This is news to me and I have a problem with the term as it does not include citizens of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of The UK(Great Britain and NI), yet not part of Great Britain(England, Scotland and Wales) or Britain(England and Wales). The Irish, amongst others, do not refer to the islands as the British Isles due to the association with Britain.[1]
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles#cite_note-postwar...