What did the Brits ever do for us

Documentary where David McWilliams examines the complicated relationship between Britain and Ireland.
Note: My video editing software was on the blink so I couldn't cut out the ad break between 24:50 - 29:01

[@oengusmacairem2028]

My parents moved from Dublin to Britain 60 years ago, my dad (God rest his soul) had a great love of Ireland and a hell of a lot Irish rebel songs in his record collection, but he never wanted to return to his homeland he came to regard England as his homeland.

[@niallobrien5572]

Óengus Mac Airem

[@tuforu4]

, i had an uncle who was conscripted into the british army for ww2, he neer had any resentment of the british.... its strange..

[@MarkRobertCuthbert]

Óengus Mac Airem ? Your Father Didn't go over to england with a Gun carrying Army and Impose his Will on the english, did he now !! NO. they all carry the d.n.a. you can't get it out of your blood, if you know anything about breeding.

[@MarkRobertCuthbert]

tuforu4 ? So you Love the english !! Well get the next plane And Stay in it.

[@tuforu4]

Look ireland was planted the english wanted FOOD. same as they did in south africa kenya nigeria etc. Ireland is not the only one with a grivence.

[@fluffibuni8663]

A fascinating documentary that touches on so much painful history. But the last sentence is probably the one that hits hardest ... Irish fans would never support an England team in a World Cup final, whereas many English would support the Irish. It's obviously a very complex dynamic, but hopefully we will build relationships that can provide a strong future for us all.

[@taintabird23]

Many Irish people supported the England team in the World Cup semi-final in 2018. It was very marked.

[@DaveSCameron]

#OneIreland

[@spencerhowell7917]

Ireland has given a great deal to the UK . Yes some of the history has not been great at times but , it's better to reflect on the good things rather then the bad.There will always be the connection between the two countries .

[@irenemax3574]

Irishmen built England's Motorway.

[@SuperReasonable]

What the Brits have done in my lifetime is buy their goods and services and provide work and homes for those who wish to come to the UK

[@DaveSCameron]

British GOVERNMENT!

[@all-england-r-we5071]

I'm English-and I love the Irish,never met an Irish person I didn't like(Northern or Southern) live and let live

[@bojankotur4613]

Is this video bugged? Shows up as 20 hours long!

[@MarkFarm]

I feel a little more educated than I was an hour ago. What a great documentary. (From a Welsh born Englishman!).

[@DaveSCameron]

What a fantastic comment 👍

[@david-spliso1928]

Let's see .. Britain stood up against Nazi German tyranny as it conquered Europe whilst Ireland stayed neutral .. what else?

[@philm9593]

+ Strong Exorcist. And individual Irishman signed up with the British army to fight against it. Stop your nonsense!

[@david-spliso1928]

Thank you individual Irishman. It's a pity the Island of Ireland refused to take part to defeat Nazi tyranny.

[@philipm06]

To be fair, a lot of Irish fought in the British Army but got no recognition from the small-minded Irish government after the war.

[@EricIrl]

@@david-spliso1928 There is a good argument that Ireland's neutral stance actually was more of a benefit to the Allies than if it had joined in. Ireland's so-called neutrality was pretty much one sided in favour of the Allies.

[@EricIrl]

@Frankie Flannery So Ireland should have fought to uphold Nazism? I see.

[@rphanmurphy8385]

The Sex Pistols and Oasis are two iconic bands spawned from half Irish lads with a splash of English blood . We own the world.

[@philipm06]

Don't forget Morrissey.

[@DaveSCameron]

Who could forget my hero Morrissey *

[@Degjoy]

I lived in Galway for 10 weeks. I know it's not long but the people I met there were the most gorgeous people I have met in the world. I am from England and have lived in Germany and Belgium too. I have to say the Irish put the rest of the world to shame with their sweetness. Never met such beautiful spirits in all of the world.

[@sydneythomason5950]

Degjoy I guess that would include the IRA.

[@Degjoy]

LOL!

[@philipm06]

And most are Muslim.

[@roisinsteed5241]

That's lovely to hear. Thankyou Degjoy. I live and I'm from Galway.

[@dhss333]

The Brits did not leave Cyprus partitioned - it was not divided until 1974, invaded by Turkey..

[@gfy8729]

What did the Brits ever do for us? and more importantly why did they bother. for as long as i can remember irish people have been trying to get out of ireland including my dad he was teacher and told me he couldn't get out quick enough from that backward looking place. And it doesn't look like it's changed from his 1946 time.

[@aughalough1]

"Against the famine and the crown I rebelled, they cut me down" probably one of the most powerful lines of any song kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2HEmIOgZbutq5Y

[@lennon1482]

it's a complicated relationship, but being a brit of irish descent these days we have more in common, there are loads of irish in england an we welcome them

[@keithbawden7940]

Some Irish blame England for the terrible atrocities carried out by the Forces of the Crown, going way back in History. However, the ordinary people did not have a say and were often as oppressed as the Irish! It was not until 1922, that all Englishmen over 21 got to use the Vote - universal suffrage for Englishwomen had to wait till 1928! Blame the Rulers if you will, but don't blame those, who were also slaves to the Crown and its cruelties!

[@jimmymolo]

mcr1jp we elected our rulers and look what a shower of shithouses they were,it’s true yo can’t blame the people,although there were plenty of individuals who were psychotic bastrds and yes it’s time for a revolution

[@taintabird23]

Irish people blame the rulers, the ordinary people of England take offence on their behalf - just as you have done.

[@graceygrumble]

I understand what you're saying, in part. Throughout these islands and throughout history, it has been the wealthy who have shafted the poor: Enclosures took away common land; the industrial revolution created desperate living conditions - cholera, typhoid; children were sent down mines and stuck up chimneys, or forced to work in mills and factories. Poor people, throughout these islands, were displaced/cleared, attacked and killed by soldiers etc. etc. The English poor were no better off than anyone else. But, parliament was in London, so all the evils that the wealthy and powerful perpetrated, are firmly laid at the door of 'The English'. The English are the whipping boys. They're even getting the blame for William the Conqueror! The bloke who 'harried' the north of England, killing every man, woman, child and animal; salting the land and poisoning the water courses and wells. But, and it's a big 'but', The Irish were never 'equals' in the British community. They were always seen as something 'other'. They were looked down upon and despised, because of their religion. They were 'over there' and the fact that they were starving, during the famine, elicited little sympathy - a deaf ear and a blind eye were turned towards iniquity! The bloke who said "This would not have been allowed to happen in Yorkshire" is correct. There would have been an outcry; marches on parliament and a fear of civil unrest, if something hadn't have been 'done'. But, it's hard to cry out when you have no voice and march across water, while starving. The Irish were a conquered and oppressed people.Their hatred of the British is understandable. (I'm still not sure why it's just 'The English Brits" who are hated, though).

