Plans have been put forward for a new memorial to those from Derry who died in Ireland’s ‘Great Famine’ in the 1800s.
The famine took place from 1845 to 1852 when potato crops were ravaged by disease.
During the famine, which is known in Irish as An Gorta Mór, approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%.
One of the main emigration ports was Derry.
However, some of the ships which left the city failed to reach their destination after sinking.
In Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery, there is a huge amount of unmarked graves to victims of the famine.
It is believed that people from all over Ireland made their way to Dublin in a bid to escape the famine, but ended up dying and being buried anonymously in Glasnevin.
Now a campaign has been launched in a bid to have a large memorial erected in the cemetery in memory of all the victims.
Local councils in all of Ireland’s 32 counties have been contacted to ask them to pay for a flagstone to be included in the memorial in honour of those from their county who died in the famine.
Derry City and Strabane District Council has agreed to support the project.
It will cost £155 for each county-based flagstone.
The decision to back the new memorial was taken at a meeting of the council’s Business and Culture Committee.
Speaking at the meeting, Sinn Fein councillor Maoilisa McHugh said it was appropriate for the council to help with the costs of the proposed memorial given how many people from the local area who had died in the famine.
Cllr McHugh said there was a mistaken view that Ulster had not suffered as much as the rest of Ireland during the famine.
He also highlighted Derry’s important role as an emigration port.
The new memorial campaign is being led by a group called the Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims (CCIFV).
They say the memorial will represent all of the unmarked famine graves in Glasnevin Cemetery, across Ireland and overseas.
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