A poignant ceremony will be held today to remember the 1.5 million people who either perished or emigrated during the Great Famine.

Up to 5,000 people are expected to honour the victims of the Great Famine at next week’s formal State ceremony, it emerged today.

Counsellors were working with teenagers at a school in Co Mayo tonight after a 15-year-old boy was found dead a week after a fellow pupil took his own life.

Children are being counselled today after one of their classmates was found dead in their school grounds.