BILL NUMBER: S8959
SPONSOR: WEBER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requirements for a
course of instruction relating to the potato famine in Ireland
 
PURPOSE:
To require a course of education relating to the Irish potato famine.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 801 of the education
law, as amended by section 27 of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of
2020.
Section 2: Adds a new section 801-b to the education law. Section 3:
Sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Nearly 175 years have passed since the "Great Famine" (1845-1852) of
Ireland. During the worst  
YEAR (1847) of the famine the Ireland popu-
lation was about 8.5 million; by 1901 the population dropped to 4.4
million. Over one million people died and another one million or more
fled the country. Between 1845 and 1855 at least 2.1 million people left
Ireland, primarily on packet ships but also on steamboats and baroques -
one of the greatest exoduses from a single island in history.
The famine was a defining moment in the history of Ireland, which was
part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to
1922. The famine and its effects  
PERMANENTLY CHANGED THE ISLAND'S DEMO-
GRAPHIC, POLITICAL, AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE, producing an estimated 2
million refugees and spurring a century-long population decline. For
both the native Irish and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine
entered folk memory. The strained relations between many Irish people
and the then ruling British government worsened further because of the
famine, heightening ethnic and sectarian tensions and boosting national-
ism and republicanism both in Ireland and among Irish emigrants around
the world.This education will serve to reaffirm of one of the most
influential events that changed the landscape of Europe and the country
of Ireland and ensure a reaffirmation of the commitment to never again
permit such occurrence to acknowledge on-going acts of genocide and to
promote understanding and, tolerance for people of all races, faiths,
nationalities and ethnicities.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2025 - New Bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
on which it shall have become law.