[OSM-talk-ie] Local chapter application by OpenStreetMap United Kingdom

[Colm Moore]

Paul,

About 12% of my edits are in the UK, mostly Northern Ireland, with a strong leaning to power and some other networks.


I have no particular opinion on this, other than there are certain practicalities that make treating the island of Ireland as a single geographical / mapping entity useful, e.g. the shared border, the history of places / land administration (county, barony, townland, etc.). This isn't just about boundaries, but also physical infrastructure (e.g. the A3 has 5 border crossings), Ireland / Northern Ireland don't use standard gauge railways (one exception) and businesses (e.g. some banks operate on both sides of the border and there is a single electricity market, where companies operate on both sides of the border). That said, there are other businesses that operate only in Britain and Northern Ireland (some banks) or Britain and the Republic (Aldi).


That said, just because a chapter covers a particular region, doesn't mean it can't have friendly relations with its neighbours. :) And it doesn't stop people mapping across borders.


Note that the crown dependencies are not part of the UK, although there are obvious parallels.


Thank you


Colm


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead