For the same reason that people think that New Mexico is in Mexico. They just don't know their geography and aren't educated enough to realize that Northern Ireland is the norhern end of the Island of Ireland and is currently under British rule/occupation.

There's a Northern Ireland? News to me. I must be the uneducated of which Ephraim speaks. That's OK, I'm uneducated and proud of that.

Because it IS a part of Ireland Ireland is made up of Eire or The Republic of Ireland consisting of 26 counties has been Independent of the UK since 1922, Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom politically but still in Ireland.It consists of six Counties . They are divided by a land border

Last time I checked Ireland was an island, The Emerald Isle. What`s a little corner of it doing being named something else and being occupied by foreigners? Pretty dubious situation if you ask me.

Firstly i think i have to correct your wording, Northern Ireland is not in Ireland. I think people perceive the island as a whole, therefore ireland includes both northern ireland and eire (all 32 counties as it were). I also take offence to those people that refer to it (as in your first answer) to being under british occupation. The British Isles included ireland, scotland, wales and england. Due to a rebellion and uprising in the early 1900's, eire (republic of ireland) gained it's independance, a choice which those living in Northern Ireland disagreed with and refused to join. Therefore as a compromise, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom. It is not, nor has it ever been under British Occupation. It is, as it has always been, Part of The Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Unitd Kingdom). With a history as unique as ours, people often have misperceptions, we may be on one island but we are 2 countries like USA and Canada. Despite a mixture of peoples, including unionists (those who wish to remain part of the United Kingdom)and Repulicans (Those who want to become part of the republic of ireland). The vast majority of people wish to remain part of the UK as voted for in 1997 and until public opinion changes (something i hope not to see) it will stay this way.

Well its not pal! FOR GOD AND ULSTER

Although perhaps semantically arguable, because it is. Ireland is an island. It is composed of two different political entities; the sovereign state of the Republic of Ireland (the 26 counties of Connacht, Leinster and Munster provinces - often referred to as just Ireland by it's inhabitants and some others), and the Northern Ireland portion of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the 6 counties of Ulster province).

"Ireland" means both the island of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland is in one and not the othr. Unless it is explicit that you are talking in a political context, it is not wrong to say that Northern Ireland is in Ireland. Just as Canada is in America the continent, but not in the United states, often called America.

This history goes farther back, to the time of the reconquest of Ireland by the English. "Plantations" were established, that dumped out the Irish aristocracy and dumped in Englishmen to 1)Show the Irish how to plant, and 2)Punish the rebels by taking their land and giving it to English Colonists. It's been a good source of friction since the 16th Century, and the cause of many of the Troubles and religious strife in Northern Ireland. I hear that schoolchildren in England, Scotland, and Ireland complain about learning their History. There's too much of it spread over too many centuries... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantations_of_Ireland

This history goes farther back, to the time of the reconquest of Ireland by the English. "Plantations" were established, that dumped out the Irish aristocracy and dumped in Englishmen to 1)Show the Irish how to plant, and 2)Punish the rebels by taking their land and giving it to English Colonists. It's been a good source of friction since the 16th Century, and the cause of many of the Troubles and religious strife in Northern Ireland. I hear that schoolchildren in England, Scotland, and Ireland complain about learning their History. There's too much of it spread over too many centuries... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantations_of_Ireland

It should be. 26 + 6 = 1.

of course northern IRELAND is in Ireland just like Northern Italy is in Italy.