Gorta CEO welcomes selection of Co. Louth Venue for 2012 National Famine Commemoration
6th January 2012
Minister Jimmy Deenihan, pictured with former President Mary McAleese and her husband Dr. Martin McAleese, at the National Famine Memorial Day 2011, which was held in Clones, Co. Monaghan.
Gorta CEO, Brian Hanratty today welcomed the announcement by Jimmy Deenihan T.D. Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht that Drogheda has been selected to host the 2012 National Famine Commemoration in May.
Hanratty, who is a member of the National Famine Commemoration Committee stated that the townspeople had – in their own hour of need – helped thousands of others who had passed through the town during An Gorta Mór, as they made their way to Drogheda’s quayside to sail to other lands.
As a point of embarkation, Drogheda was second only to Dublin in respect of the exodus from the country, making it a highly significant location with its own rich and poignant famine history.
Brian Hanratty said that the commemoration would focus on the obscenity of two shocking statistics – that one million of Ireland’s people had perished during An Gorta Mór, with as many more forced to leave Ireland; and that today in the world, despite mankind’s scientific and other progress, over one billion people (almost one in six on the planet) go hungry every day.
Pictured at a Famine Commemoration event in Drogheda, (l-r) Councillor Frank Godfrey, Kevin Callan, Mayor of Drogheda and Brian Hanratty, CEO, Gorta.
As Gorta CEO, he also acknowledged the continuing concern of the people of Co. Louth for those hungry, mentioning in particular the work of the Medical Missionaries of Mary - established in Drogheda by Mother Mary Martin in 1940 - who now operate in fourteen countries including Rwanda where they receive support from the Louth Gorta Committee, chaired by Phil Conyngham.
Brian, who previously worked with Bank of Ireland in its Dundalk Regional Office, and is a former pupil of St. Joseph’s CBS Drogheda, paid tribute to the students there who support projects in India. “Local schools and their students who show compassion for their less fortunate global neighbours deserve great praise.
Since 2003, Gorta has been supporting the work of the CBS in Mufulira, Zambia, where most recently, we have helped develop an Agricultural Training and Nutrition Programme,” said Brian Hanratty.
He also congratulated former and current Mayors who have supported Drogheda’s application to host the event, as well as the Drogheda Civic Trust, chaired by Denis Cummins, Director of the DKIT. He concluded by saying that – in his experience – events that reflect on An Gorta Mór strengthen the resolve of the people of Ireland to commit to making hunger history in the 21st century.
