Letero por Caoimhín

...de la Irish Voice:

While the Northern Ireland High Court’s ruling in the case of Caoimhín Mac Giolla Catháin, upholding what may be considered the last Penal Law, the Administration of Justice (Language) Act of 1737, stipulating that “all proceedings in courts of justice within this kingdom shall be in the English language” is disappointing, it is heartening to hear that Caoimhín’s attorney will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

While Caoimhín himself is second to none in speaking, using and promoting the Irish language, the strongest argument against his appeal will likely be the lack of Irish use among the population as a whole.

Indeed, while this noxious law was imposed by Britain over 270 years ago, it is upheld only by Irishmen.

At present, there is no one who hates the Irish language who isn't Irish himself, from either the north or the south. The judge in this case is named Séamus Treacy.

Northern Ireland’s new cynically appointed and culturally-challenged culture minister is surnamed McAusland (Mac Auslainn). Anti-Gaeilge laws only serve the ideologies of a few on the island and are no longer of any concern to anyone in Britain.

One recalls that the only obstacle to the Irish language’s official status in the EU was Ireland itself. After all the hair-pulling and hand-wringing in Dublin, it passed painlessly through Brussels with a pen stroke.

A recent documentary on Irish network TG4, Gaeilgeoirí -- Naimhde an Stáit, exposed and confirmed that in the 1970s the Dublin government was actively hostile to the language.

Things have changed considerably in this regard. The present Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen and the Deputy Consul General Breandán Ó Caollaí here in New York are shining examples of this new positive direction.

The closing of the two last Irish language newspapers, Lá Nua and Foinse, within a year’s time is disastrous.

Two years ago, Ireland’s national airline, Aer Lingus, extended the 1737 Act to its employees, forbidding Irish-language announcements on flights in and out of Belfast. This is nothing short of scandalous.

Other businesses, on the other hand, most notably Bus Éireann, a private concern, have long engaged in business practices implementing the first official language and are to be commended.

Some organizations, other than those specifically formed for promoting the language, have a pro-Gaeilge constitutional ethos. The GAA and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann are examples, although some branches have done better in this regard than others.

This past year, the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee unveiled its new sponsorship seal.

Sadly, this instrument is entirely in English without a scribble in Irish.

Here, New York’s guardians of Irishness and fervent devotees of the Apostle to Ireland chose to use a language that did not exist even in England at the time of Patrick, and ignored the language in which the Irish first heard the Gospel as a result of his ministry.

This squandered opportunity only confirms to me that committee is out of touch and that their annual spectacle, save for a handful of participating organizations, is little more that an opportunity for suburbanites to parade their residual genetic material up Fifth Avenue. (Although the archdiocese seems to hold it as the Eighth Sacrament!)

Other organizations here have done much better, namely the Irish American Unity Conference, the American Conference for Irish Studies and the New York Irish Center.

The Brehon Law Society was able to closely support Caoimhín’s effort. The rest of us can best support him by using Irish whenever possible and calling upon Irish social and cultural organizations, particularly those in which we are associated, to publicly use Irish.

While redesigning signage and letterhead might be costly, the use of Irish on web pages such as those previously mentioned is much easier and more thrifty.

This Internet visibility may encourage others to follow and would weaken the argument that no one uses Irish anymore.

If Irish fails to survive the 21st century, it will because the Irish themselves have exterminated it.

Moyle

...de la Balymoney Times:

Eleven bilingual street nameplates are to be erected in Moyle District Council area.

Addressing the news during a recent Building Control Services meeting, members heard that five signs would be in Irish language and six would be in Ulster Scots translations.

The five names in Irish will be Broombeg View, Cushendall Road, Kilns Road, Mill Street and Ossian Avenue.

The six names in Ulster Scots will be Causeway Road, Castlenagree Road, Clogher Road, Feigh Road, Isle Road and Runkerry Road.

Kornvalalingva Reviviĝo

…de la Chicago Tribune:

For a member of a supposedly extinct species, Craig Wetherill does a pretty good impression of the living. He responds to premature reports of his demise by launching into a local fairy tale.

"Y'n termyn eus passys, 'th era tregas yn Selevan den ha benyn yn tyller cries Chi an Hordh. . . .

"The story he's recounting is "John of the Ram's House." The language he's speaking is Cornish. And the battle he's waging -- to keep alive a Celtic tongue thousands of years old -- is in full swing here at the westernmost tip of England, in the scenic county of Cornwall.

It's not an easy fight when your enemies include the United Nations, which has officially declared Cornish to be dead, and the ignorance of a world more apt to associate Cornish with the words "game hen" than "language."

Or when plenty of your fellow Brits don't realize that Cornish was flourishing on this rainy island ages before Anglo-Saxon interlopers arrived and changed the course of linguistic history...

Kunveno en Nov-Jorko por Lingvaj Rajtoj!

...de la blogo, From the Balcony, de Máirtín Ó Muilleoir:

Kate McCabe of the Irish American Unity Conference confirms to me that Glucksman House of New York University has agreed to host her [Saturday] October [10] meeting in regard to the denial of Irish language rights in the north of Ireland.

