I object. Firstly, the article states "Irish peers had the constant right to elect a number of fellow Irish peers as representative peers to represent Ireland in the House of Lords, ironically introducing a degree of democratic election into the British House of Lords that has never existed since." This is absolutely incorrect, in my humble opinion. If elected representative peers form a democratic element, then such an element already existed, as Scotland elected representative peers. Also, such an element has indeed existed since, because under the House of Lords Act 1999, ninety hereditary peers are elected by their counterparts to sit in the House. Secondly, some of the pictures appear strewn across the page. -- Emsworth
SUPPORT. Ignore the comments above. What extreme nitpicking! The sentence in question was out-of-date since '99 depending on how you want to play a game of semantics. BTW, I did modify it so that it leaves no room for ambiguity. Anyway, this entry is clearly the work of a professional historian specialized in Irish politics. Yet, the most brilliant achievement is combining the attention to detail of the historian with a style of prose/layout that is succinct, matter-of-fact, and encyclopedic on one hand, while engaging and accessible to all general readers on the other. The author, User:Jtdirl - a specialist in Irish political history, a professional encyclopedist, and a published author of journalism, history, and fiction - exhibited each of his prodigious qualifications when putting together this article. Users of Jtdirl's caliber will consider the site worthy of their efforts when they see this article posted on the main page featured articles. 172 19:06, 13 Feb 2004 (UTC)
Firstly, I hardly appreciate the fact that my objections have been dismissed as "extreme nitpicking." I merely noted that the article was factually incorrect, and no matter how unimportant the falsehood seems, the article remains incorrect. Furthermore, I do not doubt Jtdirl's expertise, but suggesting that his expertise is somehow conveyed to the article would be committing the logical fallacy of honor by association. So, my first objection has still not been adressed: the article still reads "Irish peers had the constant right to elect a number of fellow Irish peers as representative peers to represent Ireland in the House of Lords, ironically introducing a degree of democratic election into the British House of Lords," incorrectly. Secondly, my objection to the strewn pictures remains. I maintain both objections. -- Emsworth 17:43, Feb 14, 2004 (UTC)
This is not "honor by association." My comments were based entirely on the article, irrespective of the writer. I noted how this entry seems to make no trade off between style and substance. This came to my attention right away, as I have been chided for using technical terminology that - I've been told - renders some articles inaccessible to general readers. Then I noted that the author had the ability to strike such a balance - and I say this not on the basis of his background, but evidence of this that I've seen on Wiki. 172 05:04, 15 Feb 2004 (UTC)
Objections withdraw due to the changes that have been made. -- Emsworth 13:31, Feb 15, 2004 (UTC)
