Muttley. Thank you for backing up my argument. I am very grateful. Yes, you are right. The Germans suffered greatly in both wars in a way that the Irish have not. However, you are a little unfair towards the British. They suffered their cities to be bombed, their young to be slaughtered, and for their empire to be lost, in order that they could liberate the death camps and dismantle the Nazi state- surely the most brutal political system in history. The Irish State stayed on the sidelines and did nothing. I am not being critical, just stating the facts - and the loss of the empire may very well have been no bad thing: This I do not contend. [it does seem to me though that the British empire has been replaced by the American Empire- but that is for another posting.]

While all these events unfurled during the 20th Century, Ireland went into it's deep sleep and let the world pass it by. I can't say I blame them. However, after standing on the sidelines for a century, the Irish cannot then moan about how they have suffered. I can just picture Irish folksingers in the 40s bemoaning their lot while Jews were being slaughtered and Dresdon and Coventry were being flattened.

The point I am making Muttley is about living Irishman. I know how bad the English behaved in Ireland. This I do not question; but that was in the 19th Century. The 20th Century has been a piece of cake for the average Irishman. Even the troubles in Northern Ireland could be a lot worse than they have been, although, ofcourse, noone can be happy with the situation there.

In the past, The English did not behave well in Ireland. It was treated like a colony. Again, with this I do not argue. But a dictatorship? The Irish had the same democratic rights as everyone else in Britain. Irishman were bundled off to Australia for political activities, but so were the English -ever heard of the Tolpuddle Martyrs? This was pretty typical everywhere in the 19th Century.

I have nothing against the Irish singing about their past, but to let the past become confused with the present shows a curious mindset.