Reply #14: The British powers-that-be behaved very badly...

[Deep13]

...when it was powerful and perhaps are still doing so on a smaller scale. I don't know what relevance bad behavior in Africa or the Middle East has on Ireland in 2010, except to point out the Irish were not alone. I know they were treated badly as were others.

Powerful people have done bad things throughout history and France and Spain and others have not been any better. That's not an excuse, but it is how it was. Still, it is not fair to blame the English people as a whole who often suffered under their own government. The average Englishman historically has been a peasant or a craftsman just like the average resident of most of Europe. And no one alive today is responsible for actions that happened before he or she was alive.