Eoin Ó Broin
Question:149. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the date for the national famine memorial day 2016. [16147/16]
View answerWednesday, 15 June 2016
Questions (149, 150, 151)
Eoin Ó Broin
Question:150. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to designate a fixed Sunday in order to mark the national famine memorial day every year. [16148/16]
View answerEoin Ó Broin
Question:151. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will mark the famine victims’ mass grave in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin 9, located between the O’Connell and Parnell monuments, at the 2016 commemoration. [16149/16]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 to 151, inclusive, together.
As Chair of the National Famine Commemoration Committee, I am responsible for ensuring on behalf of the Government that appropriate arrangements are in place to commemorate the Great Irish Famine, my main focus being that the victims of the famine are remembered appropriately and respectfully.
While the commemoration ceremony retains a degree of continuity in its format, the date and the cultural elements of the commemoration may change from year to year. I do not consider it desirable to fix the same date each year, given the factors that may need to be considered, such as the site selection process, the availability of the lead person to officiate at the ceremony and the general arrangements at community level. This flexibility facilitates the commemoration being held in the most appropriate context each year. In the circumstances, I have no plans to designate a fixed date for the National Famine Commemoration.
With regard to 2016, the National Famine Commemoration Committee has agreed that the National Famine Commemoration will take place this year at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, on Sunday, 11 September. The precise arrangements have not yet been finalised but it has been agreed that a memorial will be put in place to mark the event and officials from my Department are in contact with Glasnevin Cemetery in this regard.