Bertie Ahern
Question:5 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Taoiseach the new memorials, if any, to victims which have been erected or old ones refurbished with Government assistance as part of the Famine commemoration. [4894/97]
Ceisteanna — Questions. - Famine Commemoration.
As part of the Government's famine commemoration programme the national memorial to the Famine is being erected in Murrisk, County Mayo. The memorial will consist of a very fine and moving sculpture by John Behan entitled "The Coffin Ship" which will be unveiled on 20 July.
The committee has made a grant of £5,000 available to the Liverpool Great Famine Commemoration Committee to assist with the cost of the Liverpool Famine memorial. This gesture was made in acknowledgment of those Famine emigrants for whom Liverpool was a staging post on their way to the New World and also for those who made it their permanent home.
In recognition of all those who died during the Famine the committee has made small grants available to a number of local groups which are undertaking the restoration of Famine graveyards and I hope to be in a position to make more grants available before the end of the Government's programme of commemoration. It is felt that these graveyards are memorials to the Famine dead. In the efforts to restore these graveyards we are rescuing the memory of our Famine dead from oblivion.
The committee has also made a contribution of £5,000 towards the cost of a Famine Memorial in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
The Minister of State mentioned Famine graveyards. There is a need for dignified reminders of this terrible tragedy and we ought not forget those who suffered or try to suppress it from memory. I ask the Minister of State to do all within his power to ensure the graveyards are restored.
A substantial list of graveyards have been designated for grant aid purposes. They range in alphabetical order from Antrim to Wexford. The Minister of State and the Department have done excellent work in this area. They have informed people that funding is available as they are anxious that proper refurbishment takes place.