USA: ST PATRICK'S DAY CELEBRATIONS EMPHASISE IRISH POTATO FAMINE

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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English/Nat St Patrick's Day is being celebrated in America, Monday, with a special emphasis on the 150th anniversary of the Irish Potato Famine. In New York, people celebrating the saint's day observed a moment of silence in memory of victims of the Irish famine. The famine is also gaining popularity in schools -- from September, schoolchildren in New York will learn the history of the potato famine. But there's controversy as some have compared the Irish famine to the Jewish Holocaust. This year, the usual St Patrick's Day revery will be tempered by a more sombre remembrance of tragedy in Ireland a hundred and fifty years ago. The Irish potato famine claimed the lives of up to a million-and-a-half people, and forced another two million to flee to countries such as America, Canada and Australia. The famine of 1847 was the worse in Irish history and the year became known as Black 47. A fungus, called "late blight," spread through the Irish potato crop, destroying the country's food supply. This year the Irish are remembering "Black '47" with the help of the Internet. Teachers in American schools hope to bring the story of Ireland's famine to the classroom. In New York State, pupils will be taught the history of the famine next year as part of a human rights curriculum. Advocates of the programme say there are critical lessons for today's American students. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Beginning next year, all the schoolchildren in New York will learn about the Great Hunger, I think in the long run, education is the best way to avoid similar human rights violations in the future and hopefully put in a little better context the current struggle in north-eastern Ireland." SUPER CAPTION: John Lahey, President, Quinnipic College. But there are concerns that this history lesson may be motivated by political needs. Comparisons between the Irish famine and the Jewish Holocaust have attracted particular criticism. SOUNDBITE: (English) "History can be very dangerous if it is used as a political weapon, and so the British government and the embassy are very keen to make sure that that wouldn't happen, and we took steps to put forward information which we believe balanced it out. But you know, looking at that famine it obviously was an enormous tragedy, and none of us would want to diminish that at all." SUPER CAPTION: Michael Ancram, Minister of State, Northern Ireland Ancram agreed that the British government of the time bore some degree of responsibility for the famine, but said the tragedy was not a premeditated policy. SOUNDBITE: (English) "So to suggest that this was in some way a deliberate attempt, and the word holocaust tends to give that impression, would be not only wrong, but actually maliciously wrong. On the other hand, as I said, I think in looking at the ways that this particular tragedy were dealt with at the time by people on the spot, I think had we had our time all over again in Ireland and within Great Britain we'd have done things slightly differently." SUPER CAPTION: Michael Ancram, Minister of State, Northern Ireland In Ireland, preparations are beginning for events to commemorate the 1847 famine. Travel bureaus across the Emerald Isle are already busy promoting the events. Irish officials say famine remembrances may draw more than a hundred thousand descendants of those who fled Ireland for greener pastures. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/272bff233bc3e38e518cbd902c98022c Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork