Our centre's work springs from a desire to remember Ireland's own famine experience in a meaningful way. In addition to our projects abroad we devote time and energy to work which compares the Irish experience of famine to that of the present day.

The centre has begun a documentary project in collaboration with the Departments of Sociology and Applied Social Studies, which examines the legacy of public relief responses to the Irish famine in Cork City. Many relief schemes executed in the mid-nineteenth century to cope with the massive population displacement still survive in Cork. Similar schemes are often employed in reconstruction after today's humanitarian crises.

We have also tried to bridge the gap between famines today and famines historically in Ireland by looking at the underlying causes of the two. Two of our interns have prepared a detailed bibliography of writings on the Great Irish Famine, examining different theories of causation.

Finally, we are collaborating with the Irish Centre for Migration studies at UCC to develop multimedia projects on the Irish Diaspora over the centuries. We will continue to connect the experience of famine then and famine now, in Ireland and abroad.