copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Iceland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-10-29): The United Kingdom, of course, believes otherwise. It considers Rockall and the water around it to be British territory, and therefore exempt from the Common Fisheries Policy. It has continuously reinforced this claim through symbolic acts, including fixing various plaques by the Royal Navy on the outcrop proclaiming British sovereignty over it and legally incorporating the islet into Inverness-shire in 1972. Though this may not seem like much, a "symbolic act on a tiny, uninhabitable speck of land is very significant in terms of getting international ownership," explains Clive Symmons, a professor of maritime law at Trinity College Dublin. What is actually more unusual, Symmons says, is that though the United Kingdom maintains Rockall is its territory, it has given up using the islet to further its EEZ into the North Atlantic. Typically, a country’s EEZ is calculated to extend 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from its claimed territory. In 1997, however, the United Kingdom unilaterally decided to pull back the starting point for this calculation from Rockall to St. Kilda, an archipelago around 180 kilometers off the Scottish mainland.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Iceland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-01-21): Ireland, the UK, Iceland and Denmark (on behalf of the Faroe Islands) have made competing claims to marine jurisdictions around Rockall since the UK purported to ‘annex’ the rock in 1955. In this post I focus on the core of the current dispute between Ireland and the UK, which is the UK claim to territorial sovereignty over the rock that is now being vigorously asserted by Edinburgh. Although in the past it has claimed different categories of marine jurisdiction around Rockall, Ireland has not to date articulated a territorial claim to the rock itself. Based on research into Irish state practice in relation to the dispute, I argue it has nonetheless not foreclosed the possibility of making a territorial claim and should now change strategy and do so. If Ireland were to make such a claim, I argue the current UK claim would be a weak one from the perspective of relevant principles of customary international law on the acquisition of territory.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Iceland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2011-04-21): Rockall ( Irish: Rocal, Scottish Gaelic: Rocabarraigh) is a small, uninhabited, remote rocky islet in the North Atlantic Ocean. It gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the shipping forecast provided by the British Meteorological Office. [...] The ownership of Rockall is disputed. The islet is claimed by Denmark (for the Faroe Islands), Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom. All four governments have made submissions to the commission set up under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The issue was included in the provisional agenda of the meeting of the commission to be held in New York from 7 March to 21 April 2011 and recommendations pursuant to Article 76 of the Convention were made. [...] Rockall is within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claimed by the United Kingdom. In 1997, the UK ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and thus relinquished any claim to an extension of its EEZ beyond the islet. The remaining issue is the status of the continental shelf rights of surrounding ocean floor. These are the exclusive rights to exploit any resources on or under the ocean floor (oil, natural gas, etc.) and should not be confused with the EEZ, as continental shelf rights do not carry any privileges with regard to fisheries. Ownership of these rights in the Rockall area are disputed between the United Kingdom, Denmark (for the Faroe Islands), Ireland and Iceland.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Iceland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-09-01): Subarea 27.6 Rockall, Northwest Coast of Scotland and North Ireland, (the Northwest Coast of Scotland and North Ireland also known as the West of Scotland) (Subarea VI) [...] Division 27.6.bRockall (Division VIb)
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-02): Rockall (/ˈrɒkɔːl/) is an uninhabitable granite islet in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its territorial sea[1] and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland.[2][3] It and the nearby skerries of Hasselwood Rock and Helen's Reef are the only emergent parts of the Rockall Plateau. The rock was formed by magmatism as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province during the Paleogene. [...] Irish claims to Rockall are based on its proximity to the Irish mainland;[81] however, the country has never formally claimed sovereignty over the rock. Although Rockall is closer to the UK coast than to the Irish coast,[4][5] Ireland does not recognise the UK's territorial claim to Rockall, "which would be the basis for a claim to a 12-mile territorial sea".[9][82] [...] The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland claims Rockall along with a 12-nautical-mile-radius (22 km) territorial sea around the islet inside the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).[1] The UK also claims "a circle of UK sovereign airspace over the islet of Rockall".[1]
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-11): Rockall: The adventurers who lived on a craggy outcrop - Published Rockall - the small craggy mound poking out of the Atlantic - is currently the focus of a fight about who can legally fish around its ferocious seas. [...] His Rockall adventure came 30 years after UK troops annexed the rock, though Iceland, Ireland and Denmark have laid claim to it since then.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-08-26): Rockall, a tiny uninhabitable islet in the North Atlantic, is the subject of dispute between the Irish and British governments. [...] Annexed by Britain in 1955, it was incorporated as part of Scotland in 1972. The British government recently enacted The Continental Shelf (Designation of Additional Areas) Order 1974 which lays further claim to Rockall. [...] Fianna Fáil spokesman on Foreign Affairs Michael O’Kennedy also spoke to RTÉ News. He is in favour of the Irish government taking similar actions on Rockall to those of Britain,
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-11): looks at the background to the Rockall dispute.It is a tiny, inhospitable, uninhabited granite island that juts out of the North Atlantic about 300km from Scotland and 423km from Ireland. [...] In 1972, Britain passed the Island of Rockall Act, formally declaring Rockall to be part of Scotland. This was on the eve of Britain joining the EEC so no doubt it was a pre-emptive strike against any diminution of territory that the common fisheries policy would entail. It was also the last act of territorial expansion of the British empire, which had spent the previous decade losing the bulk of its colonies. [...] Ireland has refused to recognise Britain’s claim to Rockall while also maintaining that ownership of the island is of no great importance as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea states that: "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf."
