Does any of these sound bad/weird/wrong/inflammatory, in a description of a photo: Belfast, UK / Belfast, Ireland / Belfast, NI?
Posted by -NewYork-@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 59 comments
I have a bunch of photos from Belfast. I caption photos for my job. Sometimes it's good for search engines to have somewhat diverse descriptions of similar subject. Does any of these sound bad/weird/wrong/inflammatory/frowned upon, in a description of a photo: Belfast, UK / Belfast, Ireland / Belfast, NI?
simont410@reddit
Definitely not Belfast, Ireland as this is factually inaccurate.
Belfast, UK is technically correct but some people don't like it.
Belfast, NI is correct and probably the most neutral.
ferocious_bandana@reddit
?
What is the name of the island that Belfast is part of?
Dry-Tie-7163@reddit
Using that logic Ireland is also British.
ferocious_bandana@reddit
Is Dublin a British city?
PositivelyAcademical@reddit
It’s in the British Isles, so yes?
ferocious_bandana@reddit
Funnily enough, not everyone calls them the British Isles.
Go and look at what the French call the stretch of water between Calais and Dover (clue: it's not the English Channel)
PositivelyAcademical@reddit
Funnily enough, that is the internationally accepted name for the archipelago.
ferocious_bandana@reddit
Funnily enough, as always, you Brits don't know what you're talking about
Dry-Tie-7163@reddit
What do Irish people refer to the archipelago of islands known universally and most historically as The British Isles?
ferocious_bandana@reddit
The Irish Isles, of course.
Dry-Tie-7163@reddit
Of course
simont410@reddit
Whether we like it or not borders exists
ferocious_bandana@reddit
Whether you like it or not, Belfast is on the island of Ireland
simont410@reddit
Ok.
Otocolobus_manul8@reddit
Ireland could be a geographical descripton as well to be fair. Although it's most certainly political.
PanNationalistFront@reddit
County Antrim
Nevernonethewiser@reddit
The one you choose will display your political stance.
Choose Belfast, UK and you're saying Northern Ireland is and should be part of the UK.
Choose Belfast, NI or Ireland and you're saying NI should be part of a unified Ireland and not part of the UK.
Good luck unpicking close to 800 years of bitter, violent disagreement.
ferocious_bandana@reddit
Really?
Belfast, Ireland is geographically correct
It's certainly not on the island of Britain
BornInAWaterMoon@reddit
The island is called Ireland. However, (a) the word "Ireland" is (I imagine) more commonly used to refer to the Republic of Ireland rather than the island of Ireland, and (b) when you see a place name after a city name, you normally expect it to be the name of the country the city is in, rather than the name of the island the city is on. On that basis, I can see how you could argue that "Belfast, Ireland" is factually inaccurate (although I wouldn't go that far myself).
Remote-Ad5853@reddit
Sending your ma an international postcard from Spain on your holidays and entering her address does not mean you have a political allegiance.
Nor does getting Amazon to deliver a parcel to your door.
These things aren’t offensive. UK is fine, of course of he decided to randomly say United Kingdom of GREAT BRITAIN…. yeah that’s charged no doubt.
I think from a tourist/visitor is is perfectly understandable to refer to it as Ireland with no political feeling to be involved. This is the Island of Ireland? you maybe went to Ireland, stopped in Belfast. Makes absolute sense
Nevernonethewiser@reddit
The opening line is a bit of a facetious little jab, not a statement of fact.
I was just illustrating how complicated OPs innocent question is/could be.
Remote-Ad5853@reddit
and I was just demonstrating how uncomplicated it can be, and is, day to day
Over-Language2599@reddit
'Belfast, the island of Ireland' is a bit long-winded.
Nevernonethewiser@reddit
You have to draw the isles and put a little arrow that says 'here'.
It's the only way.
NotAProperAccount3@reddit
Tbf Belfast NI will only offend one side, as NI only exists so it can be part of the UK. But I agree it sounds the most neutral and would be the go to.
Source - Am sitting at work in Belfast...
terryjuicelawson@reddit
Why does it need to be Belfast, anything really. But of those I'd say Northern Ireland is the best as it doesn't suggest ownership of either Ireland or the UK, it is in a nation of its own.
DTH2001@reddit
Because some muppet might think it’s Belfast, Nebraska
StripeyRichard@reddit
We are the knights who say NI
TheNathanNS@reddit
Belfast, NI is the most common one.
Ireland is incorrect and UK, while correct, would probably annoy some people.
violxtleader@reddit
The fact you’re asking this in a UK sub kinda says it all
draenog_@reddit
It's one of those situations where everything you could possibly say is going to be inflammatory to someone.
I would go with "Belfast, Northern Ireland" if you would normally caption photos like "London, England", "Edinburgh, Scotland", or "Cardiff, Wales", or I would go with "Belfast, UK" if you would caption those other photos as "London, UK", etc
There are a lot of people who are unhappy that Northern Ireland is part of the UK, but that is ultimately what's currently factually the case.