[@vordman]

Why the hell shouldn't we have voted for Margret Thatcher!? I suppose you wanted that old fraud Michael Foot as PM so you could bully him in getting everything your own way. And why shouldn't we have a constitutional monarchy either? Evidence shows it's the finest system of government ever devised.

[@onekerri1]

@@vordman Evidence shows no such a thing. You're not only naive, but also, stupid.

[@copferthat]

I grew up post war and had no idea about Irish history and neither did anybody i knew, until my cousin married one of the most anti English Irishmen I've ever met, who never missed a chance to spew venom about us. He arrived here with his mother in the 50's aged just six. They were given a house, schooling, benefits, social care and safety from a mad Paddy (his father). He married an English girl, his friends were English and so were his children, so why was he so anti English? Well it was because his mother polluted his mind from the day he left the tit and that is the problem with too many Irish, they just cannot drop the past. I can't recall having got upset over the devastation caused in this country by the Romans, Vikings, Angles, Saxons Jutes and Normans. I wasn't here 160 years ago, so unless they want to dig up some corpse and hang that for our past crimes, leave me out of it.

[@gerttjildsen5612]

copferthat Yes.

[@martinwfarrell]

i'm irish and totally agree with your views. i really think the anti-british sentiment is not as strong as it once was. about time isn't it. personally i love english people, english football, english shops, english tv/comedy etc etc.

[@rosamariamendoza1466]

Ohhh , if only to forget the famines, the killings, if only!!!

[@rosamariamendoza1466]

Maybe you suffered, but for 800 yrs, me thinks not!!

[@copferthat]

@Michael Collins I rest my case

[@herewardthewake5502]

Croke Park...............Speaking as the son of an Irish dad, English mother, the Irish people made me so proud of my roots that day.

[@nw8000]

When was this? vaguely remember it on telly

[@1258-Eckhart]

In 1820 (before the Great Famine), Sidney Smith wrote: "With such a climate, such a soil and such a people, the inferiority of Ireland to the rest of Europe is directly chargeable to the long wickedness of the English Government." I'm half-Irish, and the atrocities of the British over that long time hurts me deeply. It's not just Drogheda and Wexford (1649), it's that attitude, at gunpoint, 800 years long. And they have no Erinnerungskultur, to this day none.

[@warrenknight9276]

All of my life now at 62, I had a underlying feeling of the Irish, strangely enough I grow up not knowing of my Irish gene's, as a 4th generation Kiwi from cornish ancestors, the Irish ancestry was totally un spoken at all, growing up with the Irish jokes I was in different to these jokes for a reason I couldn't understand, then in 2006 my oldest brother put together our family tree, wooow truly stunning indeed so as my father's mother was from the Irish ancestors, but also was my mother of Irish ancestors, so now I am a Kiwi of Cornish and Irish decent, not just a Pakeha which is a Maori derogatory towards us of European decent, basically called a white pig, I am now a Kiwi of Cornish Irish decent and I put that on the government documents but the government doesn't regondise this as a race,

[@warrenknight9276]

Thank Peter, I am so proud of my family's past especially from absolutely nothing, as they arrived in Wellington on the Duke of Roxburgh in 1840, now 6,000 dependence here and around the world, my mother's family had very hard life in Australia then arriving in New Zealand in the early 1900 s, sadly my brother passed away before finishing our mother's tree , but they are from Ireland,

[@warrenknight9276]

Thank you Andrew it definitely is a interesting thought of being of Cornish ancestry, my sister visited Cornwall some year's ago and actually meeting with our ancestors, even though it was 1839 that my great great grandparents arrived here in New Zealand, funny thing is I have a strange sense of humour just like them, and love watching any Cornish TV,

[@warrenknight9276]

PS Andrew mothers family came from Queensland in the early 1900 from the sugar cane industry, they originally from Ireland, my sister is a Australian and lives in Perth,

[@warrenknight9276]

This is truly stunning time indeed so, I would definitely love to travel to Cornwall, it is a calling card we have in our gene's,

[@irenemax3574]

There's a song that begins:The flower of the free, the heather, the heather... It's about the Celtic Nations, including the Cornish. So there is a bond of Celticness, but then a deeper bond of Irishness. And when you go to your Irish home place, you might feel an even deeper bond. I guess it's in our DNA, this feeling of belonging to a tribe?

[@stevendavies417]

The disgust shown towards 'the English' saddens me because, although I can understand it, I know that it is misplaced. Guys, the real English were defeated in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. After that they rose up in defiance (Hereford, 1067, in alliance with Gwynedd and Powys) (York, 1069) but were beaten down brutally by foreign oppressors until by the time the Domesday Book was written, most of their land was in Norman French hands. And by the start of the William I reign, he had already given his marcher lords, such as Roger de Montgomery, carte blanche to create lordships far into Wales. England was the invasion point: the overall strategy was to conquer the British Isles. They had to suffer untold hardships, particularly in the North, where their land was purposely rendered useless and they even voluntarily made themselves slaves. After the subjugation of the English, largely consolidated during the 12th century, it was the turn of the Welsh, Irish, and Scots to bear the brunt of Norman imperialism. England was simply the strategic power base for the colonization of these islands, seeing as we lie closest to mainland Europe, from whence the invasion came. It was never the mindset of actual Englishmen to carry out the atrocities that occurred across our islands. Try to understand this, while celebrating and cherishing the cultures you largely maintain, instead of lashing out at a perceived enemy.

[@stevendavies417]

Yes, they intermarried with the native English, but the salient point to be made is that the English were effectively landless and without political influence by the time Domesday was written; therefore, intermarriage was the only way for native Englishmen/women to gain any sort of empowerment. It is likely that had the English not rebelled that William was willing to give a certain degree of power and influence, but after particularly the York uprising, he decided there and then that wasn't going to happen.

[@vordman]

Steven Davies, you don't really understand how these comment sections work, do you? How dare you come on here polluting the debate with your historical truths. This place is reserved for hysterical morons to voice their narrow-minded grievances.

[@stevendavies417]

The actual evidence we have, however, points towards Anglo Saxons, Romano-Britons, and Celtic Britons living largely peacefully side-by-side. There was no climatic battle between Anglo Saxons and a host population, suggesting a largely peaceful assimilation. It's a false comparison to draw a straight line between a decimated, beleagured post-Romano Britain and the nation that had been unified by great nation-building kings such as Alfred the Great and Athelstan. By the time William the Conqueror landed at Pevensey, England was a fully-functioning nation with a centralized power-base, and had been since 927 and arguably before even that. The idea that the Anglo-Saxons raped and pillaged their way through mdoern day England is a narrative which has been discredited by nearly all historians.

[@markvirtue1124]

Steven Davies i

[@stevendavies417]

I have a mix of English and Welsh ancestry. Am I correct in assuming that your moving onto the BE is a tacit admission that you do not wish to contest the points I have made about medieval history? If so, then my point has been carried across, as it were.

