Talk:Northern Ireland

Not for EU could do with being broadened with some RSs from Northern Ireland, please? 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 15:46, 23 July 2025 (UTC)

The redirect Nothern Irish has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 July 26 § Nothern Irish until a consensus is reached. ArthananWarcraft (talk) 05:16, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

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Can anyone change the Ulster Banner in the middle of the article (symbols section) to the 1953 to 1972 version? ~2025-34726-80 (talk) 18:06, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

I assume you mean [[File:Flag_of_Northern_Ireland_(1953–1972).svg]], which features St. Edward's Crown instead of the Tudor Crown. Are there any sources that state which version of the flag is in use today, particularly for association football matches and the Commonwealth Games, which are mentioned in the image caption? Day Creature (talk) 18:23, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

Only McIlroy changed back to the Tudor one. ~2025-34726-80 (talk) 18:25, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

Do you have any sources to confirm this? Day Creature (talk) 18:26, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

I checked the Ulster Banner article. BTW, the Tudor version is not even in the country date template. ~2025-34726-80 (talk) 18:29, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. NotJamestack (✉️|📝) 18:31, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

I looked into this a little further and found the version with St. Edward's Crown in use on the websites of FIFA and Commonwealth Sport, so I will go ahead and make the change. Day Creature (talk) 18:38, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

The redirect Irland du nord has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 February 7 § Irland du nord until a consensus is reached. A1Cafel (talk) 03:17, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

I am proposing a formatting update to the 'Anthem' field in the infobox to ensure consistency with the other constituent countries of the United Kingdom. Currently, Northern Ireland is the only UK country page that omits its predominant anthem from the summary box.

To match the standards set on the other pages:

England: Lists 'None (predominantly God Save the King)'

Scotland: Lists 'Various (predominantly Flower of Scotland)'

Wales: Lists 'None officially; "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (de facto)'

The current listing of only 'Various' for Northern Ireland is incomplete. It fails to identify 'God Save the King' as the anthem used for all official state, constitutional, and international purposes (including most international football matches).

I propose updating the entry to: 'Various (predominantly God Save the King)'.

This maintains the 'Various' descriptor to acknowledge songs used in other contexts (like 'Londonderry Air' at the Commonwealth Games), while providing the same level of factual detail provided for England, Scotland, and Wales. There is no encyclopedic reason for Northern Ireland to be the sole exception to this formatting standard."

Manzinga1690 (talk) 20:33, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

Oppose: God Save the King doesn't represent Northern Ireland, it represents the United Kingdom. This is an article and infobox about Northern Ireland, not the UK. Canterbury Tail talk 22:18, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

But we need to look at how this is being handled across the other constituent country articles of the UK. Right now, there’s a clear inconsistency. The England page lists God Save the King despite it not having a unique de jure anthem of its own. Meanwhile, Scotland uses the 'Various' tag but explicitly specifies 'predominantly Flower of Scotland' right there in the box to help the reader. Leaving NI as just 'Various' without that same detail is basically a double standard, especially since the legal situation is identical to England's.

The infobox should just reflect the de facto reality of what’s used. I suggest we mirror the Scotland/England format and change it to 'Various (predominantly God Save the King)'. It keeps the 'Various' distinction but brings the page in line with the others. Manzinga1690 (talk) 00:46, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

Consistence across articles is not a priority or a concern, only this article. The fact is God Save The King is the national anthem of the UK, not of Northern Ireland. Canterbury Tail talk 03:48, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

But WP:CONSISTENCY is usually a priority for these types of articles so that the UK’s constituent nations follow the same format.

