The Government has decided to draw up an official commemoration programme to remember victims of the Famine, it emerged tonight.
After intensive lobbying, Minister for Arts & Tourism John O'Donoghue said in a written Dáil reply that he will announce a decision on the issue in coming weeks.
The Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims has fought a three-year campaign to have an annual memorial day to mark the 19th-century disaster.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dail a year ago that he did not believe a separate commemoration was necessary.
But Mr O'Donoghue tonight said in a reply to a Dail question by Labour leader Pat Rabbitte: "I have long considered that the unfortunate people, who suffered greatly during various Irish famines, and the Great Famine in particular, deserved commemoration on an annual basis.
"The Great Famine, which was responsible for the death of so many Irish people and which ushered in the age of effective compulsory emigration that has only recently been turned around, has had a great impact on the Irish psyche and its impact remains tangible to many of the Irish people.
"I am currently contemplating a commemoration programme and would hope to take the matter further in the weeks ahead.
The Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims held its annual procession from Dublin's Garden of Remembrance to the Famine Memorial on Custom House Quay. It also held a minute's silence. Mr O'Donoghue also said in his reply that he was aware of the event. Committee spokesperson Michael Blanch said tonight:
"We are delighted with this news. It has taken a long time to get recognition from the Government. It's very positive news and hopefully it paves the way for a full annual commemoration now."
Dublin City Council boosted the committee's campaign last week when councillors approved a Labour Party motion to designate a memorial day.
The committee envisages that the commemoration, which could be held on the last Sunday in May, would be a gesture of solidarity towards all people around the world who have suffered in famines.
It would remember Catholic and Protestant victims and the event could be rotated on an annual basis between the four provinces.
The Government had previously suggested that events marking the Famine could be incorporated into the National Day of Commemoration — an annual ceremony to mark Ireland's war dead.
But the committee said this occasion specifically remembered dead Irish soldiers, and not civilians which comprised the Famine victims.
It has been estimated that the Famine could have indirectly halved the all-Ireland population as it was over eight million people in 1845 but had shrunk to approximately four million by the 1911 Census.
There are up to 70 million people abroad who claim Irish ancestry — many of whom are descended from emigrants who fled Ireland during the Famine.