Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív has designated May 17th this year as National Famine Memorial Day. All public and sporting events will observe a minute’s silence on that day.
The venue for this year’s event will be Skibbereen, Co Cork, one of the worst affected areas in the country by the disaster. A parallel international event will be held in Canada where thousands of Irish people emigrated to escape hunger and poverty.
The first Famine Memorial Day was held in Dublin last May.
The National Famine Commemoration Committee, chaired by Mr Ó Cuív, has agreed the memorial day should revolve between the four provinces of Ireland. It is envisaged the 2010 commemoration will take place in Co Mayo.
The Great Famine had an immediate, disasterous impact in Ireland and left an enduring legacy of emigration, cultural loss and decline of the Irish language. The population of Ireland, which exceeded 8 million in the Census of 1841, was reduced by approximately 1.5 million through death and emigration.
The Famine also resulted in a disproportionately strong representation of the Irish among the nations formed through emigration in the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
Against this background, it was decided that an overseas commemoration should be held in parallel with the National Memorial Day in Ireland.