[@aliofly]

great doc

[@johnfitzpatrick6662]

I have watched the Documentary before. But not sure who uploaded it!? So when I came to watch this I was really disappointed by the fact the video stopped at 25 minutes and the audio finished at 56 minutes. Its shocking and a shame because this is a good Doc. Please sort it out!! If not why not remove the documentary

[@tutenvanman2715]

The ordinary English person was treated as badly as everyone else. Even our history is that of kings and london.; Nothing about us serfs. The landed gentry controlled us all. We are as much victims as everyone else so stop blaming us. And they still rule us.

[@brian1206]

Tuten Vanman Sorry but the majority of English and Brits don't feel that at all and are immensely proud of their oppressive history and no little of the atrocious actions the country committed in the past. As said in the documentary Irish people are taught all about the history of our relationship with the UK while it's largely skipped over in Britain.

[@TrueBlueEG8]

Class war!

[@danpayton7301]

And where's the proof of this? I think it's very telling that the only people who explicitly express English ethnic/cultural pride are the fringe right (e.g. EDL, BNP) who are regularly mocked. Seems like you're conflating the evils of a ruling class with an entire people because it's more convenient for you.

[@tutenvanman2715]

Most of the problems were caused by catholics and protestants in the name of god. But it is easier to blame everyone else for your own savagery. How dare you blame the ordinary British worker .

[@tutenvanman2715]

You are a racist idiot

[@seancurtain5285]

The narrator tells us that "..Britain and Ireland are two sovereign nations". The fact that Ireland's sovereignty never applied to the whole Irish nation, only to the Southern Irish State. But that sovereignty no longer exits since the voters of that state surrendered its sovereignty to the E.U.

[@elizabethsheffield6609]

......quite simply & truthfully said. They have 'jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire' by following the money.

[@citizenkay]

Ireland was a dominion of Britain until 1947 If I recall correctly.We submitted to the EEC ( formerly ECSC) in 1974. Furthermore, our currency was pegged to Sterling up until 1992.. We've used the Euro since 2002. We have no self sufficient military. Our meagre defence hardware is all imported. We live at the absolute mercy of foreign corporations. Sovereignty is a moot point for us. If Ireland was sovereign, there would have been no second vote on The Lisbon Treaty. Maybe we should be copying the Swiss model, They seem do be doing alright choosing the road not taken.

[@hubs37]

Sean, hear, hear mate.

[@MrDaiseymay]

It's a bit rich blaming Britain for the partition of India. A sub continent of multi-millions, hell bent on killing each other , mostly for good old religious reasons ( sound familiar?) They still hate each other, and have a little war now and then. Britain had guaranteed Indian self government long before WW2. How the hell could Britain have 'sorted' the problem out. Nearly a million Brits had already died resulting from Hitler's war--and saving democracy and freedom for the whole world --yes I know, not alone, but Historians say that the Battle of Britain, was the first Nazi domino to fall. The northern Ireland problem was just as intractable , and it's true, the system of control was unfair and rotten; Britain didn't just abandon the problem , it tried many ways to make the situation better, but major errors were made. The Differences between the two factions were centuries old, and weren't going to be healed, for generations to come.

[@copferthat]

Don't forget the eradication of thugee, which is estimated to have killed 30 million in the centuries it was going. One thug, who the British hung, was responsible for strangling over 2500 people. One man!

[@onekerri1]

@Philip Croft "and saving democracy and freedom for the whole world" and "Historians say......" Um, Great Britain colluded with, and concocted a story with Jews, promising Palestine, if only they would convince America to enter the war. How does one grant (give away) land from a country that they have have no control over? You were about to get your asses handed to you until you lied to the U.S. and basically forced it into war and death to solve a problem that Britain has always had... to hang on to its power while always trying to obtain more. The U.S. and Great Britain do not have a "special relationship" like the one our leaders shout out for the whole world to hear, every four years. NO, Britain, England, UK, N.Ireland, and any and all the countries that belong to the queen, are the world's enemy. The sooner the world either realizes it, or admits it, the better off we'll all be. Just take a look at what the U.S. founders wrote about them in the Declaration of Independence. Better yet, take a look at what 'they' decided not to put in that document, as they were talked into not including it. Hmm, I wonder why. Britain, Great Britain, England, etc, all of it, are still up to their same b.s. Not less than 10 people were and still are involved in the ongoing coup against a sitting U.S. president. Read the transcripts that have been released since President Trump's election. It's full of thugs from Great Britain. Your leaders need to be taught a serious lesson, as they've got it coming for them. I need to understand why our media (fake news) doesn't want to say their names while reporting on the phony Russia collusion crap. ----->>>I realize this is two years later than your comment. I also hope you realize this is not directed at the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and England, etc. It's directed at your leaders. Actually, wouldn't it be nice to see all these corrupt assholes sitting inside a prison cell? Wouldn't it be nice to see a few of 'em hang?

[@juliantaylor2223]

I'm English and I'm ashamed of what we did in Ireland. I hope you get the six counties of the north back in the future and unite your beautiful country free of the tyranny of my nation.

[@eamonnca1]

About architecture: In fairness the British made their fair share of mistakes in the brutalist era too. And up north a lot of beautiful buildings like Portadown train station were replaced with ugly concrete bunkers, so I wouldn't say this was a case of the Irish making a pig's ear of the built environment while the British did any better.

[@DaveSCameron]

@Darren Clapson 🤣🤣

[@damian-795]

You dont mean that ! . I would love you to come to Ireland and feel the true hospitality . They make the best sausages in Europe and we never really gave up on you. xx

[@garyjene9146]

I am sorry but there was more to your editing software being on the blink. The visual stopped at 25 minutes and the audio finished at 56 minutes. After that there was nothing else other than the visual. So this was a waste of 2 gb of download and claim of 20 hrs.

[@johnfitzpatrick6662]

Yeah I have the same problem, I have watched the Documentary before. But not sure who uploaded it!? Really disappointed by the fact the video stopped at 25 minutes and the audio finished at 56 minutes. Its shocking and a shame because this is a good Doc

[@ladyrotha5420]

These Islands have always been soaked in blood: get over it! The EU has all but destroyed Irish Culture: something the English failed to do. Who will you blame that on....?

[@chrisseery4978]

Lady Rotha b

[@clayfada6993]

Nonesense i don't like the EU and want us to leave.but very little continental european culture as made it accross .The irish language is not under threat from a continental language its from english and will remain so.The most successful cultural revival has been gaelic games with the fourth largest stadium in europe devoted to them. They face competition from rugby and soccer,but that would be the same whether there was an EU or not.As regards much music and dancing well while its fairly strong again american country music is much more popular and again very little has made it across from the mainland, On the contrary the lack of cultural connection is all the more reason to leave

[@brian1206]

clay fada The fact that some people here have managed to be brainwashed by the Leave campaign in a different country is astonishing to me. Can you give any reasons as to why we should leave? The culture argument is ridiculous as the European Union does nothing to undermine each member states culture whatsoever and Ireland in particular recieves multiple grants from the EU for cultural affairs. Economically and socially the EU brought us out of the dark ages and so many issues.

