DAIL officials have moved to reclaim the Inishowen peninsula for the Republic after they mistakenly handed it over to Northern Ireland. The peninsula, featuring some of the Republic's greatest assets including Malin Head and the town of Buncrana, was ceded to Co Derry by the Oireachtas public relations office.
The diplomatic blunder was revealed in a video for schools designed to increase young people's awareness of how the political system works. The video shows a map of Ireland with the peninsula - between Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly - as part of Co Derry rather than Co Donegal.
A spokeswoman for the Oireachtas office said the mistake was "a terribly unfortunate oversight". "No slight or insult to the people of Inishowen was intended " she added.
However the Fianna Fail TD for Donegal North East, Ms Cecilia Keaveney, has taken up the cause on behalf of the forgotten people of the peninsula. Ms Keaveney, from Moville on Inishowen and might have been an MP if the video was accurate, was among the first to spot the error.
Speaking last night from the celebrated North Pole bar near Buncrana, she said the inhabitants often felt isolated and deserved recognition.
"All too often, Inishowen people feel forgotten because of the peninsula's geographical location. It's my Lob to make sure we're definitely on the map.
The spokeswoman for the Oireachtas public relations office would not say how many copies of the video had been circulated. "It's difficult to see what we can do with the videos which have already been sent out," she said, "but we will rectify all future copies."