Ireland to mark famine disaster

The victims of the Irish Famine are to be remembered in an annual official memorial day, which is to be established in the Republic of Ireland.

It is believed that about one million people in Ireland starved in the 1840s after the failure of the potato crop.
Hundreds of thousands of others emigrated during the disaster, sparking a worldwide Irish diaspora.

The Irish government has set up an expert group to organise a yearly event.