Ireland’s president has issued a stark criticism of British imperialism, calling on the kingdom to engage with the dark shadow of its past, which he described as "feigned amnesia."

Writing an op-ed for the Guardian, President Michael D Higgins said ignoring the “shadows cast by our shared past” are part of a wider reluctance to engage with imperial legacy.

"A feigned amnesia around the uncomfortable aspects of our shared history will not help us to forge a better future together,” he wrote.

Higgins also expressed disappointment over “disinclination” of academics and journalists to address the devastating impact of colonialism, not just in Ireland but across the world.

“I am struck by a disinclination,” he said. “In both academic and journalistic accounts to critique empire and imperialism.”

Higgins, who occupies a largely ceremonial post, has formerly promoted reconciliation between Britain and Ireland.

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But in his article, he targeted British and European imperialism, saying that imperial powers use a mask of modernity for cultural suppression, economic exploitation, dispossession and domination.

“Those on the receiving end of imperialist adventurism were denied cultural agency, assumed to be incapable of it, and responsible for a violence towards the ‘modernizing’ forces directed at them,” Higgins wrote.

The president said that British imperialists did not recognize the Irish as equals.

“At its core, imperialism involves the making of a number of claims which are invoked to justify its assumptions and practices — including its inherent violence.

“One of those claims is the assumption of superiority of culture,” he added.

Higgins also warned that barriers will potentially remain for a post-sectarian future, unless a more authentic interpretation of the past with diverse perspectives is facilitated.

His article, entitled; Empire: Instincts, Interests, Power and Resistance, was published ahead of seminar on imperialism he is to host on February 25.

Imperialism, which is known as the rule of one state over another territory and its population, has a long history in the world.

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Britain expanded its imperial holdings around the world following the defeat of Napoleonic France in 1815.

In the early 1920s, the empire managed to cover over a quarter of the Earth’s surface.

The Irish war of independence in 1919-21, eventually led to the creation of the Irish Free State.

The United Kingdom — the largest empire in the world — has however been weakened after the World War I.

And after the Second World War, and the emergence of the United States and Soviet Union as the world superpowers, Britain’s role as a superpower declined significantly.

The kingdom is now at one of its lowest ever points, with the coronavirus pandemic tearing the economy and lives apart, along with the impacts of Brexit that has now started to be felt across the nation.

Last month, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned in an article that the kingdom is at a risk of becoming a failed state.

He said the pandemic has “brought to the surface tensions and grievances that have been simmering for years” between London and the UK’s outlying regions.

“The choice is now between a reformed state and a failed state,” Brown wrote.

Elsewhere, Brown criticized Britain for not adequately consulting the leaders of Scotland and Wales at a time “when all should be pulling together and intensifying cooperation across the UK.”