Alliance 'following republican agenda again' says UUP peer after MLA weighs into debate on 'the North' versus 'Northern Ireland'
An Alliance MLA’s call for people not to criticise use of the phrase “the North” to refer to Northern Ireland has drawn fire from a former UUP leader.
Lord Elliott was reacting to a remark by East Antrim Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly, amid a debate about the practice sparked by a News Letter article this week.
On Monday, the News Letter reported that unionists had criticised a recent trend of Tourism Northern Ireland referring to the country it was promoting as “the North”, apparently beginning after Sinn Fein took over its parent body, the Department for the Economy.
Economy minister Caoimhe Archibald (ultimately in charge of Tourism NI) told the News Letter she wants to see “tolerance and respect” for the use of different terms.
Weighing into the debate, Mr Donnelly wrote on X (formerly Twitter, where he has 9,100 followers) in response to the News Letter’s coverage: “We have different names for some places here but we all know where is being referred to.
"Call places what you want, but don’t criticise others for doing the same. #SimpleReally.”
Lord Elliott, leader of the UUP from 2010 to 2012 and the party’s current chairman, has now said it is “disrespectful” not to use the proper name for the country.
"That’s typical of Danny, taking a lead from that agenda,” he said.
"I’m sure he wouldn’t like it if some place close to his heart was called a different name.”
He added that “we regularly hear and see Alliance supporting elements of the republicans’ decision-making”.
More generally, Lord Elliott said: “This is a tactic by republicans and others to try and force a name change in a subtle way.
"Suppose I went around all the time talking about ‘the Free State’?
"Some people may take offence and that’s why I refer to it as the Republic of Ireland.
"It's the lack of respect.
"How would people react if we called something [a name] that it’s not?”
Lord Elliott said that he was once "taken to task” by a Fine Gael TD for saying “Republic of Ireland”. Instead, the TD had wanted him just to say “Ireland”.
He also recalled that a Sinn Fein MP once challenged him for saying “Roman Catholic” instead of just “Catholic”.
"What’s the harm?” said Lord Elliott.
“That’s the official title!”
Among those responding to Mr Donnelly’s tweet was Alan Stout (5,300 followers), chairman of the BMA’s Northern Ireland committee, who wrote: “As a simple and general rule I’ll use the name that I think the person or people I’m talking to will use, and I’ll never be offended by a place name.”
Also reacting was the account @DownOrangeMan, which posted: “’The north’ is very ambiguous. Do tourists really know what is being referred to when Northern Ireland is called ‘the north’? Really Danny?
"They visit NI and are told Slieve Gullion is in ‘the north’? You don’t see how that could cause confusion to tourists visiting NI?”