Civil liberties lawyer Michael Flanigan is expected to attend from Belfast and the Brehon Law Society should provide strong support through Domhnall O'Cathain (and others) who observed the recent disgraceful knockback of the court case seeking to overturn the 1737 prohibition on An Ghaeilge in the North's courts.

The language seminar will allow a wider audience to learn about the scandalous denial of civil rights in the North, 11 years after the Good Friday Agreement promised "robust action" for Irish....

Irlanda Kurso ĉe Housatonic Community College

...de la Bridgeport News:

A course in Elementary Irish is among the new courses being offered this fall at Housatonic Community College.

The course will cover the phonetic system of the language, basic vocabulary and fundamental grammatical principles. All linguistic skill areas will be taught — listening comprehension, reading, speaking and writing.

Orientation to the geography, history and culture of Ireland and Irish-Americans also will be part of the course.

The instructor will be John Feeney, who has taught Irish for the last 12 years.

“For the past 150 years, many people have said the language would be dead in a short time, yet it survives,” Feeney said. “What better way to learn the customs and culture of a people than to learn the language and how they express their ideas and views of the world and life.”...

Kornvalaj Kuzoj

...de The Union:

Two walking reservoirs of Cornish knowledge are reminded of their heritage by the sights and history of western Nevada County during this week's 15th Gathering of Cornish Cousins.

Professor Philip Payton is one of world's leading experts on the people of Cornwall and teaches Cornish studies at the University of Exeter, which has a campus in the county on the southwestern peninsula of England.

Vanessa Beeman is an anthropologist and Cornish language expert who is keeping the tongue alive.

Both noted western Nevada County's contribution to Cornish culture Wednesday.

“The whole reason we're here is because of the great adventure of Cornish immigrants of the 19th century,” Payton said. “It was principally hardrock miners” looking for work in places including Grass Valley, Canada, South America, Australia, Africa and India.

“Their skills were much in demand,” Payton said. “If you wanted a mine to work, you hired the Cornish.”

While many Gold Rush mining towns boomed and then died, Grass Valley and Nevada City may have survived because of the Cornish, Payton said.

“They built communities that lasted” wherever they went, he said.“

The miners took their way of life to places,” Beeman said. “There's a saying in Cornwall: Wherever in the world there's a hole in the ground, there will be a Cousin Jack at the bottom of it.”

Beeman's father was Cornish, and she learned to speak the language with him while studying Cornish culture.

“Cornish has been recognized as a minority language, and many of the children want to learn it to retain their heritage,” Beeman said.

“It's a very poetic language. We gather in pubs and talk it.”Beeman became a bard — a promoter of Cornish culture — after studying the Cornish language. She recently was elected Grand Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd, a bard committee.

She lives in Cornwall, which is somewhat independent from the rest of Britain.

“It's not part of England,” Beeman said. “England thinks it is, but Cornwall doesn't. It's never been officially brought into England. It's been a gradual absorption.”

An Bórd Snip Nua: Morto de la Irlandalingvo?

…de la Kerryman:

The proposed abolition of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs could wipe out the Irish language, according to the manager of Comharcumann Forbhartha Chorca Dhuibhne (CFCD) Gearóid Ó Brosnacháin.

"One proposal in the McCarthy Report is phasing out of the Irish Learners Scheme over the next two years. This scheme supports households in the Gaeltachts who keep Irish students during the summer. The impact of that will be to put an end to all the Irish summer colleges as we know them with all the associated impacts. The Irish colleges alone generate €6 million to this local economy annually and if you take into account that CFCD handles about ten per cent of the market nationally you could say that these colleges are worth €60 million a year to all the Gaeltacht areas," he told The Kerryman this week.

...de la University of Ulster:

Sweeping spending cuts being considered in the Republic pose a threat to the Irish language in Northern Ireland and the Donegal Gaeltacht, according to a University of Ulster academic who is the new head of Comhaltas Uladh, one of Northern Ireland's best-known Irish language groups.

Niall Comer, a lecturer in Irish and member of Ulster’s UK top-rating Research Institute for Irish and Celtic Studies, says Comhaltas Uladh works closely with all levels of the education sector and is responsible for the allocation of funding to five major summer colleges in the Gaeltacht areas of Donegal.

But as the Republic digests the so-called ‘An Bord Snip’ report, which proposes massive public spending reductions to save Euro 5.3 billion annually and axing more than 17,000 public sector jobs, Mr Comer argues the Irish language is in the firing line

….de Kevin Myers en la Irish Independent:

[T]he Irish language itself became a Government Protected Zone (GPZ). The Gaeltacht naturally became an extended GPZ. The islands became a GPZ. History became a GPZ. Even turf-burning became a GPZ. Moreover, this insanity became a perverse template for all sorts of other state projects. Mail and phone services were already GPZ. In the 1940s, all public transport became a GPZ. Air travel then became a GPZ. Arts became a GPZ -- indeed, the arts were hardly seen to be arts at all unless the State gave them a subsidy…

Even economic development was graded around a GPZ hierarchy.

The plain people of Ireland got the IDA. The semi-pure in the west got the Shannon Development. But the purest of the pure got Udaras, the job-creator for people who spoke Irish in a GPZ, a local shop for local people. In more recent times, Udaras has operated within the very ministerial embodiment of the GPZ, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which has a budget of €40m, with some 240 civil servants: almost one for every native Irish native speaker left….

