The “British Isles” is a political term which I reject and will never use. Geography is politics as much as history is. Ireland is not part of some “British Isles”. The “mainland” from here is Europe.
Irish Independence: there is no such entity as “the republic of Ireland” other than the soccer team. The name of Ireland in English is… “Ireland”. See Article 4 of the constitution:
THE STATE
ARTICLE 4
The name of the State is Éire , or, in the English language, Ireland .
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en#part2
Here’s an example from an EU treaty of Lisbon list of signatories
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12007L%2FTXT
PREAMBLE
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC,
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF DENMARK,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA,
THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA,
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF LUXEMBOURG,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF HUNGARY,
Lots of countries in the EU are called the republic of wherever, Ireland is not. The soccer team is but the FAI are possibly more incompetent than they are corrupt.
It’s a close run thing though.
