Gwenno Saunders

…de la BBC:

Gwenno Saunders, a young singer-songwriter from Cardiff, sings in Welsh and Cornish and has hit the right notes with a string of successes.

She has already travelled the world with Michael Flatley's Lord Of The Dance show, had a top five hit in the dance charts with Fire In The Sky, and even starred in the S4C soap Pobol Y Cwm.

But music was Gwenno's first love, and she decided to concentrate on her musical career. She hasn't looked back since being signed-up by Caernarfon record label Crai and releasing the Môr Hud EP…

[Dankon al "M Man"!]

Yn-Chruinnaght

...de Isle of Man Today:

Yindyssagh!

The word is Manx for 'wonderful' and is an apt description of the 30th annual Yn Chruinnaght inter-Celtic festival.

From the lighting of the bonfire on Ramsey's south shore last Wednesday night to the sell-out concert by Scottish folk legends Deaf Shepherd and the Celtic Fiddlers from Newfoundland in the Centenary Centre, Peel, on Sunday night.

John Kaneen, in the role of the sea god Manannan, lit the bonfire which cheered an otherwise damp evening. The arrival on the shore of a traditional Norwegian boat bearing Yn Chruinnaght president Fenella Bazin added to the atmosphere...

La Irlandalingvo en Georgio

...de la Rome News-Tribune:

Children were dancing the jig to the end of their summer vacation this week at the Irish Culture Camp run by local dance teacher Barbara Joyce.

The camp, held at Shorter College, was not just about dancing and music, but gave the more than 20 children who attended the camp a look at the history and culture of Ireland. Though they had a only week to cover a culture that spans thousands of years in tradition, Joyce said the children got much out of the experience…

…The campers also showed off some of their newly honed language skills for their parents by speaking Gaelic for the crowd and counting to 20 in the Irish language.

For Joyce, who hails from Ireland herself, the camp is not nearly enough time to teach the campers everything that they could learn about Ireland….

Unua Ministro de Orienta Belfasto?

...de la Andersontown News:

...When First Minister Ian Paisley exited, however, Sinn Féin rightly put its foot down and demanded the implementation of the St Andrews' Agreement, including the removal of policing and justice powers from our British overlords (whose record on policing and justice in these parts won’t be hard to beat). Another key part of the St Andrews' Agreement was an Irish Language Act but rather than take steps to deliver on that pledge, successive DUP culture ministers have made their opposition to the Irish language a touchstone of their adminstrations.

In the unusual political architecture bequeathed society by the Good Friday Agreement, the DUP can only be in power with the assent of Sinn Féin. The same goes for Sinn Féin. Faced with DUP intransigence — they want their political cake from Sinn Féin and eat it without giving anything in return — the republicans have dug in…..

…Partly in jest, they refer to Peter Robinson in Stormont as “The First Minster for East Belfast” because his eye first and foremost is on his own constituency. Note that last week in the middle of this political stand-off, he still signed off on a £500m-plus investment for Bombardier, headquarterd in East Belfast….

Cruinneachadh nan Gaidheal

...de The Chronicle Herald:

It appears Catriona Parsons has every intention of kicking up her Gaelic heels this week.
The president of the Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia is helping to host a brand new event called Cruinneachadh nan Gaidheal, or Gathering of the Gaels, to those of us not so familiar with the language.

"It’s meant to be a celebration of Gaelic language and culture," an enthusiastic and proud Ms. Parsons said Tuesday.

She is a professor in the Celtic studies department at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, where the three-day event of ceilidhs, workshops and classes in language, dancing and music will take place from Thursday to Saturday.

"The whole impetus of the gathering is to recognize that Gaelic is making great strides in Nova Scotia. People are learning the language, they’re talking the language and they’re singing the language."...

La Granda Irlanda Malsatego

...de The Peninsula:

Irish government experts met yesterday to consider how to commemorate the country's Great Famine, which killed over a million people more than 160 years ago.

A national day of commemoration is expected to emerge from the committee-the first time the forgotten victims would be officially remembered since the Famine, which triggered an enormous exodus from Ireland. "There is nothing else in the history of the Irish people that can be likened to the Great Famine," Community Affairs and Gaeltacht (Irish language) Minister Eamon O Cuiv told the inaugural meeting.

