A very enjoyable demonstration tonight in the swimming of how Northern Ireland fits into things - anyone born there who's entitled to British citizenship is also entitled to Irish and they can choose to be either or both. So tonight Jack McMillan who's from Northern Ireland won a gold medal as part of the British relay team (he swam in the qualifiers) shortly after Daniel Wiffen from Northern Ireland won a gold medal in the 800m freestyle for Ireland.
It becomes an issue for team sports where NI is treated as part of a united Ireland while England Scotland and Wales compete as separate teams, which includes rugby and hockey. The IOC won't let people compete for the UK if they normally play for Ireland, which becomes a problem for some people, particularly those who play for Ireland but identify as British. But for individual sports, or sports like swimming where it's normally a UK team with England, Scotland, Wales and NI all forming teams just for the Commonwealth Games, people can simply choose one or the other.
Rory McIlroy is playing for Ireland in the golf competition starting tomorrow.
A very enjoyable demonstration tonight in the swimming of how Northern Ireland fits into things - anyone born there who's entitled to British citizenship is also entitled to Irish and they can choose to be either or both. So tonight Jack McMillan who's from Northern Ireland won a gold medal as part of the British relay team (he swam in the qualifiers) shortly after Daniel Wiffen from Northern Ireland won a gold medal in the 800m freestyle for Ireland.
It becomes an issue for team sports where NI is treated as part of a united Ireland while England Scotland and Wales compete as separate teams, which includes rugby and hockey. The IOC won't let people compete for the UK if they normally play for Ireland, which becomes a problem for some people, particularly those who play for Ireland but identify as British. But for individual sports, or sports like swimming where it's normally a UK team with England, Scotland, Wales and NI all forming teams just for the Commonwealth Games, people can simply choose one or the other.
Rory McIlroy is playing for Ireland in the golf competition starting tomorrow.
Dual nationality due to the GFA ??
The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 gave people born in Northern Ireland the right to claim Irish citizenship if they chose to do so.
The GFA of 1998 confirmed that people born in Northern Ireland could choose to be either British or Irish citizens.
Since 1 January 2005, if you are born in Northern Ireland, you can claim Irish citizenship if your parent (or parents) are either British or Irish citizens, or one of them has lived on the island of Ireland for at least 3 out of the 4 years immediately before your birth.
James McClean is a NI born football example of this.
A very enjoyable demonstration tonight in the swimming of how Northern Ireland fits into things - anyone born there who's entitled to British citizenship is also entitled to Irish and they can choose to be either or both. So tonight Jack McMillan who's from Northern Ireland won a gold medal as part of the British relay team (he swam in the qualifiers) shortly after Daniel Wiffen from Northern Ireland won a gold medal in the 800m freestyle for Ireland.
It becomes an issue for team sports where NI is treated as part of a united Ireland while England Scotland and Wales compete as separate teams, which includes rugby and hockey. The IOC won't let people compete for the UK if they normally play for Ireland, which becomes a problem for some people, particularly those who play for Ireland but identify as British. But for individual sports, or sports like swimming where it's normally a UK team with England, Scotland, Wales and NI all forming teams just for the Commonwealth Games, people can simply choose one or the other.
Not forgetting that Daniel Wiffen was born in Leeds.
And while we're here...
David O'Leary & Paul McGrath were both born in Greater London ('Greater' added for the pedants..)
A very enjoyable demonstration tonight in the swimming of how Northern Ireland fits into things - anyone born there who's entitled to British citizenship is also entitled to Irish and they can choose to be either or both. So tonight Jack McMillan who's from Northern Ireland won a gold medal as part of the British relay team (he swam in the qualifiers) shortly after Daniel Wiffen from Northern Ireland won a gold medal in the 800m freestyle for Ireland.
It becomes an issue for team sports where NI is treated as part of a united Ireland while England Scotland and Wales compete as separate teams, which includes rugby and hockey. The IOC won't let people compete for the UK if they normally play for Ireland, which becomes a problem for some people, particularly those who play for Ireland but identify as British. But for individual sports, or sports like swimming where it's normally a UK team with England, Scotland, Wales and NI all forming teams just for the Commonwealth Games, people can simply choose one or the other.
Not forgetting that Daniel Wiffen was born in Leeds.
And while we're here...
David O'Leary & Paul McGrath were both born in Greater London ('Greater' added for the pedants..)
Any news on whether Leeds-born Erling Haaland can get a UK passport and qualify for England?