[@clayfada6993]

I have been a eurosceptic since 1992 as soon as i could vote.It all boils down to whether you want ireland to be subnational entity or a sovereign independent state its that simple. I already outlined the culture argument is ridiculous,though that will change as federalism kicks in. How come switzerland or norway didn't need to join in order to progress economically.Yes ireland has progressed since joining the EU because it was at the beginning it was a trade organisation,but thats the bait and soon the EU will land its catch.That catch will be a franco german dictatorship not all at once ,but thats where its heading.

[@brian1206]

clay fada The EU was of course created to make trade between member states as easy as possible, and to do this multiple things were done. Having a standardized currency was not only an economic move, but a social one too as Europeans could feel more at home in other countries because there's no alien currency to briefly adopt. Also it is easier to tell if you are being overcharged or getting a good deal on goods when working within your own currency. As for the main issue that people have with the EU, which is the supremacy of EU law over national law, if you want one of the core elements of the Union to exist this is essential. Freedom of Movement between member states can only exist when there is a similar basis in laws and rights between countries. The Union obviously isn't just for trade anymore (although each principal and law does make trade easier) but the fact that each country has a voice and room the the decision table makes it fair, although reform is needed. Also countries can leave at anytime, not that Ireland would as approval of the EU is often above 80% as many people believe the EU has done well on the people's behalf.

[@davidedbrooke9324]

You did alright. Plenty of you live and vote in England.

[@andrewkling9530]

Built the aqueducts?

[@JohnSmith-pq7vn]

Right, can we just try for once to clear up a simple point that seems to be lost on every commentator in this program, (who should no better) and most of the comments below. SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, MEAN WHAT YOU SAY for F***S SAKE! British does NOT mean English. If you mean English then say English. If you say British then you are talking about England, Scotland and Wales. No, not Northern Ireland as that is part of the UK not Britain. I make no judgements on the opinions expressed in this program otherwise, it is just so incredibly frustrating when the people who should know better are so blatantly ingnorant of such a simple concept. I don't expect the Americans to know better, but the Irish at least should. You show a Union flag which incorporates the blue of the St Andrew's cross, say the British and the very next word is "English"!?!? Drop the British, say English, and show a St George's cross if that is what you mean. For the record I am Scottish, not that this is really relevant to my point. You just lose all credibility, and can't be taken seriously when spouting such thoughtless, uneducated remarks. I think of myself as British as well as Scottish. British does not mean English. Rant over

[@sametoyoutoo8509]

mcr1jp ooh fuck off potato muncher

[@hubs37]

#mcr you are so fu((king stupid you dingbat, the British army (god bless em) were put on the streets of NI to protect the so-called catholic community, but you dumb bas(ards are so thick you attacked the very men who were sent to protect you and therefore created total havoc on the people of NI for no good reason.

[@MrDaiseymay]

My maternal Grandfather was Irish, I have no negative views of Ireland and it's people. But, invasions throughout history , have been no different, the invader wasn't welcome to put it mildly. Many have been just as violent if not worse. The best example before modern times was the Roman Empire, it was savage , but left many positives behind, it was not all negative. It amazes me that for all of 800 years, Ireland could only dream of freedom; merely 90 ? years later, the people voted to be imprisoned, controlled, and imposed on by a huge Neo Marxist monolith, that has not a shred of democracy at all. Further, all those so-called NEUTRAL countries in WW2, believed that, had the NAZIS, won, they would have respected ANY kind of neutrality. Eamon De' Valera visited the Nazi Embassy in 1945, to sign the book of condolence, after Hitler committed suicide.He must have thought the British far more evil than the Nazis.

[@hubs37]

Philip the pig thick paddies just need someone else to blame for their own lack of self esteem to get off their lazy arses and start building their own industries as the English have always done the people who invented the Industrial revolution perse.

[@irenemax3574]

Now watch the Langerland programme with the same title!

[@theodoreruleoflaw2277]

Whose brilliant idea was it to send a bunch of fanatical Calvinist Covenanters over to pacify a bunch of fanatical Roman Catholics? What went wrong? Gaels, both kinds never forget. May God finally save Éire and give her peace, both halves of her.

[@oldmanfromscenetwentyfour8164]

20 hours?? Are you out of your mind?

[@borderlands6606]

The colonisation of Ireland was part of a protracted assimilation of these islands, including most parts of England outside the seat of power. Brutally quelling the Pilgrimage of Grace in northern England and the mass slaughter in the south west were an attempt to remove autonomy of thought and worship. See Eamon Duffy's "The Stripping of the Altars" for the popularity of the church among ordinary English people, in contrast to the Tudor propaganda that has held sway since. The idea of "the Brits" or "the English" as a monoculture is misplaced, northern and western England being deeply suspicious of the state long before mass Irish immigration to Britain. Either way both Ireland and England have embraced secular materialism as its social and economic salvation in a way neither of our grandparents would have thought conceivable.

[@eleveneleven572]

Correct, I've read that book and my fathers family were recusant English Catholics from Brailes in Oxfordshire. www.catholicbrailes.org.uk/

[@jelkel25]

Now, couldn't the pagan's and then the Celtic church claim the Catholics ''stripped'' their altars? It has nothing to do with the popularity of middle age Catholicism, each successive cultural wave in both Ireland and Britain has separated the people from their love of the land, their belonging here and belonging to it. You end up with the Norman attitude that the land only exists to earn it's keep and you actually belong to some continental la la land that looks a bit like Tuscany even though you've never been there. Now you can treat both countries like giant middens and no one will object, they all want to be in la la land, not here. What parts of Britain kept their love of the land the longest? The north and the south west.

[@aughalough1]

Ireland stayed loyal to the true faith of Roman Catholicism while the rest of the UK was plunged into darkness when it was taken over by the Freemasons with their puppet protestant religion and that is why Ireland was targetted so merciless by them.

[@antonrudenham3259]

Fucking true faith, that in itself is an oxymoron, faith needs no truth so true faith is an impossibility.

[@aughalough1]

ANTON RUDENHAM, true faith.............kzbin.info/www/bejne/enu9oWWOar6kg9E

[@kopynd1]

jet engines, turbines, computer, hydraulics, longitude, railway, magnelev, etc etc

[@keithmitchell6548]

Almost immediately the confusion between England and the UK.. *sigh*.. as a Scot.

[@jonathanwhite5688]

The Scot’s unfortunately helped colonise our country particularly in ulster, they are by no means clean…..

[@keithmitchell6548]

@@jonathanwhite5688 nobody said they were…. And no country is clean.