"The involvement of this committee will help to ensure that the Famine, its victims and its legacy are not forgotten," said O Cuiv, a grandson of former prime minister and president Eamon de Valera. The huge death toll from starvation and disease was caused by successive failures of the potato crop-then a key part of the staple diet for many Irish people-in 1845-49.

The population of Ireland, which exceeded eight million in 1841, plummeted as a result of death and emigration. The famine triggered a surge in emigration as an estimated 1.5 million people headed for England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.

As a result, in 1850 a quarter of the populations of Liverpool, Boston, New York and Philadelphia were identified as Irish.

The following year, a census in Canada indicated more than half the inhabitants of Toronto, Ontario, to be Irish. The ministry said themes that will be investigated by the committee will be the "general legacy of emigration, cultural loss and the decline of the Irish language" as a result of the catastrophe….

Ysgol Croes Atti

...de la Evening Leader:

An innovative project aimed at encouraging Flintshire children to learn Welsh as they play is proving a hit with youngsters.

A series of weekly 'Yard Games' have been running at Ysgol Croes Atti in Flint.

The school's Year 4 pupils have been working with children and youth officer Alaw Lewis, of Welsh language body Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint.

Alaw has been running sessions with the children, supporting the school in encouraging and developing the children's confidence in using the Welsh language in the schoolyard as well as the classroom.

During the first session the children were given homework to find out what games their parents and grandparents used to play during their childhoods. Alaw will prepare a booklet of all the old games ready for the new term in September, and says she hopes to resurrect some of the classics of the past among the younger generation….

Pastro Cathal Ó Gallchoir

[Bildo de la Ceithearna Coille en Nov-Jorko]

...de la Irish Times:

A Donegal priest has won his battle to remain in the United States after the authorities there dropped proceedings to have him deported.

Fr Cathal Gallagher (58), from Gweedore, said yesterday that US immigration authorities, who had moved to deport him on July 1st, have told him he can stay.

He now plans to return home to Donegal for the wedding of his niece,

TG4 reporter Áine Ní Ghallchoir…

…"I couldn't go home, not even for special family events. Now I'm looking forward to attending my niece's wedding next month," he said.

Ms Ní Ghallchoir, who reports from Belfast for TG4, weds Patrick Duffy in her native Gortahork, Co Donegal, on August 23rd when another uncle, local parish priest Fr Seán Gallagher, will officiate…

[***Pastro Ó Gallchoir (“Cathal Johnny Sheáin”) instruis la Irlandolingvon en Japanio!]

Sarkozy en Irlando

...de Agence France-Presse:

...Most protesters, though, were out in force to register their outrage at Sarkozy's suggestion that Ireland should vote again on the treaty, after rejecting it in a referendum last month, leaving the 27-member bloc in limbo.

Anti-war protesters, trades unions, Irish language groups and an assortment of mainly leftist organizations held aloft their placards in English and French, calling for him to respect their democratic will...

Eisteddfod

...de la Denbighshire Free Press:

Trwy gydweithio â Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg, roedd staff a gwirfoddolwyr yn brysur yn ymarfer eu cyfarchion Cymraeg.

Mae Mervyn Cousins, cyfarwyddwr gweithredol newydd Eisteddfod Llangollen, wedi bod yn brysur ei hun yn gwrando ar dapiau dysgu Cymraeg, ac mae'n paratoi i gofrestru ar gyfer cwrs dysgu Cymraeg ym mis Medi.

Dywedodd cyn yr Eisteddfod: "Er bod rhai aelodau o'r tîm yn siaradwyr Cymraeg rhugl (18 y cant), rydym wedi cynnig hyfforddi staff a gwirfoddolwyr sy'n ymwneud â'r cyhoedd yn unionyrchol, i gyfarch cwsmeriaid a chynnig gwasanaeth trwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg i'r rheiny fyddai'n well ganddynt drafod busnes â ni yn y Gymraeg....

