Remarks by President McAleese at the Unveiling of the Liverpool Famine Monument
Remarks by President McAleese at the Unveiling of the Liverpool Famine Monument on Tuesday, 24th November, 1998
We are here today to remember, and to mark in stone, a catastrophic event in Irish history, the Great Irish Famine. We remember those who died of hunger and we remember those who were forced to seek their livelihood abroad. We remember in particular the thousands of Irish men and women who sought a new and better life here in Liverpool.
The Famine was profoundly traumatic in its immediate effects: in the death of a million people and in the migration of a further million. The Famine had as well long-term consequences for Irish society which were to last for generations not least in the way in which it further skewed and embittered relations between the two neighbouring islands.
Today, we recall also that the Famine not only marked the development of modern Ireland but it shaped the development of Australia, Canada, America and modern Britain too. In cities across this country Irish people came to escape desperate poverty and to find shelter and work.
Liverpool was to become one of the great centres of Irish migration and, in turn, the Irish helped to develop and to mould the character of this great city. In many walks of life the Irish have made a distinctive and valuable contribution, particularly in the caring professions, as doctors, nurses and as educators. And while we look back at the famine period with dismay, we can recognise too the positive contribution the Irish have made to this society. Our tragic people became our gift to the world. In Ireland their talent had no place to grow, they created spaces in hard places all over the world, with great courage, grace and determination . They were witnesses to the sheer tenacity of the human spirit, the sheer hope which consoles the tortured human heart.
This memorial will do more than signal our recollection of past tragedy. It will serve too as a reminder of that courage and hard work of generations of Irish people, and as a reminder that the city of Liverpool is home to many people who have come here to seek a better life.
This memorial will also serve as a challenge to us. It will remind us that hunger and famine persist throughout the world and we still face the moral imperative to welcome and to offer shelter to those who have lost everything. It is worth remembering that not everyone agrees with the word Famine as a description of what happened in Ireland 150 years ago. Some insist, with more than a hint of truth in calling it “The Starvation”. It is perhaps a more graphic and arresting description. In our world of plenty today “The Starvation” is still the experience of too many.
I am honoured to unveil this monument, as a reminder of our shared past and as a challenge to us in the future to see each hungry human person wherever, whoever as our brother, our sister in God’s human family and as our responsibility and no others.