[quote=walterwhite]Is Ireland going to be like the days of the great potato famine?[/quote]

Think about it this way:

Prior to the famine there were 8M people on the island.

After it there were 4M.

Today there are about 5M people on the island.

Today, in the US, there are 50M Irish Americans.

The callous mismanagement of the English may have been a gigantic favor.

Kind of like how the holocaust may have, in the end, indirectly benefited both its victims as well as the sanctuary countries.