Sri-Lanka Ekspozicio

...de LankaWeb:

Recently (19th July, 2008) the pro-LTTE diaspora held a photo exhibition titled “60 years of Oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka” to the British MP’s. It is highly unlikely that the diaspora would ever hold a public lecture such as “The Benefits of Free Education of Sri Lanka” and tell the world about the great C.W.W. Kannangara’s concept of Free Education which allowed countless diaspora members to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and graduates. These qualifications funded by taxpayers money of Sri Lanka would have undoubtedly given them the vital points (along with bogus refugee claims) to gain permanent residence in western countries.

Choosing Britain, a country which defines the term “double standards” as the host country is also highly appropriate. The term “Celtic Fringe” was used by the English to derogate the regions of Celtic minorities (Scots, Irish and Welsh). The Irish are the prime example of English mistreatment and persecution of minorities.

Even today anti-Irish sentiment is strong, a relict of the war against the Irish people which included linguicide (systematic destruction of language) of Irish Gaelic by banning its use in schools until 1871 and through sycophant politicians like Daniel O'Connell who denigrated his own mother tongue as “backward” and advocated the use of English (I guess this concept sounds very familiar among many Kalu-Suddhas as well!). It was only the Gaelic Revival Movement (akin to the Helabasa movement of the great Munidasa Kumaranathunga) that saved Irish Gaelic from extinction…

David Cooney

...de Isle of Man Today:

The new Irish ambassador to the UK is spending five days in the Isle of Man promoting the business and cultural links between the two jurisdictions.
David Cooney, who is currently head of Ireland's United Nations mission in New York, takes up his new post later in the summer..

...On Wednesday he went to the Yn Chruinnaght Festival of music, dance, drama and language in Ramsey and completed a visit to the old House of Keys, Castle Rushen and the Manx Museum.

Also on the itinerary are visits to the House of Manannan, Cregneash and the Manx Language School...

...The visit to Cregneash and the Manx Language Centre marks the 60th anniversary since members of the Irish Folklore Commission visited the Island in 1948 to record some of the last surviving native Manx language speakers.

Kampa Fajro

...de The Telegraph:

And, along with the promise of witnessing an event that, though once widespread, occurs now only in Cornwall, it is this remoteness that brings me here.

"Here" turns out to be between Penzance and Zennor in a field near the hamlet of Boswarthen, which is, itself, just off an isolated road north of Madron. Despite the abundance of place names, I am bang-slap in the middle of nowhere.

I'm here for a bonfire - a midsummer's eve bonfire on a hill overlooking Mount's Bay - one of at least half a dozen such events arranged by Old Cornwall societies.

The guiding principle of these societies is to keep old customs alive for the next generation - a process of ''gathering the fragments" of Cornish culture, language and traditions that has grown in popularity over the years...

Uwcheglwys San Bened

...de Wales on Line:

The Welsh-speaking congregation of one of London’s finest churches has been locked out of its building, the Western Mail can reveal today.

Parishioners have responded by celebrating evensong on the church lawn in Welsh.

Located in the heart of the City of London, St Benet Paul’s Wharf is a landmark of Welsh heritage and among the best examples of Sir Christopher Wren’s architecture.

But the diocese of London could not come to an agreement with the church wardens about future plans for St Benet and has taken control of the building, which it may use for “educational” purposes.

The small congregation has been encouraged to travel to Paddington where Welsh-language services are held at the church of St David’s...

Rob Gibson MSP

...de la John O’Groat Jounal:

...Noticeably the Courier/Groat online poll last week showed a majority in favour of bilingual signs. Yet virulent anti-Gaelic comments seem inexplicable. So folk memory still rules?

Well, can't we find it in our hearts to enjoy a glorious mixter-maxter of cultures?

Why is no-one suggesting correct Norse/Scots spellings for road signs where they occur?

Bilingual signs in Norse/Scots and Gaelic would be most appropriate.

Or does the legacy of English as the language of progress and education, that was beaten into our forebears, still rule the roost?...

Gregory Campbell

...de la Londonderry Sentinel:

The Minister for Culture Arts and Leisure, Gregory Campbell, has vowed that Ulster Scots and Irish cultural outlooks will receive parity of funding while he is in office - whether people like it or not.

In a frank interview with The Sentinel, Mr Campbell, said not only was it his objective to treat everyone equally, but it was his ambition to eliminate disparity.

