a shorthand term for the Republic of Ireland.

Obviously this explanation does not hold for parts of the Republic such as County Donegal giving rise to the joke that while further out in a boat on Lough Foyle, "the South is north, and the North is south".

A colloquial name for Northern Ireland which has grown in popularity in recent years is Norn Iron, particularly when talking about the football team.

Northern Ireland is literally translated to Tuaisceart Éireann or Tuaisceart na hÉireann in Irish (though the state is sometimes known as Na Sé Chontae³ by republicans) and Norlin Airlann or Northern Ireland in Ulster Scots.

Government proposals to rename NI as Ulster

Ulster unionists often use the name Ulster as a synonym for Northern Ireland.⁴ Sometimes there are calls to officially change the name of Northern Ireland to Ulster.⁵⁶

1937 Ulster proposal

The parliamentary reports of the Parliament of Northern Ireland record an instance in 1937 where the proposal to rename Northern Ireland as Ulster was given formal consideration.⁷ On 1 December 1937, Thomas Joseph Campbell, MP (Nationalist) asked the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland whether the Government was considering changing the name of Northern Ireland, and, if so what name was being considered. Responding, the Minister of Finance John Miller Andrews MP said "the matter has been under discussion amongst Members of the Government, but no Cabinet decision has been taken".

This exchange followed speeches in parliament the previous month by two Independent Unionist MPs, Tommy Henderson and John William Nixon raising the possible name-change. Both regretted the name-change was not mentioned in the King's Speech. Mr. Henderson criticised the Attorney-General for Northern Ireland's handling of the matter. He said that "the Attorney-General suggested recently that the name of Northern Ireland should be changed to Ulster". However, according to Mr Henderson it was "absolutely impossible to change the name of this area from Northern Ireland to Ulster without amending the 1920 Act" (the Government of Ireland Act, 1920). That Act could only be amended by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and not the Parliament or government of Northern Ireland. He concluded that in making the suggestion, the Attorney-General had tried to "throw dust in the eyes of the Ulster people".

1949 Ulster proposal

At a Downing Street Conference between the UK and Northern Ireland governments on 6 January 1949, the Northern Ireland government again raised the proposal to change the name of Northern Ireland to Ulster. The Conference was held on the initiative of the Northern Ireland Government. Its purpose was to consider possible legislation to give statutory effect to Prime Minister Clement Attlee's assurance that Northem Ireland's constitutional position would not be prejudiced by the Republic of Ireland Act by which Ireland had decided to leave the British Commonwealth and any other possible consequences for Northern Ireland arising from the Irish decision.⁸ The UK government was represented at the Conference by the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor, the Home Secretary, and the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations while Northern Ireland premier Sir Basil Brooke led the Northern Ireland delegation. Shortly before the Conference, The Times reported:⁹

The fresh proposal to change the name to Ulster drew protest from the Nationalist Party M.P. for Fermanagh and Tyrone, Anthony Mulvey. The M.P. sent a telegram to Prime Minister Attlee to strongly "protest against any proposal to change the title Northern Ireland to Ulster". The M.P. argued that "[a]ny assent to the suggestion proposed can only be regarded as a calculated affront to the Irish nation and still further embitter relations between the peoples of Great Britain and Ireland...". The M.P. sent a telegram in similar terms to the Irish Minister for External Affairs, Seán McBride.¹⁰

Ultimately the Northern Ireland government’s proposal to rename the area was rejected. The UK governmnent cabinet minutes of 12 January 1949 indicate that the the Northern Ireland government reluctantly accepted this with the Prime Minister noting that "N.I. [Northern Ireland] Ministers accepted the name “N.I.” eventually"¹¹ A few days after the Conference The Times also reported that "[i]t is not thought that the suggestion to rename Northern Ireland "Ulster" has found much support."¹²

Contents

Names

Legal name

Political names

Unionist associated names

Nationalist associated names

Other names

Government proposals to rename NI as Ulster

1937 Ulster proposal

1949 Ulster proposal

See also

Notes

External links