Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to begin by acknowledging Deputy Tóibín's longstanding interest in this matter, as evidenced by his bringing forward this Bill. It is clear that there is a widespread interest shared by many Deputies in ensuring that the Great Irish Famine continues to be appropriately commemorated by the State, working in partnership with stakeholders and local communities. I am struck by the harrowing stories to which the Deputy alluded I acknowledge the suffering and individual horrors that were meted out on Irish families. In that vein, the national Famine commemoration should be a fitting memorial to the vast swathe of our population who were lost to death or emigration.

It is estimated that up to 1 million people died and another 1 million emigrated during the Famine years. The Famine, therefore, had a profound and devastating impact on every part of the country and this should be reflected in the national commemoration. The first national Famine commemoration to include both local input and a formal State ceremony was held in Skibbereen in 2009. Since then, the event has been held annually in a similar format right across the country including at: Murrisk, County Mayo, in 2010; Clones, County Monaghan, in 2011; Drogheda, County Louth, in 2012; Kilrush, County Clare, in 2013; Strokestown in County Roscommon in 2014; Newry, County Down, in 2015; Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin in 2016; and, most recently, Ballingarry County Tipperary, in 2017.

As announced by my predecessor, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, last October, this year’s commemoration will take place in University College Cork, UCC, in collaboration with Cork City Council, on Saturday 12 May, in the presence of An tUachtarán, Michael D. Higgins, who will deliver the keynote address. The college was established in 1845 and opened in 1849, with construction continuing during the Famine years. Arguably, this history has contributed to UCC becoming a leader in the field of research in, and study of, the Famine years as exemplified by the publication of the award winning Atlas of the Great Irish Faminein 2012. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, will officiate on my behalf and he has agreed to host the commemoration. He will have the opportunity to officiate at the official launch of the Great Irish Famine Online, which will be a key element of the day. The development of the Great Irish Famine Online represents the culmination of work over a period of years and will represent a major resource for students of the Famine at all levels. This work has been supported by the national Famine commemoration committee and my Department and it is entirely fitting that this great seat of learning should host the national commemoration on the occasion of its launch.

Deputies will also be interested to note that UCC is hosting a conference on global hunger on the eve of the commemoration on 11 May. I can only commend the work of UCC, Cork City Council and Cork County Council in the development of the surrounding programme for this year’s event. Details of all events are available on a dedicated website at www.ucc.ie/nfc2018.

One of the strengths of the national Famine commemoration is that the event has been held in a different location and community every year. While the national Famine commemoration committeehas sought to hold the ceremony on the second Sunday of May each year, the host venue and community has been consulted. The flexibility to accommodate particular circumstances that may arise around the arrangements, and to allow organisers to develop a fitting programme of locally organised events, many of which have been tied in with dates of important local significance, has facilitated the holding of the event in locations such as Newry, County Down, and Ballingarry, County Tipperary, in the autumn. The importance attached to this event by the current and previous Governments has been signalled by the level of support demonstrated by An tUachtarán and An Taoiseach in making themselves available to preside at the annual commemoration. Notwithstanding these considerations, and taking account of the views expressed by Deputies Tóibín and Crowe, I am aware that early last year, the then Minister, Deputy Humphreys, supported the reading at Second Stage of a Private Members' Bill brought forward by Deputy Brophy. This Bill, inter alia, also proposed that the commemoration of the Great Famine would be held on the second Sunday of May each year. I am pleased to be able to inform the House that earlier this week the Government approved the issuance of a money message in respect of Deputy Brophy’s Bill. This will enable the Bill to proceed to Committee Stage. I look forward to meeting with Deputy Brophy shortly and working with him to ensure that the necessary work is done and the benefits of setting a fixed date are fully realised.

It also gives me great pleasure to inform the House that the Government, taking account of the support expressed in this House for Deputy Brophy’s views and the experience of the national Famine commemoration committee in organising the commemoration and the existing calendar of State events has also this week - pending any legislation that may be enacted - approved the designation of the third Sunday of May each year as the national Famine commemoration day, with the arrangements for the holding a of State commemoration on this day or the preceding Saturday to be decided each year following consultation with the relevant local authority and host community. The decision to designate the third Sunday of May for this commemoration takes account of the other elements of the State ceremonial calendar including Arbour Hill and Daniel O’Connell commemorations held in May. This year these are due to be held on Wednesday, 9 May, and Sunday, 13 May.

The Government has also taken account of the experience of previous years in choosing this weekend to provide for the participation of local schools in the event as well as the surrounding programme of activities. The local programmes and involvement of schools has been a feature of the Famine commemoration since the holding of the first event in the current format in Skibbereen in 2009. The inclusion of some flexibility to allow for the holding of the commemoration itself on the Saturday or Sunday reflects the unique nature of this commemoration which is organised in partnership with the host community with a view to maximising local participation in this important State ceremonial event. The appropriate commemoration of the Famine and its victims is one of the key objectives of the national Famine commemoration committee. The committee was established in July 2008 to oversee the arrangements for the commemoration of the Famine and has conducted its work with great enthusiasm and dedication since then. The original model for the State commemoration was modelled on the national day of commemoration held in July each year. This was established by a Government decision in 1986 to commemorate all those Irishmen and Irishwomen who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations.

The outgoing committee’s term of office ended at the turn of the year and I can confirm to the House that the process of appointing the membership of the new committee is at an advanced stage. One of the first tasks for the new committee will be to consider the arrangements for next year’s commemoration in light of the Government decisions earlier this week. While the decision to hold this year’s event at a Munster venue represented a departure from recent practice I expect that the practice of rotation between the provinces will be returned to next with the decision to have regard to the location of previous events and national impact of the Great Famine in the selection of the actual location.

These decisions of Government and the progression of Deputy Brophy’s Bill, which was given Government time in February 2017, will afford an opportunity to ensure that the benefits of setting a fixed date are fully realised for appropriate commemoration of the Great Famine, which is the shared objective of all parties to this debate. I therefore propose to oppose the Bill now before the House.

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