At the time of the Famine there was no humanitarian aid like there is today ...
The establishment of Aid Agencies and Charities in the 1960s has made it possible for people living in areas striken by famine and natural disasters to remain in their homelands. Sadly , This was not the case during the Irish Famine .
1840s Ireland was a different world to today . With no humanitarian aid agencies , no food and nobody to help , reluctant to leave but with no alternative many Irish jumped on the coffin ships and sailed to their closest neighbouring country to the west , Canada and America .
This was the world in the 1840s and 1850s .
Nowadays , the world is a different place .
The 1960s saw the establishment of the first humanitarian aid agencies .
Concern was established in 1968 to help the war torn people of Biafra , followed by Trocaire established in 1973 to help the flood victims of Bangladesh , followed by Goal in 1977 established to help the people of Calcutta . In the 1980s , in response to disasters around the world , such as the famine in Ethiopia , Celebrities such as Bob Geldof in conjunction with the Media and Governments began to mobilize people around the world to donate money and time to helping charities and victims of famine and war etc.
This Aid made it possible for those people to remain at home close to their loved ones and to hand on their culture and traditions to the next generation .
This Aid made it possible for those people to remain at home close to their loved ones and to hand on their culture and traditions to the next generation .
I have seen a number of articles in the Irish Times likening the migrant crisis to irish emigration during the famine.
clearly , they are not the same , if the people of Ireland had the humanitarian aid available to them like the countries in Africa do today , very few would have chosen to board ships for America and Canada .
I also like the point about America being are closest neighbouring country to the west , because this is important , migrants are supposed to seek asylum in their closest neighbouring countries , not traveling have way around the world to whatever country happens to have the best welfare or economy .