Asked to comment on his stance over the Irish language Act now that he was the Minister in charge, Mr Campbell said: "There still appears to be some misunderstanding around this issue.
"It was the St Andrews Agreement just over 15 months ago, where the British Government talked to Sinn Fein about the implementation of the Irish Language Act.

"Neither Sinn Fein, the British Government, mentioned the possibility of an Irish Language Act to us...

Gabriel Byrne

...de la Brooklyn Heights Blog:

Brooklyn Heights resident/actor Gabriel Byrne is the latest patron of Belfast’s Aisling Ghear, an Irish language theater company.

The group has extended an invitation to the actor, who was born in Dublin, to visit them this year. The troupe’s GM, Carrie-Anne McAlonan-McCrudden, tells the Belfast Telegraph that having “avid” Irish speaking Byrne as their patron will be great for them.

She adds, “It’s nice for us, and nice for him to be associated with us as well. He has been very supportive of Irish language projects in the past…

It consigns some kind of artistic merit, that we have become established and reached a level of quality where we have a Hollywood actor associated with us.”

David McNarry, MLA

...de la News Letter:

The most dangerous threat to Britishness in Northern Ireland is the creeping "application of cultural apartheid", in the form of the Irish language agenda, Ulster Unionist MLA David McNarry said at the Broughshane Twelfth demonstration.

In his address, Mr McNarry, an Assistant Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, confronted the continued republican "onslaught" against all things British – despite the new era of peace.

He expressed deep concern about the political use of Irish language and culture by Sinn Fein.

"Orangemen and unionist were not and should not be against Irish culture or freedom of expression. But a grave situation has developed in which the culture is being used by republicans in the new-look war in Britishness….

Demokrata Unuecisma Partio

...de la Irish Times:

The DUP has again insisted that it will block any attempt by Sinn Féin to introduce an Irish language Act in the Northern Assembly, although it is prepared to countenance a "strategy" for the language.

Senior Sinn Féin and DUP politicians have been meeting in recent weeks to try to reach agreement on a wide range of contentious issues, including an Irish language Act, that have been stalling political movement and slowing down the work of the Executive…

… Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward has appealed to Sinn Féin and the DUP to resolve their differences over issues such as education, the Maze and policing and justice. He also urged the parties to reduce the tensions over the Irish language.

There has been speculation that if politicians in the North can't resolve the stand-off over the Irish language Act, that the British government would go over the heads of the politicians and introduce the Act at Westminster.

Mr Woodward, however, has said the Irish language issue is a devolved matter and must be resolved by the North's politicians.

Kimralingvo en Eŭropo

...de la e-Gov Monitor:

The use of Welsh on the international stage takes a major step forward today [15 July] following a decision by the European Union Council of Ministers.

They have decided that in future, Ministers will be able to speak in Welsh when representing the UK at the Council of Ministers and have their words translated simultaneously. Citizens will also be able to write in Welsh to office holders at the Council.

The decision of the Council is based on three way co-operation with the Council, the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly Government. The arrangement will become operative after a panel of Welsh interpreters have been assessed as meeting the international proficiency level demanded by the EU institutions.

The decision will open the way for negotiations with other EU institutions to allow for a use of Welsh...

Gaela Kolegio

...de la Watauga Democrat:

Two representatives from a Canadian College were at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games over the weekend seeking students for Gaelic College in Nova Scotia.

The school’s mission statement: “To promote, preserve and perpetuate … the culture, music, language, arts, crafts, customs and traditions of immigrants from the Highlands of Scotland.”

Jennifer MacAskill Daisley, bookkeeper, and Ann Cantwell, knitmaker, said they had excellent response from “very interested” people.

The school’s class offerings include bagpipes, fiddle, Celtic harp, Gaelic language and song, Highland dance, pipe band drumming and weaving, as well as spinning and dyeing...

Irlandalingva Instruado

...de RTÉ:

An examination of the Irish language in primary schools has found significant weaknesses in the way it is taught and learned.

The report, compiled by inspectors from the Department of Education, found the standard of teaching and learning was 'fair to poor' in half of all classes observed.
It observed significant difficulties in 8% of classes.

The inspectors described the findings as disquieting...

