Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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898. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland sought an apology from the British Government of the former British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, for the Great Famine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21572/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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In early June 1997, a number of weeks after entering office as British Prime Minister, Tony Blair went on record with the following statement:

“The famine was a defining event in the history of Ireland and of Britain. It has left deep scars. That one million people should have died in what was then part of the richest and most powerful nation in the world is something that still causes pain as we reflect on it today. Those who governed in London at the time failed their people through standing by while a crop failure turned into a massive human tragedy. We must not forget such a dreadful event”.

The then Taoiseach, former Deputy John Bruton, welcomed this message, saying that “while the statement confronts the past honestly, it does so in a way that heals for the future”.

This took place during a period when Ireland was commemorating the 150^thanniversary of the Famine, and when the then Government had assigned specific responsibility for the commemoration to a Minister of State. It also took place during an important phase of the Northern Ireland peace process and as efforts continued to improve and normalize British-Irish relations for the future.