Different people use different names.

	There are two more important terms: "republican" and "loyalist".
	A republican believes in an extreme form of Nationalism, a
	loyalist believes in an extreme form of Unionism. Both terms are
	used to describe groups who advocate the use of violence to
	achieve political aims.

	Unionists tend to call Northern Ireland Ulster, even tough this
	is technically incorrect (Ulster includes three extra counties:
	Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal).  Republicans (here meaning
	nationalists who sympathise with violent attempts to force union
	between Northern Ireland and the Republic) often call Northern
	Ireland "the Six Counties" and the Republic "the Twenty Six
	Counties" (or, worse, "the Free State", a reference to the
	original Irish state with limited independence created in 1921).

	British people often call the Republic Éire (possibly
	because it was the word used by the BBC for years) but this
	is not popular amongst Irish people.  The word is grating to
	many Irish ears when used in English.  "Éire" is the name
	of the state in Irish, "Ireland" is the name in English.
	The Constitution says as much (but also contains the phrase
	"We, the people of Éire" in its preamble, arguably a case
	of mis-translation).  Some Irish don't mind the mix and even
	use it themselves, however if in doubt, you call it "Ireland"
	if you are speaking English.



	"Ireland" is ambiguous: it may refer to the island or to the
	part governed from Dublin.  You may want to say "the island of
	Ireland" to avoid this ambiguity.  "The North" and "the South"
	are often used as shorthand for Northern Ireland and the Republic
	respectively.

	There is sometimes a subtle difference in whether the word is
	written with an initial capital or not, e.g. 'unionist'
	indicating a general connection with the idea, 'Unionist'
	implying a more direct political involvement especially relating
	to one of the Unionist political parties.

	Finally, you cannot tell someone's political allegiance reliably
	from what names they use: these are all generalisations.  The
	safest terms are "Northern Ireland" and "Republic of Ireland".