Kimralingva Instruado

...de Wales Online:

Thousands of people have given their view on Welsh-medium education in Cardiff in an online poll for the Echo.

We asked: “Do you agree with plans to open more Welsh language schools in Cardiff?”

A record 9,500 readers cast their vote, the biggest number to have taken part in one of our online polls.

Of those who voted, 4,348 said they thought children should be taught in English schools because the Welsh language would become redundant in years to come...

Letero de la Internacia Kelta Kongreso

1sa Mys Metheven, 2008
Mr J Marston
Isles of Scilly Steamship Group
Chi an Gorholyan-Tan
Stret an Kay
Pensans/Penzance
TR18 4BZ

Dear Mr Marston

I am in receipt of the correspondence from Daithi Mac Lochlainn in New York. This has been passed to me by the Chairman of the Cornish Branch of the Celtic Congress of which I am the current International President.

I congratulate you on having a Welsh Website. I also reiterate Daithi’s comments that the information should also appear in Breton and Cornish. I hope by now (I see the letter was dated April) that you have managed to link up with the Breton people and Jenefer Lowe, the Cornish Language Officer at County Hall in Truro. She will be only too pleased to let you have any information and contacts in Brittany which may be of use.

On behalf of the Cornish Branch of the Celtic Congress we would be interested in putting out a press release but would appreciate any up-to-date information as to where we are now before we go ahead.

As Daithi has written, it is a shame that other companies who have branches, links, etc in other Celtic Countries do not publicise their information in the relevant language. It only serves to make it more widely known and accepted.

I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours sincerely
Denise A Chubb, Mrs
International President.

Translations

...de la Kansas City Star:

Of all the actors and directors in Kansas City, Mark Robbins probably has more direct experience with the plays of Brian Friel than anyone else.

In the early 1980s he played Owen, a central character in “Translations,” at what was then the Missouri Repertory Theatre when Friel’s historical drama was still a new play.

He made his directing debut in Unicorn Theatre’s 1997-98 season with Friel’s three-character monologue play “Molly Sweeney.” In May he played Frank Hardy, the tormented and self-destructive title character in Friel’s “Faith Healer,” another monologue play considered by many to be Friel’s masterpiece.

And now we come to a new production of “Translations,” also considered among Friel’s finest works, which Robbins is staging for Actors Theatre KC.

Kornvala Emblemo

…de This is Cornwall:

As tempers flare in Cornwall over the logo for the new super council, the county's Grand Bard has joined the opposition.

Vanessa Beeman wrote a letter to council leader David Whalley expressing her fears that some people felt they were being stripped of their identity and has called for the interim executive to reconsider its decision…

… Mrs Beeman continued: "We strongly assert that, as the Cornish language has been recognised by the Council of Europe, and its future development is funded by the British Government, and it is clearly and widely identified with modern Cornwall, that any marque of any public sector body with specific responsibilities for Cornwall should be using Kernewek (the Cornish language) in its insignia and, in appropriate ways, in its communications, promotions and presentations of Cornwall….

Colm Mac Con Iomaire

…de Hot Press:

Frames violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire gives his The Hare’s Corner solo album the official launch treatment this September when he plays – where else? – Whelan’s.

Colm will launch his new solo record on September 7 in Whelan's, Dublin.

While not out and out trad, the collection has a pronounced Irish flavour.

“The phrase ‘The Hare’s Corner’ comes from the ancient Irish custom of at harvest time leaving a corner of a field uncut for the hare to escape to,” he explains. “I first heard my father Liam, mention the phrase in a conversation we had about the famous writer and Irish language activist Máirtín Ó Cadhain. Ó Cadhain identified the Gaeltachtaí as being like the Hare's Corner of Ireland.

Thankfully the linguistic uniqueness of the Gaeltacht endures, but our language is still in jeopardy.”

Gaelic Storm

…de The Celebrity Café:

Gaelic Storm’s What’s the Rumpus is exactly what you would expect it to be – folksy, fun, Irish music with Irish drums, fiddle-playing, etc. The lyrics weave stories in a traditional sense, but with more current stories….

…They only added one track in Gaelic to the album, “Beidh Aonach Amarach,” which is so beautiful, and, if you like learning, you might really want to learn the language.