Deliberately strange question, but I wondered if the United Kingdom ever competes in international sports? I have never really thought about it in the past and I can't think of any - although I am sure there must be.
England compete in many of the most important sports: football, cricket, rugby, etc. (Although, officially, the England cricket team is the team of the England and Wales cricket board).
GB is represented in the Olympics and the Davis Cup.
"The UK and Ireland" is represented by the British and Irish Lions (and any other sports..?)
"Europe" competes in the Ryder Cup.
But is there a sport or competition in which "the UK" participates?
It's interesting that Andy Murray has competed for GB, but never Scotland; Rory McIlroy, born in the UK, has competed for Europe (in the Ryder Cup) and Ireland (in the Olympics) but never (as far as I am aware) for the country of his birth, the UK.
I am sure the CL hive mind will be able to point out if there are sports in which the UK participates, and if there are anomalies in how "our" international sports teams are named.
(To be crystal clear, this is NOT an invitation to discuss "foreigners", nation states, whether or not Scotland should be independent, Brexit, the unification of Ireland, what colour passports are. It's about the names under which UK sports people compete, internationally).
I’ll edit that, king James vi of Scotland became the first king of Great Britain James I
you’re all Scottish
Nope. James remained James VI of Scotland and was at the same time James of England. The crowns were not united until the Act of Union of 1707 under Queen Anne who became the first monarch of a United Kingdom. Anne was born at St James Palace
It was in jest but it was James and his bloodline that started it and eventually became the first monarch of a United kingdom
James was succeeded by his son Charles who was succeeded by his son Charles who was succeeded by his brother James who was succeeded by his daughter Mary (and her husband William) who were succeeded by her sister Anne. .
As has been said above, it's proper name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Sometimes that gets abbreviated to UK (eg Eurovision) and sometimes it gets abbreviated to GB or GBR (eg Olympics) , but it's the same place.
So, to answer the original questions, yes, the UK does compete internationally and is doing so right now, in the Olympics.
Now, "Holland" and "the Netherlands" on the other hand .......
Right, but Great Britain is not the same as the United Kingdom - a) Great Britain isn’t the name of a country, it’s the name of an island (I.e it’s a geographic term rather than a political one), b) Great Britain doesn’t include Northern Ireland whereas United Kingdom does.
The only other country I can think of that doesn’t compete under the actual name of their country is Taiwan (who compete as Taipei).
Technically correct but I doubt many people ever need to specify that they are talking about the mainland of England Wales and Scotland excluding for example the Isle of Wight.
Normally it’s just an abbreviation for the political grouping of GB and NI where Great Britain in this terminology is not a geographical term as it obviously includes all the land including the islands.
More likely to need to refer to the British Isles rather than Great Britain, a geographical term including the whole of the island of Ireland.
As has been said above, it's proper name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Sometimes that gets abbreviated to UK (eg Eurovision) and sometimes it gets abbreviated to GB or GBR (eg Olympics) , but it's the same place.
So, to answer the original questions, yes, the UK does compete internationally and is doing so right now, in the Olympics.
Now, "Holland" and "the Netherlands" on the other hand .......
Right, but Great Britain is not the same as the United Kingdom - a) Great Britain isn’t the name of a country, it’s the name of an island (I.e it’s a geographic term rather than a political one), b) Great Britain doesn’t include Northern Ireland whereas United Kingdom does.
The only other country I can think of that doesn’t compete under the actual name of their country is Taiwan (who compete as Taipei).
Technically correct but I doubt many people ever need to specify that they are talking about the mainland of England Wales and Scotland excluding for example the Isle of Wight.
Normally it’s just an abbreviation for the political grouping of GB and NI where Great Britain in this terminology is not a geographical term as it obviously includes all the land including the islands.
More likely to need to refer to the British Isles rather than Great Britain, a geographical term including the whole of the island of Ireland.
So let’s just use the name of the country, the United Kingdom then?
As has been said above, it's proper name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Sometimes that gets abbreviated to UK (eg Eurovision) and sometimes it gets abbreviated to GB or GBR (eg Olympics) , but it's the same place.
So, to answer the original questions, yes, the UK does compete internationally and is doing so right now, in the Olympics.
Now, "Holland" and "the Netherlands" on the other hand .......
Right, but Great Britain is not the same as the United Kingdom - a) Great Britain isn’t the name of a country, it’s the name of an island (I.e it’s a geographic term rather than a political one), b) Great Britain doesn’t include Northern Ireland whereas United Kingdom does.
