I have a book called Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor. It quotes Charles Trevelyan as saying:
"The famine is a punishment from God for an idle, ungrateful and rebellious country; an indolent and un-self-reliant people. The Irish are suffering from an affliction of God's providence."

It also quotes him as being Assistant Secretary to Her Majesty's Treasury, 1847. (Knighted in 1848 for overseeing famine relief)

Does anyone know how accurate this is?