im well glad that this can be debated properly. its not often the british treatment of teh irish is addressed in this country, as the popular media positition is teh first troublemakers in ireland were the IRA, and our fair england was their victim, instead of teh other way round. when ken loache’s acclaimed film “the wind that shakes the barley” came out in the UK it was roundly denyed a place in multiplexes and slated by our press, most of whom plainly hadn’t seen it. for a film that won the palm d’or (which is what shot pulp fiction to prominance) this was unusual. untill you actually watched teh film. portrayal of teh the atrocities the the british ahve commited against the irish, reasons and explanations for the “troubles” and conflict that exists in ireland are usually discouraged in this country. i think for britain as a nation with a large ego, it is too much shame to bear, which just goes to show how weak our self-understanding is. while the “famine” and teh “troubles” seem disconnected in some ways, they are both symptoms of british oppression of its neighbour, and both have been woefully neglected as feilds of historical knowledge. i would love to see some rememberance for the people who lost their lives through the genocide which was inflicted upon them. it would help raise awareness of this black mark on britain’s soul.