The only other country I can think of that doesn’t compete under the actual name of their country is Taiwan (who compete as Taipei).
Technically correct but I doubt many people ever need to specify that they are talking about the mainland of England Wales and Scotland excluding for example the Isle of Wight.
Normally it’s just an abbreviation for the political grouping of GB and NI where Great Britain in this terminology is not a geographical term as it obviously includes all the land including the islands.
More likely to need to refer to the British Isles rather than Great Britain, a geographical term including the whole of the island of Ireland.
So let’s just use the name of the country, the United Kingdom then?
As has been said above, it's proper name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Sometimes that gets abbreviated to UK (eg Eurovision) and sometimes it gets abbreviated to GB or GBR (eg Olympics) , but it's the same place.
So, to answer the original questions, yes, the UK does compete internationally and is doing so right now, in the Olympics.
Now, "Holland" and "the Netherlands" on the other hand .......
Right, but Great Britain is not the same as the United Kingdom - a) Great Britain isn’t the name of a country, it’s the name of an island (I.e it’s a geographic term rather than a political one), b) Great Britain doesn’t include Northern Ireland whereas United Kingdom does.
The only other country I can think of that doesn’t compete under the actual name of their country is Taiwan (who compete as Taipei).
As has been said above, it's proper name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Sometimes that gets abbreviated to UK (eg Eurovision) and sometimes it gets abbreviated to GB or GBR (eg Olympics) , but it's the same place.
So, to answer the original questions, yes, the UK does compete internationally and is doing so right now, in the Olympics.
Now, "Holland" and "the Netherlands" on the other hand .......
Right, but Great Britain is not the same as the United Kingdom - a) Great Britain isn’t the name of a country, it’s the name of an island (I.e it’s a geographic term rather than a political one), b) Great Britain doesn’t include Northern Ireland whereas United Kingdom does.
The only other country I can think of that doesn’t compete under the actual name of their country is Taiwan (who compete as Taipei).
Technically correct but I doubt many people ever need to specify that they are talking about the mainland of England Wales and Scotland excluding for example the Isle of Wight.
Normally it’s just an abbreviation for the political grouping of GB and NI where Great Britain in this terminology is not a geographical term as it obviously includes all the land including the islands.
More likely to need to refer to the British Isles rather than Great Britain, a geographical term including the whole of the island of Ireland.
So let’s just use the name of the country, the United Kingdom then?
I think we have to accept there are two different meanings to Great Britain, a geographic one and a political one, depending on context. King Charles is titled King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland its Realms etc - not Great Britain and Northern Ireland the Isle of Wight, Scilly Isles, Shetland Isles etc etc etc
If it can only mean the mainland then the Isle if Wight and the other islands will be pleased to know they are free to make unilateral declarations as independent republics.
St Mary’s is the main island, and they call the other islands ‘off islands’. I believe the islands have a football league consisting of two teams who play a whole season against each other, plus a cup competition.
Comments
The UK didn’t suddenly exist because of Brexit.
And as you said in your original post, this comment is nothing to do with Brexit! Just why it was ever GB instead of UK?
Dual nationality due to the GFA ??
The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 gave people born in Northern Ireland the right to claim Irish citizenship if they chose to do so.
The GFA of 1998 confirmed that people born in Northern Ireland could choose to be either British or Irish citizens.
Since 1 January 2005, if you are born in Northern Ireland, you can claim Irish citizenship if your parent (or parents) are either British or Irish citizens, or one of them has lived on the island of Ireland for at least 3 out of the 4 years immediately before your birth.
James McClean is a NI born football example of this.
And while we're here...
David O'Leary & Paul McGrath were both born in Greater London ('Greater' added for the pedants..)
James was succeeded by his son Charles who was succeeded by his son Charles who was succeeded by his brother James who was succeeded by his daughter Mary (and her husband William) who were succeeded by her sister Anne.
.
More likely to need to refer to the British Isles rather than Great Britain, a geographical term including the whole of the island of Ireland.
Apparently it was "GB" before Irish independence, if you want to go down a Wikipedia wormhole: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_vehicle_registration_code
If it can only mean the mainland then the Isle if Wight and the other islands will be pleased to know they are free to make unilateral declarations as independent republics.
You may have hit on something here!
I believe the islands have a football league consisting of two teams who play a whole season against each other, plus a cup competition.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isles_of_Scilly_Football_League#:~:text=The%20League%20competition%20involves%20the,club%2C%20St%20Mary's%20Football%20Club.