Singer-songwriter Kate Nash has released a cover of Sinéad O'Connor's 1994 song 'Famine' to address what she views as a significant educational gap in how English people understand Britain's role in Ireland's Great Famine of the 1840s. Nash, who has Irish heritage through her mother and spent childhood in Ireland, was struck by her own limited knowledge of these historical events despite her personal connection. She reimagined the song with producer Kool Kojak, adding her own verse that directly addresses England's institutional failure to acknowledge responsibility for its imperial past and the resulting historical ignorance.

A modern history professor at the Edinburgh Futures Institute supports Nash's observation, explaining that whilst Irish students routinely study Anglo-Irish history, English schools do not teach this material, creating a significant knowledge gap between neighbouring nations with deeply entwined histories. The academic points out that one million deaths during the famine—which occurred when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom—remains poorly understood by the British public. He advocates for expanded Irish history curriculum in English schools, noting growing university interest in the subject, and emphasises that both nations benefit from understanding their shared past.