A Government Minister has called for the catastrophic events of the Great Famine to be properly remembered as a series of engagements got under way in Canada to mark the disaster.
Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív was to unveil a plaque at Grosse Ile near Quebec city to commemorate the 7,000 Irish men, women and children who fled the devastation and were buried there.
He said the extraordinary contributions of those who emigrated must be celebrated.
The inaugural National Famine Memorial Day will be held next Friday to remember the 1.5 million people who died or were forced to emigrate during the devastating event.
Mr Ó Cuív said: “We must ensure that the catastrophic events of the Great Famine are appropriately remembered and that the extraordinary contributions of those who emigrated, and of their many descendants abroad, are justly celebrated.”
Grosse Ile, in the middle of the St Lawrence River, was a quarantine station during the Famine, which became known by locals as ‘L’Ile des Irlandais’ - the Island of the Irish.
One hundred years ago, a massive Celtic cross, 40 feet high, was erected with inscriptions in Irish, English and French in memory of those buried there.
Mr Ó Cuív also laid a wreath in Ireland Park in Toronto to pay tribute to the thousands of Irish emigrants who fled to the city in the 1840s to escape starvation.
In Ireland, the Memorial Day will be marked next weekend by a ceremony in O’Donovan Rossa Park in Skibbereen - one of the areas worst affected by the catastrophic failure of the potato crop.
The state flag will be raised and wreaths will be laid at Abbeystrewery Cemetery where up to 10,000 victims are buried in a mass grave.
Public and sporting events as well as primary and post-primary schools have been asked to observe a minute’s silence on May 15th.
The National Famine Memorial Day was announced by the Government earlier this year after a long campaign for recognition by lobby groups such as the Dublin-based Committee For The Commemoration Of Irish Famine Victims.
PA