The President was presented with a handmade replica of a Famine era travel box.
Crafted by prisoners in the Irish Prison Service, the travel box is a replica of the travel boxes used by those who boarded emigrant ships in the 1800s.
The box, commemorating the 4,000 women who were sent from Irish workhouses to Australia under the 'Earl Grey' scheme of 1848-1850, was presented to the President by the chairman of the Committee for the Commemoration of the Irish Famine Victims Mr. Michael Blanch and Mr. Mark O'Brien, assistant chief officer of the Irish Prison Service.