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-11): Rockall: The adventurers who lived on a craggy outcrop Rockall - the small craggy mound poking out of the Atlantic - is currently the focus of a fight about who can legally fish around its ferocious seas. [...] His Rockall adventure came 30 years after UK troops annexed the rock, though Iceland, Ireland and Denmark have laid claim to it since then.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-02-06): Never has such a small piece of land caused so much of a stushie, one that has been going on for centuries. Ireland and Denmark, via the Faroe Islands, have also claimed Rockall as theirs in the past, due probably to the fishing and oil exploration rights that will come with possession of the islet. [...] In terms of proximity there is little doubt that Rockall is Scottish. The nearest point of Scotland to Rockall is Soay in the St Kilda archipelago which is some 187 miles, 301km, to the east. The nearest point of Ireland, which now does not actually have a formal claim to Rockall but which argues that it cannot be used to determine territorial rights, is Tory Island, some 263 miles, 432km, to the south-east of Rockall. [...] Ten years later, Ireland was still arguing about Rockall, and the Westminster Parliament was still debating. Sir John Biggs-Davison asked Secretary of State for Scotland George Younger: "In view of renewed interest by certain politicians in the Irish Republic, will my right hon. Friend affirm, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, that though it be uninhabited, and notwithstanding any negotiations on the law of the sea, Rockall is sovereign territory of the United Kingdom and will so remain?"
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-13): The idea that Ireland regards as part of its territory the tiny clump of rocks known as Rockall, 420km northwest of Co Donegal, is a popular misconception – flag-planting on the rock by brave, patriotic souls notwithstanding. [...] Irish lawyers and diplomats have maintained that nothing as insubstantial or uninhabitable as Rockall can be said to constitute a national territory in any meaningful sense. And particularly in the sense of such a status bestowing economic rights. Irish diplomats successfully fought hard to establish the principle (see clause above) in international law at interminable UN meetings on the drafting of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. [...] The Scottish move also has implications for Brussels. The Common Fisheries Policy extends access rights for all EU fishing boats to all EU waters that are not covered by the 12-mile territorial exemption. If Rockall, as the Irish contend, does not have its own territorial waters, then the area is simply part of the common fishing zone and Scottish attempts to exclude any boats are a breach of the Common Fisheries Policy.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-04-09): Several states have claimed interests over the sea bed adjoining Rockall, an uninhabitable granite islet which is located within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the United Kingdom. Ireland, Denmark, Iceland, and the United Kingdom have all made submissions to the commission set up under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). [...] Rockall is within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claimed by the United Kingdom.[8][9][10] In 1997, the UK ratified[11] the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and thus relinquished any claim to an extension of its EEZ beyond the islet. The remaining issue is the status of the continental shelf rights of the surrounding ocean floor. These are the exclusive rights to exploit any resources on or under the ocean floor (oil, natural gas, etc.) and should not be confused with the EEZ, as continental shelf rights do not carry any privileges with regard to fisheries. Ownership of these rights in the Rockall area are disputed between the United Kingdom, Denmark (for the Faroe Islands), Ireland and Iceland. [...] - ^ "Hatton-Rockall Area Continental Shelf Submission of Ireland" (PDF). Retrieved 26 November 2009.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-01-05): There is a long-running dispute over the sovereignty of Rockall, with the Republic of Ireland disputing the UK's claim over it. In June 2019, former Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar said the fishing grounds around Rockall were part of EU waters. [...] Rockall is situated about 230 nautical miles north-west off Ireland's Donegal coast.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-08): Who owns Rockall? The isolated Atlantic outcrop is in the news after the Scottish government warned Ireland it will send its fisheries patrol vessels to force Irish fishing boats to leave a 12-mile (19km) zone around the tiny disputed island. But Rockall made headlines long before Friday. [...] Possession of Rockall, 386km (240 miles) west of the Scottish mainland, was for many decades deemed imperative in order to generate claims to the vast tracts of surrounding fisheries and the oil-rich Atlantic seabed. [...] In a statement on Friday, the Irish Government said that its position "has been and remains that the waters around Rockall form part of Union waters under the Common Fisheries Policy, to which the principle of equal access for the vessels of all EU Member States applies. Irish vessels have operated unhindered in the Rockall zone for many decades fishing haddock, squid and other species."