…. The Irish language is effectively dead in its GPZ. The preposterous and Haugheyite confection, Aosdana, has achieved nothing whatever in its GPZ. CIE is a mouldering corpse in its GPZ. Every town now has its own empty GPZ, namely an arts centre, with its deserted craft shop offering (but not selling) environmentally sound raffia condoms, seaweed dental floss, and hand-crafted soaps made from pigfat. Government bribes have resulted in two multi-million pound GPZ stadiums in Dublin -- both of which will be empty, most of the time. And the fortune spent on the GPZ that is Olympian sports has produced just one bronze medal -- in bee-keeping.

The great dream is over. It's finally time for Ireland to be a normal country, one in which governments simply govern. Let the Great McCarthyite era begin.

Leslégot

…de Le Télégramme:

En juillet, la commune a accueilli deux séjours «nature, découverte de l'environnementet des chants», sur le terrain de Leslégot. La particularité de ces camps de vacances était l'immersion totale dans la langue bretonne. En effet, avec la signature de la charte «Ya d'ar brezhoneg», Plescop a pu bénéficier d'un partenariat avec l'Ubapar (Union bretonne pour l'animation dans les pays ruraux).

Du 5 au 11juillet, ce sont les plus jeunes, âgés de 6 à 8 ans, qui ont ouvert la session. Ils ont été remplacés la semaine dernière par seize pré-ados de 8 à 11ans. Confiés à des animateurs bilingues, Fanny, Valérian et Amélie, les enfants ont baigné dans la culture bretonne une semaine entière.

Patagonio

…de News Wales:

The Welsh Assembly Government has further signalled its commitment to the Welsh language by announcing that the Welsh language project in Patagonia is to continue for a further three years.

Announcing that the project will continue until 2012 whilst meeting a group of Welsh Language students from Patagonia over breakfast, the Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones said:

"I’m pleased to announce that we have been able not only to continue funding this unique and worthwhile project to maintain the Welsh language in Argentina, but we have also been able to provide a small increase in funding."

The Welsh language project in Patagonia is an initiative funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to boost and sustain the Welsh language in the Chubut Province of Patagonia in Argentina...

Cripil Inis Meáin

…de la Irish Times:

Small and big worlds collide in Martin McDonagh’s Cripil Inis Meáin, and no more so than in the Irish language translation of the play, performed during the Galway Arts Festival’s first week by An Taibhdhearc.

The venue was Amharclann Chois Fharraige in Seanscoil Sailearna, Indreabhán, within clear view of the Aran Islands framed by a setting sun.

The national Irish language theatre has been borrowing locations since a fire at its premises in November, 2007, and set designer Dara McGee made the most of the Sailearna school stage where a week of performances were sold out every night. Translator Micheál Ó Conghaíle recalls, in his programme notes, how he once worked in a shop similar to that run in the play by the Osbourne sisters (Bridie Ní Churraoin and Bríd Ní Neachtain) selling plugs of tobacco, bags of tea and eggs, and collecting story after story from customers in return....

éirigí sur la Kazo de Mac Giolla Catháin

...de éirigí:

...Arsa urlabhraí éirígí Seán Mac Brádaigh: “Arís eile, feiceann muid institiúidí na Breataine in Éirinn ag diúltú d’Éireannaigh a bhféiniúlacht agus a dteanga, an uair seo ag úsáid iarsma 200 bliain d’aois de na Péindlithe le lucht labhartha na Gaeilge a chur faoi chois.

Cuireann cinneadh na hArd-Chúirte teachtaireacht shoiléir nach bhfuil aon seanphíosa leatromach reachtaíochta thar teorainn, agus gur féidir conarthaí agus coimitmintí idirnáisiúnta a chaitheamh amach nauir atá géarleanúint na nGaeilgeoirí i gceist. Déanann sé arís ceap magaidh de bhéalghrá rialtas na Breataine do choincheapa na cothroime agus na héagsúlachta.”

Lean Seán ar aghaidh: “Ní raibh Caoimhín ar an chéad Ghaeilgeoir a thug dúshlán do leatrom leanúnach stát na Breataine ar phobal na Gaeilge, ní bheidh sé ar an duine deiridh.

“Chuir an pobal seo teachtaireacht láidir amach le blianta beaga anuas nach nglacfaidh siad le himeallú cultúrtha acu siúd a bhrúnn a rún coilíneach ar an tír, teachtaireacht shoiléir nach luífidh na craipithe fúthú choíche.”

"Politika Armilo"?

…de la Times:

David Mitchell, the comic who has recently discovered a previously unknown Scottish ancestry, has condemned as “absurd” the amount of public money being spent on projects to promote the Gaelic language.

The star of the cult sitcom Peep Show and That Mitchell and Webb Look, who was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, learned of his Celtic lineage after taking part in the BBC’s genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?

With the help of researchers, he traced his paternal roots to Sutherland where his family were sheep farmers.

Now Mitchell has used his personal blog to claim that the language which his ancestors may have spoken is being used as a “political weapon” by politicians to whip up nationalist sentiment. He said he believed money being lavished on Gaelic would be better spent teaching other languages.

In a regular feature of his blog called Soapbox, he said: “I am uneasy about spending too much public money or time on a language which is not now far above the level of a private code...

