How did British relief policies affect Irish people during the Great Famine?

British relief policies during the Great Famine were largely inadequate and exacerbated the suffering of the Irish people. While early efforts under Sir Robert Peel included importing maize from the United States to avert starvation, the subsequent Whig government adopted a laissez-faire approach that shifted the financial burden onto Irish landowners and the impoverished peasantry.1

Key aspects of these policies included:

• Export Maintenance: The government continued to allow the export of grain, meat, and other high-quality foods from Ireland to Britain, even as the local population starved.1
• Poor Law Constraints: Under the Poor Law, the "able-bodied" were forced into workhouses to receive aid, and the inability of tenants to pay rent led to mass evictions.1
• Limited Assistance: Relief was restricted to loans, public works projects, and soup kitchens. The reliance on imported cornmeal caused nutritional deficiencies among the Irish.1

These policies, coupled with a prevailing intellectual attitude that viewed the crisis as a "corrective" to Irish social conditions, intensified resentment toward British rule and contributed to a massive demographic collapse through death and emigration.12