[@fin1131]

What did the Brits do for us??? ERR BAIL YOU OUT NOT TOO LONG AGO!!

[@clayfada6993]

They helped bail us out only probably only 10% 0f the total. amount which will be repaid in 3years time exactly.Besides The UK wouldn't not have given 7billion unless it was thought necessary for its own economy.British exporters would be left with 5million less customers all of a sudden otherwise .That would have not been the case of course the IMF/EU would have made up the shortfall. There is no reason to deny history britain did terrible things in ireland thats a fact.Britain did good things here that is also a fact.Ireland let terrible things happen after independence thats also a fact.Britain provided a safety net for irish people when we were unable to ourselves.We were not 100% welcomed with signs on boarding houses no dogs no blacks no irish,but as the historian said they did not have to have us at all. 100 000 british people live in ireland they are more than welcome,but recognising the turbulent history between our two nations does not make them less welcome

[@rapier1954]

The IMF bailed you out in the 70s

[@clayfada6993]

Yes i forgot that i believe twice in the seventies and after WW2 they were bailed out by the Americans

[@rapier1954]

Yes and put through Congress by certain Irish Americans who were descended from people who came over in the famine

[@olivercromwell113]

the wrong euro told Dublin not one more euro it was mostly British money... Dublin was a slave market stop your winging .. you were told to stop interfering in English politics by your master the pope you helped every war against England... Cromwell made damn sue you stopped so shut up moaning you were selling English slaves Ireland was not innocent as you try make out as was not the uk .. as for the Irish living in UK who hate the brits .. fl off home sing ya rebel songs ..

[@dhss333]

DeValera: lay Cardinal.

[@DaveSCameron]

Shout

[@DerSpiess11]

When Irish eyes are smiling, blowing away the little English soldiers.(in Irish accent)

[@belltopcone]

From around 383 up until 410 Irish raiders along the western coast of Wales and England, regular attacks on coastal villages and settlements is as far back as I can find of Irish invasions, people could say in all fairness that your people fermented and lit the fuse to the enmity that has beleaguered our relations down through the century's.

[@belltopcone]

Yes, but like I said in my post, these raids on Wales and England were the forerunner to the generations of trouble between Ireland and England, we could argue till the cows come home about who started it all, but doing this wont help us, not now.

[@liarliarliar6495]

The various tribes of the British isles have been at each others throats for millennia. All that happened was that those tribes who occupied the most geopolitically advantaged region (central southern England) acquired sufficient wealth and organisation to dominate their less advantaged neighbours. This dog eat dog reality has been the way of the world for most of human history. Don't kid yourself that the Irish would have been any better if chance had given them the strong hand. The truth is, and as this Irish made documentary makes explicitly clear, the Irish behave exactly like the British whenever they get the chance. Just look at what British, Irish and other settlers did to the native Americans; that was far worse than anything that was ever done to the Irish, and the Irish played their full, blood-soaked part in it. Or for that matter, consider the strong Irish involvement in the slave overseeing profession; the British trafficked 'em and the Irish whipped 'em! Who was better? But then your perspective on such matters tends to be heavily influenced by which side of the imperial equation you find yourself. It's one thing to embrace the sickly delights of victimhood, quite another to address your own sins. That the Irish as a a nation, have not had the opportunity to feck with others in the way the British have, in no way makes them morally superior. As the old saying has it: 'Small nations are virtuous because they are impotent.' Yet the truth is that the Irish are capable of being just as big a set of bastards as the British, as are all people. Get over yourselves.

[@taintabird23]

Yes, you did say that, and I said what I said. Makes me wonder why you responded!

[@iandurie8580]

Blame the British for everything you have your independence, stay in Eire don't come to the UK.

[@DaveSCameron]

All but 6 counties

[@irenemax3574]

Nearly same title: "top 10 What have the Brits ever done for us?"

[@alexhayden2303]

The English can't remember, what the Irish can't forget! It's time for Action! As Eire wants to remain in the EU, it is time to N.Ireland to join the south. If the people of N.I. don't wish to join the south, they should sell up and move abroad, wherever that might be. The UK should help by paying Removal costs. The Border problem solved. The 'Irish Question' settled!

[@alexhayden2303]

I fish for intelligence and answers. Sometimes I only catch an old boot!

[@ursulaplatt5000]

There is a large investment in defense industry in northern Ireland

[@lloydmatlloyd4984]

Welsh place names in England Llangarron, Pant ( hollow) Pontrilas,Croesau Bach ( small cross ) Hengoed ( Old wood) Pentre Pant ( town hollow) Mouth of river in Welsh as in Aberdeen, Aberfeldy , Abercaldy ( Scotland) Aberystwyth, Abergavenny , Aberdare . Lowest peak in Yorkshire Pen y Ghent Welsh hill fort . Cumbria Cymru Hen Gogledd ( Old North ) Wales comes from Wale foreigner as Saxons saw the Brits as foreigners as Romanised People

[@lloydmatlloyd4984]

some people do take life to seriously you try to educate and they insult . Nice to see your humourous entry

[@BrianJohnSpencer]

Ireland by the early 1900s was no longer a colony, but had local councils and elected local representatives (mostly nationalists) to Parliament. I cannot believe that David and RTE are speaking in such erroneous terms.

[@timmo491]

...and we'll have St Patrick back too.

[@dhss333]

DeValera's drawers woven of old missals, rushes and old candle wax.

[@sc-to4uf]

Quote "The aim of colonialism is to rob the colony." Unquote. That sums it all nicely.

[@sydneythomason5950]

s c Providing there is something in that colony worth stealing. Ireland, not so.

[@superskidmarkz]

it's not true though. The aim is to "milk" the colony. The "milking" didn't end after independence. The English still have all the benefits of a colony without the hassle.

[@celestialteapot3310]

The Normans were not British, Britain had not been invented. Many of the people you refer to as British are in fact Scottish, Welsh, or English before they are British, if they even regard themselves as British at all. I'm English with Welsh parents, the Mother of my children is English with lrish parents, so they have three national identities.

[@philipm06]

The Vikings founded Dublin - their one mistake.

[@edwardlowe3014]

Do a program about rural Ireland,how neglected it is,how beautiful it is,,

[@stevencassidy6982]

Its time to look forward, not backwards...

[@graceygrumble]

I don't think you understand how alien Catholicism was and how much it was distrusted within Britain, for the British to ever think of the Irish as 'British'. I don't think you understand how devastating British rule was and so can't understand the reasons why it was never, in the minds of the Irish, accepted as anything other than colonisation. A famine would never have happened in England, that bloke was right. There would have been a public outcry. But, it happened in Ireland and it happened in India, because the people were seen as 'other'. So, sorry I can't go along with your 'fully-fledged' assertion. As an English woman with displaced Irish ancestry and 'cleared' Scottish ancestry, along with poverty stricken English ancestry, I can safely say I have no axe to grind - I've a foot in both camps. This programme was really interesting. I'm not sure how trading with Ireland makes Britain colonialist, nor how bailing Ireland out is seen as self-serving, but then I'm not an economist. However, I understand the 'needle' which pricks the Irish, when thinking about the Brits, or we should say the English, somehow the Welsh and Scots have been exonerated.

