Note for BBC Sport - Ireland is NOT part of the UK

I am enjoying the BBC's coverage of the Olympic a lot. Being a teacher and it being the holidays, my daytime habits might have in the past involved me getting up at eleven, a visit to the gym interspersed with the ITV 2 repeat of Jeremy Kyle, Bargain Hunt and something about World War Two on UKTV History. But this holiday is very different.

I am up at seven thirty when my one year old son wakes up (I actually had to wake him up at eight this morning), then wall to wall coverage with the red button of the Olympics. There is, however, just one things that is annoying me, and that is the BBC's obsession with reporting on the Irish team.

This morning we have been urged to watch Ireland rowing and kayaking, with commentators seemingly encouraging on the Irish competitors as if they were British. I think John Inverdale at one point said "I know we have lots of Irish viewers at home in Ireland so we are showing you this".

Do they pay a license fee in Ireland ? Is John Inverdale aware that Ireland although close to Britain, is not actually a part of the United Kingdon of Great British and Northern Ireland ?

I don' so much mind them showing Ireland, indeed watching some minor nations in some sports is rather entertaining, but some people in the BBC Sport department are clearly under the misapprehension that we should care about Ireland. They forget that there are more UK passport holder living in Australia or New Zealand or South Africa or any other number of countries (even Spain or France) than in Ireland and that actually I care if Ireland win a medal as much as Germany wins a medal. In short, I don't care.

25 years too late ?

It seems rather odd that the UK and Ireland are to start having border checks on cars leaving and entering the Republic of Ireland from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Surely these checks would have been valuable in "the troubles", but to start them now seems very odd indeed.

P.S. I note that the BBC report says this will be the first time formal border checks have occurred in 80 years. Any checks in the troubles were ad hoc.

A Lib Dem making total sense on immigrants rights

A big well done to Anders Hanson, who agrees 100% with comments made by migration watch. People often accuse us Lib Dems of being "soft, but Anders comments show that we make complete sense as a party. Read his comments HERE.

Anders explains clearly and lucidly the daft situation that allows Commonwealth citizens the right to vote in elections that European citizens are barred from, but makes even better the point that Irish Citizens, people who are not British at all (indeed, often fiercely so), are entitled to vote in all elections in the UK.

I would actually go one further than Anders and also ask why Irish citizens have the right to join the UK armed forced also ? It always seemed odd that Irish Republicans could join an army that for 20 years was fighting against the IRA. The conflict may be over in Northern Ireland, but isn't it time our laws reflected that Ireland is a separate sovereign state and nothing to do with the UK ?

Oh, and while we are at it, could someone inform the broadcasting companies who insist on giving the Republic of Ireland as much if not more coverage than British nations, as it appears that they too are under the delusion that Ireland is as much a part of the UK as Wales is.