Blogs

A national conference was held at Aberystwyth on July 4 which focused on the future of the Welsh Language.  The conference was held in the historic county of Ceredigion (Cardigan) which was a fitting venue as there are concerns about the decline of the percentage of Welsh speakers in Ceredigion based on the most recent census data. More than 160 people attended the conference with focus groups meeting across Wales leading up to the conference and over 2500 participated on-line.   

The London Daily Mail reports: "The New York Times sparked outrage on Twitter yesterday calling Murray an "English Tennis Player". The Mail continued: "..Alex Salmond (First Minister of Scotland) was accused of political opportunism after unfurling a Saltire (Tradional Scottish Flag of St. Andrew's Cross) behind David Cameron's head (British Prime Minister) in the wake of Andy Murray's historic Wimbledon victory. The move was politically sensitive because Scotland is planning to hold an Independence Referendum in Autumn 2014.

As reported on the website "forArgyll.com", the BBC Alba Gaelic Broadcasting Channel have announced an increase in funding of 1 million pounds for the coming year.  The channel offers a wide selection of Gaelic language programming and has been widely hailed as a force in the preservation and renewed growth of Scottish Gaelic. The announcement also highlighted statistics showing an increase in viewership for its Gaelic Language programming.  

The latest expression of Nationalist unrest on the Isle of Man (Ellen Vannin) is reported by the Celtic League News Service. Nationalist graffiti was sprayed on the residence of the Lieutenant Governor. The Celtic League's report includes the following: "The Governor is the last vestige of English Colonialism and despite calls over the years for a range of solutions to the 'Governor Problem', the anachronistic role continues."

Councillor Dick Cole, Leader of the Party For Cornwall (Mebyon Kernow) has congratulated the Truro City Council on the adoption of a Progressive Language Policy.  

Truro is the administrative centre of Cornwall and thus the advancement of Cornish language rights in the city is a significant step forward for the Cornish tongue.

The Mebyon Kernow give us the following from their web page: "It is our belief that the historic nation of Cornwall, with its own distinct identity, language and heritage, has the same right to self determination as Scotland and Wales."

Reflecting the recent surge in support for the Welsh language, The Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas Yr Laith Gymraeg) have called for the status of Welsh in education to be upgraded to that of a language of instruction in various subjects rather than its current status of merely being taught as a second language.

The Nova Scotia Herald News has an article on the the 75th Anniversary celebrations of the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts; "Seventy five years of ceilidhs, milling frolics, fiddle playing and bagpiping certainly sounds like something to celebrate...the only college in North America devoted to the preservation of the language, culture, traditions and musical legacy of the Highland Scots..".

The "Scotsman" website features an article by Brian Ferguson entitled "Scottish Independence Focus of National Theatre of Scotland 2014 Programme".  The article quotes the newly appointed National Theatre's Artisitc Director, Laurie Sansom, as stating that Scotland's 2014 referendum on Independence affords a "brilliant opportunity" for the artistic interpretation of this "unusual and remarkable event".

The web site "Show Me Wales" reports that the ITV series "Britains's Secret Homes" highlights the home of the founder of the Welsh speaking community in Argentina,  Michael Daniel Jones.

Another sign of the surge in Celtic identity in North America is the report in the Irish American web site "Irish Central" that the Milwaukee Irish Festival to be held August 15 - 18 on the shores of Lake Michigan is expecting an astonishing 130,000 revelers.  The Irish Central calls this the "..world's largest Irish festival..", no doubt excluding St. Patrick's day celebrations.