WaywardTom

@theiaincameron Utter bollocks ! Nonsense. There is nothing British about Ireland or Scotland. Even northern Irish unionists are celts and not British

Here is a clear and jargon-free (coughs) description of the differences between, Britain, Great Britain, the U.K., Ireland, and the British Isles. 🇬🇧 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇮🇪 Scotland, England, and Wales make up Britain (or Great Britain). This is the larger of the two islands. The United Kingdom (UK) is Britain and a country of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland) together. Ireland is, as we have said, the other island. But Ireland itself is made up of two countries: The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. This odd situation is compounded by a good many Northern Ireland residents who insist on calling themselves British. (We’ll leave the politics of that out of this post…) Both the islands of Ireland and Britain combined are called the British Isles in a geographic sense. But this framing is contested by many Irish residents, who dislike the term British, for exactly the same reason that some Northern Irish folk love it. Following so far? Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland all have individual national soccer teams. In rugby, however, Ireland play as one team. Confused? It gets worse. At the Olympics, athletes from Northern Ireland can represent Team Ireland or Team Great Britain (there is no U.K. Olympic team). Oh, and let us not forget the Isle of Man. Despite being slap-bang in the middle of Northern Ireland and Great Britain, it doesn’t form part of the U.K., but it is in the British Isles. Happy to have cleared all that up.

@mooreholmes24 It was funny it decompressed the tension. full stop 🛑 move on

The actual story here is Emma Little Pengelly, representing Northern Ireland in the White House, making a positive impression and being warmly received. That’s leadership being recognised on an international stage. But the usual clickbait crowd will be all over this, wringing every last drop out of a throwaway remark like it’s some great constitutional or embarrassing moment. It’s not. If people want to get worked up over Donald Trump joking about “mergers”, they’re actually missing the point. Even he, in the same sentence, shows no real interest in it and quickly moves on. Complete nothing burger. But watch the media and others try to make it into something it isn’t.

@DanMulhall Give him credit for actually being funny if a bit risky. It totally let the tension out of it and highlighted what fools @sinnfeinireland are

I agree that this incident should not be oversold. As a businessman & a politician, Trump is a fan of mergers & acquisitions! This was a humorous aside that came into his head. Other Presidents would have applied a politician’s handbrake & left the remark unsaid. That’s not Trump’s style.

@Muinchille @PunjabiAggressr It was neutrality in name only a public neutrality to protect UKs western flank as Mi5 admitted but a public stance that Churchill and Roosevelt exploited

@PunjabiAggressr None of those things are so, though, apart from neutrality, which is what nearly everyone else did, too.

That’s really fucked up of Ireland to do. Anyway, free Palestine and fuck Israel.

@Skratch @PaigeSpiranac It’s not a major !! It’s entertainment & it’s great fun but it’s but not a serious golf competition to be a major. It’s on an artificially created and shaped golf course with no bumps or curves. I hope it’s the only artificially created element in this debate.

Should THE PLAYERS be the fifth major? @PaigeSpiranac asked fans at TPC Sawgrass.

@itsjohncrotty @GanleyMicheal @declanganley I think it took time for the Italians to learn respect for the Irish and that what they thought they knew wasn’t true

@GanleyMicheal @declanganley Same Micheál, I don’t think it reflects well

I hate the lack of intellectual curiosity some Irish people display on this topic. Our diaspora is fascinating and I’m glad they take pride in their identity.

@itsjohncrotty @GanleyMicheal @declanganley our local IceCream van man was Italian who lived locally & family went to mass until he was mugged. Toni the barber a guy who’d start cutting at one place then get emotionally wrapped in a conversation do his flying arms routine & continue from another part of your head.

@itsjohncrotty @GanleyMicheal @declanganley The USA Irish Italian experience is based on a level playing field but in the UK the Irish in the 50’s -80’s were a displaced uneducated ppl. Many Italians had to change their aloof view as Irish contractors were booking out the very hotels & restaurants they owned or worked in.

