the wording that was reverted was as follows northern ireland ulster scots norlin airlann is a part of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland in common with the other constituent parts of the united kingdom northern ireland is sometimes referred to as a country example the uk government also refers specifically to northern ireland as being a province uk example ni example or a region uk example ni example regardless of the choice of term it is likely to be unsatisfactory and can imply a preferred political perspective one problem must be adverted to in writing about northern ireland this is the question of what name to give to the various geographical entities these names can be controversial with the choice often revealing one's political preferences some refer to northern ireland as a 'province' that usage can arouse irritation particularly among nationalists who claim the title 'province' should be properly reserved to the four historic provinces of ireland ulster leinster munster and connacht if i want to a label to apply to northern ireland i shall call it a 'region' unionists should find that title as acceptable as 'province' northern ireland appears as a region in the regional statistics of the united kingdom published by the british government j whyte and g fitzgerald interpreting northern ireland oxford university press oxford one specific problem in both general and particular senses is to know what to call northern ireland itself in the general sense it is not a country or a province or a state although some refer to it contemptuously as a statelet the least controversial word appears to be jurisdiction but this might change s dunn and h dawson an alphabetical listing of word name and place in northern ireland and the living language of conflict edwin mellen press lampeter next what noun is appropriate to northern ireland 'province' won't do since one third of the province is on the wrong side of the border 'state' implies more self determination than northern ireland has ever had and 'country' or 'nation' are blatantly absurd 'colony' has overtones that would be resented by both communities and 'statelet' sounds too patronizing though outsiders might consider it more precise than anything else so one is left with the unsatisfactory word 'region' d murphy a place apart penguin books london and it is situated in the north east of the island of ireland it shares a border with the republic of ireland to the south and west at the time of the uk census its population was constituting between a quarter and a third of the island's total population and about of the population of the united kingdom snowded what is it that you find incorrect about this the phrasing used is verbatium copy of how northern ireland is described on that downing street webpage you keep wheeling out northern ireland is a part of the united kingdom your approach is based on a cherry picking of sources the copy you oppose is neutral source based and explains the issue clearly factually and fairly if there are specific issues with it then critique it don't just say i don't like it rann irt anai nid co r