If that is what they feel then why use the name belonging to an old and respected breed, why not choose a different one and set about establishing the breed under it's own name. What I can't understand is, if it is a Staffie why add the 'Irish' and if it isn't why call it a Stafford at all.

Eraze no because to some extent the irish has mixed blood from other bull breeds ,and a lot are above that of the average height of yesteryear and not like the early dogs at all, just like they say the kc of now isnt .

Again, I'm no expert, but perhaps they think they are true to the original Staffordshire Bull Terriers, so in Answer to your question, they may be calling them Irish Staffs because as I mentioned above, they feel the Irish Dogs have stayed 'true' to the original dogs.

Pete - I'm not sure really. Maybe they added 'new blood' to get the breed back to what they thought it was? Heightwise - I think you might find they were taller 'back in the day'...
Like I said tho I'm not an expert on the breed and am only sharing what I've picked up along the way...

The so called game test the Teastas Mor (spelling) was a test open to all Irish Kennel Club registered terriers not just staffordshires .....Kerry Blues,Wheatons ,Glen of Imals ,Irish Terriers.... all terriers
It involved putting a badger in a covered shute and the terrier had to go in and draw the badger in silence if the terrier made a noise growl or bark it failed the game test or would not tackle the badger ...the badger like any animal only defended itself if it was left alone.. it left alone and if it got a chance to run away it did so ...after this if the badger was alive after this it was dumped out to go its own way and probably die painfully
Gameness in a stafford means one thing the mental tenacity to cross the scratch line of the pit and attack his opponent through injury and pain ...a winning dog will always fight on but the real gameness comes in to effect when the losing dog is willing to keep crossing the scratch line to attack his opponent he is up to scratch.

eraze i am by no means an expert but i do know from the standard of 1935 which was dogs were to 15 -18 inches not 20 or over, and mixin blood from ebt does not make it a staffordshire bull terrier,like say mixin a stafford with a ebt doesnt make it an ebt .

In days of old, when knights were bold, modern methods of researching pedigrees and checking for hereditary traits were not invented. You only have to look at what has happened to the human animal to see how much we have improved in health and longevity, the same applies to dog so why the hell would anyone want to turn the clock back and if they think they have I would have thought it would be something to keep quiet about.

The so called Irish staff was a name put on dogs that had been sold to the mainland from here they were a mixture of different bloods ebt apbt sbt the name became more used when the dangerous dog act was brought in now anything that has any of this blood or looks anything like the part is sold as an irish staff they are also been bred for colour (more money ) with more alien blood added

that has just reminded me of a rude rhyme I remember from childhood

In days of old..............
when knights were bold..............
and women werent invented
men drilled holes in telegraph poles
and had to be contented!

lol jus ignore me ive been on the gin again :smt101 :smt101 :smt003 :smt003

[quote="Thordell"] I can explain for you Thordell :

The "Irish" staffie was bred for a purpose and kept for that purpose, only in recent times has its popularity as a pet dog soared.

The stafford as we know it today is bred for looks and looks alone and when you breed for looks, everything else falls to the wayside

Hear what you are saying but don't think you have explained, you say, and I quote :-
The "Irish" staffie was bred for a purpose and kept for that purpose - what purpose?

And why was is it called ISBT and not given a name of it's own.