The University of Cork was the venue of the national commemoration that remembers the victims of the great famine, which hit Ireland in the middle of the 19th century and that caused more than one million victims and forced the largest emigration of Ireland. Its population was reduced by more than two and a half million people and even today Ireland has less population than in 1850.
The emotional ceremony of commemoration was led by Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland and was also attended by Simon Coveney, Tánaiste and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, among other representatives of the Government and local authorities.
After the traditional wreath deposited by President Higgins and the military honors in remembrance of the victims of the great famine, the accredited ambassadors were also invited to deposit a memorial wreath on behalf of their respective peoples and governments, as a symbol of international solidarity in the face of serious disasters.
President Higgins said in his speech that today there is the capability to anticipate and prevent the threat of famine, but nevertheless millions of people live in conditions of extreme or avoidable hunger. He called for a renewed commitment to support all the vulnerable people of the world and assured that the commitments of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement could not be maintained, if we remain indifferent to the millions of human beings who suffer from hunger in the world.
Memorial that remembers the victims of the Great Famine, Dublin
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