Govt to officially recognise Famine commemoration

Campaigners today won a three-year battle to force the Government to officially recognise its annual event commemorating the Famine.

The Cabinet has declined invitations since 2004 to attend a small procession in Dublin to mark the 19th Century disaster.

However Taoiseach Bertie Ahern agreed in March to lend support to the event by holding a State reception afterwards in Iveagh House.

Outgoing Minister of State Conor Lenihan represented the Government and guests included Dáil TDs and diplomatic representatives.

The Tallaght-based Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims today held a procession from the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square to the Famine sculptures on Custom House Quay where a minute’s silence was observed.

The group has been lobbying TDs and organisations on the issue for the past three years.

Committee chairman Michael Blanch said: “Government recognition of our event is a major achievement. The Famine took place only three generations ago and every country remembers disasters in its history – whether it is the Holocaust or 9/11.”