Editing Northern Ireland (section)

===Alternative names===
{{Main|Alternative names for Northern Ireland}}

[[File:JAFFE FOUNTAIN OUTSIDE VICTORIA SQUARE SHOPPING CENTRE -A FAVOURITE OF MINE- REF-104998 (17841282323).jpg|thumb|[[Victoria Square Shopping Centre]] in Belfast]]
Many people inside and outside Northern Ireland use other names for Northern Ireland, depending on their point of view. Disagreement on names, and the reading of political symbolism into the use or non-use of a word, also attaches itself to some urban centres. The most notable example is whether Northern Ireland's second-largest city should be called [[Derry-Londonderry name dispute|"Derry" or "Londonderry"]].

Choice of language and [[nomenclature]] in Northern Ireland often reveals the cultural, ethnic, and religious identity of the speaker. Those who do not belong to any group but lean towards one side often tend to use the language of that group. Supporters of unionism in the British media (notably ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' and the ''[[Daily Express]]'') regularly call Northern Ireland "Ulster".<ref>{{cite news |last=Peterkin |first=Tom |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1509280/IRA-fuel-smuggling-drove-oil-giants-to-abandon-Ulster.html |title=Example of Daily Telegraph use of "Ulster" in text of an article, having used "Northern Ireland" in the opening paragraph |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=31 January 2006 |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=1 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501041920/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1509280/IRA-fuel-smuggling-drove-oil-giants-to-abandon-Ulster.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Many media outlets in the Republic use "North of Ireland" (or simply "the North"),<ref name=Abortion-in-the-North-of-Ireland/><ref name=Calls-for-More-Supports-in_Norths-Schools/><ref name=RTE-does-not-stop-people-in-the-North/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30741054.html |title='Abortion drone' delivers pills to the North from Ireland |work=[[Irish Examiner]] |date=21 June 2016 |access-date=21 June 2016 |archive-date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913225532/https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30741054.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Philip |last=Ryan |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/varadkar-considers-travel-ban-but-wont-stop-northsouth-travel-39048435.html |title=Varadkar considers travel ban but won't stop North/South travel |work=Irish Independent |date=21 June 2016 |access-date=21 June 2016 |archive-date=17 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317171705/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/varadkar-considers-travel-ban-but-wont-stop-northsouth-travel-39048435.html |url-status=live}}</ref> as well as the "Six Counties".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.todayfm.com/uncategorized/gaa-confirm-500-allow-allianz-league-matches-six-counties-1200507 |title=GAA confirm 500 allowed into Allianz League matches in six counties |publisher=[[Today FM]] |first=Stephen |last=Doyle |date=25 May 2021 |access-date=4 June 2021 |archive-date=4 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604004353/https://www.todayfm.com/uncategorized/gaa-confirm-500-allow-allianz-league-matches-six-counties-1200507 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' has also used "the North".<ref>{{cite news |first1=Andrew |last1=Testa |first2=Megan |last2=Specia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/world/europe/northern-ireland-brexit-border.html |title=Example of New York Times use of "the North" in text of an article (fifth paragraph), having used "Northern Ireland" earlier |work=The New York Times |date=15 October 2018 |access-date=15 October 2018 |archive-date=15 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015181509/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/world/europe/northern-ireland-brexit-border.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Government and cultural organisations in Northern Ireland often use the word "Ulster" in their title; for example, the [[University of Ulster]], the [[Ulster Museum]], the [[Ulster Orchestra]], and [[BBC Radio Ulster]].

Although some news bulletins since the 1990s have opted to avoid all contentious terms and use the official name, Northern Ireland, the term "the North" remains commonly used by broadcast media in the Republic.<ref name=Abortion-in-the-North-of-Ireland>{{cite news |url=https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-moncrieff/abortion-north-ireland |title=Abortion in the North of Ireland: Grainne Teggart campaigns manager for Amnesty International NI joins Sean to discuss the problems around abortion in the North of Ireland |publisher=[[Newstalk]] |date=3 June 2020 |access-date=3 June 2020 |archive-date=28 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828040106/https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-moncrieff/abortion-north-ireland |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Calls-for-More-Supports-in_Norths-Schools>{{cite news |url=https://www.highlandradio.com/2020/09/10/calls-for-more-supports-in-norths-schools-after-covid-cases/ |title=Calls for more supports in North's schools after Covid cases |publisher=Highland Radio |date=10 September 2020 |access-date=10 September 2020 |archive-date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913230345/https://www.highlandradio.com/2020/09/10/calls-for-more-supports-in-norths-schools-after-covid-cases/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=RTE-does-not-stop-people-in-the-North>{{cite news |first=John |last=Monaghan |url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2018/07/14/news/rte-head-of-sport-says-broadcaster-does-not-stop-people-in-the-north-watching-gaelic-games-1382277/ |title=RTÉ head of sport says broadcaster does not stop people in the north watching gaelic games |work=The Irish News |date=14 July 2018 |access-date=14 July 2018 |quote=RTÉ is a '32-county broadcaster' and 'do not stop people in the north watching gaelic games', its new head of sport has said... Last weekend RTÉ said it dealt with 'dozens' of complaints from frustrated GAA fans across the north who were left unable to watch a live broadcast of the All-Ireland qualifier between Armagh and Roscommon. |archive-date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913233641/http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2018/07/14/news/rte-head-of-sport-says-broadcaster-does-not-stop-people-in-the-north-watching-gaelic-games-1382277/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Unionist====
* '''Ulster''', strictly speaking, refers to the province of [[Ulster]], of which six of nine historical counties are in Northern Ireland. The term "Ulster" is widely used by unionists and the British press as shorthand for Northern Ireland, and is also favoured by [[Ulster nationalism|Ulster nationalists]].{{efn|Examples of usage of this term include [[Radio Ulster]], [[Ulster Orchestra]] and [[Royal Ulster Constabulary|RUC]]; political parties such as the [[Ulster Unionist Party]]'; paramilitary organisations including the [[Ulster Defence Association]] and [[Ulster Volunteer Force]]; and political campaigns such as "[[Ulster Says No]]" and "[[Save Ulster from Sodomy]]".}} In the past, calls have been made for Northern Ireland's name to be changed to Ulster. This proposal was formally considered by the Government of Northern Ireland in 1937 and by the UK Government in 1949 but no change was made.<ref>Parliamentary Reports of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, Volume 20 (1937) and ''The Times'', 6 January 1949; C.M. 1(49) – UK Cabinet meeting held on 12 January 1949. C.M. 1(49). – See also [[Alternative names for Northern Ireland]]</ref>
* '''The Province''' refers to the historic Irish province of Ulster but today is used by some as shorthand for Northern Ireland. The [[BBC]], in its editorial guidance for ''Reporting the United Kingdom'', states that "the Province" is an appropriate secondary synonym for Northern Ireland, while "Ulster" is not. It also suggests that "people of Northern Ireland" is preferred to "British" or "Irish", and the term "mainland" should be avoided in reporting about Great Britain and Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Editorial Policy, Guidance Note |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-uk-full#style-and-language |access-date=20 April 2012 |date=n.d. |archive-date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303233555/http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-uk-full#style-and-language |url-status=live}} "The term "province" is often used synonymously with Northern Ireland and it is normally appropriate to make secondary references to "the province"."</ref>

