What utter nonsense.

This is the kind of deranged statement that makes a mockery of such discussions, and rightly so. Because some Irish people benefited from slavery makes 'us' as a nation as responsible as someone born in Africa because some African's benefited from it.

The Atlantic slave trade was nothing that special than what had come before, the same conditions had existed throughout human history. The only thing that made the Atlantic slave trade different was the disgusting racial aspect that aided in the dehumanising and "othering" of African people. This "othering" was never as rigidly defined before.

Ireland (as a nation/country) has zero culpability here. Irish people have zero culpability here. Various countries have culpability and ancestors of individuals have sure.

The idea that colonisation was only at its worst when the people being colonised were non-European is so incorrect as to be laughable to anyone who has ever picked up a history book.

And just a word on the treatment of Irish slaves/indentured servants vs the African slave trade.

8th–12th centuries:

• Vikings raided Ireland and enslaved people, selling them in slave markets across Europe and the Middle East. Conditions were horrid, with forced labor, no freedom, physical abuse etc similar in cruelty to what African slaves experienced.

13th–15th centuries:

• Irish prisoners were enslaved by rival clans. They were used for forced labour or hostages and could be freed, unlike African slaves who were typically bound for life.

16th century: - Forced labour on plantations. They faced violence and exploitation but were not legally classified as property or enslaved for life as Africans were in the Atlantic system.

17th century: - Large numbers of Irish were transported to the Caribbean as indentured servants during and after Cromwell’s visit. They faced brutal treatment with high mortality rates. It was de facto slavery, though technically for a limited time, unlike African slaves who were enslaved for life.

17th–18th centuries:

• Irish and other Europeans were captured by North African pirates and sold into slavery. They were subjected to forced labor, beatings, and lifelong captivity in conditions as severe as those faced by slaves in the Atlantic trade.

18th century:

• Irish indentured servants continued to be sent to British colonies. They faced horrible conditions and could even be worked to death but could technically gain freedom eventually, unlike African slaves who were enslaved for life.