Amnesty kaj la Kimralingvo

…de la Western Mail:

Welsh language campaigners have been angered by a blog posting from Amnesty International staff which suggests their concerns are insignificant in comparison the situation in western China.

The posting, which Cathy Owens, the programme director of Amnesty International Wales, confirmed she had a hand in writing, appeared both on Amnesty Blogs and the Welsh language web forum maes-e.

It reads: “I wonder if those who are constantly bickering and cackling about the Welsh Language LCO and who should legislate on the Welsh language should not consider taking a step back for a moment and for once look beyond the borders of little Wales.

“The ‘Welsh Not’ is already ancient history for us Welsh speakers but that could not be said about life in Xinjiang today...

Letero al Elfyn Llwyd, MP

Ni povas?

Manskalingvaj Klasoj

…de isleofman.com:

Manx Gaelic Classes using Saase-Jeeragh start in Douglas from August 2009.

Anyone who would like to 'ynsee Gaelg' - learn Manx - now has the perfect opportunity, as new classes start in August. For beginners, FREE daytime classes with Adrian Cain will take place every Friday from 12pm - 1pm at the Manx Museum. For those who already have a good grasp of basic Manx, a further class at the Museum from 1pm - 2pm is also an option. For more information, contact Adrian Cain on (01624) 838527 or (07624) 451098 or email greinneyder@mhf.org.im

Evening classes at Isle of Man College, with Dr Brian Stowell, will soon be available too. For more information, contact Dr Stowell on (01624) 623821 or email bstowell@mcb.net.

Saase-jeeragh is a methodology which uses best practice from elswhere, in particular Wales, and applies it to the learning of Manx Gaelic.

Suitable for adults, classes focus on speaking the language and involve little writing. Classes are fun, involve a great deal of student particiaptaion and are a great introduction to the spoken language.

Newton Emerson sur la Irlandalingva Kazo

…de la Irish News:

In bringing this case, Irish language campaigners have scored a staggering own goal. The legal system has been cornered and forced to clarify positions which the political establishment was willing to fudge. Specifically, the principle that the state’s linguistic duty is to ensure understanding rather than deliver choice, even in a rights framework, has been given legal precedence. As there is probably no Irish speaker alive in Northern Ireland who is not equally fluent in English, all demands for official communication in Irish may now be more easily declined.

Supporters are vowing to bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights, which might take a dim view of legislation from the eighteenth century. But Strasbourg is even less likely than Belfast to undermine the principle of understanding rather than choice.

Europe is riddled with politicised linguistic disputes and its institutions are surprisingly robust in refusing to humour them.

If anything positive emerges from this fiasco, it will be a rethink by certain campaigners of their faith in top-down solutions. Neither law nor state can conjure a viable language into existence, as the experience of the Republic should already have made clear.

Nova Irlandalingva Ĵurnalo

…de An Druma Mór, blog de Eoghan Ó Néill:

Comórtas Poiblí le fógairt i comhair conartha le Nuachtán Seachtainiúil Gaeilge a sholáthar.

Bhí an conradh le nuachtán seachtainiúil Gaeilge a sholáthar faoi chaibidil ag cruinniú de Bhord Fhoras na Gaeilge a bhí ar siúl i mBéal Feirste inniu, Dé hAoine, 17 Iúil.

Ag an gcruinniú cinneadh próiseas tairisceana nua a fhógairt an tseachtain seo chugainn le nuachtán seachtainiúil Gaeilge a fhoilsiú.

Tá sé mar sprioc ag an bhForas go mbeidh an nuachtán nua ar fáil do phobal na Gaeilge faoi Shamhain na bliana seo.

Beidh sé sheachtain ag daoine ar spéis leo cur isteach ar an gconradh iarratas a ullmhú. Déanfar measúnú ar na hiarratais ansin agus bronnfar conradh maoinithe i gcomhair na tréimhse Samhain 2009 go Deireadh Fómhair 2013 ar an iarrathóir a n-éireoidh leis.

Keltalingva Radio

...de la National Examiner:

The 20th century witnessed an epidemic decrease in the number of people who spoke Celtic languages as their mother tongue. Particularly in the case of Ireland and the United Kingdom, centuries of attempts to linguistically homogenize the people of the British Isles under one speech (English) broke the link between older and younger generations of passing down languages like Gaelic or Welsh.

This, combined with the recent global saturation of English-language media, has threatened the extinction of these ancient tongues. Scholars and census-takers have warned of the grim prospect that conversational Celtic languages will never be heard again outside the academic world.

But recent years have seen resurgence in the use of Celtic languages. The desire for stronger cultural identity amongst the peoples of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Cornwall (as well as their continental Celtic cousins, Brittany and Galicia) has lead to radio, television, news and music being increasingly conducted in native regional tongues. These have by no means superseded English, but are a strong step towards reversing the decline that Celtic languages have suffered...

Sean Ó Riain

…de la European Voice:

The man whose career as a diplomat has taken an unorthodox turn as a translator.

Sean Ó Riain is the first to admit that it was “unusual for a senior diplomat to become a translator”, but looking at his career, it does not seem such an odd decision.

