Amazon apologises for telling rugby fan Northern Ireland is not part of UK

Bemused social media users make fun of firm’s apparent show of support for Irish nationalism

The error prompted a slew of jokes (REUTERS)

Amazon has apologised for falsely claiming Northern Ireland was not part of the UK in a tweet that sparked a slew of posts joking that the firm had made a show of support for Irish reunification.

The e-commerce giant’s customer service Twitter account made the error after reaching out to a rugby fan in the province who had found it difficult to watch the Autumn Nations Cup games being hosted by streaming service Amazon Prime.

“We apologise but upon reviewing your location you’re in Northern Ireland,” a representative of the firm wrote to the customer. “Rugby Autumn Nations Cup coverage is exclusively available to Prime members based in the UK. We don’t have the rights to other territories.”.

When the customer responded that Northern Ireland is part of the UK, the firm’s account replied “many apologies but, we don’t have the broadcast rights for Ireland or other territories”.

The company has since apologised for the error, noting that the service is indeed available “in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK”.

However, the initial exchange prompted a surge of bemused comments from users who joked that Amazon had taken a side in the decades long conflict on the island of Ireland between unionists and Irish nationalists.

A post, captioned “Amazon making this statement”, featured a picture of Continuity IRA members reading from a piece of paper in front of the republic’s flag.

Another replaced the notorious Bogside “you are now entering free Derry” wall mural with a more Amazon Prime appropriate slogan: "You are now entering free delivery”. One post tweaked the lyrics of nationalist anthem “come out ye Black and Tans” to “Come out ye package fans”.

Others were able to further engage with the account. “I ordered 32 counties for next day delivery and it is coming up on 100 years of partition.  Can I get a refund?” one Twitter user said - recieveing the reply “How can we help you? Let us know” from the official account.

“Amazon can we get an independent Scotland to go with that United Ireland pretty please”, another user asked, with Amazon responding “Thank you for reaching out to us. We’ll be sure to pass your feedback along to the appropriate team”.