@itsjohncrotty @GanleyMicheal @declanganley The Irish Italian relationship in Manchester is they shared the same schools. Older Northern Italians are in formed by old British propaganda from 1800’s and that Irish are the same as British & part of British Isles. The Italians brought food & style to uk the Irish dug holes

@EtainTannam @CharlieFlanagan @rtenews More than it got on the @BBCNews. Not relevant to UK listeners according to bbc editors

Surprisingly low ‘billing’ on @rtenews for UK-Irl summit, as it’s quite a significant event symbolically (Taoiseach, PM & govt ministers from both govts), with some substantive elements. On half way through 2nd half of news, with ‘light’ items (Oscars, Cheltenham)

@ggcouk That’s a lot of cocaine sold

🚨 Cheltenham Festival Attendances were 7,384 more than 2025 👀 However, it was still 3,776 less than in 2024... 2026: Tuesday: 57,242 Wednesday: 46,317 Thursday: 55,648 Friday: 67,016 Total attendances 226,223 2025: Tuesday: 55,498 Wednesday: 41,949 Thursday: 53,366 Friday: 68,026 Total attendances 218,839 2024: Tuesday 60,181 Wednesday 46,771 Thursday 53,918 Friday 69,129 Total attendances 229,999

@TheRacingVet_ Be honest it’s not that rare if you include the gallops. May be a small percentage of horses in training but it’s not that rare.

It’s also worth remembering how rare these events are relative to the number of horses racing and training every day. But because they are so visible and upsetting, they understandably stay in people’s minds.

The pinnacle of jumps racing had a very sad end to it today, as the 10-time G1 winner, Envoi Allen, collapsed and died after the finish of the Gold Cup. Sudden death is a rare occurrence in our sport. I’ll try to explain what happens and why 🧵⬇️

@itvracing @LydiaHislop It’s a drugs and drink festival- Unfortunately Aintree is catching up. Thursday & Friday used to be great days racing in Aintree but it’s gone like Cheltenham just a drink and drugs music fest with horse racing on the other side of the stand

Huge numbers turned out for #CheltenhamFestival 🏆 Attendances are up 8,130 on last year 👏

@RacingPost A drug and drink festival in the Guinness Village and elsewhere

Sum up the 2026 Cheltenham Festival using just ONE word 👇

@itvracing Its a cocaíne fest fighting brawling if you go to the loo you miss a race unlikely I’ll ever go back 1/2 the crowd there for the pissup not racing

🗣️ "I think Cheltenham has turned a corner and it's on the way back to greatness again." What did you think of this year's festival? 👇

The ⁦@BBCSport⁩ thinks the Prestbury Cup ⁦@CheltenhamRaces⁩ is a soccer competition ⁦@itvracing⁩

@IndoSport @RealKevinPalmer Yeah but they are letting in all sorts of thugs and it’s also a drug fest. Been going since 1989 and stopped a couple of years ago. It’s not a racing crowd

Kevin Palmer: Cheltenham Festival may have turned a corner in its battle to keep the fans onside @RealKevinPalmer buff.ly/bmPeWYB

@Muinchille @dublin_damo it’s Sinn Fein who want to retain the housing crisis . High rise residential is the solution in London Liverpool Manchester Leeds Glasgow and there is even some in Edinburgh. I can understand resistance Edinburgh give it’s beautiful buildings etc but Dublin is grim

@dublin_damo I'm afraid we'd have to blow most of them up. As it is, we'll probably have to blow most of what is there up.

This should be Dublin's docklands, if the city wasn't run by middle class An Taisce types.

@RacingTV @nickluck I think the best thing now if for all Irish owners with horses at Henderson to jock-off DeBoinville

Declan Queally has issued an official complaint to the stewards about Nico de Boinville after an incident before the Turners The stewards have adjourned the matter as they gather more evidence. More from @nickluck here 👇🏻

@RacingTV @nickluck The adjournment is to buy more time for the arrogant jumped well connected ass hole that is DeBoinvile. Total bias by British stewards