>You also become acutely aware of cable breaks. Somehow this happens quite often under the English Channel.
You're not lying. :) When the internet is down in the ROI (Republic of Ireland), it's always because something was dragging along the seabed and cut the cable[s].
Given that the ROI doesn't have many IX's for international connection[0,1,2], it's quite hard to miss when it does happen.
I had always had the illusion that Ireland was well connected to US and EU. Given how many tech company have Data Centre in there. Quite Strange its IX isn't as good as it could be.
Off Topic:
Is the short form (Republic of Ireland) ROI used often? Because the first thing that springs to mind reading ROI is Return of Investment.
Isn't Ireland short enough as a word? I understand there is Northern Ireland, but people will actually put Northern In front of it to be specific. Like North Korea instead of Korea.
It's a good way of easily differentiating between whether you're talking about Ireland the island, or Ireland the country, which currently excludes the six counties of Northern Ireland (NI) which are still part of the UK.
The term Ireland is often used to refer to the island as a whole, but obviously this can depend on the political leaning of who you're talking to.
Northern Ireland, depending on context and/or who is speaking can otherwise be referred to as Ulster (problematic, as the province of Ulster has 9 counties, only 6 of which are in Northern Ireland). It is also common in some circles to refer to the 6 counties currently occupied by the British simply as "the north".
In short, Ireland is a hot geopolitical mess and when talking about Ireland, it is useful to be as specific and as neutral as is possible.
> The five most recent opinion polls taken in the North show similar results, with support for the North staying in the UK ranging from 45 per cent to 55 per cent, and averaging around the 50 per cent mark. [0]
Way closer than you think. (Using desire for a united Ireland as a proxy here)
You're not wrong. There is a loyalist majority in NI. But those that would refer to Northern Ireland as "the north" would generally be among those that definitely would refer to the six counties as occupied.
Ireland is the same length as America, which people often abbreviate to USA or US. This also cuts the confusion of America's multiple potential meanings (North/South continents, etc).
Its a touchy and pedantic subject. 95% of people will understand what you mean when you say "Ireland", the last 5% will want to start a flame war over it because reasons.
It's easy to remain oblivious and treat any mention as pedantry when you're not among those affected. Even if 95% of people are like that, denying their reality is still a form of soft bigotry. Here's an essay that might help to explain why some people care more than you do, and rightly so.
I understand what you're saying, but it's not just pedantry.
You do have to be specific about what you mean when you say "Ireland" in any context where it is important that you are understood.
"Ireland" can quite correctly either mean the island of Ireland or the country called Ireland (aka The Republic of Ireland). In a political or business context you are likely to be specifically referencing one or the other.
That wasn't the question ksec asked though was it.
"Off Topic: Is the short form (Republic of Ireland) ROI used often?"
But also no. Cables landing in ROI would be under completely different regulatory control to cables landing in NI which would be under United Kingdom regulatory control.
Since they're geopolitically separate and have their own infrastructures, the distinction is quite apt for understanding the "who" of who is impacted when the specific cables are cut.
In other words, based on your assumption that "Ireland" is precise enough and since Belfast (NI) has it's own IX, that would mean that you would have dichotomy where "Ireland" could connect to the internet and "Ireland" could not, yeah?
You're not lying. :) When the internet is down in the ROI (Republic of Ireland), it's always because something was dragging along the seabed and cut the cable[s].
Given that the ROI doesn't have many IX's for international connection[0,1,2], it's quite hard to miss when it does happen.
[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Neutral_Exchange
[1] - https://www.inex.ie/technical/network-diagram/
[2] - https://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/country/ireland