If the Minister of State, Deputy Kenny, has any problem spending the money in Courtown perhaps he can find some way of spending it in Clones. We would be only too glad to help him. Although it is not a seaside town it is a Border town with great need.
While there were many negative effects of the Famine there were some positive ones. Some people who emigrated did extremely well. We think of men of the calibre of John F. Kennedy whose family emigrated and brought great honour and respect to this country. I hope President Clinton, who has roots North of the Border, will visit this country in the not too distant future.
The Famine was not confined to the South. Somebody said people in County Down did not suffer as much as those in County Mayo. In areas such as Fermanagh, Tyrone and Monaghan there was great poverty and soup kitchens were set up.
In my area a Presbyterian Minister left with a boatload of approximately 400 people from the church at Cahans. It was a very big church but, as a result of that exodus, it is now closed.
In my early days, flax, potatoes and grass seed had regained their place as main crops in County Monaghan but that is not so now. However, potatoes are still the mainstay crop in other areas. I am thinking in particular of Prince Edward Island.
Some years ago a member of Monaghan County Council, Councillor Willie McKenna — he is a member of Fianna Fáil but that does not do him any harm — worked hard to build up a relationship between Prince Edward Island and County Monaghan because 25 per cent of the citizens of that island are Irish and 40 per cent of those have County Monaghan origins.
Monaghan County Council will commemorate the Famine positively. We visited Prince Edward Island and had discussions with the elected representatives there who, in turn, visited Monaghan. For the first time in 150 years the relatives of Irish emigrants are tracing their roots. This is one area we could develop in the context of the tourism industry. The Taoiseach planned to visit Prince Edward Island recently but unfortunately was not able to do so. That was a cause of great disappointment. There is a great longing by those people to know the history of their family and learn fully about their background. Thus, from a cultural and heritage point of view, even commercially from a tourism point of view, we must utilise all of these links.
The First Secretary of the Canadian Embassy, Mr. Philip Pinnington, is visiting schools in the north Monaghan area today speaking of the connections between his great country and ours. The Canadian Ambassador, Mr. Barry Mawhinney, also has visited Monaghan and will address the November meeting of Monaghan County Council. That clearly demonstrates that we can benefit enormously from such links and in building up new relationships, hopefully widening our horizons.
I heard some Members today recalling the erstwhile misdemeanours and evil doings of some people, not without good reason but, in this time of peace in Northern Ireland — here I speak as a member of the minority living in a Border area — it is my intention to promote that peace as much as possible. While I know it is not easy, we must endeavour to forget some of the past, learn from it and bury the hatchet. In that context, nobody could have better expressed those sentiments than Archbishop Robin Eames at the Service of Remembrance in June last when he said:
Today Ireland must be the land in which the healing of traditional wounds and the building of new understanding abounds. We all have a great deal which we must bury in the past and leave behind us in the past. Today, as we remember the Great Famine, we remember not just the untold suffering, we remember the anger and resentment but, in the act of remembrance, can we show the vision, courage and Christian understanding which alone can heal the bitterness of our troubled past?
That is the challenge we must all face, thus ensuring that we learn and benefit from the past rather than resort to it in a manner that may cause dissension.
This country has learned and benefited enormously from its understanding of famine, although those of us here today, I for one, cannot be accused of understanding or experiencing famine too acutely. Unfortunately, there remains a great deal of famine worldwide but our record in dealing with it in recent years has been amazing. At times one might think there was very little money available, yet whenever a genuine appeal is made, whether for Ethiopia or elsewhere, the ordinary people of Ireland give extremely generously. In that sense we have indeed a proud tradition. Unhappily, the fact famine continues means we must continue to help in whatever way possible.
In this respect, it might be no harm to remind the electorate of the efforts of this Government in a small way by increasing Third World aid and its innovation in changing our tax laws to allow donors make committed contributions to various charities. Merely feeding the hungry with the few fish available does not constitute a long term solution; we must provide them with the wherewithal to feed themselves in the long term. In that respect many individuals have led the way in taking initiatives so that such countries can begin to provide food for themselves, an endeavour that must continue. As we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Famine we must resolve to make the best use of whatever funds are available in addition to advising and directing long term programmes.
The Minister informed us earlier today that she has limited resources available and would be unable to fund certain deserving projects. However, there are a number of heritage groups and others in my constituency who would very much appreciate some small financial help. In my parish of Killevan a group is actively endeavouring to build a permanent memorial to the Famine, with the aid of FÁS schemes and the like, in the form of a Famine wall.
A heritage group in Castleblayney requested me today to urge the Minister to give them some help in funding a weekend event in the county on 22 October, based on the Famine theme, in an endeavour to make people more aware of their heritage. They are two only of the many requests I have received which I hope the Minister will help with the limited funds available to her.
While requesting our people to examine and learn from our history I implore them, for God's sake, not to live by it because the past 13 months have been a tremendous period in which to live in a Border area. Many of our young people remember nothing but the bomb, bullet, murders, punishment beatings and so on. The past 13 months have afforded us an opportunity to demonstrate how the different traditions on this island can live and work together happily.
It is my hope that the raking over of events 150 years ago, any more than of those of 300 years ago, will not stir up any animosity or other trouble. The vast majority of our people want to bury the hatchet, to turn this island once more into a place of which we can all be proud so that those who were forced to emigrate as far as Australia, New Zealand, America and elsewhere, in addition to those who emigrated to England, Scotland and Wales, can return on holiday, perhaps even return to work or retire here. If, through our commemoration of the Famine, we can encourage them to do so we shall have done a very good job for all who live on this island.