Schools across Ireland will fall silent today in a poignant tribute to those who died during the Famine.

The Government today called for the catastrophic events of the Great Famine to be properly remembered as a series of engagements got under way in Canada to mark the disaster.

Hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren will stand in silence next month at a poignant tribute to those who died during the Famine, it was announced today.

A train carriage exploded and sparked off a fire yesterday at a Michigan chemical factory, killing three employees and injuring at least nine.