"I have been in bands with Irish people"
You miss the point Bubbly - this is not about blame, it is about stopping idiots from re-writing history
Nobody here- has blamed "the English people in general" for anything, rather, they, like all people, would like to understand their history and set the record straight.
I am a Brit living in the West of Ireland and have had associations with this place since the early 1970s.
My people were Famine refugees who, like millions since the Famine, have been forced to leave their country and live elsewhere.
Far from being 'blamed;' for anything, my wife and I have been welcomed by the Irish people we live among - but that doesn't stop our neighbours from wanting to understand why their families are scattered all over the globe.
One of the problems with history is it never goes away - many Brits I know still fight World War Two every time a German spreads his towel out too far on a Greek or Spanish beach - not to mention the Nazi salutes at English/German football matches.
Please try to keep up.
Jim Carroll