"Eire": Offensive?

[KatieMorag]

Over on Digital Spy Forums today they were having a discussion about things that annoy Irish people and someone said when English people call the Republic of Ireland "Eire". Apparently it's only okay to call it that if you're speaking Irish, because the English word is"Ireland". When I was growing up and my parents wrote home they addressed their letters/cards "Dublin, Eire" etc. and I did that myself for a while - now I just write "Ireland" as Eire sounds a bit pretentious. But I never thought it might be perceived as offensive, can anyone explain why it might be?

[jembo]

Eire was the official name of our country when I was growing up and I don’t see why any Irish people should be offended by that. It was on our notes coins and postage stamps.

[KatieMorag]

Maybe it's okay for Irish people to say it but not English?

[jembo]

The term 'Ireland' applies to the whole island and in the old days the 26 countries was referred to as Eire, which went out of fashion in the late 40s/early 50s. I think there was a constitutional change a long time ago and Eire was replaced with Ireland.

[Bo]

Maybe it's okay for Irish people to say it but not English?

It’s the other way around, it’s ok for English people to say it , you would never hear an Irish person referring to it by that name. I think what gets up people’s goat is referring to here as “Southern Ireland “
I was speaking to someone in a call centre in GB a few years ago ( credit card or something) and he said that a few times. He also referred to Britain as “ the mainland “.

[KatieMorag]

Well the Irish posters on Digital Spy seemed to think it was insulting for English people to call it Eire and I just wondered if anyone on the forum felt like that and if so why. It seems an odd thing to be offended by.

[Bo]

Well the Irish posters on Digital Spy seemed to think it was insulting for English people to call it Eire and I just wondered if anyone on the forum felt like that and if so why. It seems an odd thing to be offended by.

Well maybe I don’t come across those people, I’m sure they are out there.
Northern Ireland is a different kettle of fish. Lots of terminology to get worked up about there. The unionist use the “mainland” a lot , just to piss off the nationalists.
The government in the republic would never use the name Northern Ireland, always “The six counties “ , that was the case up to about 20 years ago.
Another bugbear is NI being referred to as Ulster. Over a third of it is in the republic.

[jembo]

It’s the other way around, it’s ok for English people to say it , you would never hear an Irish person referring to it by that name. I think what gets up people’s goat is referring to here as “Southern Ireland “
I was speaking to someone in a call centre in GB a few years ago ( credit card or something) and he said that a few times. He also referred to Britain as “ the mainland “.

I wonder if an Irish person would turn down a free sack of Irish EU coins with eire on them?

[Bo]

I wonder if an Irish person they would turn down a free sack of Irish EU coins with eire on them?

You could answer that yourself I’m sure. You’re Irish. Is Elizabeth still defender of the faith?

[jembo]

You could answer that yourself I’m sure. You’re Irish. Is Elizabeth still defender of the faith?

I have no faith. I wised up to it way back when I was 13 years old. I witnessed the brutality and some of the shocking abuse rendered out by your RC whalers. There’s hardly a day goes by without hearing of more shocking cases like the babies in the cess pit and other mass graves being uncovered. Who is the “defender of the faith” in Ireland? I am astounded that people sill practice the Roman Catholic religion.

[Bo]

I have no faith. I wised up to it way back when I was 13 years old. I witnessed the brutality and some of the shocking abuse rendered out by your RC whalers. There’s hardly a day goes by without hearing of more shocking cases like the babies in the cess pit and other mass graves being uncovered. Who is the “defender of the faith” in Ireland? I am astounded that people sill practice the Roman Catholic religion.

What’s an RC whaler. You’ll have to educate me.

[cogito]

Éire

It goes back to the constitution which was put together in the 1930s. The name of the country (or state in political terms) is Ireland - in the English language.

In the Irish language the name is Éire. So, on postage stamps and some government documents you'll see Éire printed - but if you're conversing or writing in English, the official name of the country is Ireland.

This annoys northern unionists who accept 'Ireland' is a geographical unit - but not a political entity. Similarly, some members of the British establishment during the 1940s, apart from agreeing with the sentiments of Northern unionists on the term 'Ireland' - were also irritated that the Irish Free State had morphed into a republic which was clearly in breach of the 1922 treaty, so they used the name Éire in any references to it - and it became common currency among the broader British political and media circles.

Unionist politicians - and some English Conservatives - still use the term and the Irish do find it a bit jarring when coming in that context. Yes, it's the official name for the country in the Irish language - but never used by the Irish themselves in an English language setting.

The suspicion is that the term is being used in a disparaging fashion when coming from the mouths of some (not all) people who could easily use the non-contentious 'Republic of Ireland' if they want to differentiate between the counties north of the border.

[KatieMorag]

Thanks for that explanation. I think I understand it a bit more now. It just threw me a bit because of Mum and Dad using the name.

[cogito]

Thanks for that explanation. I think I understand it a bit more now. It just threw me a bit because of Mum and Dad using the name.

Just to clarify.... I can remember (long time ago) when Eire was put on letters from overseas - may have been a recommendation for postal sorting reasons. It just stopped after that, can't remember why.

[KatieMorag]

Just to clarify.... I can remember (long time ago) when Eire was put on letters from overseas - may have been a recommendation for postal sorting reasons. It just stopped after that, can't remember why.

Yes, I'm talking about the 70s. Not sure if they carried on writing "Eire" after that.
It all seems a bit bonkers - you get people proudly calling their kids Irish names and using the Irish versions of their own names (especially on Twitter) but if an English person uses the Irish "Eire" it's an insult - I can't keep up!