Ireland To Officially Commemorate The Famine

An annual official memorial day is to be established in the Republic of Ireland to remember the victims of the Irish Famine.

Making the announcement, Community Affairs Minister Eamon O’Cuiv, a grandson of former Taoiseach and President Eamon De Valera, said: "The effects of the Great Famine are still evident today and its legacy has given Irish people an appreciation of issues such as food security and a strong commitment to humanitarian aid and relief.

"If the Famine didn't happen, there could be 12 million people living in Ireland and eight million could be native Irish speakers."

The Famine resulted in large Irish communities settling in countries like the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"These diaspora communities - the Irish abroad - still demonstrate a significant affinity with their migrant predecessors of the Famine," said Mr O Cuiv.

An annual Famine commemoration day has been held in Montreal in Canada since 1859.

It is believed that about one million people in Ireland starved to death in the 1840s after the failure of the potato crop, while hundreds of thousands of others emigrated during the disaster.

The Irish government has set up an expert group to organise a yearly event.

The population of Ireland, which exceeded eight million in the Census of 1841, was reduced by approximately 1.5 million through death and emigration.

Only 10 years later, the 1851 Census recorded a population of only 6.5 million.

(DW)