Policies of the Irish Famine

Paper Summary:

This essay looks at the policies implemented by Robert Peel and Lord Russell during the first years of the Irish famine. The author examines the differences between the two policies and comments on whether they were the right policies to solve the problem of the potato blight and the onset of famine. This essay covers the period of 1845 - 1847.

From the Paper:

"If there were a big difference in the policies of the two governments then it would have to be over the issue of grain and food supply to the people. It was Peel who bought 100,000 of Indian Corn to put into the Irish market in order to keep food prices down, the Russell government sold its grain at market prices in order to keep the merchants and traders happy. It did keep a control on the access to the grain depots, but it was more aware and responsive to the growing problems, the Peel government was more sympathetic towards the plight of the people. It is regarded by historians that the Robert Peel government came out of the famine crisis rather better than expected, unfortunately for Lord Russell's Whig government it increased the expectation on them. So maybe fortune favored Peel, in that he started off at the beginning of the famine, when things hadn't got as bad as they would under the Whig government."

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