====Nationalist====
* '''North of Ireland''' – used to avoid using the name given by the British-enacted Government of Ireland Act 1920.
* '''The Six Counties''' ({{lang|ga|na Sé Chontae}}) – the Republic of Ireland is similarly described as the Twenty-Six Counties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sinnfein.ie/history |title=Sinn Féin usage of "Six Counties" |publisher=[[Sinn Féin]] |date=14 August 1969 |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=14 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614042448/http://www.sinnfein.ie/history |url-status=live}}</ref> Some of the users of these terms contend that using the official name of the region would imply acceptance of the legitimacy of the Government of Ireland Act.
* '''The Occupied Six Counties''' – used by some republicans.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Io085Nl0CJQC&pg=PA166 |title=The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin |author=Brendan O'Brien |publisher=Syracuse University Press |page=167 |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-815-60597-3 |access-date=22 August 2017 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806232810/https://books.google.com/books?id=Io085Nl0CJQC&pg=PA166 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Republic, whose legitimacy is similarly not recognised by republicans opposed to the Belfast Agreement, is described as the "Free State", referring to the [[Irish Free State]], which gained independence (as a [[Dominion]]) in 1922.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/FAQs.htm |title=FAQs – The Irish Freedom Committee™ |publisher=Irish Freedom Committee |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051222180049/http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/FAQs.htm |date=6 May 2007 |archive-date=22 December 2005 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref>
* '''British-Occupied Ireland''' – Similar in tone to the Occupied Six Counties,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PcdvAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 |title=Inside the IRA: Dissident Republicans and the War for Legitimacy |author=Andrew Sanders |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |page=114 |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-748-68812-8 |access-date=22 August 2017 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806214948/https://books.google.com/books?id=PcdvAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 |url-status=live}}</ref> this term is used by more dogmatic republicans, such as [[Republican Sinn Féin]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ukzbp2i3TvgC&pg=PA163 |title=Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary |author=Robert William White |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |page=163 |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-253-34708-4 |access-date=22 August 2017 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806204507/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ukzbp2i3TvgC&pg=PA163 |url-status=live}}</ref> who still hold that the [[Second Dáil]] was the last legitimate government of Ireland and that all governments since have been foreign-imposed usurpations of Irish national self-determination.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ekm2dmSDF_cC&pg=PA174 |title=Terrorism Studies: A Reader |author=John Horgan |publisher=Routledge |page=174 |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-415-45504-6 |access-date=22 August 2017 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806225033/https://books.google.com/books?id=ekm2dmSDF_cC&pg=PA174 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Other====
* '''Norn Iron''' or "Norniron" – is an informal and affectionate<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/world-location-news/how-much-do-you-know-about-norn-iron How much do you know about 'Norn Iron'?] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101002648/https://www.gov.uk/government/world-location-news/how-much-do-you-know-about-norn-iron |date=1 November 2015 }},
 British Embassy Ashgabat</ref> local nickname used to refer to Northern Ireland, derived from the pronunciation of the words "Northern Ireland" in an exaggerated Ulster accent (particularly one from the greater Belfast area). The phrase is seen as a lighthearted way to refer to Northern Ireland, based as it is on regional pronunciation. It often refers to the [[Northern Ireland national football team]].<ref>{{cite news |title=World Cup qualifiers: 10 talking points from the weekend's action |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/09/world-cup-qualifiers-talking-points |date=9 September 2013 |access-date=9 September 2013 |first1=Daniel |last1=Taylor |first2=Ewan |last2=Murray |first3=David |last3=Hytner |first4=Simon |last4=Burnton |first5=Barry |last5=Glendenning |work=The Guardian |location=UK |archive-date=10 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910074603/http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/09/world-cup-qualifiers-talking-points |url-status=live}}</ref>