When he joined the Irish department of foreign affairs in 1978, it was out of a love of speaking different languages and a passionate interest in Europe. …

…Depth as well as breadth characterises his language capabilities – he speaks 13 languages, eight of them fluently, and his mastery of Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Esperanto indicates that he sees foreign languages not only as a functional necessity but also as enjoyable studies in their own right.

Unsurprisingly, he welcomed the acceptance of Irish as an EU official language in January 2007 as an extremely important development….

…During his four-year secondment as website translator, he is tasked with having EU documents translated and on the website within a few hours of publication so that they can be read in Irish straight away….

…As well as translation and language policy issues, Ó Riain is heavily involved in linguistic projects elsewhere: he contributes to Irish language newspapers and lectures on the Irish language, as well as promoting Esperanto as an aid to language-learning.

“Esperanto is not a replacement language; it is most useful in teaching,” he says.

“Students who learn some Esperanto are significantly more likely to succeed in other language studies because success in Esperanto is easy due to its streamlined grammar, and that success creates a confidence in approaching other, harder languages.”

“Kultura Ekvivalento de la Punaj Leĝoj”

...de Irish Central:

The High Court in Belfast has upheld a 270-year-old ban on the use of the Irish language in court proceedings in the North.

Caoimhin Mac Giolla Cathain had taken the case after his application for an occasional drinks license was returned.

He was told that his application could not be considered because it was not in English.

Court officials said the ruling came about because of an 1873 Administration of Justice (Language) Act said that “all proceedings in courts of justice within this kingdom shall be in the English language”…

…A report from historian Dr Eamon Phoenix said that the Act could "be viewed as a piece of discriminatory legislation directed at the mother tongue of the mass of the Irish population at that time. It is therefore the cultural equivalent of the penal laws.”…

Skeeal

…de Isle of Man Today:

Five-piece contemporary Celtic band Skeeal will be launching their new CD with a gig at the Masonic Hall in Peel next Friday (July 24).

Slipway is their second release – their debut, Long Story, came out in 2005.The group consists of Sophia Dale (lead vocals), Phil Gawne MHK (lead vocals), Breesha Maddrell (flutes), Simone Rogers (flutes/whistles/vocals) and Paul Rogers (guitar, mandolin)….

… Lead vocalist Sophia is originally from Australia. She grew up listening to an eclectic range of music, singing classical, folk, jazz, punk and just about everything in between.

In her 20s she realised that traditional music really was the heart of her inspiration. She worked with various music groups, performing her own songs as well as traditional material, and was co-founder of An t-Eilean Mòr, a Scottish Gaelic singing ensemble. In 1997 she moved to Scotland to pursue her passion for Gaelic song. …

….Norman Chalmers, writing in Scotland on Sunday, said about the band: 'This contemporary folk group is unusual on two counts: they sing in the Manx language (also Gaelic and English) and the instrumental melodic lead is taken by woodwind, with nary a fiddle in sight.

…Phil has been a member of Tynwald for six years and has served as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for the past four years.Prior to this he worked as Manx language development officer and is the driving force behind Mooinjer Veggey, the Manx Gaelic education organisation…

..Paul is a Welsh speaker and on moving to the Isle of Man became a fluent speaker of Manx Gaelic.His day job sees him teaching at Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, the Manx language school. Paul and Simone formed various groups which evolved into the current Skeeal line-up.

Lingva Komisiono…por Kimrio?

…de la Western Mail:

New proposals for Welsh laws were announced by Rhodri Morgan yesterday – but he admitted it will be a race against time to get them all passed before the next National Assembly election in 2011.

The First Minister said the Assembly Government would be proposing six Measures (Welsh laws):

A Welsh Language Measure establishing a Language Commissioner, confirming official status for both Welsh and English, and confirming linguistic rights in the provision of services...

Brehonoj Koleriĝas de Kortuma Juĝo

...de la Irish Echo:

The outcome of a judicial review involving the Irish language has been condemned by Irish speakers in Northern Ireland.

Irish language activists have vowed to fight on after a judicial review in a Belfast court last week found that the British government is not obliged to repeal an act prohibiting the use of Irish in courts in Northern Ireland.

And their plans have been backed by a representative of the Brehon Law Society who flew from the U.S to observe the court proceedings.

New York attorney Domhnall O'Cathain described the continuing court block on Irish as "a relic of the era of the oppressive Penal Laws."

Mr. Justice Treacy found Belfast man Caoimhín Mac Giolla Catháin could not challenge the 1737 Administration of Justice (Language) (Ireland) Act, which bars anything other than English to be used in courts in the North…

.

[* Gliogáil ar an iomha chun á mhéadú. ● Klaku sur la bildo vastigi ĝin.]

Irlandalingvo Abandoniĝas

…de la Irish Independent:

The number of pupils opting out of studying Irish in schools is rocketing.

At second level alone, 30,000 students -- close to one in 10 of the post-primary population -- were granted an exemption from studying the national language last year.

They claim it is too difficult, but more than half of them study another language, such as French or German, without question.

Plans by the Department of Education to tighten up the rules for opting out of Irish have yet to materialise, about five years after a review started.

Irish is a compulsory subject but a student may be awarded an exemption on one of a number of grounds...

