Wikipedia:Ireland disambiguation task force/archive 1

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.
This opening proposal and its immediate discussion has been halted pending further taskforce-related discussion. Existing votes can be altered, but no new ones please. It is halted as an act of good faith to people who felt it was "forum shopping" (which is strongly denied by the proposer). It is possible that this proposal could become redundant, be re-started, or simply be re-opened from where it left off (with all contributors contacted). For the moment it is on pause.

(with A to E variations, see below)

“Ireland” will redirect to an Irish country article called Ireland (or an alternative). It will be the main 'state' article, performing the same function as the current Republic of Ireland, but will include the nation's whole history. The top of the article will say; For the article about the island of Ireland see: Ireland (island)” (or alternatively "Island of Ireland") - which will now be a non-political article.

  • The 'country' article will cover Ireland's political and cultural history. (see below for 4 alternative name options)
  • The 'island' article will be geographical only. (see below for 1 alternative name option)

Reasoning:

The idea of this proposal is to the keep the articles and sub articles clearly focused on either the Irish state article, the Northern Ireland article or the geographical island article. The great many articles on Wikipedia that straight-link "Ireland" when meaning an Irish state (countless articles do this, minor biographies especially) will suddely make sense, without any need for change.

A disambiguation page seems against guidelines for this approach, as the top link is all that is needed to point people to a solely geographical article. As Wikipedia is more comprehensive that Britannica, I suggest that it will inevitably demand the geographical article – but it must remain geographical and not have forked political information in it, or blur the difference between the Irish state and Northern Ireland.

Disambiguators to be offered in the WP:IMOS guideline:

“Republic of Ireland” – leading directly to the new “Ireland” article.

“republic of Ireland” – leading directly to the new “Ireland” article.

“Republic of Ireland” – leading directly to the new “Ireland” article.

“Ireland (state)” – leading directly to the new “Ireland” article.

Name changes involved (both moves):

1) “Republic of Ireland” to “Ireland” (or one of the variations below)

2) “Ireland” to “Ireland (island)” (or "Island of Ireland" - see variation below)

The variations of this proposal are:

“Ireland” (as link or keyword) redirects to an Irish country article called:

  • (A) “Ireland”
  • (B) “Ireland (republic of)
  • (C) “Ireland (Republic of)” – with capital ‘R’
  • (D) “Ireland (republic)”
  • (E) “Republic of Ireland” (mainting the current state article, but including pre-ROI history within it)

Note: when considering the above, remember that the "Ireland (island)" article must be geographical-only in this proposal.