Confoederatio Helvetica is a fudge, so that neither the German* or French speakers would be seen to have the upper hand. Latin, as a dead language, is great for these things. (This is also why Swiss cars carry "CH" stickers, and Swiss website addresses end in .ch)
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* yeah, it's not really German, it's just written with words from German. I never understood the idea of a "diglossic" language until I visited Zurich. Everyone was happy to speak to me in high German (although my Irish-Bavarian hybrid accent threw them, and they thought maybe I was Dutch), but what they spoke to each other was very odd... and I'd learned my German in Munich!
(On the other hand, even with my basic, school French I was able to get by in Geneva. They. Just. Speak. So. Slowly. It's. Great.)
Now, the reason some Irish people get a little uppity about the use of the name "Éire" in English is that "Éire" was also previously used in English to describe the Irish Free State, a pre-1939 entity defined by the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty which, crucially, was not a fully independent nation, but rather a Crown dependency. (Irish Independence wasn't a one-shot event, but rather a series of withdrawals. If you've ever tried to end a phone call with an Irish person, this would not be a surprise)
Some people take the use of the older name as an assumption that Ireland is still not independent of the UK. I think those people need to cop on a little and remove the chip from their shoulder. I'm a little more pragmatic, and I see it as a genuine intention by English people to be courteous by using the native name of the country, unaware of the layered meanings and potential implied slights of that name. I try to correct as politely as possible and move on. After all, if someone is genuinely trying to be an arsehole, they'll try again; if they're not, then drawing attention to an innocent error makes me the arsehole.
In fairness, this is a really easy trap to walk into: if I jokingly refer to the homeland of my Finnish friend as "Suomi", she's not going to get the hump with me over it - quite the opposite in fact; so I can understand the confusion around "Éire".
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* yeah, it's not really German, it's just written with words from German. I never understood the idea of a "diglossic" language until I visited Zurich. Everyone was happy to speak to me in high German (although my Irish-Bavarian hybrid accent threw them, and they thought maybe I was Dutch), but what they spoke to each other was very odd... and I'd learned my German in Munich!
(On the other hand, even with my basic, school French I was able to get by in Geneva. They. Just. Speak. So. Slowly. It's. Great.)
Éire is the name of the country in Irish, its official first language, so that is what's used on coins and stamps. However, the name of the country in English is "Ireland", as Article 4 of the Constitution of states: "The name of the State is Éire, or in the English language, Ireland" (source: Irish Statute Book)Surprise here, as 'Eire' appears on Irish stamps; also on some atlases whereas Ireland is the whole island. Very confusing, this. I take your point on 'Erse' being historic, but i thought 'Eire was, at lease formally, the country of Southern Ireland.
Now, the reason some Irish people get a little uppity about the use of the name "Éire" in English is that "Éire" was also previously used in English to describe the Irish Free State, a pre-1939 entity defined by the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty which, crucially, was not a fully independent nation, but rather a Crown dependency. (Irish Independence wasn't a one-shot event, but rather a series of withdrawals. If you've ever tried to end a phone call with an Irish person, this would not be a surprise)
Some people take the use of the older name as an assumption that Ireland is still not independent of the UK. I think those people need to cop on a little and remove the chip from their shoulder. I'm a little more pragmatic, and I see it as a genuine intention by English people to be courteous by using the native name of the country, unaware of the layered meanings and potential implied slights of that name. I try to correct as politely as possible and move on. After all, if someone is genuinely trying to be an arsehole, they'll try again; if they're not, then drawing attention to an innocent error makes me the arsehole.
In fairness, this is a really easy trap to walk into: if I jokingly refer to the homeland of my Finnish friend as "Suomi", she's not going to get the hump with me over it - quite the opposite in fact; so I can understand the confusion around "Éire".