Dr Barry Morgan

…de la Western Mail:

The Archbishop of Wales has used his role as day president of the International Eisteddfod to renew his call for the National Assembly to be granted full law-making powers.

Giving the presidential address at Llangollen, Dr Barry Morgan claimed a greater degree of self-determination could “go hand in hand with openness to other nations and people”.

“It is possible to be proud to be Welsh or Hungarian or Italian or whatever one’s nationality happens to be, and yet to realise that we belong to one common humanity,” he told the Eisteddfod.

“The two things are not incompatible. So for those of us who are Welsh, we have a new surge of confidence in today’s Wales, with the advent of the new Government of Wales Act of 2006 giving us a measure of self-government, coupled with the Welsh Language Act of 1993 which gave equality to the two languages in Wales for the first time since the Act of Union of 1536...

Goursez Vreizh

…de Le Télégramme:

Une clairière. Du gui. Des binious. Des druides. Et au milieu, un glaive. La cérémonie annuelle du Gorsedd s'est tenue hier à Arzano. Dans un esprit d'universalité.

Cela commence comme un pardon. Une procession au son des binious, drapeaux (dont le gwen ha du) battus par le vent en tête de cortège. Mais les participants portent une toge (blanche ou colorée, selon l'échelon), transportent à quatre un linge empli de gui, un chaudron, des bâtons, quelques barbes. Et puis on entre dans une clairière hérissée de pierres disposées en cercle. Le public et la plupart des participants sont priés de ne pas y entrer un doigt de pied.

En son centre, on prête serment, en langue celte, on pose éventuellement ses paumes contre celles du maître de cérémonie. Puis vient le moment de ranger dans son fourreau un long glaive chargé de symboles. Chaque année, les druides bretons et quelques homologues d'outre-Manche se réunissent à Arzano pour le Gorsedd Digor. «L'assemblée ouverte», en gallois. La seule, les autres se tenant en privé. Il y a 110 ans, l'archidruide de Galles, Hwfa Môn, recevait des Bretons à Cardiff. «Comme des frères», explique Per Vari Kerloc'h, le grand druide breton. «Comme des membres de la Gorsedd de Galles, avant de devenir membres de la Gorsedd de Bretagne», qui allait naître...

Kultura Militisto kaj Kultura Ministro

…de la Irish Times:

Politicians hit out at the Democratic Unionist Party’s new Culture Minister today after he said he would not attend events in Catholic churches because of his opposition to the religion.

Nelson McCausland also admitted he did not know Tyrone were All-Ireland Gaelic football champions. As he repeated his opposition to Gaelic sport and language, he was accused of failing to show respect for those outside his own community.

He was appointed to Northern Ireland’s cabinet by party leader Peter Robinson last week in a move that followed a poor European election performance by the DUP.

Today republicans and nationalists accused Mr McCausland of failing to show he can be a minister for the entire community.

The SDLP's Declan O’Loan said: “Nobody can expect a minister to be fully conversant with all aspects of language, culture and sport that we have here. It is important, however, that he shows himself respectful to all. He seems to ignore his duty in that regard.”...

* Klaku ĉi tie legi la leteron de Seán Ó Doibhilin en la Belfast Telegraph.

Dua Lingvo Plano

…de PR-inside:

The availability of public services through the Irish language will be further strengthened over the coming years, according to Minister of State Tony Killeen.

The Clare T.D. made his comments following the publication of the second Irish Language Scheme 2009 – 2012 by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

Minister of State Tony Killeen T.D. said the new Scheme builds on and consolidates the commitments in the first Scheme.

He explained: “It sets out a commitment on behalf of the Department to develop the extent to which services are currently available through Irish and identifies areas for future enhancement. Under this Scheme the Government will continue to deliver the commitments set out in its first scheme and will build on the progress achieved over the preceding period.

I am also pleased that this new Scheme sets out a framework for the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to further develop the extent to which services are currently available to our customers through Irish.”

Estas Granda Tempo Lerni Manksalingvon!

…de Manx Radio:

The Manx language primary school, the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh in St Johns, is thriving and efforts are now being made to encourage more adults to learn the Island's native tongue.

Manx language development officer Adrian Cain says it's something he will be focussing his efforts on during the next three or four years.

He says a programme put together over the last six months will be further developed this weekend, with expert adult tutors coming over from Wales to talk about how they have 'spread the word' (play audio file):

To find out more about learning Manx call Adrian Cain on 838527.

Ar fáil anois ● Havabla nun

Buíochas le Máirtín Ó Muilleoir as ucht cóip an drochbhreithiúnais atá ar fáil trína bhlag.

Dankon al Máirtín Ó Muilleoir por la kopio de la malbonega juĝo kiu estas havebla per lia blogo.

Ceist an Lae ● Demando de la Tago

Maidir leis an gcás Chaoimhín Mhic Ghiolla Catháin, an feidir aisghairm an drochdhlí a iarraidh ar mbaill SDLP, Plaid Cymru (PC), SNP agus Respect den Pharlaimint?

Koncerne la kazon de Caoimhín Mac Giolla Catháin, ĉu estas ebla demandi abrogacion de la malbonega leĝo al SDLP, Plaid Cymru (PC), SNP agus Respect parlamentanoj?

