Islands of the North Atlantic

Encyclopedia : I : IS : ISL : Islands of the North Atlantic

For an explanation of often confusing terms like (Great) Britain, United Kingdom and England see also British Isles (terminology).''

"Islands of the North Atlantic" (IONA) was suggested by Sir John Biggs-Davison as a less contentious alternative to the term "British Isles" to refer to Britain and Ireland and the smaller associated islands. It has been used particularly in the context of the Northern Irish "peace process", during the negotiation of the Belfast Agreement, as a neutral description of those islands. However its use has been mainly limited to this context: as of 2004 (January), the term Islands of the North Atlantic was not used in any official internet site of the British or Irish governments, apart from verbatim reports of Irish parliamentary debates discussing whether it might be used.

The term has been adopted by the Councils of the World Universities Debating Championship and European Universities Debating Championship for the purposes of regional elections to the Councils. It has also been taken by the British National Party [link]. They use it in order to assert the independence and 'Britishness' of the United Kingdom

One feature of this name is that the acronym IONA has the same spelling as the island of Iona which is off the coast of Scotland but with which Irish people have strong cultural associations. It is therefore a name with which people of both main islands might identify. On the other hand, it can be confusing (a) because of this duplication of the name of the existing Iona and (b) because Greenland, Iceland, and Newfoundland are also important and rather prominent islands of the North Atlantic, which the term is not intended to include.

"British Isles" remains for now the most widely used term to describe the aforementioned territories, and vastly predates the present matters of controversy (e.g. the "Brit" prefix is used in ancient Greek and Roman documents referring to these territories). Some object, however, seeing in "British" an association with the United Kingdom, and saying that while accurate in describing both the geography and the politics of the islands when Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801-1922), it has not changed to reflect political developments since 1922 and the modern usage of the word "British" to mean "of the United Kingdom" rather than "of the British Isles" (c.f. modern use of "American" to mean "of the USA" rather than "of the Americas", with similar connotations for naming conventions in the American continents).

It remains to be seen whether IONA, which has been used as part of the Northern Ireland "peace process", will become a widely accepted replacement term for the British Isles, whether another term will evolve over time, or whether the status quo will prevail.

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