Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

As I said, I have no strong feelings on this matter. There may be a cross-party feeling in the House that we should have a day to commemorate the Famine. A good case for individual days has been made by various groups. The committee seeking to commemorate 1798 made a good case. Such committees are formed for a period and then move on. The 1641 commemoration committee was another. There have been many such committees. It is good that people care about history and put forward their case. There has been a suggestion to commemorate the role of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, Robert Emmet and others. I have been trying to focus on a single day of commemoration so that we do not return to proliferation. That happened prior to the decision on the national day of commemoration 20 years ago.

Historically, since the foundation of the State, we commemorate events every 25 years, 50 years, 75 years, on centenaries and bicentenaries. That has been the rule of thumb. A small committee worked on the issue in the mid-1980s, and bringing many different groups and days together was a matter of contention. Many groups and suggested dates were involved. Some groups were religious, some not. It was a matter of trying to bring everything together. Having researched the committee's work, it is clear it was not easy.

I am not detracting from the importance of the Famine, but one can take it that as soon as a day is selected to commemorate any event, some ten or 15 groups will quickly make excellent arguments, backed by eminent historians, for commemorating other events. I have no objection to any commemoration but we should confine them to a single day. If someone has a very strong view on the subject, I will consider it. It is not a question of me changing my mind. People who have dealt with this for many years have pointed out the ongoing arguments and the battles that keep arising.

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