● Mark Durkan (SDLP)

● George Galloway (Respect)

● Stewart Hosie (SNP)

● Elfyn Llwyd (PC)

● John Mason (SNP)

● Dr Alasdair McDonnell (SDLP)

● Eddie McGrady (SDLP)

.

● Angus MacNeil (SNP)

● Adam Price (PC)

● Angus Robertson (SNP)

● An Ró-Onórach Ailig Salmond (SNP)

● Mike Weir (SNP)

● Hywel Williams (PC)

● Pete Wishart (SNP)

.

*** SEOLADH/ADRESO:

.......House Of Commons, London SW1A 0AA (UK)

Puna Leĝo Vivas en Nord-Irlando

…de la Belfast Telegraph:

A legal challenge against a 270-year-old ban on the use of the Irish language in court proceedings in Northern Ireland has been dismissed in the High Court in Belfast.

An Irish language speaker, Caoimhin Mac Giolla Cathain, a member of the Shaws Road Gaeltacht in west Belfast, took the case after he was informed that his application in Irish for an occasional drinks licence could not be considered.

Court staff said the reason was that the Administration of Justice (Language) Act of 1737 stipulated that “all proceedings in courts of justice within this kingdom shall be in the English language”….

….Janet Muller, CEO of Pobal, which supported Mr Cathain's application, said: “We are disappointed but not surprised. Today's decision proves the urgent need for an Irish Language Act to properly protect the rights of Irish speakers...

...“In Wales, Welsh speakers have had the right to use Welsh in courts since 1942. In Scotland, there are courts where Gaidhlig can be heard every day.

“This case shows that the British Government is once more guilty of operating a double standard in its treatment of the users of different languages on these islands.”

Postenoj por Kimraparolantoj

...de la Evening Leader:

Wrexham council are seeking to recruit more Welsh speaking staff.

Next week the council are set to evaluate the provision of Welsh language in the borough at an executive meeting.Council communications manager Sue Wyn Jones said: "Across the staff we think there are more Welsh speakers than we know about.

As part of the language skills strategy we are looking at recruitment and staffing."

But she said that a people's voice survey revealed that 61 per cent of people were happy with the Welsh service of the council...

Nova Kino por Galway

…de la Irish Film & Television Network:

A new cinema for the people of Galway took a step closer to becoming a reality when, the first sod was turned on the site, at 15 Lower Merchants Road, by Labour Party President and former Minister for Arts Michael D Higgins.

The move, which marks the start of the construction of Galway’s new ‘art-house’ cinema, which will show the best in international films, experimental films and Irish made features upon completion, and will also cater for students, schools, young people and senior audiences.

The cinema which will hold three screens, a ground floor café, a first floor bar and a video/bookshop is expected to open in 2010. There will be one below-ground cinema, a communal meeting area and a ticket booth situated between the old and new buildings.

It is intended that the cinema will screen films in the Irish language, documentary films, Irish-made films, independent worldwide features, classic cinema, archival cinema and retrospective cinema.

Konsterno pri la Kazo de Mac Giolla Catháin - Mac Ádhaimh

…de Sinn Féin:

Dúirt uachtarán Shinn Féin Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh inniu go raibh díomá air cluinstin nár glacadh leis na hargóintí ó foireann dleathach Caoimhín Mac Giolla Chatháin faoi phéindlí Acht 1737.

Ag labhairt dó inniu dúirt an tUasal Mac Ádhaimh;

“Tá an cás seo ag dul ar aghaidh ar feadh tamaillín anois agus tá ard mheas tuilte ag Caoimhín as seasamh an fhód ar son cearta an phobail gaelach sna Sé Chontae.

Níl na sonraí uilig ar fáil faoi láthair ach is cinnte go mbeidh Gaeilgeoirí fud fad na tíre ag leanúint san fheachtais chun deireadh a chuir leis an sean dlí inghlactha seo.

Ba chóir go raibh cead ag Gaeilgeoirí a cuid gnó sa chúirt a dhéanamh trí mheán na Gaeilge, níl áit ar bith ann sa lá ata inniu ann, don chineál sean dlí coilíneach seo.”

La Kimralingvo en Eŭropo

….de TeleText:

The use of the Welsh language in EU institutions has taken a step forward, but there are no plans for it to be Europe's 24th "official" language.

A deal to be signed by Sir Kim Darroch, the UK's EU ambassador, means Welsh speakers can write to and receive a response from the commission in Welsh. The accord follows similar agreements last year, it was said at the Assembly…

Coláiste Speirín

…de la Irish Echo:

A County Tyrone Irish language secondary school is calling on big-hearted Irish Americans, or a kindly benefactor, to help the school survive beyond the summer.

Coláiste Speirín is a small Irish language college in Cookstown which was set up in September 2007 with a mere six pupils. The school was founded by a group of parents who want their children to be educated through the medium of Irish.

The school has yet to receive funding from the Department of Education in Northern Ireland, and the school's Board of Governors is now fearful that if the school does not receive a much-needed cash injection soon, it could go to the wall.

"I understood from the outset that this project, although very challenging, would bring great hope and fulfillment and so considered it a privilege for me also to become personally involved with this school," explained school principal Cathal Ó Donnghaile...

