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Yn Chruinnaght celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year and organisers are inviting everyone to come and mark the occasion at various venues in Peel, alongside a line-up of some of the best performers of Celtic music, song and dance, both at home and abroad.

The Scottish press reported yesterday that Glasgow was running out of Croatia shirts as football fans in Scotland continued to back England’s opponents, whoever they were, in the Football World Cup. Shops had been inundated with requests from customers who sought to purchase the chequered kit before England's semi-final match last night. It seems to have done the trick as England were outclassed and beaten by their Croatian opponents. They are now set to meet France in the final which is being played on 15th July.

So called 'Eleventh Night' bonfires were lit at midnight across the north of Ireland as part of a loyalist tradition to mark the anniversary of Protestant King William's victory over Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The fires usher in the traditional 12 July Orange parades, which are an excuse for loyalist paramilitaries to orchestrate, participate and encourage others to engage in serious disorder.

Plastic is everywhere and it's very bad. We know because Bill Dale and the crew are always collecting it of beaches that is when Bill is not collecting the odd award or three for collecting plastic.

Now Manx Radio have gone one better than beach buddies they are exploring the Pacific Gyre a gigantic mass of seaborne plastic crud on the other side of the world. However it doesn't matter that it's the other side of the world because we live in the global village now.

With Manannan obviously unimpressed either by the rushes on ‘Baroole’ or Geoff Boot’s fire raising skills I emerge blinking to see a brief shower of rain has ‘blessed’ us.

I decide to settle down with De Valera for the day and am immediately struck by the fact that we may in Mann be revisiting the great mans vision of Ireland set out in his 1943 St Patricks Day message sometimes referred to as the ‘comely maidens’ speech (which it turns out is a misquotation).

Press Release from Culture Vannin:

CULTURE VANNIN AND UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE RELEASE THE FRST RECORDING OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MANX GAELIC.

Working in close collaboration, Culture Vannin and Universal Human Rights Initiative (UHRI) have released the first ever recording of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Manx Gaelic (Fockley‐Magh Cairyssyn Deiney cour y Theihll Slane).

Its Culture Month so over on MTTV there is a piece about carting rushes up to the top of ‘Baroole’ to placate ‘Mannan Mac y Lheir’. I find myself less intrigued by this than the possible cost of CV producing a video on it.

Of more immediate interest is that ‘Mannan Mac y Lheir’ seems so cheesed off with Geoffrey Boot MHK having a barbeque and threatening to incinerate the countryside he has called up a smidgeon of rain but as yet hardly enough to break the drought - who knows its early days.

The dangers posed by fire in the countryside is once again in the news with a major fire underway just across the Irish Sea from us in the Slieve Gullion area of South Armagh!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-44779829

Members of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service are being assisted by helicopter support from the Irish Air Corps offered by the 26 County government.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tweeted:

I see Yn Chruinnaght is back and its had another minor make over it seems to be called CELTIC GATHERING. Now last year you will recall some of what Bob Carswell described as 'pedants and purists' were appalled at the change to CELTFEST. I’m bound to say however I didn’t whip myself into a frenzy over the change.

I recall writing at the time;

With what passes for ‘real politics’ heading into the long grass as the MHK/MLCs grab their buckets and spades and head for the seaside the media are becoming desperate. Expect a series of stories anyday about how busy Tynwald members are going to be - although Tynwald itself will be like Tutankhamun's tomb before Howard Carter arrived.