The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state....

...however the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office doesn't appear to have heard!

I "liked" the FCO on Facebook and as such see their updates, which can often be quite useful to British citizens living abroad. In a recent video on passport applications the outline of the entire island of Ireland, including the Republic is shown covered with the Union Flag.

For those unfamiliar with the historical and political intricacies and complexities of the island of Ireland you may want to have a look at the history of the Irish Republic and the issue with flags in Northern Ireland. The Republic, as an independent country, naturally has its own flag.

My comments on the video are below and a screenshot of the image is above:

Christopher Fitzsimons Useful video however you might want to update the image of the British Isles (including the Republic of Ireland) at 4:27! The ROI is not part of the UK!

FCO travel - travel advice from the Foreign Office Ireland is part of the British Isles, but not part of the UK.

Christopher Fitzsimons I understand that but the flag used is the Union Jack which is the flag of the UK. And at the point the image is shown the words "British nationals" and "UK" are used and the Republic of Ireland is shown with a Union Jack. It's quite misleading and some would argue offensive given that the ROI is an independent country.

FCO travel - travel advice from the Foreign Office It is rather clumsy, but no offence meant, obviously.

Christopher Fitzsimons

The point is that the flag, whatever we call it (although the terminology is apparently disupted, seehttp://tinyurl.com/lh8dsx) , is the flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is an independent state with its own flag. As such the ROI should not be shown in the way it has been in this video. Personally, I am Northern Irish and therefore British and don't find it offensive, just a little shocking and clumsy, as mentioned. I don't doubt however that anyone from the Republic would most likely find it highly insensitive and offensive and would consider it a major political blunder which warrants correction.