Nun, al la Eŭropa Kortumo pri Homaj Rajtoj

...de la blogo, From the Balcony, de Máirtín Ó Muilleoir:

The decision by the High Court in Belfast today to stand over the atrocious 1737 Act banning Irish in the courts clears the way for this landmark legal challenge to go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Plaudits go to Pobal, Caoimhín Mac Giolla Chathain and solicitor Michael Flanigan for taking this case to the highest court 'in the land' and simultaneously taking it into the public domain.

And while the commitments in the Good Friday Agreement, the St Andrew's Agreement and the European Charter on Lesser-Used Languages have all proved to be meaningless in the face of this discriminatory legislation, notice has been served that Irish speakers aren't willing to accept second-class citizenship…

.

* Irlandalingvaj raportoj skribiĝis de Eoghan Ó Néill kaj Concubhar Ó Liatháin.

Irlandalingva Tomboŝtono

…de Cumann Oidhreachta Gaelach Seattle:

In 1853, two Irish-born brothers, Thomas & Samuel Maylor, staked their claims in present-day Oak Harbor on the peninsula which is still called Maylor’s Point on Whidbey Island in Washington State near Seattle. When Sam’s wife Mary died in 1861, Sam returned to Ireland with their three children where he had a headstone sculpted and inscribed in old-style Irish Gaelic for Mary’s grave. He also married again in Ireland and then the family traveled back to Whidbey Island via ship around Cape Horn, a 5-6 month journey back then. He brought Mary’s headstone back to Whidbey Island with him and had it erected on her grave on Maylor’s Point.

In early 1941, the Maylor family sold Maylor’s Point to the Navy to build what became the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, but the family brought the headstone from their grandmother’s grave with them. In 1973, the headstone was given to the local historical society which erected it in the Pioneer section of Sunnyside Cemetery beside a wooden blockhouse that dates from the 1800s.

The Lace Makers of Glenmara

…de Seattlest:

The Lace Makers of Glenmara is one of those novels that you can bet on becoming a big film in the future. We can see it already, and are practically putting money on who would star. Let's see, we need a starring actress who is pretty but not beautiful; petite, not tall; with a lively wit to make up for anything lacking...and a leading man who is tall dark and handsome with an Irish accent. The movie just seems like a no-brainer.

And why is it a no-brainer? Well, you've got (as described above) a 26-year-old Seattle fashion designer devastated by the twin heartbreaks of her mother dying and her long-time boyfriend leaving her for a gorgeous rail-thin fashion model. She escapes to the rural countryside town of Glenmara, Ireland, in hopes of finding herself….

….The Lace Makers of Glenmara also illustrates that Barbieri did her homework--not only in the language and Gaelic, but in the setting as well. It's a quick read, is truly heartfelt, and in all, is a charming story of one woman setting out to make something better for herself with no expectations of aid besides her own capabilities.

Kimra kaj Klingona Lingvoj

…de la Daily Post:

Welsh speakers are more likely to be able to master the difficult Klingon language beloved of all Star Trek fans.

Computer expert Alex Greene of Wrexham, one of a select group of people who can speak Klingon fluently, believes that’s because the creators drew on several languages, including Welsh, for the intergalactic dialect.

The 46-year-old Star Trek fan said: “I do believe that if you can speak Welsh, you have an advantage where Klingon is concerned as some sounds are similar such as ‘ll’ and ‘ch’.”

Alex began learning the language in 1986 and took a year to master its intricacies.

He added: “Star Trek is one of my hobbies. My other hobby is languages.

“I have always enjoyed foreign languages, listening to them and communicating with them. Up to 1986 it had been French, Japanese and Esperanto...

Letero de Dafydd Iwan

…de la Caernarfon Denbigh Herald:

Three things have happened recently which have distressed many people in Wales, not to mention the distress caused to the individuals involved.

The first was the refusal of the immigration authorities to allow Evelyn Calcabrini and Shirley Edwards, both from Patagonia, to come to Wales to study Welsh and English, and Shirley also to visit her sister at Tremadog.…

The case of Arfon Gwilym, refused a visa to the United States because of his part in the non-violent campaign for a Welsh TV channel almost 40 years ago, is another example of bureaucracy gone mad. …

The third was the inexcusable bad manners shown towards Cefin Roberts and the singers of Ysgol Glanaethwy by a small part of the audience at Llandudno’s Venue Cymru.…

Surely, these three examples prove that we have some way to go still until Wales and the Welsh language are given the respect and status they deserve.

If anyone would like to show their support for Shirley and Evelyn, there will be a concert at Rehoboth chapel, Nant Peris on Saturday, July 11, the proceeds of which will be used to secure their return to Wales to finish their studies.

Tago Antaŭ la Tribunalo por la Irlandolingvo

…de la blogo, From the Balcony, de Máirtín Ó Muilleoir:

8 July will be an important date for the Irish language and for those who believe in using the courts to drive change in the light Orange statelet.For on that day, judgement will be delivered in the Caoimhín Mac Giolla Chathain case which challenges the centuries' old ban on Irish in the court system in the North.

Interestingly, the powers-that-be in the North went in to bat vigorously for this discriminatory piece of legislation, insisting that proper governance of our courts wouldn't be possible unless Irish was banned.The decision will tell us how far we have travelled since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and its promise of a society free of anti-Irish language bias.