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Channel 4 executive defends Famine script

THE head of comedy at Channel 4 had said he will robustly defend screen-writer Hugh Travers's attempts to explore a script on the Famine, calling campaigns to have the proposal withdrawn as "appalling".

Speaking during a debate on comedy and censorship at the London Comedy Festival, Phil Clarke said that the story had been "misreported".

He said: "I'm determined to allow Hugh to explore this subject. We're not doing a series. We're not even doing a pilot. We've only find appalling."

Called Hungry, the programme has been described by the Dublin-based screenwriter as akin to "Shameless in famine Ireland".

Describing the Famine as "the Irish Holocaust", Mr Clarke added: "I don't think it is Hugh Travers's intention or Channel 4's intention to mock the suffering. I think it is an original, unusual and difficult subject to do well. We may not pull it off and we may not develop it, but I think we must be allowed."

Over 40,000 people have signed an online petition urging Channel 4 to drop the programme, with the station saying last month that it had received 890 "predominantly negative" responses to the script.

Six MPs have signed a motion in parliament calling on Channel 4 to "reconsider" its decision to produce a programme on the Famine.