Calling yourself British.

They can say they are from the U.K. yes, of course, because it's the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland

Can we start calling the unionists Uckish?

Some people seem to be confused, and I guess it is confusing as it's a bit of a quirk, but ...

"Britain" does not include Northern Ireland.

But, "British" does include people from Northern Ireland.

Just look at the demonym section of the Wiki page for the United Kingdom.

It's a strange one and is probably, like most things, personal to the individual

Reminds me of Noel Gallagher. Depending on the interviewer, he's Irish, doesn't follow the England football team and hates the monarchy. On another day he describes himself as British, played a union jack guitar, strongly identifies with Britpop and that whole Cool Britannia thing in the 90s.

As for why an Irishman like Sammy Wilson, who has spent his life trying to explain to people why he isn't actually Irish when they think he is? There's votes and a career in it.

I don't know where you got that from The UK consists of the 'UK and NI' = British. To say otherwise is to do what a certain political party does. Which is to pretend that neither the Republic of Ireland, nor Northern Ireland exist.

Intsead they Referring to Northern Ireland as the Six Counties/the North while referring to the Republic of Ireland as 'this State', when in it - or the Irish government when talking about it the representatives of 'this state'.

Because if such a party uses the names NI or the ROI the cognitive dissonance spell is broken.

Regarding the the OP's question I get the impression that is a wind up, you only have to look at the excitement and constant mention of Britons/Team GB during the Olympics etc

I lived in England for a decade and OP is correct, every British person I knew thought as themselves as English, Scottish or Welsh.

All the English people I know living in Ireland also call themselves English rather than British.

But from an earlier post

"54.8% of the population identify as British, and only as British. (This is sharply up from 2011, when only 19.1% did so.)"

So could it be that this change to using the term British simply happened since you came to Ireland, 30 yrs ago? Would English people coming here in the last ten years more likely use the term 'British' ?

Can I ask you a question- were the vast majority of them white?

I’m curious to know just how people from an ethnic minority background might firstly describe themselves vs how a white person with roots in the British Isles going back generations might describe themselves.

Im guessing that someone maybe first “windrush” generation, but born in UK would state British as opposed to “English” ? But very happy to be corrected or educated here too.

See below from 2.40..Ali G on British..

So is you 'ere on 'oliday?

I think you've made a valid point that most people when asked will primarily identify with their country in the UK, and then as British. NI Unionists are the exception as they call themselves British first and foremost, with any other identities coming in distant second (Northern Irish, Ulstermen, even Irish sometimes). You see it a lot with "post-colonial" identities - people from Gibraltar/the Falklands/anywhere general away from the mother country but still identifying with it.

Basically only two sorts of people in the UK primarily identify as British - NI Unionists and ethnic minorities in England who see themselves as British but not English (which seems to regarded as an ethnic identity, unlike in Scotland and Wales where minorities are happy to call themselves Scottish or Welsh). I think this map illustrates it pretty well.

Could that be a nationalist thing I wonder- being “English” is all that matters to me- Using the label “British” dilutes my identity and it becomes shared with other regions I don’t necessarily identify with -“ “English” is my most pure form of identity and it’s the only label I wish to identify with? “

Thanks for interesting map graphic but in relation to NI Unionists that's not particularly useful. As their options seemed to be Irish or British and guess which they opted for. If there was a third option in the NI census for 'Ulster', I'd be more convinced. If there were, I suspect you'd see a swing towards this from both Unionist and Nationalist communities.

I was once told not to use the name Ulster as it was a Unionist word!

Because their other option is to call themselves Irish.

First of all one has to get the accent right. Snobbish talk through the nose, more English or South of England, Scottish accent easily recognizable....

I'd say people who call themselves British is just taking reference of oficial citizenship or by somebody who's say grown up in England, has had his or her education in England, but is of Scottish or Welsh background, - thus feeling attached to all 4 nations of the UK.

And then there are those who call themselves British, because they are naturalized, or people who have grown up or were born in the United States, to say English and Scottish parents.

There are lot's of reasons to call oneself British.