Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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54. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the dates and locations of each national famine memorial day since 2008; the proposed date and location for 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47909/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The National Famine Commemoration was announced by the then Minister of State for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in 2008 at an official reception to complement a community event held in Dublin that day. The inaugural meeting of the National Famine Commemoration Committee was subsequently held in July of that year. Its main tasks were to consider the most appropriate arrangements for future national commemorations of the Great Famine and to organise such commemorations in 2009 and following years.

The first National Famine Commemoration to integrate both local input and formal State ceremonials was held in Skibbereen in 2009. Since then, the event has been held annually in a similar dual format in Murrisk (2010), Clones (2011), Drogheda (2012), Kilrush (2013), Strokestown (2014), Newry (2015), Glasnevin Cemetery (2016) and this year in Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary.

As I announced recently, the 2018 National Famine Commemoration will take place next May in University College Cork.

The Decision to hold the National Famine Commemoration for 2018 in UCC was taken by the National Famine Commemoration Committee earlier this year in recognition of the University's long tradition of research and study of the Famine including the publication of the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine and the development of the Website to be launched next year.