If you can tag it with as many terms as you want, then you could also legitimately add "Ireland" to the tags alongside NI and UK because it is on the island of Ireland. (Northern Irish people can actually identify as being Irish and get an Irish passport under the Good Friday Agreement)
Drewski811@reddit
Can open; worms everywhere
iknowanegg@reddit
Belfast, 54°35′48.84″ N, 5°55′48.72″ W
ZanzibarGuy@reddit
Do you need to add a country? How many Belfasts are we risking confusion with?
polkadotska@reddit
Belfast, NI would be the correct term. The other terms are incorrect as Belfast is neither part of the UK, nor part of the Republic of Ireland.
TankFoster@reddit
I'm fairly sure NI is part of the UK.
LiamoLuo@reddit
It is technically. United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. Sadly on this one the OP won't find a clear answer. NI is pretty split between those who would rather unite with Ireland and be referred to as NI, and those who would rather stay part of the UK and wouldn't be upset to be referred to as Belfast, UK. Its a very sensitive political issue.
I think Belfast, NI is the lowest risk here though if you're concerned about upsetting people. You could be consistent with that and use things like London, England - Cardiff, Wales - Edinburgh, Scotland etc so it doesn't look weird as well. All would technically be correct still.
Remote-Ad5853@reddit
It’s really not that sensitive I assure you. The postman does not get shot, nor do people cry when they receive parcels addressed to the united kingdom. Or stop driving because our licenses say UK. Some sensitivities are removed like flaggy government branding, but normal people live in a reality that we are in the UK even if we wish otherwise.
LiamoLuo@reddit
Good to know. I've never experienced any issues in NI when I visit or hear much, but as usual the internet would have people believe its an incredibly offensive topic. Thanks for the info.
TankFoster@reddit
Yeah I agree, that's what I would go with too.
polkadotska@reddit
Sure but if you label it as such, you'll piss off multiples. Belfast, NI is the only option for OP (who wants to avoid grief)/
FlippingGerman@reddit
It’s even in the full name, the UK of GB and NI.
boycott_all_rats@reddit
It is sadly part of the UK 👎
Remote-Ad5853@reddit
they didn’t ask what’s right or factual, they asked what’s wrong/inflammatory, want the safest option, not accurate.
boycott_all_rats@reddit
Deffo stuck to ni then lol
TheeHappyDude@reddit
Good job it's not a photo of the second biggest city in that region. (Runs away)
Total_Rules@reddit
The best option is to just caption it “Belfast” without anything else.
“Belfast, NI” would be the next best.
Remote-Ad5853@reddit
none are more mildly inflammatory at most, you’ll get chronically online people in insta/tiktok comments who will make a point regardless of what you pick. A fairly normal person can look past them and you aren’t genuinely going to offend anyone
CoffeeIgnoramus@reddit
I think calling it "Ireland" might cause issues, but the others are definitely correct.
ExoticOracle@reddit
I work for a photography library, so maybe I could help you out.
It's important to be as accurate as possible. I wouldn't put Ireland because (even aside from being potentially inflammatory) it's too vague.
Northern Ireland or UK are both fine and factually accurate, but I'd go with Northern Ireland in the caption. It's more precise. You could put UK in the metadata tags if you're going that far.
PsychologyOk5757@reddit
There isn't one single formulation you can put that will satisfy everyone.
Belfast, NI or Belfast, UK will be irritating to nationalists but do at least have the virtue of being factually accurate, Belfast is currently part of the UK.
Belfast, Ireland will piss off unionists but there is an argument for using it if you're trying to make a certain point, although I expect you aren't.
Belfast, UK might be the least inflammatory. No one would argue that the UK shouldn't be called the UK, even people who don't like the UK and NI is currently part of the UK, factually. "Northern Ireland" on the other hand you can make the argument is an imperialist name akin to French Indochina or something like that.
Or you could really spice things up with Belfast, Occupied Six Counties, Irish Republic of 1916.
BeardedBaldMan@reddit
Despite Belfast, UK being correct I think that it's more common to see it as Belfast, NI. In the same way you'd write Cardiff, Wales and Edinburgh, Scotland
Swayfromleftoright@reddit
Yeah. Even London, United Kingdom sounds weird. London, England sounds much more natural
BeardedBaldMan@reddit
How are you planning on captioning Londonderry/Derry/Derry/Londonderry/(London)(D|d)erry?
Bifanarama@reddit
Just Belfast, maybe?
IrrelevantPiglet@reddit
"Belfast, maybe" would make a good photo caption for sure.
angels-and-insects@reddit
Belfast, NI is the least inflammatory. If I say Cardiff, Wales, I'm just stating that Cardiff is in Wales, nothing about whether Wales should be in the UK or not. Same with Belfast, NI.
Saying Ireland or UK is making a big Statement you really don't want to make.
BalthazarOfTheOrions@reddit
Northern Ireland.
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.