Naah, I'm not into arguing about Ireland on this thread - the remark was a peripheral bit of pedantry. Sorry of it offended anyone.

A lot of the time offending, or being offended, is about power and territory really. If you challenge the limits on what is accepted in a particular space, you are going to be seen as asserting some kind of claim to that space. And similarly, if you object to what is said, you are resisting that claim.