Why? Because people, even people I thought were well-versed in matters of the world, are apparently unable to call our nearest neighbour by its actual name.
So, after a week of listening to mistake, after mistake, I've snapped in the most me way possible. I've written a handy guide to 'which Ireland is it again?'
You're welcome.
Ireland- A large island next to Great Britain. Next.
Irish Republic- A polity made up of the whole island of Ireland. It was proclaimed by those who took part in the Easter Rising of 1916, and was then the legal basis for the uprising against the British from 1919 until 1922. At this point, the Irish Republic was replaced with the Irish Free State.
However... many in the Free State were outraged at what they saw as a betrayal of the republic for which they had fought for. In particular, the guerrillas who had styled themselves as the Republican Army were furious. They declared that the Irish Republic still existed, and its authority was vested in the Army Council; they then retreated into the shadows. Ever since, the various versions of the IRA have used this as their claim to represent the people of Ireland in their struggle against the UK, and to legitimise their armed activities in both the Republic of Ireland and the UK.
Southern Ireland- A polity made up of 26 counties in Ireland. It was created by the 1920 Government of Ireland Act, and was a part of the United Kingdom. However, it was in direct competition with the Irish Republic, and barely functioned as a state. It was dissolved in 1922 and replaced with the Irish Free State.
Irish Free State- A polity made up of 26 counties in Ireland. It was a Dominion of the British Empire, headed by the King of the United Kingdom. Created by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, it was seen as a either stepping stone to real independence, or a betrayal of the Irish Republic (see above). It ended sometime between 1936 and 1948 (really, don't ask, it is complicated), and managed to sit out the Second World War in the process.
Republic of Ireland- A polity made up of 26 counties in Ireland. It is a completely separate country to the UK, having its own President and Taoiseach (prime minister) and everything. And has been since 1936, or 1948 (again, don't ask). It used to be known sometimes as Eire, because the UK had a strop about the name Republic of Ireland, as it made it sound as if the Republic also wanted to rule Northern Ireland. But since 1998 that's all water under the bridge, and now everyone calls it by its real name. Or should do...
Northern Ireland- A polity that is made up of six counties from the province of Ulster. A part of the United Kingdom, it opted out of inclusion in the Irish Free State. To borrow from Douglas Adams, this made a lot of people very angry, and is been widely considered to have been a bad move. The majority of the population of Northern Ireland were happy to stay in the UK; a significant minority were not, leading eventually to the Troubles and the subsequent peace process.
So although it may not seem to actually matter what you call the country to the west of the UK, it really does. The Irish Republic hasn't existed outside of the minds of the IRA for nearly a century. Southern Ireland barely got off the ground as an entity, it certainly isn't the proper name for the bit that isn't Northern Ireland.
If someone changed their name, you wouldn't persist in using their old name on purpose. When we talk to the Russians, we don't call them Bolsheviks, the Germans Prussians, the Vietnamese Indochinese (although it is only a matter of time before Boris Johnson manages all of these). We should extend the same courtesy to our neighbours. Especially as they have a veto on our smooth exit from the European Union.
Biting satire from 1914 on the Irish Question. Given the question now seems to be 'what is it called?' it clearly went swimmingly...
