[pasabagi]

>both Bangladesh and Ireland have benefited from British language, institutions, law, and culture.

You must be joking. If you look at historical share of world GDP, or (most strikingly in the case of Ireland) historical population, you get a very good picture of the 'benefits' of english institutions. Ireland has still not recovered to the pre-british occupation population levels.

[barry-cotter]

Ireland was part of the domain of the English crown for 800 years. There is no way that the current Irish population is below that of 1169 when Strongbow invaded. At the time Ireland's only cities were those founded by the Vikings and they were by any modern standard towns. The rest of the island was mostly pastoral. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of Irish history would know that.