New EU (Schengen) Visa Code will apply from 5 April 2010

[acme4242]

EU Press release >here<

BBC news Article >here<

[John]

Thanks for posting that link.

It needs to be appreciated that the document only applies to Schengen area countries, so does not apply, for example, to visas issued by the UK or Ireland.

[86ti]

Would this deserve another sticky?

[Ben]

BBC news Article >here<

Off topic, but:

Schengen embraces 22 EU countries and three non-EU nations - Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. The UK and Irish Republic are among those outside.

Why oh why oh why does the BBC continually to refer to Ireland as the Irish Republic?

[John]

Ben, I suspect the reason is that the BBC cover part of the island of Ireland, of course Northern Ireland. So they cannot just use the expression Ireland.

Instead of "Irish Republic", what would you prefer? After all it is a Republic.

[Ben]

I'm sorry John, but a country should referred to by it's name. The Irish Republic has never been the name of the state.

If the BBC, or any UK broadcaster, is genuinely afraid of the reader being confused between Ireland and Northern Ireland, they could instead refer to the official description - Republic of Ireland, which would be acceptable.

Referring to Ireland as the Irish Republic is just plain wrong. I'm surprised that the BBC keep doing this, they're usually (in my opinion) very impartial and politically correct in their reporting.

[Obie]

As the Republic of ireland is a descriptive term of the State as opposed to a name of the state as stipulated in Article 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, and as you rightly pointed out in another thread, i am sure the Irish Republic can serve similar purpose of describing the State, and hence it can be construed as the Adjective of Eire.

Essentially both description should be perfectly correct.

Eire does not properly describe the state, as it could be considered the whole of the 32 counties of Ireland as opposed to the 26 counties, which it is intended to define.

Southern Ireland is in my view a wrong term to use, as people who sort to use such term, are seeking to undermine the 26 counties right as a Soveriegn State, or failing to accept the fact that the 26 counties as cease to be part of the Monarchy or the commonwealth and is now a Republic.

[Ben]

Hi Obie.

As the Republic of ireland is a descriptive term of the State as opposed to a name of the state as stipulated in Article 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, and as you rightly pointed out in another thread, i am sure the Irish Republic can serve similar purpose of describing the State, and hence it can be construed as the Adjective of Eire.

Republic of Ireland is the official description of the state of Ireland, as per the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 which you have mentioned.

The Irish Republic was a term used during the 1916 proclamation. However, at that time, what is now Ireland was still part of the UK and so the term Irish Republic was never officially recognised. In any case, in 1922 the official name became the Irish Free State.

Essentially both description should be perfectly correct.

I'm afraid not, for the reasons mentioned above.

Eire does not properly describe the state, as it could be considered the whole of the 32 counties of Ireland as opposed to the 26 counties, which it is intended to define.

Éire (fada!) is the name of the state in the Irish language. That is, it is equal with the name Ireland in the English language. Éire is not the description of the state, nor is it, as per the Good Friday Agreement, a name used to describe or to claim sovereignty over the whole island.

Southern Ireland is in my view a wrong term to use, as people who sort to use such term, are seeking to undermine the 26 counties right as a Soveriegn State, or failing to accept the fact that the 26 counties as cease to be part of the Monarchy or the commonwealth and is now a Republic.

I agree. Additionally, Southern Ireland may be used by some people who, though not necessarily through any fault of their own, are ignorant to either Irish history or to Ireland in general.

Apologies for going off-topic.

[86ti]

As interesting as this discussion may be the thread is actually not about Ireland at all.

[Ben]

As interesting as this discussion may be the thread is actually not about Ireland at all.

Quite right. My apologies.

[dsanchez]

EU Press release >here<

BBC news Article >here<

I hear someone saying that with this new rule, national visas (visas valid only for "Spain", for instance) can be used now in the whole Schengen Area.

Is this true or does someone need always a visa stating "Schengen States" to travel freely?