Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome wholeheartedly the introduction of this Bill. It deals with something that we in Sinn Féin have been working on for a long time. I welcome Fine Gael's conversion to this logical reform. However, it strikes me as a little strange in these days of new politics that the Minister's Government refused to run with an identical Bill I put before the Dáil in December and instead the Government published its Bill, which is roughly the same as ours, with the same objective two months later. I can only imagine there was an ideological reluctance within Fine Gael to proceed with this Bill but when the Government was faced with my Bill, perhaps the tribal instincts kicked in and there was a sense that it should prevent the Opposition's Bill on this issue. That was a pity. Ideally, we often hear from those on the Government side that they are looking for good ideas from the Opposition, they are willing to work those in opposition if they have an idea or a solution to issues, but when that happens, mechanisms are used to prevent the Opposition's Bill from going through.

The Great Famine was the most important event in Irish history. It was a disaster of incredible proportions and it radically altered the trajectory of this country and pretty much every family within it. It emptied the country of its people with considerably more than 1 million deaths and 1 million more forced to emigrate. To this day, 170 years later, the population of this country has still not recovered.

The Famine was a painful and deep lesson in the importance of independence and self-determination. Ireland produced enough food to feed our people throughout the Famine but much of that food was exported under armed guard. There is no doubt that the decisions made in London were based on those to ensure the profitability of the landlords and the further ethnic cleansing of many parts of the country and that this experience convinced that generation of Irish republicans that this country had no choice at all but to fight for its self-determination.

One would imagine that an event of this import would be treated with the requisite and adequate reverence and magnitude but this is not the case. I submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister a few weeks ago to seek the date for this year's commemoration and the response I got was that no date has been selected yet for the commemoration in 2017. Unless there is a change, and she might be able to tell us that, but mid-way through the first quarter of 2017, the Government had not decided upon a date for the national commemoration of the Famine in this country. It is incredible that would be the case.

Is é an Gorta Mór an rud ba mheasa a thit amach ar mhuintir na hÉireann riamh. Bhí an tragóid seo chomh tubaisteach nach raibh daoine in ann labhairt faoi ar feadh blianta fada ina dhiaidh. Ní bhféadfaimis samhlú an pian agus an léirscrios a rinneadh i rith aimsir an Ghorta. Tá na himpleachtaí le feiceáil sa lá atá inniu ann.

Cé gur tháinig dubh ar na prátaí go nádúrtha, d’fhulaing muintir na hÉireann de bharr go raibh siad faoi chos ar bolg ag Sasana. Ní raibh smacht acu ar a gcuid talaimh féin. Tá a fhios againn go raibh bia á n-easpórtáil le linn na blianta ba chrua a bhí againn. Caitheadh anuas ar na fíricí sin mar theoiric chomhcheilge, ach fíric lom atá ann. In 1847, mar shampla, d’fhág nach mór 4,000 soithí ag iompar bia ó Éirinn go dtí na calafoirt ba mhó sa Bhreatain. Bhí méadú ar an mbeostoic ag fágáil na tíre i rith tréimhse an Ghorta Mhóir. Rinne Rialtas na Breataine neamhaird ar achainíocha comhairleoirí ar fud na hÉireann ó Bhéal Feirste go Baile Átha Cliath na calafoirt a dhúnadh. Cloistear go minic gur ruaig milliún duine as an tír agus gur cailleadh milliún eile de bharr an t-ocras agus an galar, ach is measúnaithe fíorchoimeádacha iad seo. Bhí borradh mór sa daonra ag tús an 19ú aois. Bhí nach mór dúbailt ar ár ndaonra. Bhí breis is 8 milliún duine ina gcónaí ar an oileán seo sa bhliain 1841. Bhí na daoine a bhí i mbun an daonáirimh ag tnúth go mbeadh 9 milliún duine ina gcónaí sa tír faoi 1851, ach mar thoradh ar an nGorta bhí níos lú ná 6 milliún fágtha sa tír ag an am sin.

The Famine was a catastrophic blow in many respects but particularly to the Irish language. While Irish was the language of the native elite in the 1600s, by the 19th century it was spoken principally by the poor in the rural west. While 4 million people in this country spoke Irish immediately before the Famine, the highest ever number of speakers of the language in the country, it was later associated with the poverty of the Famine. After the Famine, those who had lived through it and sought to better themselves or perhaps emigrate to the US felt out of very difficult pragmatism that it was necessary for them to learn the English language and leave Irish behind. This was also a time when Irish was prohibited in the school curriculum. This was enforced through corporal punishment administered with a tally stick, so-called, which resulted in English becoming the predominant language of this country.

It is interesting that even today, 170 years after the Famine, a poor mouth attitude is shown to the Irish language. A number of years ago, under Fine Gael, the Coimisinéir Teanga resigned from his position due to the lack of help and effort on the part of the Government in respect of the Irish language. The State organisations were breaking the law on the Irish language and the Government sat on its hands on the sidelines and did nothing for it whatsoever. The current Coimisinéir Teanga has said the Government has failed utterly regarding the Irish language. The Irish language is receding from education. If one talks to current teachers, they will say the standard of taught Irish in this country is falling every year. If a person makes an effort to engage with the State in Irish at any level, for example, if he or she picks up the phone and rings a number to seek a service in the Irish language, that person will get through to a line with nobody at the end of it, only an answering machine to take his or her name and perhaps sometime in the future that person will get a response. Our attitude towards the Irish language has not changed whatsoever. In fact, the process started during the Famine is continuing unabated, unfortunately.

The Bill presents an opportunity to focus on this very important issue. As has been mentioned, 800 million people in the world today go hungry. We need to remember them when we commemorate the Famine. The need for the Bill is simple: to place the Famine Commemoration Day on a fixed date, namely, the second Sunday of May. While we have had a commemoration day since 2008, we need to ensure its date does not swing. If it swings, people locally and internationally cannot organise for it whatsoever. We have a national day of commemoration, which falls on the Sunday nearest 11 July, in remembrance of the Irish people who died in past wars. It is surprising we do not yet have a fixed day to commemorate and honour those who fell in the Famine. I have a hunch that our lack of emphasis on this commemoration stems from our historical baggage. Subconsciously, we the survivors may not want to dwell on what befell our kith and kin. We must change this. The gravity, significance and devastation of the Famine means the event deserves a fixed day of remembrance.

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