Sir, as a lifelong member of the BDA living in N. Ireland I was very disappointed and unimpressed to see Ballymena referred to as 'Ballymena in Ireland'.1 It is not - there is no political country called Ireland. Ballymena is in Northern Ireland and the BDJ is the journal of the British Dental Association and should know better. I would have expected this 'error' of the Irish Dental Journal (which I also subscribe to) but not the BDJ. It matters and shows a distinct lack of understanding of NI.