@New Day: not so quick, the British still view Republic of Ireland at least partially as U.K., people of the Republic can vote and become MP in the British parliament and vice versa Brits can vote in Republic of Ireland.
The Brits never officially recognized the independence, unlike other territories like India. So it’s only independent de-facto, from the viewpoint of the crown, they legally still have full ownership of the area, as they do all the rest of the commonwealth, only civil uprising and lack of resources preventing the exercise of the power.
@stan: lol, no, I mis-remembered, it’s the beast with the two horns of a lamb that’s Anglo-America. My point being that the beast is a bit aged.