Extent of British discomfort at commemorating Irish Famine revealed John Major said 1996 service would look like an apology and offend unionists, files show
Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 00:05 Éamon Phoenix, Mark Devenport
Irish emigrants embarking for America at Waterloo Docks, Liverpool, in 1850. Photograph: Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images
The extent of British government discomfort at commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Irish Famine is revealed in previously confidential files released today in Belfast.
Senior British officials regarded a decision by then minister of state Avril Doyle to press ahead with a concert in Liverpool in 1996 as “very awkward”.
Confirmation that the concert was going ahead came after prime minister John Major v
John Major blocked Irish famine event over apology A typical rural Irish house in the 19th century Éamon Phoenix
Former British Prime Minister John Major. Picture by Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire
Proposals to mark the 150th anniversary of the Great Famine with an ecumenical service in Liverpool to coincide with President Mary Robinson’s first visit to the UK were vetoed in 1996 by Prime Minister John Major.
Newly-released files show the service had been mooted for several years.
The possibility of a British event to mark the Famine was raised by Chris MacCabe from the Northern Ireland Office on August 15, 1994 in a note to officials.