Afri Famine Walk 2024

The Doolough Famine Walk will take place on Saturday, May 18th 2024. Once again this year walkers will gather in Louisburgh for conversation, talks and music before being ferried by bus to the start of the walk. Retracing the steps of several hundred people who made this journey in search of food during An Gorta Mór, walkers will make their way through the spectacular Doolough Valley in the course of this iconic journey.

View the Famine Walk brochure here

Please assemble for registration in Louisburgh from 11am. Shuttle buses will bring walkers to the starting point from approx. 12.40pm. A brief ceremony (5 minutes) will take place at the Famine Memorial in Delphi Lodge before walkers return to Louisburgh. Please note there is no parking available at Delphi Lodge. The walk is approximately 11 miles and a shuttle car will be available along the route if needed.

We are delighted to have as our Walk Leaders Faten Sourani, lawyer and advocate for human rights and social justice, with a particular focus on the rights of the Palestinian people and Donal O’Kelly, Dublin-born writer, performer and activist who has been involved in many Afri projects over the years since the Dunnes Stores anti-apartheid strike in Dublin in 1984. Music will be provided by a brilliant Irish-Palestinian artist Roisin El Cherif.

Since 1988, our annual Famine Walk has shed light on the interconnectedness of the tragedy of An Gorta Mór in Ireland with modern-day injustices worldwide. For nearly four decades, we have focused on human rights violations all around the world, from Belize, East Timor, El Salvador, Guatemala, South Africa, to the Niger Delta. As we remember our ancestors, we stand in solidarity with those all over the world for whom the experience of deprivation, destruction and death is a current reality, and use it to struggle for a more just future.

At our first Walk, Niall O’Brien, a Columban priest, just released from a Philipino prison summarised our shared experience with the Philippines stating, “if the difference between famine and starvation is that famine is caused by natural forces, while starvation is man-made, then An Gorta Mór was not a famine but a great and deliberate starvation, because there was no lack of food in Ireland at the time.” He went on to say, “be shocked but be not surprised, the same holds true in much of the global south today.”

This sentiment rings true today, having devastating consequences all over the world. In the Congo, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, millions of people face hunger and starvation at the hands of those who have the power to prevent it. But these crises are not isolated. War anywhere threatens peace and security everywhere. This is evident with the war in Ukraine, with the conflict not only devastating the people of Ukraine, but having a detrimental effect on food availability across the world. In what was once heralded as “the breadbasket of Europe” and one of the largest grain producers in the world, the war has seriously impacted Ukraine’s capacity for food production. More than this, the threat of a strike on a nuclear power plant poses an existential threat on a global scale.

This year, we dedicate the Famine Walk to highlighting and standing against genocide in Palestine. Just as Niall O’Brien highlighted the deliberate starvation of the Irish people, we want to shed light on the ongoing apartheid and colonialism to which Palestine is being subjected. Israel’s brutal bombardment and occupation, the use of imposed starvation and the countless other forms of violence being committed against the Palestinians, are unconscionable. For this Famine Walk, we want to promote action. We know the hearts and minds of the Irish people are with Palestine, but we need our government to put these feelings into political action. In the future, our actions, or lack thereof, will record us as people of courage and action, or as complicit. In the words of Malala, “there’s a moment when you have to choose to be silent or stand up’.

During An Gorta Mór, more than 26 million bushels of grain were exported from Ireland to England. We must never forget the million people who died from starvation or hunger related diseases and more than a million forcibly displaced at the hands of colonial rule. This experience deepens our empathy with people who have faced great injustices since then, including the horrors of the Holocaust and the abomination of the Nakba.

The Famine Walk gives us an opportunity to commemorate, learn and act. It is a poignant journey echoing the past and striving for a more peaceful future, giving us an opportunity to stand for humanity and against injustice. Let’s walk together with purpose and determination.

We look forward to seeing you in the beautiful Co Mayo.