[@stoney7145]

It was most definitely a colony.The act of union brought ireland into the UK,but the majority of citizens were still subject to the penal laws because they were catholic meaning that the act of union was brought into effect by the minority Anglo irish ascendancy.There of course not fully british citizens because they were catholic.Catholics were emancipated in 1829, and that time they became full citizens.Ireland in 1800 was majority catholic irish speaking peasant society that would have no affinity with british culture.Not until after the famine did ireland become anglicised and more british in outlook.It was however never going to last a prothestant empire ruling a catholic nation at the time was never going to work.

[@robinconkel-hannan6629]

The Welsh and Scots quit fighting England, Ireland did not.. That's the difference..

[@maxroyce6418]

stoney7

[@janetp7583]

Interesting about the loss of language. Why is it that the Welsh who had less political autonomy than the Irish or the Scots in the 20th century managed to keep their language alive?

[@hubs37]

Because they have true pride and love of their country.

[@vordman]

Exactly, the Welsh identity has proved hardier than the Scots or the Irish because they worked alongside the English rather than letting themselves be eaten up with hate.

[@teresaryan4242]

@@vordman rubbish. The Welsh are just little Englanders. What's the point of the Welsh anyway?

[@ursulaplatt5000]

Because the Welsh were what remained of ancient culture that was destroyed 500-600AD. Anglo Saxon is a not an accurate term.

[@teviottilehurst]

Yes, Ireland is indeed a foreign country.

[@ivanashley7875]

We stood by you, even though innocent people were murdered in our streets. That's all we did, your welcome.

[@kjn6505]

British born with Irish heritage love both nations..

[@TheTahumandai]

Soft powers traditionally use hard powers

[@kenderrysgreenpastures3662]

Dont know if its your`e video editing or your grass roots knowledge of British Islands history is the biggest culprit here -- The original native Irish here lived in harmony for centuries with their ruling classes and were happy out. It was when the the invasions from 1600 on to 1798 resulting in the new irish societies that the trouble started-- these were the people who slaughtered the original Irish and drove them out to countries around the globe-- thankfully their adopted countries embraced them and in time they flourished with their own communities . The new irish that remained here are all of foreign extraction who had little or no interest in the nation as a whole except to extract as much capitol as possible through their commercial enterprises .

[@Canuckmom128]

@19:34 Sweet Mother of Pearl...who in God's name chose that horrific music?! A Doc. about the Irish-Brit relationship and the music sounds like something out of a strip club. Have you not heard of the Chieftains, or Finbar Furey or 100 other Artists who play Traditional Irish music. Sheesh !

[@tyrion3575]

This reporter should get his historical facts right. And also in Historical context......

[@weewilliewinkle]

Food for thought: When I was a lad in Britain 60 plus years ago we were taught at school that Britain was invaded by Celts, Angles, Saxons, Romans, Vikings and Normans and that our blood was, therefore, a mixture of all these races. At the time that was reasonable because that was what historians thought had happened. Then in 2006 an expert in the use of Mitochondrial DNA evidence, Stephen Oppenheimer, published his findings that showed this was not true and that all the "illegal immigrants" had exerted very little influence on the original inhabitants of Britain and Ireland and that the overwhelming majority of us could still trace a direct bloodline via DNA all the way back to the original settlers who crossed from the Iberian Peninsular thousands of years ago when the ice sheets first lifted after the last ice age. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/mythsofbritishancestry Needless to say the left wing liberals try to ignore this and ontinue to assert that we are all mongrels and that there is no such thing as Indigenous British. It is many years since I was at school, but I don't doubt that they probably just sidestep the subject altogether these days. Some truths are just too inconvenient for left wing liberals, and the teaching profession is riddled with them. For the purpose of this particular comments column the point is that vast numbers of us, despite the mass immigration that has been forced on us by our governments during the last half-century, share the identical mitochondrial DNA family tree. Oh, and Oppenheimer mentioned that the greatest number of these (at a level of 72% if memory serves) occurred in Ireland. So, even if it does not sit well with you the fact of the matter is that we share an even closer linkage than might be commonly supposed.

[@hurstmitchell6392]

I sent my DNA to 23and me and l came back as 62% British, 0.2% Irish and the rest various Nordic countries. Apparently, my ancestors lived in Doggerland, which is now under water. So l think you are correct.

[@jasonfarrell1082]

sorry that was my tourettes .

[@MrLorenzovanmatterho]

It's wonderful that RTE are making programmes like this, De Valera's Ireland is truly dead, the Father Ted generation is in charge and the Shamrock Awakening is upon us.

[@eaglewing572001]

after that There were Irish MP's at Westminster....

[@tmac8892]

They built the aqueducts.

[@condonjohn1518]

True that Eire stayed neutral. But it was a neutrality very favourable to Britain. Why don't the critics of Irish neutrality complain about Swedish neutrality, Spanish neutrality, Portuguese neutrality and Swiss neutrality. Why always Ireland's neutrality. The British showed enormous hypocracy in expecting Ireland, after eight hundred years of subjugation, to just turn around and jump into a European War on their side. Human nature doesn't work that way. Be grateful Brits that thousands of Irish DID in fact fight for Britain despite the official policy of neutrality. Uncle Sam was neutral also (in favour of Britain) long before Pearl Harbour. Thousands of Brits even today need to be re-educated on Anglo- Irish history.Yours truly spent several years in London as a young man. I have nothing but warm feelings towards Britain and many wonderful British friends of long standing.

[@eaglewing572001]

Colonised????there was an Irish Parliament until the Act of Union (1808 I think)

[@taintabird23]

Yes, colonised. The colonies even had names, and the majority of them failed during the 17th century. Only the Ulster Plantation worked and we are still dealing with its consequences today. Ireland was part of the UK only from 1801-1922, but was never treated as an equal member. Ireland was unique in Europe in that its ruling class during this period spoke a different language, practiced a different religion, customs and culture to the native majority. It was the only part of the UK that had an armed police force, and it was only its culturally, linguistically and religiously alien Anglo-Irish ruling class that made up the legal arm, as judges and magistrates. In many respects, Ireland was the same as other colonies in the Empire, and was not treated the same as England, Scotland and Wales. Unlike other colonies, it did have representation at Westminster however. The response to the Great Irish Famine demonstrated Ireland's 'otherness' as part of the UK. Despite knowing in 1838 that the Irish Poor Law system could not cope with a large crop failure, the British Government threw the famine problem back on the Irish system in 1846, declared the famine over, and abandoned its citizens in Ireland. It was considered an act of God, He was punishing the Irish for their moral shortcomings...so the narrative went. Famines occurred under the oppressive Protestant Irish Parliament prior to the Act of Union. That Parliament had the humanity to close the ports to food exports and direct it to the people. This was not the experience in the 1840s, and the Great Irish Famine remains the worst famine in modern history anywhere in the world. While half of the British Army was Irish, these were mainly rank and file. Military service was an economic necessity for rural Ireland in the 19th century, as it was for Indians in India at the same time It is a characteristic of British imperialism that it facilitated the colonised in maintaining their own colonisation and used them in the colonisation of others. Therefore, the Irish experience of British Rule was one of colonisation.

