Today is St. Patrick’s Day and millions of people of Irish descent
will be throwing parades and parties to celebrate the day. But what
tends to get lost in the all the hoopla is the political history of
Ireland and the struggles that are still going on today.
Today on Democracy Now, we’re going to take a look at one of the
seminal moments in Irish history — the Irish potato famine — and
get a broad overview of how colonialism has affected Irish culture
and society as a whole.
GUESTS:
CHRISTINE KINEALY, a professor of British and Irish history
at the University of Liverpool and the author of The Debt Dealing
Famine: The Great Hunger in Ireland.
GARRETT O’CONNOR, a medical doctor and professor of
psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles. He
specializes in the psychological effects of colonialism.
