It was explained very clearly how the current crisis came about, by a contributor to the other thread.

Britain ponced off the world for centuries, and when we pulled out - reluctantly, not only had we manipulated economies and destroyed cultures "For God, Queen and Empire", we left many of our former colonies in shit-order - Ireland being a perfect example.
Pay-back time, I'm afraid.
Jim Carroll

The good years were nothing to do with us, obviously.
But, as soon as something goes wrong, we caused it by the way we left Ireland ninety odd years ago.