Bertie Ahern
Ceist:1 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Taoiseach the projects co-funded by his Department which are being undertaken to commemorate the Great Famine. [11238/95]
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Great Famine Commemoration.
In January I was appointed chairperson of the Government committee on the commemoration of the Great Famine of 1798 replacing my predecessor, Deputy Tom Kitt. Since then the committee and I have met over a dozen times and we have complied a varied and significant programme.
Last month I announced that the Government is financing a major historical research project which is being undertaken by a number of eminent historians from both UCD and TCD. The other parts of the programme are finalised and I intend to announce them shortly.
The Government's programme will include a number of co-funded projects. These will be in addition to the many welcome community and private initiatives being undertaken throughout the country and abroad.
I thank the Minister of State for the work she has done on the committee. Will she outline briefly the proposals she intends to announce shortly? Will she consider building into the programme some of the better community activities throughout the country bearing in mind that Irish communities throughout the world have a tremendous interest in this matter? I am sure the Minister of State has received far more correspondence than I have but it would be helpful if Members of the House could send to individuals and organisations who intend to travel to commemorate the Great Famine the official brochure rather than sketchy details.
I hope to be in a position next week to announce the details of the Government's programme. I will extend an invitation to Deputy Tom Kitt to join us on that occasion. I hope he will then be in a position to brief the Deputy in detail on the specific projects to be included.
The committee and the Government are conscious of the need for sensitivity in selecting commemorative events. We must have respect for the dead in commemorating the most traumatic event in modern Irish history. We will not spend money lavishly on any one event. If money is to be spent it should be directed at those locations in the modern world where there is famine. The best way to commemorate those who died from starvation and those who had to leave our shores is to try to prevent famine in specific parts of the world. This is the type of event for which the Government will provide sponsorship as part of the commemorative programme.
We will also fund scholarships, research and education programmes to improve our knowledge of what happened in the poor law union areas which are well documented. Ecumenical services and a wide variety of other events will also be held. I will be delighted to let the Deputy have full details by the middle of next week.
I welcome the Minister of State's comment that money will be provided to fund research and education programmes. That is appropriate. We should not try to be subtle in commemorating the Great Famine, an important event in our history. We should remind the modern world of what happened here 150 years ago. That should not cause offence to anyone. I would not like us to be too soft in selecting some of the events for inclusion in the programme.
The Great Famine is commemorated in folklore and local history. It has also been commemorated by walks and other events organised down through the years. People from the United States and elsewhere have commemorated the Great Famine, sad though the event was, and want to commemorate it in their homeland. We have an obligation to them to commemorate it so that the world is made aware of what happened during that period.
I agree fully with the Deputy. I have not been and will not be soft in relation to the commemoration of the Great Famine and neither should the Deputy. Perhaps he is taking a line from comments made in the media recently, particularly the British media, about how the Government may commemorate the Great Famine. None of the commentators bothered to contact me. I would have been delighted, as chairperson of the Government's committee, to discuss the matter with them. Given the level of interest I imagine I will be busy during the next few weeks explaining the programme. I will be delighted to do so.
No Government should or would attempt to sanitise the facts surrounding the Great Famine which had an enormous impact in the sense that, tragically, many people had to leave our shores during the period 1845-52. For many years those who could not leave remained destitute as a result of poverty and hunger. I suspect the Deputy would agree that it is the maturity and the security of the relationship between the two islands which allows us to face the facts honestly and openly. That is what the peace process and the process of reconciliation is all about. It is only by facing the trauma caused by this immense tragedy honestly and openly in seeking genuine understanding that we can heal some of the hurt caused throughout Irish history.
Despite the pain and its complexity, we must not repress our history. Too many problems during the years in the Anglo-Irish relationship have derived from mutual ignorance or selective versions of history. The maturity of the relationship allows us to face the facts and tell the truth. That is what the Government intends to do. After all, the famine was not just an Irish event, it was just as much a British event. Together we will face up to what happened and move forward.
I tabled the question to provide support to the Minister of State in ensuring that what was written was correct. I was not aware of what was to be included in the programme when I read some of the articles. I urge the Minister of State to present the programme, which I will support, as quickly as possible. There is a need to educate the British public about what happened here 150 years ago. This would be helpful in terms of their view of the peace process. The programme may also be of help to people on this island who are not aware of what happened. I have no difficulty about giving people the hard facts of the last 25 or 75 years. All these matters should be in the open. I resent and reject the views of people who believe that we should be apologists for what happened and, as stated in three different articles, "go soft on the issue".
I express the support of this side of the House for the commemoration, which will not be a celebration because we have nothing to celebrate. Our history is a treasure and we must use this opportunity to put it to the world because it will help in understanding famine and what famine can do to various parts of the world.
I must dissuade Members from debating the matter now.
I thank the Deputy for his supportive comments. Since I became Minister of State four months ago a dozen or so full committee meetings and four or five sub-committee meetings have been completed and I hope to announce the programme of events early next week. I wish to make it clear that the Government will start its programme of commemorative events in Fermanagh in late August this year to commemorate the outbreak of blight in the field. The famine and blight were not a respecter of geography, and the northern part of this island, and indeed Scotland, were affected in the same way as the southern part. I hope the Deputy and his colleagues will be in a position to join us for many of the events. I think they will approve fully of the programme of commemorative events that will be outlined.
On the interpretation by the media of a Government programme, ill-informed comments have been made because the media does not yet know what the Government programme is.
I was referring to the UK media.
I agree it was generally our colleagues in the British media who got it wrong, even though there have been many letters to editors and much interest in the media about the Government's intentions in this regard. The media in Britain appears to be locked into what I would call a tired old revisionist debate, but that ended with the ceasefire. In the last couple of years 50 books have been written about the famine and historical debate has been conducted in a most friendly manner between the two islands. Let us put that behind us, look at the facts and tell the truth. Nothing can be more helpful in the process of reconciliation than to face the facts openly, recognise both traditions and move forward from there.
We look forward to the publication of the programme of events.
The House may observe that we have dwelt on this question for well over ten minutes and I sought to dissuade Members from the notion of debating the issue. I will hear a relevant, brief question from the Deputies who have offered.
The Minister referred to the issue I wished to raise, the all-Ireland aspect of the famine which predates partitioning of this island. Will she outline the projects that have an all-Ireland aspect? What negotiations has she had with officials on the other side of the Border in this respect?
There will be projects north of the Border as well as many south of the Border. I have been in contact with officials at various levels about these projects. The commemorative events will commence in Fermanagh on 28 or 29 August — I speak from the top of my head. In conjunction with the local authorities we will hold a full day's events there to commemorate the outbreak of blight in the field. I will be in a position next week to give further details on the matter. It would not be in order for me to pre-empt the press release; otherwise there would be no point in holding a press conference.
As a person who set up the committee I wish the Minister well. I believe she got it right on this occasion. I always believed, as did those on the committee, that this issue should be handled sensitively and realistically. I appreciate that we should await next week's announcement, but will the Minister say when the programme of events will end? Will she agree there is a tremendous opportunity for a role for schools, Communities on the ground and the Irish abroad? As a former Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development, I believe there is a need to link this programme with the work of Irish aid workers in the developing world.
It will probably come as little surprise to the Deputy that all the points he made will be well met in the programme. There will be a major schools project and there will be links with overseas aid workers and with scientific research overseas in terms of research on potato blight. The Deputy will receive an invitation to the launch of the programme and I hope he will be in a position to join us on that occasion.
I look forward to that and am glad the Minister is following our lead.