DETAILS of planned memorials to the victims of the Great Famine in Co Armagh have been revealed.
Members of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council's leisure and community services committee were presented this week with an update on the project, which was first announced in 2019.
"Commemorative interpretation panels" are proposed for installation at Portadown’s Peoples Park, Lurgan Park, Solitude Park in Banbridge and The Palace Demesne in Armagh.
The total cost of these pieces will be more than £23,500, while "planned annual commemorations" are also to "be built into the annual district council’s good relation action plan for the 2022/23 year".
These are suggested to include tree planting events and an annual lecture series chaired by author and Irish famine researcher Dr Gerard MacAtasney.
The Great Famine, which began in 1845 and was sparked by potato blight, left a million people dead across Ireland and forced over two million to emigrate from the island.
The council’s community development manager, Godfrey McCartney, told the committee: "If this programme is approved the Great Famine lecture series will be starting in January."
Meanwhile, a planned public art piece is also set to be installed at an yet-to-be decided location in Lurgan.
Mr McCartney said of funding for the art piece: "We are proposing £35,000 from council reserves and officers will have to identify external funding sources to do that. It will be officers’ intention to maximise as much public funding as we can through other grant agencies."
A recommendation to approve the plan was proposed by SDLP councillor Eamon McNeill, seconded by UUP Alderman Kenneth Twyble and supported by all in the chamber.
