I am often astounded at how ignorant many of us Brits are regarding Irish history and our part in it.
There is enough evidence, both documentary and anecdotal, to indicate how various British Governments have reacted to calls for Irish independence, and as for the behaviour of 'The Tans' during their brief holiday over here....!!
Very little of this seems to have penetrated the buckets of sand that many people seem to have buried their heads in.
Perhaps it might help if they treated these songs as part of the learning curve; then maybe we wouldn't get 'academics' like Jeremy Paxman accusing Ken Loach of "treason" when he told it like it was in 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley'.
Jim Carroll