The term Ireland, when used as a proper noun, is ambiguous.[1] It may refer to either an island in Europe, or a sovereign state, comprising approximately 75% of that island by landmass. [2] This dispute concerns the title of the articles about these two overlapping, but non-identical entities.
According to WP:DAB, "Disambiguation in Wikipedia is the process of resolving conflicts in Wikipedia article titles that occur when a single term can be associated with more than one topic," How, therefore, do we disambiguate between the two overlapping but non-identical entities called Ireland: the state vs. the island? Three fairly self evident options are available to us:
- Have a disambiguation page that directs readers to two daughter articles, each of which has a different title.
- Have one of the articles under the title "Ireland" and the other under another title.
- Do not disambiguate, instead covering both subjects under the same article title.
Furthermore, there are alternatives available within each option (for example, if disambiguation is to occur, what titles should be used for the state: Ireland (state) or Republic of Ireland?) All these options can justified by policies, and no one is inherently more "correct" than another. There are advantages and disadvantages associated with each.[3]
Here I argue that everyone needs to Calm The Fuck Doun and get some perspective: [4] any of these options would serve the readers of Wikipedia admirably. With intelligent use of inline piping, redirects and hatnotes, the title of an article is of much lesser concern than the content. [5] Or as Juliet said, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.[6] What is important is that which is beneath the title; whether the title is Montague or Ireland is of little ultimate consequence. [7]
The elephant in the room in this discussion, is the multi-generational geo-political dispute over the re-unification/segregation of Ireland (the state) with/from Ireland (the island).[8] It would be naïve to suggest that this dispute has not influenced the process of resolving the article titles here on Wikipedia.[9] I would caution, therefore, that this should be borne in mind when considering impassioned arguments stating that only one solution is acceptable and the others are entirely intolerable. Ask yourself, also, if you feel particularly strongly about this, to what extent your national or cultural interests are influencing your perspective.
Nevertheless, to participate in a ballot one must express a preference. My preference is no more notable or authoritative than anyone else's, so its hardly fair that I should be extolling its virtues to you. [10] You've got a brain, you have found your way onto the largest repository of information the world has ever seen, so go read, learn, think, then vote.[11]
- ^ Daly M.E., 2007, "The Irish Free State/Éire/Republic of Ireland/Ireland: 'A Country by Any Other Name'?" in the Journal of British Studies, Volume 46, Number 1, January 2007, pp. 72–90.
- ^ Ibid. ""Ireland is the name of an island in the North Atlantic. Ireland is also the name of a state, comprising roughly three‐quarters of that island, which secured independence from Britain in 1922.""
- ^ See here for a reasonably neutral overview.
- ^ Calm The Fuck Doun, T-Pain.
- ^ If a fraction of the effort put into warring over the titles had been directed to writing the encyclopaedia, I suggest, our readers would be much better off.
- ^ Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2), William Shakespeare.
- ^ I'm pretty sure this is the first time T-Pain and Shakespeare have been quoted together in the same paragraph. Result.
- ^ See The Troubles for an overview
- ^ If you don't believe me, take a look at some of the user pages of the principle contributors to the, ahem, "collaboration".
- ^ Some editors may try to convince you they have an intellectual monopoly on interpreting our policies and thus you MUST agree with them or you become a "POV warrior" by default - an affliction that ranks alongside having VD and being an admin in the eyes of most Wikipedians.
- ^ If that sounds too much work for you, and you would rather someone just tell you what to do, then I respectfully request you put down the ballot paper and go edit List of Robot Chicken episodes instead.
