Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First of all, we had a very successful Famine commemoration this year in Ballingarry. It was out in quite a remote place. It was extremely well organised and I pay tribute to the local community there. It put a huge amount of work into making it a very successful day. The community was delighted that the Famine commemoration came to its area. The Taoiseach attended, which was wonderful. The decision on where Famine events are held is up to the Famine committee. There is a special committee which looks at the different venues. Next year is a special year for Cork however. I was cognisant that there was a tradition of going around the different provinces. I was conscious of that but there is a special event in University College Cork next year. Huge effort has been put into launching The Atlas of the Great Irish Famine, which is a magnificent book. Special events are also being held to educate people and to get them more engaged with that period in our history. It is important that we do that. There was a lot on in Cork and the committee felt that the commemoration should be held there next year. The Deputy will be glad to hear that we will revert to the model of rotating between provinces from the year after. It is a once-off change for next year, but after that we will go back to going around the provinces.