The English (British pound) is universal in the United Kingdom, but tourists are sometimes advised even today to exchange Bank of Scotland notes for English (British) notes before entering England. London and other major metropolitan stores will usually not be a problem. If travelling in Great Britain today, unaware tourists will sometimes have problems exchanging for goods or services pound notes printed by the Bank of Scotland if trying to use them in the English countryside. Thus, there are few in Ireland today who speak well of the British, in particular the English.
Sadly, less than enlightened British management of their Irish subjects during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, culminating in the deaths of millions of Irish during the Potato Famine, left a huge scar on the Irish psyche. Then began a long series of brutal wars between the Irish and the English crown du jour (neither side being innocent of atrocities) which attempted to conquer the Irish. The English believed the Irish encouraged these strikes when in reality the Irish had no ability to stop the Norse incursions and in order to survive allowed the Norse to operate freely from Irish soil rather than be crushed by Viking armies. The problem was exacerbated by the Norse invasion of the 8th Century onwards which hammered the English eastern coast from Scandinavia and the western coast from Norse bases in Ireland.
The Irish/English problem began with the invasions of the British Isles by Germanic peoples of Europe which pushed the ancient celtic tribes out of their homelands.
The emotions of people are often hard to reconcile, and Irish opposition to any "British" influence is deeply rooted in ancient competition and hatreds, much of which is fostered culturally today as if a popular cause celeb.
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