WOW, yes, your problem is almost certainly Flatpak-related. I'm surprised you even got as far as you did. Flatpak is often great but does not tend to play well with applications that need less common capabilities.
I'd recommend installing VMM in a different way if that's an option for you; I expect that will likely make your problem go away.
The land theft was fundamental to the famine.
Under the British rule, the Irish were not allowed to own land and had to rent it from a British landlord; more important still, the Irish were not allowed to rent more than a half-acre.
The only crop with a sufficient yield per acreage to feed yourself and have enough left over to pay rent off a half-acre of land, is the potato.
The potato blight hit the entirety of Europe, not just Ireland. Only Ireland suffered a famine. Because the British rule had reduced the options for the Irish to potatoes or starvation.