[@vakker22]

The irish can't hate the english all that much as there is no cultural evidence of irish people abandoning the world wide anglo saxon culture is there?

[@dhss333]

We Irish have Celtic, Mediterranean, Baltic and Nordic DNA.

[@eaglewing572001]

since the Act of Union Ireland was not a colony.....

[@taintabird23]

Only in name, and in its representation at Westminster. In all other respects, Ireland endured a colonial experience, including between 1801-1922.

[@BobMonty99]

introduced the potato peeler for one ?

[@superskidmarkz]

we gave them the potato to peel.

[@nadinecollins4443]

No mention of the massacres of 1641

[@philipm06]

That was the good bit.

[@margomargo898]

Thank God for Britain.

[@onekerri1]

Britain Empire is Still Enemy No. 1 of Civilized World.

[@ftmsafc5537]

The European union is the enemy and the spread of Islam. Islam does not belong in Ireland or the British Isles and we all know it but some are afraid to speak out because fear of being called racist. My Grandad was a proud hard working Galway man. He always told me stories of growing up in Ireland and i loved listening to him. He loved the English people and when the IRA were at their most ruthless he would cry. If their was a bombing in England the coppers would always go to his place of work and ask him where he was when the bombing campaign took place. Someone kept phoning police saying my Grandad was an IRA sympathizer which was a load of crap. He hated the IRA and spoke out against them in the pubs of west London. My Grandmother who was English from the North East , County Durham. My family were all football crazy and we all support Sunderland afc my Grandad also became a mad Sunderland fan, he loved the passion of Sunderland fans. When Sunderland beat Leeds utd at Wembley for the FA cup my Grandad was their with his son Chris from a previous marriage. Chris was born in Ireland but brought up in Sunderland and followed the team everywhere. There is a famous clip that is always played on TV of Sunderland manager Bob Stokoe running on to the Wembley pitch and hugging goalkeeper Jim Montgomery and there is one little Sunderland fan who ran on the pitch with a St. George flag wrapped around him and is there in that famous clip jumping all over and hugging Jim and Bob that little lad is my uncle Chris.The most famous clip in FA Cup history and there is a little Irish lad from Galway wrapped in a England flag celebrating the most famous win in FA cup history. So next time you see that clip on TV you will know who he is. My Grandad was the greatest man i ever met he was hard as nails and fearless but also the most kindest friendliest, funniest and warm loving human being i ever had the pleasure of knowing.He also told the funniest jokes about the Irish and would have people in stitches of laughter. The narrator in this documentary is wrong because my Irish Grandad was a proud Irishman and he loved this country especially people of the North East that he always said were just like Irish people. He had to move to London for work and he wasn't very keen on London people at all he said they were cold and not very welcoming at all he said of Londoners they think they are the most important people in the world a very ignorant people who don't know they are born. He said of North East people salt of the earth people who would help anyone he used to say if Sunderland or Durham were the capital city of England and Parliament was run by the North East people the world would be a much better place. I loved this man so much and now he's gone i miss him he made me realise that the most important thing in life was love and family and he said if you work hard all week and have a good drink at week ends with all your family around you then you realise that money is not so important but love and family is. The greatest man in the world was an IRISHMAN he was my GRANDAD. He said to me before he died that these liberal leftist loonies would destroy the British Isles and Ireland and that the Islamic ideology was the greatest threat to world peace and freedom and the European Union was not to be trusted we all need to have our own sovereign identity and a place we call home and that the E.U. was a dangerous fascist organisation, if my Grandad said it then it was truth a very wise man.

[@rphanmurphy8385]

Not one decent comment so far.

[@philipm06]

And you haven't helped.

[@robinconkel-hannan6629]

Ireland was never given a chance to develop on their own.. They may have gone far beyond the rest of the British Isles and Europe..

[@robinconkel-hannan6629]

This is just an apology for, glorification of England..

[@ladyrotha5420]

+Robin Conkel-hAnnan You won your independence, then sold your birthright for a Mess of EU Pottage. Work that one out....I can't! The capacity for self-honesty is the beginning of wisdom. God bless Ireland.

[@tuforu4]

YEH IRELAND WAS HITCH BEFOER AMERICA AHAHAHAH GO AWAY..

[@tuforu4]

u seem very hurt ,..

[@tuforu4]

hsave u read PADDY LAMENT , If you do you will really really get ANGRY..an aunt of mind long dead often told me some of our family were on ship to america in famine era and their 2 kids died. but making sucessfull life in america over rides the horrible missfortune.

[@DaveSCameron]

#ONEIRELAND

[@vordman]

"penal laws used to break the power of the native Catholic Church". Er, and this was a bad thing?

[@dhss333]

Irish Diaspora 80,000,000 (Irish/Irish ancestry.)

[@WOLFROY47]

the final irony, you changed the punt to the euro, and britain offred to bail you out, when you were going broke, how the hell could that happen you were exporting more than ever before ?

[@taintabird23]

Do you really not know why the Ireland needed a bail out?

[@WOLFROY47]

well give me your reasoning ?

[@taintabird23]

Its not MY reasoning - it is THE reason: the universal bank guarantee given by the Irish government in 2008. The banks lied to the Irish government about the state of their balance sheets - having loaned more than they could cover in their reserves - and the Irish tax payer was left with a bill that was larger than the Irish economy. This was caused by the Irish property boom/bubble, and exposed following the Lehman's bank collapse in the US. This is why a bail out was required. The British loaned Ireland €7 billion - it was the UKs 5th largest export market. The other donors, Denmark, Sweden, the IMF and the EU loaned the rest. The bank bailout had nothing do to with the fact that Ireland was exporting more than ever before. Unlike Greece, the fundamentals of the Irish economy have remained healthy and have underpinned a recovery that means there is full employment in Ireland today.

[@WOLFROY47]

during the potato famine, there was something similar, exporting loads and people going hungry ?

[@taintabird23]

No, it was not like the famine at all - nobody starved, there was no outbreak of disease. What an odd comparison. During the famine the British Government refused to intervene in order to preserve the Laissez Faire economy at the expense of the Irish people. Ireland only exported food. While halting exports would have saved lives in Ireland in the 1840s, increasing exports was necessary for Ireland to dig its way out of trouble after the bailout.