The England, Scotland, and Wales pages both clarify which anthem is predominantly used even though they’re in a similar legal position to Northern Ireland. It’s helpful for the reader to have that same detail here, rather than being the only page that stays vague. My suggestion is just to bring this in line with the others so the editorial standard is the same across the board. Manzinga1690 (talk) 09:10, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

Lets see what others have to say, I've said my piece. Canterbury Tail talk 14:00, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, that’s fair. Since the goal is just to match the editorial standard used on the England, Scotland, and Wales pages, I’ll leave this open for others to weigh in. If there are no policy-based objections to that, it makes sense to bring this in line with the other UK articles. Manzinga1690 (talk) 17:26, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

Since there have been no further comments here for several days, yet the edit remains contested via revert summaries, I’ve listed this at WP:3O to help resolve the standstill regarding editorial consistency. Manzinga1690 (talk) 21:33, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

The consistency argument makes no sense here. God Save the King isn't on all the other articles. And anyway this is an infobox about Northern Ireland, not the UK. It's a constituent country and should be about the constituent country not the overall country. It's a bit like putting Star Spangled Banner on each of the US state articles. You need to tailor information to what the article is about, and higher article substances shouldn't filter down to the lower level articles. God Save The King isn't the anthem of Northern Ireland any more than it is the anthem of Scotland or Wales (where it also isn't listed) so I don't get any argument about why it has to be on the Northern Ireland article under "consistency" when there is none anyway. Canterbury Tail talk 22:06, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

The issue is that while the other UK constituent country articles use a qualifier, they don't stop there. England uses "None officially" and then names the anthem, while Scotland and Wales use the "Various" link followed by their de facto anthems. Northern Ireland is the only outlier of the four UK nations where the field just stops after the link. Whether they are "official" or not isn't the point. The other three articles all provide the name of the prominent anthem for the reader, but this one doesn't. This page should follow that established UK-wide pattern rather than being the only one left unfinished. Manzinga1690 (talk) 22:26, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

Also this is wayyyy too soon to take to third opinion. There are hundreds of people watching this article, and many involved in it. The discussion has been open only a week and has not been thoroughly discussed. There is no time limit on discussions, and you need to allow other editors time and chance to add their contributions. There's no hurry here. Not sure why this is suddenly an urgent issue for something that has been stable for many years. And since anything to do with this surrounding Northern Ireland is automatically controversial and contentious, time and care should be taken. Canterbury Tail talk 22:36, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

Omit as there is no legally recognised “Northern Irish national anthem.”....we should not mislead our readers in stating there is one. Moxy🍁 22:39, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

I’m happy to take the time needed for a proper discussion, though I only requested a third opinion because the conversation had reached a stalemate. It was only after the request was made that the comparisons to the other UK articles were actually engaged with.

Moxy, the concern about 'misleading' readers is exactly why the other three UK articles use those specific qualifiers. On the England, Scotland, and Wales pages, labels like 'None officially' or 'Various' are used as a disclaimer so that the name of the de facto or predominant anthem can then be provided.

Canterbury_Tail, regarding 'stability,' it shouldn't be a barrier to fixing a clear inconsistency. Currently, Northern Ireland is the only outlier where the field just stops at the disclaimer. If the other three articles provide the name of the anthem used in a de facto capacity, there is no reason to omit that same information here. We should follow the established UK-wide pattern: use the qualifier for legal accuracy, and then actually list the anthem that is used. Manzinga1690 (talk) 22:57, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

Can you provide a source for " the concern about 'misleading' readers is exactly why the other three UK articles use those specific qualifiers". I can't find a talk page or other discussion that arrived at that conclusion. Canterbury Tail talk 22:59, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

I don't see the need for any "consistency" with other constituent country articles, since it doesn't logically follow that the same standard applies to all consituent countries. FDW777 (talk) 23:05, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

I'm wondering if this brings up a wider point about if they should be in the other articles? Is this misleading our readers in multiple articles? Scotland for instance I remember not too long ago the government actually formally declared that they're not even going to be adopting one..... should we put one in in the case like this?. We even have calls for making it clear that one's not even a de facto one . Moxy🍁 01:13, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

"Consistency" is an argument against, as being consistent with the other articles would falsely imply that an anthem only used for government functions is the de facto anthem followed by the populace. Aaron Liu (talk) 16:25, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

Do populaces follow anthems? Leaning towards Moxy's views that including anthems in the infoboxes is somewhat oversimplifying the situation. CMD (talk) 07:53, 21 February 2026 (UTC)

Indeed, I'm saying that inclusion would oversimplify because the anthems included in the other articles have the adoption that simplification implies, while Northern Ireland's anthems do not have this adoption. Aaron Liu (talk) 17:33, 21 February 2026 (UTC)