The Famine memorial sculpture near the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin. Photo: Niall Carson/PA

More than 20,000 people have signed an online petition against Channel 4 making a sitcom on Ireland’s famine.

The petition, set up by Glaswegian Fairlie Gordon, calls on programmers to stop making a comedy series about the Great Hunger

More than one million men, women and children, died from starvation and disease during the potato famine in between1845 and 1852

Mr Gordon’s boycott aims to stop Channel 4 from making a comedy series about the Irish famine through his petition on www.change.org

“Famine or genocide is no laughing matter, approximately one million Irish people died, and another two million were forced to emigrate, because they were starving, any programme on this issue would have to be of serious historical context, not a comedy,” he said.

Channel 4 has been criticised since revealing it intends to make a comedy series out of the tragic event called Hungry.

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It confirmed it commissioned a script set in 19th century Ireland by Dublin-based writer Hugh Travers and Irish-based production company Grand Pictures.

Popular Irish blogger Leanne Woodfull was among those who voiced her opinion on the matter on social media.

“How dare Channel 4 even consider a ‘comedic’ TV show that surrounds one of the most fatal and devastating events in our history,” she said.

Online Editors