Charismatic

100 years since the Easter uprising where has it got you Ireland:

Courtesy of a prominent New Zealand university website.

Kotare

Being of English origin I protest at being lumped in with the 'celtic' tribes.

MrsFychan

a mix of so many. should just be place of birth and have nothing else connected to it

BEVS

Being half and half , I am pulled two ways.

Charismatic

Get out you muggle.

LittleGreyCat

All joking apart I think that British/Irish is mainly an ethnic grouping.
Ah, yes, I see it is Ethnicity not Nationality.

I assume the Irish bit also includes NI as there can be a wobble between being UK and being British if you get picky.

Although given the disparate nature of our current population I assume that British/Irish is a polite way of saying "white" or "slightly blue white" if you are from North of the Border.

scrubbedexpat094

I'm apparently 1/16th Irish on my mother's side of the family. My Mum's mum's surname was Corcoran. Some members of the family tried to trace our ancestors but hit a brick wall in Ireland due to a fire in some records office/ church or something.

Anyways I'm happy with the British/Irish thing on a form. I'm not sure why British/Irish means that you would necessarily be "white" LittleGreyCat .

I think it distinguishes whether you are likely to have a GSOH or not. British/Irish yes, everyone else No

Charismatic

Uhh...the orange people of the Welsh Valleys, Peter O'Tool in Lawrence of Arabia, British kids after going for a seaside swim in the Summer to name just a few.

LittleGreyCat

Just going by standard forms you see in the UK.

Remember this is ethnicity (i.e. usually genetic and/or cultural origins).
So if you are resident in the UK or Ireland you may also be classified by an ethnic sub-grouping.
This is important when trying to detect and combat racial discrimination.
It is also important when gathering health statistics as genetic origins can include increased risk of things like Diabetes.
They tend to include classifications such as Asian and Black/Afro Caribbean to identify the ethnic groupings who may be more likely to suffer from discrimination (and Diabetes).

I think that the usual questions in the UK date back to before the influx of Eastern European immigrants.

I think the ethnic groupings surveyed for in the UK are probably different from those shown at the start of the thread on a NZ form. I see that German is on the list but not French, Belgian, Finn............unless they are working from a percentage list of ethnicity from immigration statistics or something equally obscure there are some strange choices in the list.

Justcol

Surely any black people would identify as African / afro Caribbean
or where ever their roots lay, not British / irish.
Even if they were second or third generation.

Or does suggesting that make me a racist because we shouldn't really suggest such things

jmh

Black British is a phrase used in Britain, but it wouldn't be used here as it's considered racist to call someone black.

Bo-Jangles

People confuse ethnicity with race and the two are very different. People can adapt their ethnicity and embrace another's beliefs and customs to identify with that ethnic orientation. Ethnicity has nothing to do with colour or race.

paddy234

800 years of trying to conquer Ireland, where did it get England ;-) Ireland was never British, some people just wanted to believe it to be so as they like us so much lol :-) Honestly though as a proud Irishman I don't mind this. We Europeans are also commonly lumped into one group aswell especially In this part of the world.

Norman Conquest

There has been a very extensive DNA survey done in the UK which has shown a strong Celtic element in the West Midlands and the West Country. Saxons are Y-DNA I1a2BY147/126, Celts R1bL21. In Yorkshire there is a large cluster of Anglo-Scandinavians (Nordics) Y-DNA I1a2Z382 - hence Europeanized indigenous non-Aryan Asiatic hybrids, which explains the somewhat Asiatic features many have. Many of the same group present in New Zealand - from anthropological studies of physical types and migration routes. Celts, Germanics and Italics are considered Aryans, Nordics not, in spite of speaking Germanic languages. Interesting stuff, for what its worth - but nothing to get worked up about. As usual, the "experts" are arguing among themselves.