Co. Donegal and Co. Cavan claimed by the English newspaper in their Brexit graphics.The Guardian

There was a significant amount of confusion, anger, and hilarity this morning when it appeared that the British media had claimed as their own the Irish county named as the coolest place to visit in 2017. Co. Donegal was shown by The Guardian newspaper to be among the areas now to leave the European Union since Brexit was triggered under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty earlier today.

In their graphic, The Guardian show a jigsaw puzzle of Europe in which the pieces of the puzzle where the UK should be are removed to signify their impending departure from the European bloc. Unfortunately for the English newspaper, these pieces also included counties Donegal and Cavan as well as parts of Co. Westmeath and Co. Wicklow, alongside the Co. Louth town of Dundalk.

For those in Northern Ireland worried about what will happen over the next two years as the Brexit process is undertaken, there also appears to be a solution. Within the same image, Newry, south Tyrone and a small part of Co. Derry will be remaining firmly within the union, if it is to be believed.

Read more: Britain officially serves the EU with divorce papers

While Irish people have become accustomed to any talented Irish person being referred to as British in the UK press, this move to take large chunks of the Republic of Ireland out of the EU alongside the UK led to plenty of jokes from those in the 26 counties.

And as it’s 2017, Irish people took to Twitter to tell them:

There were also plenty of jokes about the fact that Northern Ireland did not vote to leave the EU, despite the UK majority doing so. This fact has resulted in some calling for a united Ireland, a call that was echoed yet again today after The Guardian’s image.

And, of course, plenty of attention was brought to the counties that The Guardian hadn’t tried to take with them, with poor Co. Offaly on the receiving end of most of the county bashing.

H/T: Mashable