Talk:David Byrne

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Irish ancestry?

I've just added some information about Byrne gaining Irish citizenship in 2020. This is something that has been little reported in general, but I was wondering if anyone knows anything about Byrne having Irish ancestry? I would assume he obtained citizenship by descent, as he's never seemingly resided in Ireland, but can find no information on this. Furthermore, Byrne is commonly an Irish surname, and it's definitely not unusual for Scottish to have Irish ancestry. Does anyone know of any sources where Byrne speaks about this? JellyfishReflector (talk) 22:19, 8 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Opening paragraph and nationality

@62.57.55.113 is changing the article to make the case for changing the opening paragraph from stating that Byrne is a notable American artist, specifically that he is a "Scottish-American" artist.

The relevant guidelines are at MOS:NATIONALITY, which assert:

The opening paragraph should usually provide context for that which made the person notable. In most modern-day cases, this will be the country, region, or territory where the person is currently a national or permanent resident; or, if the person is notable mainly for past events, where the person was such when they became notable.

Applying that to Byrne makes him an American artist.

The guidelines go on:

Ethnicity, religion, or sexuality should generally not be in the lead unless relevant to the subject's notability.

"Scottish-American" is an ethnicity, so that should not be in the lead.

Moreover:

Similarly, neither previous nationalities nor the country of birth should be mentioned in the opening paragraph unless relevant to the subject's notability.

Byrne's place of birth and previous nationalities are not appropriate for the opening paragraph. They could be relevant somewhere other than the first sentence, but only if relevant to the subject's notability. Perhaps you could make that case, but I believe Byrne was relevant completely independently of being born in Scotland. Davidwbaker (talk) 10:39, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. The Manual of Style for this situation is clear. Also definitely do not replace a nationality with an ethnicity, Scottish-American is not appropriate. All notable activities were in US so American is correct. Geraldo Perez (talk) 16:03, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Scottish?

Ok, so he was born in Scotland to Scottish parents (father at least?) But he's not very Scottish, is he? He left when he was two years old and has never lived there since? One might argue he's more Canadian than Scottish. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:06, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

See my commentary above. Per MOS:BLP, the lead first sentence should contain "Context (location, nationality, etc.) for the activities that made the person notable." Further down the style guide, at MOS:NATIONALITY, it explains "this will be the country, region, or territory where the person is currently a national or permanent resident; or, if the person is notable mainly for past events, where the person was such when they became notable."

The subject's notability was established in the USA while he was a permanent resident of the USA, thus in the lead first sentence, the "context" should be "American."

As to the proposal that "Scottish-American" is more appropriate, MOS:NATIONALITY says, "Ethnicity, religion, or sexuality should generally not be in the lead unless relevant to the subject's notability."

"Scottish-American" is an ethnicity. So, while "Scottish-American" would be inappropriate for the lead first sentence, one could make the case that Byrne's ethnicity is relevant to his notability, and include it in the second sentence or later. See the example in MOS:NATIONALITY for Asimov:

Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer
Per the above guidance, we do not add ethnicity ("Jewish-American") or country of birth ("Russian-born American"). These details can be introduced in the second sentence if they are of defining importance.

I don't believe Byrne's Scottish-American ethnicity was of defining importance, but others might have a different opinion on that. (For Asimov, his Jewish ethnicity was not deemed of defining importance for the article, and is absent from the paragraphs in the entire lead section.) Davidwbaker (talk) 15:45, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

His ethnicity is not of defining importance. He's done nothing in Scotland and his Scottish heritage is irrelevant to his notability. He left when he was two, he won't even have any memories of living there. Geraldo Perez (talk) 16:06, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, probably. But I think the quote about his Scottishness is still justified. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:26, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This is covered in the early life section. Unless there is some sourced content that shows his Scottishness has any significant importance, it should not be in the lead. Most we have so far is his statement about his accent that he managed to get rid of when he was young. Geraldo Perez (talk) 16:40, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I quite agree it should not appear in the lead. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:45, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Having been born in UK he is also British, not an ethnicity. But yes, he doesn't live there and didn't live there when he became famous. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:25, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]