Micheál Martin attends commemoration to mark the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

Eva Osborne

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has attended an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of former German Nazi concentration and camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

It is expected to be the last annual commemoration at which survivors of the camp are likely to be able to attend on person.

The Taoiseach said it is important to remember the horrors and say never again.

The commemoration, which takes place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, has been described as a recommitment to denouncing and combating antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, intolerance, racism, and xenophobia.

Mr Martin said: “Today, we remember the unique horrors of the Holocaust, in particular the extermination of six million jews from across Europe in the Nazi death camps.

“We remember also the Roma, the disabled, the political dissidents, the members of the LGBTQ community and all who were persecuted and murdered without mercy in the camps.”

“It is a particular honour to be here at what is probably the last significant anniversary at which survivors of the camps will be present in person."