[@burtleboeuf1429]

The sheer mentalism on display in the comments section is in turns embarrassing and frightening.

[@Malcolm61]

23 and me shows 65% british/Irish. Rest generally north Europe. Point being they can't genetically appear to differentiate. May be they will in time. Point being we aren't that different.

[@keithwatson1384]

Why can't people understand that Ireland was part of the UK, not just a second rate colony, we along with the English, Welsh and Scottish conquered and enslaved the world, not good, but we did it as well, in the 1800s half the British army were Irish, I'm fully irish, born and raised but people need to understand that we were not just an African colony, we were also part of it. I also hate the way we constantly complain about the English '800 years of oppression' crap, you can say the same about the English and Scottish, they, well Romans and Norman's conquered Britain and that's how countries were formed, it wasn't just ireland and besides other countries have suffered much worse than we can understand, and they got over it! Also the Catholic church has done much worse to Ireland since the partition, killing babies, raping children, propaganda, conformity etc. And now we are okay with being Germany's bitch despite they killing million of people 70 years ago but the british are still terrible, we have more in common with britain and closer ties(historically, culturally, politically, economically) than any other country, we need to accept that. Sorry about the rant. Happy St Patrick's Day!🇮🇪🇬🇧☘️❌🇮🇪

[@taintabird23]

I think Irish people understand that Ireland was part of the UK only from 1800-1922, but was never treated as an equal member. Ireland was unique in Europe in that its ruling class during this period spoke a different language, practiced a different religion, customs and had a culture to the native majority. It was the only part of the UK that had an armed police force, and it was only its Anglo-Irish ruling class that made up the legal class, as judges and magistrates. In many respects, Ireland was the same as other colonies in the Empire, and was not treated the same as England, Scotland and Wales. Unlike other colonies, it did have representation at Westminster however. The response to the Great Irish Famine demonstrated Ireland's 'otherness' as part of the UK. Despite knowing in 1838 that the Irish Poor Law system could not cope with a large crop failure, the British Government threw the famine problem back on the Irish system in 1846, declared the famine over, and abandoned its citizens in Ireland. It remains the worst famine in modern history anywhere in the world. While half of the British Army was Irish, these were mainly rank and file. Military service was an economic necessity for rural Ireland in the 19th century, as it was for Indians in India at the same time It is a characteristic of British imperialism that it facilitated the colonised in maintaining their own colonisation and used them in the colonisation of others. You cannot compare the Catholic church and its abuses to Imperialism.

[@lloydmatlloyd4984]

It would the british empire the most brutal empire in modern history . Two thirds of the world have the scars

[@kenderrysgreenpastures3662]

mcWilliams doesn`t have it right--- there was no famine, it was a potato blight,, There was plenty of food here..

[@sunboy1000]

the Irish love their country that much, they can't wait to live else where...PS What did the Brits do for us ? just the language your speaking :-)

[@Dibley8899]

Stop Winging. Good luck with Irelandstan, it's coming to a Town near you.

[@philipm06]

Ho diddly ramadam.

[@NicholasWarnertheFirst]

The "curse" of Empire? Funny how the English complain about Islam when they called India the "Jewel in the Crown" of the Greatest Empire the world had ever seen. Still the have the best flag no: The Butcher's Apron.

[@Dibley8899]

Nicholas Warner. The trouble with people like you is that you're ignorant of the History and been brainwashed by intellectuals who have a self agenda. India was made of many different religions and tribes, not just Islamic who hated each other. The British brought stability to the Country under British rule which is not the same as the India Company which was mainly a trading organisation, Direct t rule came later. Even a recent visit by the current Prime Minister of India stated, '' Life under British rule wasn't that bad'' If it wasn't for the British, you'd be wearing Jack Boots and Goose stepping to work each morning. So, STF up and get some real education down your throat instead of BS. Have you ever read the Qua'ran, and in any evet, I don't see to many Brits decapitating in your Country let alone their own unless, they are of a different so called Religious persuasion. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

[@DaveSCameron]

Grow up kid

[@attaboyazza7022]

20 FUCKING HOURS!!!!!

[@glensofantrim1]

when the Uk Leaves The Eu i expect all the Irish MEP's to Speak Irish and English to non existent I wonder

[@brianmacc1934]

Nothing that the irish couldnt do for themselves

[@celtiberian07]

Irish never enslaved or conquered, colonized anyone the Irish never committed genocides , slaughtered , raped and stole other peoples languages . we are not the same we started labor laws in the USA and UK as immigrants we did a lot in way of law , academic, poetry , activism , writing

[@TheRightHonRai]

Eric Last Irish civil servants played a huge role in building the British empire in india. The guy who is remembered for colonising india is Robert Clive. I swear he was off Irish descent. The Irish regiment in British empire played a role in the boer wars which killed many innocent women and children in concentration camps. Time for Irish to stop hating the Brits and see them as brothers and leave history where it belongs.

[@westbrit1020]

If you look round the world you will see many things in ex British colonies that are named after Irishmen , Ireland was Part of the UK not a Colony and like the Scot's did more than are fair share of Colonising . Irishmen were slave holders in the US and the west Indies ( watch the film 'gone with the Wind ' the plantation is called Tara!. But in case you dismiss all the above as us being lead astray by the English. Look at the fact that for centuries before the Normans landed we were know as slave traders and there is a reason that the Scot's in the Highlands and Islands speak a version of Irish rather than the Pictish they used to . We are not more peaceable than other peoples it is a self pitying lie

[@rapier1954]

Robert Clive was English born in Shropshire you fucking moron. You should've taken time to look matters up before writing a load of shite that only proves how baseless your comments are. The decision making positions were not allowed to be filled by Irish because they were not trusted. They only got low level jobs. You are complete fucking idiot to write what you have written.

[@rapier1954]

Try to get psychiatric help your comments are so removed from reality it is clear you are truly delusional. Just put up some official documentation to prove what you have just written or get medical help. Not your opinion -genuine documentation. Such far-fetched nonsense needs official proof.

[@rapier1954]

By the way I am not RC and am not defending anything done by the Vatican. But your claims are baseless. So please provide official documentation.

[@pbegley99]

In 1922, we shot the wrong guy.

[@DaveSCameron]

#OneIreland

[@dhss333]

What the fuck is there to 'write' about in Food & drink??!!

[@peterfarrelly483]

Australia Knows only to well.

[@sydneythomason5950]

Peter Farrelly And if it was’nt England, who else would it have been. The French, the Dutch, would you have been better off under Napoleon?

[@brianmacc1934]

Nothing , that the irish couldnt do for themselves

[@SlimTortoise]

Ireland now sold out to the EU, German and French telling them what to spend and what to do. very sad.

[@timmo491]

Why do we need to do something for you?

[@roberthagan9512]

Bus Aras is a delightful building