Yeah I agree we are up against it re getting the name changed especially with the TV/Radio reluctant to use it. Funny enough that doesn't seem to apply so much to the written word, as Ulster seems to be used fairly regularly in the NL and BT.,though even there not as often as it once was. If the media decided to use Ulster you can bet though time it would become the norm. But NI is once again the halfway house that is so beloved by the social engineers. Also you get people saying that Londonderry is too long (the old excuse) to say,so hence Derry. Yet they will say Northernirish or Northernirishman or Northernirishwoman,rather than Ulsterman/Ulsterwoman. Thats why I think Ullish would be ideal. Not only is it short but it can also cover both genders. Re Tony Blair and his understanding(or misunderstanding) of Ulster as a separate nation. That again is partly because of the lack of a completely different name. I mentioned before about Scotland and how people see Scotland as being different from the country to the south of them. I believe the different name has played a big part in this. Names identify people and places and a host of other things. We fell down very badly on this,though I think Craig and some unionists did their best,they were let down by other unionists who clung to the Irishness thing. In a sense what has worked to the advantage of Scottish nationalists (their different name) would have filled the same function for Ulster unionists.
DeValera decided to call his country its Gaelic name...Eire,but very quickly dropped this when he realised that the 26 counties were being called Eire and the six counties NI and Ulster. If that had been left as it was we would have today Eire and Ulster(or NI) which in the eyes of the world would come to be seen as two different countries on this island. This would be similar to Haiti and the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispanolia. One thing which bugs me about our people is their lack of vision. They won't strike out and 'go for it' type of thing. I mentioned a National Stadium and a National Park,things which implies that we are a country in our own right. A mick on a BBC site was cock-a-hoop when Gregory Campbell ditched the National Stadium,his line was he thanked Campbell for doing this and laughing at the idea of us having a 'National' anything...we are not a country he said. He then went into something in Gaelic and three cheers for Gregory.
Where there is no vision the people perish. Thats from somewhere in the Bible,and sums it up.
