::::::::::: "who started this dispute"? Well, as they say a dog does not give up his bone no matter how ill-gotten it is. And your particular bone is a few centuries old. And so it is with all three (at least) of our Union Jack flying British nationalist editors who have hijacked this article to advance their little Englander politics. As for your notion that people who live in Ireland are actually in reality "British", well that just shows the extent to which this article is under the control of an irredentist marginal subculture of British nationalism that is intent upon imposing their identity upon the Irish people. "Consensus"? You must be joking.