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The British Isles is the term commonly used, although some people prefer the Islands of the North Atlantic, to identify the group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe consisting of Great Britain, Ireland and the many smaller adjacent islands. These islands form an archipelago off the west coast of Europe, 315,134 km (121,674 square miles), consisting of:

• Great Britain
• Ireland
• The Isle of Man
• The Isle of Wight
• The Orkney Isles
• The Shetland Isles
• Fair Isle
• The Hebrides
• The Small Isles
• Anglesey
• Lindisfarne
• The islands of the lower Firth of Clyde, including Arran and Bute
• The Isles of Scilly
• Lundy
• Looe Island
• The Channel Islands

and many other smaller islands surrounding the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.

The term "British Isles", despite the politically suggestive use of "British", refers to these islands as a geographical--not a political--unit, although the Channel Islands are only included due to their political association. Politically, the group of islands is divided between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The last four of these are not part of the United Kingdom, although the last three are British crown dependencies.

Many people in Ireland and the Irish diaspora dislike the term "British Isles" because they think it may suggest that Ireland is, or should be, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In cases where what is being referred to is only the two largest islands, the term "Great Britain and Ireland" can be used. Of course, in those cases, the term "British Isles" would not be appropriate to begin with.

Unfortunately there is no other widely-used suitably brief term to refer to the island group as a whole; "Great Britain, Ireland, and surrounding islands" gets at the basic meaning, but at the cost of conciseness. Some writers may choose to avoid referring to the island group as a whole in order to avoid giving offense, although there are of course cases where this cannot be done while preserving the intended meaning.

In the context of the Northern Ireland peace process the term "Islands of the North Atlantic" (IONA) was suggested by Sir John Biggs Davison as a less contentious alternative to the term "British Isles" to refer to Great Britain, Ireland and the smaller associated islands. It has been used particularly in the context of the Northern Irish peace process as a neutral description of those islands.

One feature of this name is that the acronym IONA has the same spelling as the island of Iona which is off the coast of Great Britain but with which Irish people have strong cultural associations. It is a name with which people of both main islands might identify. However, to be pedantic it has the problem that Iceland and Newfoundland, to name just two, are also islands of the North Atlantic.

"British Isles" remains for now the most widely used term to describe the territories listed above, though Irish people to whom it seems anglo-centric may have difficulties with the term; while accurate in describing both the geography and the politics of the islands when Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801-1922), it has not changed to reflect political developments since 1922.

It remains to be seen whether the term IONA, will become a widely accepted replacement term for the British Isles, whether another term will evolve over time, or whether the status quo will prevail.

References:

Denis Canavan MSP, British Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, Summary of the 15th Plenary Session, 9. The Future of the Body

Trevor Sargent TD, "The Good Friday Agreement", Dáil Éireann speech

Mr. Peter Luff MP, British House of Commons speech

, Kevin Barry, "Resiliency, Tolerance and Avoidance in Northern Ireland"

Taoiseach Mr Bertie Ahern TD, "Ireland and Britain A New Relationship for a New Millennium"

Paul Sharp, "When New Meets Old: Irish Diplomacy, Northern Ireland and the Peace Process"