Ireland is to donate €100,000 to the Auschwitz Birkenau Foundation to support its Holocaust Education programme.
The funding will support increased Holocaust education, including virtual tours of the Auschwitz Museum and Memorial, to be made available to every secondary school in Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said.
The announcement coincides with International Holocaust Memorial Day.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee said: "Today, on Holocaust Memorial Day, we pause to remember the horror of the Holocaust, and honour the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis, as well as the Roma, persons with disabilities, those persecuted for their gender identity or sexual orientation, or for their political or religious beliefs.
"A critical part of that is ensuring that the Holocaust is never forgotten."
Ms McEntee said the funding would support the foundation's vital education work which "will be made available to every secondary school in Ireland, more than 600 schools".
"I am working with Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton, to ensure our young people grasp the murderous scale of the Holocaust and the ways we can prevent it occurring again."
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation was established to secure the long-term preservation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial sites as well as funding education about the holocaust.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the grant of €100,000 represented a significant increase on previous funding to the organisation and demonstrated Ireland’s strong commitment to Holocaust education.
Funding removes 'geographical or financial barriers'
The principal of Dublin's Stratford College, which has a Jewish ethos, has welcomed the funding.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, Nathan Barrett said: "All students in Ireland, whether they are taking junior or senior cycle history, would be exposed to the Holocaust.
"For junior cycle history it is a specific learning outcome. A learning outcome that speaks about genocide particularly in relation to the Holocaust."
A report last week based on a survey of 1,000 people showed that 90% of Irish people wanted more education around the Holocaust.
Mr Barrett said history is compulsory from first to third year in school, meaning that students would study it, which then becomes optional during senior cycle.
"But students who do choose to study history at senior cycle or leaving cert would study elements of the Holocaust in relation to dictatorship or democracy," he said.
"Whether they are there in Donegal or Dublin… it removes any geographical or financial barriers to students and to schools to experience this essential part of history, an essential part of the junior cycle and senior cycle curriculum," he said.
Mr Barrett said other groups were targeted during the Holocaust, including those from the LGBTQ community, those with disabilities and "people who looked or acted in a certain way".
He said the survey shows that there is nearly a "public mandate" for education on the Holocaust and that the announcement and language of the announcement is "encouraging" in that it makes the resources available for schools.
"Which I think is a great first step. I think as a principal, it is essential that we ensure every student encounters this material before they leave school," he said.