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-11): Rockall dispute: why Scotland and Ireland are fighting over the tiny island [...] Rockall gives its name to one of the 31 weather areas around the British Isles, familiar from the Shipping Forecast programme on BBC Radio 4. [...] The Irish government has never claimed sovereignty of the islet but does not acknowledge the UK’s right to exclude Irish fishermen from the waters nearby. According to the BBC, the Rockall fishery is "a multimillion pound" business, with several species of fish including haddock, monkfish and squid inhabiting the waters.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-10-08): Rockall is an eroded volcano lying approximately 187.2 miles west of Scotland and 263.0 miles northwest of Ireland. It is only 100 feet wide and 70 feet high above sea level. [...] Rockall is home to the multi-million pound Rockall Fishery, which has several species of fish, including squid, monkfish and haddock. [...] Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said that the area around Rockall is an EU fisheries ground, and so the Common Fisheries Policy applies.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-11): That's very unlikely. But there is a serious dispute, and there is a possibility of flashpoints on the high seas. The Scottish Government has said that it will send fisheries patrol vessels to Rockall to ensure that Irish fishing boats leave the waters around Rockall, and will board them if necessary. The Irish fishermen say they won't leave. That presents the possibility of incidents at sea. However, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said that the Government will not be sending Irish Government vessels, as advised by Sinn Féin, and the Taoiseach says it's "not something Ireland and Scotland should fight over". [...] The UK has always claimed sovereignty over Rockall, though that claim is disputed by Ireland, Iceland and Denmark. However, the dispute has rumbled aimlessly along for years. Recently however the Scottish government has said that it will enforce exclusive fishing rights for Scottish vessels within a 12-mile radius of the tiny islet as Irish boats have intensified what it says is "illegal" fishing there. The Irish – both fishermen and Government – reject the claim, insisting that under EU law they are explicitly permitted to fish around Rockall.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-10): Rockall has been claimed by the British and is generally accepted to belong to the UK and, more specifically, Scotland. [...] "The UK’s claim to historical sovereignty over Rockall is a strong one," UCD professor Richard Collins told TheJournal.ie today. [...] Coveney said: "The longstanding position of the Irish Government is that Irish vessels are entitled to access Rockall’s waters.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-10): Rockall, a tiny disputed island in the North Atlantic off the Irish and Scottish coasts is at the center of a crisis between the Irish and Scottish governments. There are lucrative fishing grounds in the area as well as possible oil and gas deposits. The Scots claim Rockall is United Kingdom territory and Irish fishermen cannot come closer than the 12- mile international limit. The Irish government says the tiny rock just 80-yards long and 100-yards wide is not an international boundary but just a large uninhabitable rock in the ocean. [...] Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney stated "We have never recognized UK sovereignty over Rockall and accordingly we have not recognized a territorial sea around it either. We have tried to work positively with the Scottish authorities and to deal with sensitive issues that flow from it in a spirit of kinship and collaboration.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-06-24): He cites the UN Convention but from an Irish perspective, restating that fishermen, and the Irish government, do not recognise Britain’s claim over Rockall so see its sudden activity in the North Atlantic as unnecessary, provocative and a hangover from colonialism. [...] By the sounds of it, those governments have rarely entertained discussion on Rockall. In June 2019, a Scottish government spokesperson merely reiterated that ‘Irish vessels, or any non-UK vessels for that matter, have never been allowed to fish in this way in the UK’s territorial sea around Rockall [...] it is disappointing that this activity continues.’ [...] If Cameron can’t quite explain why he’s so drawn to Rockall, he’s not the only one. ‘It’s got a kind of siren quality, once it calls to you, you sort of can’t help but go deeper and deeper until you decide you need to go,’ says Aaron Wheeler, a filmmaker who is turning Cameron’s quest into a documentary, Rockall: The Edge of Existence.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-04-19): The sovereignty of the rock has been the source of a long-running dispute between Ireland and the UK. The UK authorities claim Rockall is part of its territory lying within its territorial seas - a claim not recognised by Ireland. [...] Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue told the programme that Ireland disputes the British claim over the rock and its seas, describing the waters around Rockall as a traditional fishing ground for Irish trawlers. [...] "It regularly monitors the seas around Rockall. Throughout our discussions with Irish colleagues, we have been consistently clear on the sovereignty of Rockall and the extent of the rights of non-UK vessels to fish in waters at Rockall."
