A major new Government-supported Famine commemoration will take place in Dublin later this month, it was announced today.
Dozens of campaigners in peasant-dress will hold their annual march from the Garden of Remembrance to the Custom House Quay famine sculptures on May 27th.
But for the first time this will be followed by a Government reception attended by various international dignitaries marking the end of a four-year campaign to have the event recognised by the State.
"Government recognition of our event is a major achievement," Michael Blanch, chairman of the Tallaght-based Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims, said. "The Famine took place only three generations ago, and every country remembers disasters in its history, whether it is the Holocaust or New York's 9/11."
The committee, which holds its march every year, has been lobbying TDs and organisations to officially mark the event for the past four years.
The Government is also considering an annual Famine memorial day, and the National Museum at Collins Barracks is investigating the feasibility of gathering a major exhibition on the event.
PA
