I wouldn't say that England and France were best buds.

I know this has nothing to do with independence in Northern Irlenad but you can't blame everything on the English. To a large extent, the Irish people were victims of their own aristocrats who betrayed them during the potato famine. It wasn't just the fault of the British but also greedy Irish lords who wouldn't help their tenants. The history of Scotland and Ireland is full of cruelty and betrayal, often at the hands of their own aristocracy who were more concerned about filling their own coffers than the welfare of their people.