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-10): "While Ireland has not recognised British sovereignty over Rockall, it has never sought to claim sovereignty for itself," Flanagan told Donegal TD Thomas Pringle. [...] Rockall lies outside of the zone claimed by Ireland. [...] For the moment though, the status of the Rockall remains that the UK claims is at part of its territory. While Ireland does not accept this claim, neither does it argue that Rockall is Irish.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-01): Rockall Waterproof Jacket - Red Classic waterproof jacket, perfect for everyday use with 3000/3000 waterproof & breathable seal with taped seams. Fleece lined for warmth, elasticated waist and front zipped pockets, the Rockall is the jacket of choice for Irish stud farms.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-20): The United Kingdom claimed Rockall in 1955 and incorporated it as a part of Scotland in 1972. The UK does not make a claim to extended EEZ based on Rockall, as it has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which says that "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf". However, such features are entitled to a territorial sea extending 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres). Ireland's position is that Rockall does not even generate a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea for the United Kingdom owing to the UK’s uncertain title to Rockall. Ireland does not recognise the UK's claim, although it has never sought to claim sovereignty of Rockall for itself. The consistent position of successive Irish governments has been that Rockall and similar rocks and skerries have no significance for establishing legal claims to mineral rights in the adjacent seabed or to fishing rights in the surrounding seas." [...] Irish claims to Rockall are based on its proximity to the Irish mainland; however, the country has never formally claimed sovereignty over the rock. Although Rockall is closer to the UK coast than to the Irish coast, Ireland does not recognise the UK's territorial claim to Rockall, "which would be the basis for a claim to a 12-mile territorial sea".
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2010-01-01): Woven in Donegal, Ireland, our 100% wool Rockall Collection draws inspiration from the tiny Atlantic granite island of the same name. Providing a classic, timeless and sustainable option, this curation of Shetland woollen fabric is available in a wide array of colours and designs.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-10-29): The Irish government, however, refuses to recognize the United Kingdom’s title over Rockall. This means, in turn, that the waters around Rockall are not British territory at all, but just the far reaches of the United Kingdom’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Since both nations are currently members of the European Union, Irish trawlermen are entitled to fish in the United Kingdom’s EEZ under the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy. In Dublin’s eyes, therefore, Rockall should have as much bearing on fishing rights as an iceberg or a shipwreck. [...] Though this may not seem like much, a "symbolic act on a tiny, uninhabitable speck of land is very significant in terms of getting international ownership," explains Clive Symmons, a professor of maritime law at Trinity College Dublin. What is actually more unusual, Symmons says, is that though the United Kingdom maintains Rockall is its territory, it has given up using the islet to further its EEZ into the North Atlantic. Typically, a country’s EEZ is calculated to extend 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from its claimed territory. In 1997, however, the United Kingdom unilaterally decided to pull back the starting point for this calculation from Rockall to St. Kilda, an archipelago around 180 kilometers off the Scottish mainland.
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-15): Rockall Q&A: Fishing dispute between Scotland and Ireland [...] A spokesperson told BBC News NI: "Irish vessels, or any non-UK vessels for that matter, have never been allowed to fish in this way in the UK's territorial sea around Rockall. [...] A European Commission spokeswoman told BBC News NI that "the question of sovereignty over Rockall is a matter of international law".
Claim: Rockall is a territory of Ireland (Rockall, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-01-21): First, since the 1955 ‘annexation’ the UK government has most consistently represented its acts as occupation of a territory res nullius (or a terra nullius or territorium nullius). These deeply colonial concepts have a contested and violent history that I cannot explore here. It is sufficient to note that even based only on the most readily available geographical and historical records concerning Rockall, the factual assertion that in 1955 this was a territory that could be described by any of these concepts is unconvincing. Rockall was known to, and subject to extensive exploitation by Irish, Scottish, Norwegian, Dutch and Baltic fishing and trading communities from at least the 16th century and was possibly visited and recorded by the Irish monk-adventurer St. Brendan as early as the 6th century. The rock has a place in both Irish and Scottish mythologies. In the Irish telling it exists due to exploits of Fionn MacCumhaill, in the Scottish as a harbinger of the end the world.