Surely, David is a Welsh name>>>>>>

Hebrew innit. Means "beloved" I have a mug with that written on. You can't get a better cite than a mug.

In any case, Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish, English, Manxists - i sincerely love them all - i'm always excited to be in the United Kingdom and just love everything British (i have to use British because UKish just doesn't work!) That there are things i find cool about Cool Britannia (T Blair's words i think) there are of course things that seem odd and v.v. with Brits when they come to American - Brits always say i'm going to America it seems when it's really the U.S. or States as America of course includes Canada - if going to both i guess you could say America.

Anyway when push come to shove we are all loving brothers and sisters it seems - politics aside! Most Americans i know have a very positive attitude toward the U.K. and UKites.

""United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern island" is what the country is."

Actually, it's "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" - check your passport (if you're British).

If N.Ireland chose independance or ceding back to Eire, then we'd be the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain" (United Kingdom relating to the united crowns of Scotland and England - sadly Wales, as a mere principality, doesn't get a mention).

"Surely, David is a Welsh name>>>>>>

Hebrew innit. Means "beloved" I have a mug with that written on. You can't get a better cite than a mug."

Dammit, you win. Teach me to be an atheist.

The Isle of Man isn't part of the United Kingdom.

The Isle of Man isn't part of the 21st Century.

"Actually, it's "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" - check your passport (if you're British)"

I stand corrected, made me sweat for a bit tho, couldn't find my passport.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Northern Irish went their own way?

Please, Waring, don't start that argument, or we'll be warring. [sorry, I never could resist a pun]. i always thought that it was being called "english" which [understandably] enraged the scots and welsh, not being called british. Here in cornwall [which considers itself a place apart] we are not terribly excited about this anniversary; in fact I'd not heard about it at all.
Old cornish protest chant:
What do we want?
Independence for cornwall.
When do we want it?
Dreckly!

Again my education level may be cast into repute by flanner types but isn't the majority of Northern Ireland residents Catholic and Irish and thus in a democratic vote may vote to break away from the U.K.

Has there been such a vote? If not why not? It's the democratic way - i never could figure out why Northern Ireland wasn't a part of Ireland as it historically was before sheep came to the highlands of Scotland and other places and the rich English landowners kicked the now redundant peasants out and shuttled them over to Northern Ireland, where they became the Protestant minority ruling over the Catholic majority?

My family claims that part of their ancestory is "Shanty Irish" - Scots who were removed like this, were sent packing and and shantied to Northern Ireland (and then shipped off to Canada).
Maybe i'm wrong and the Protestants are in the majority and democracy rules in Northern Eire. (Forget the arrests of terrorists there without charges, evidence, etc. Guantanamo-like in past years and direct rule from London.)

Bob - There is democracy of a sort in N Ireland - but it keeps falling over as one side won't play ball with another.

As for the history - I'm not going there.

It is the last place in the world where you'll see a bowler hat worn though.

They are all Irish in my book, the Irish fighting the Irish. The protestants are in fact in the majority.

There has indeed been votes, with the result they remain British, inspite of all attempts to introduce self rule there. The only Parliament in history to vote itself out of existance.

It's no slur on any North American's education if they're a bit vague about the demographics of Ulster or the famiy tree of monarchs who ruled over states that no longer exist 450 years ago.

It IS a slur on all sorts of things if they then act, produce crappy blockbuster films or support terrorist groups based on that ignorance. Or make ridiculous comparisons between The Maze and Guantanamo.

Now Ulster demographics.

The majority of the population of Northern Ireland is Protestant. And has been rather longer than white people have ruled New York. Since Northern Ireland has an excellent educational system, a disproportionately high number of Northern Irish Catholics go to university. So the much-forecast Catholic outbreeding hasn't happened: the Catholic lasses are actually producing fewer Eamonns and Nualas than the (now less well-educated) Prods are producing little Billies.

Given my own background, I deserve great praise for having avoided calling them little Willies.

So Northern Ireland will remain majority Prod unless and until there's a wave of Polish immigrants. Incidentally, there's no poll evidence at all that a majority of Northern Irish Catholics wouold support joining the South.

Had it ever been the case that the North were majority Catholic and pro-unification, we'd have been spared the past few decades. Britain would have called a referendum within two nanoseconds of knowing for certain we could get rid of the place. And 99.9% of the mainland population would have put the flags out the moment we knew it'd gone.

And one argument for Scottish independence would be that England could insist on their taking Northern Ireland with them, since the core division is between Scots and Irish..

Having lit the blue touchpaper, I shall now retire.

How bout unlilateral independence for the Northern Ireland and make them take Scotland with them! Call it the Celtic Union - Wales can join if they want and then the words British and English will really be synonyms.

The only thing the Prods and Papes agree on in Northern Ireland - except the usual list of anti-English bigotries all the minor provinces share - is that they don't want independence.

Ah flanner - a slight of language perhaps - of course the Papes, presumably Irish Catholics, don't want independence, they want reintergration into Eire.