I wish to express disappointment that this project is apparently focused only on the names of article pages.
As I argued in discussions about the Ireland disambiguation task force, the disputes around the Ireland name relate not only to the names of the articles, but also how the names are used within the text of other articles. The names of related articles are also relevant, e.g. Economy of the Republic of Ireland, Demographics of the Republic of Ireland.
The narrow terms of reference of this arbitration/mediation attempt mean that it is doomed to fail. A solution that focuses only on the titles of two articles will not resolve the naming dispute.
I also argued that the only way to achieve consensus is to achieve a comprehensive solution that included decisions about both article names and also references to names in other articles.
I perceived that the primary cause of the disputes has been the objection by a group of editors, mostly from the Republic of Ireland, to the term “Republic of Ireland”. This objection has validity, but the uncompromising and doctrinaire nature of some of its adherents, who wish to purge the term entirely from the whole encyclopaedia, has predictably provoked similarly uncompromising and doctrinaire opposition.
On the face of it, the stated reason for this objection – that “Ireland” is the official name and the “Republic of Ireland” is not – is sound. It fails, however, to take into account:
The wholesale objection to the term appears to be a visceral one that goes beyond reason.
It is noteworthy, however, that there appears to be no dispute about the need for disambiguation.
My strong view, therefore, is that "Republic of Ireland" should remain the name of the state article, and that "Ireland" should remain the name of the island article.
In the interests of compromise, however, I was prepared to forego this position and accept "Ireland (state)" as the name of the state article but only if there were also agreement to allow "Republic of Ireland" to be used in the text of other articles where appropriate.
My proposal, therefore, was:
This proposal received unprecedented support from a wide range of editors. I still believe that this is the solution.
It is a solution that I can support, however, only as an entire package. The individual elements of the solution lose my support if they are picked off and dealt with separately.
Call it fatigue, I'm no longer concerned about what the Ireland articles are called. As long as I can differentiate them, I'm content. Therefore, I'll go along with whatever's decided.
I wish to express disappointment that this project is apparently focused only on the names of article pages.
As I argued in discussions about the Ireland disambiguation task force, the disputes around the Ireland name relate not only to the names of the articles, but also how the names are used within the text of other articles. The names of related articles are also relevant, e.g. Economy of the Republic of Ireland, Demographics of the Republic of Ireland.
The narrow terms of reference of this arbitration/mediation attempt mean that it is doomed to fail. A solution that focuses only on the titles of two articles will not resolve the naming dispute.
I also argued that the only way to achieve consensus is to achieve a comprehensive solution that included decisions about both article names and also references to names in other articles.
I perceived that the primary cause of the disputes has been the objection by a group of editors, mostly from the Republic of Ireland, to the term “Republic of Ireland”. This objection has validity, but the uncompromising and doctrinaire nature of some of its adherents, who wish to purge the term entirely from the whole encyclopaedia, has predictably provoked similarly uncompromising and doctrinaire opposition.
On the face of it, the stated reason for this objection – that “Ireland” is the official name and the “Republic of Ireland” is not – is sound. It fails, however, to take into account:
The wholesale objection to the term appears to be a visceral one that goes beyond reason.
It is noteworthy, however, that there appears to be no dispute about the need for disambiguation.
My strong view, therefore, is that "Republic of Ireland" should remain the name of the state article, and that "Ireland" should remain the name of the island article.
In the interests of compromise, however, I was prepared to forego this position and accept "Ireland (state)" as the name of the state article but only if there were also agreement to allow "Republic of Ireland" to be used in the text of other articles where appropriate.
My proposal, therefore, was:
This proposal received unprecedented support from a wide range of editors. I still believe that this is the solution.
It is a solution that I can support, however, only as an entire package. The individual elements of the solution lose my support if they are picked off and dealt with separately.
Call it fatigue, I'm no longer concerned about what the Ireland articles are called. As long as I can differentiate them, I'm content. Therefore, I'll go along with whatever's decided.