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Welsh singer Shirley Bassey has today had a carriage of the historic Snowdon Mountain Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa) named in her honour. The honour recognises Dame Shirley as an international ambassador for Wales and for her musical career. Over the years she has won a number of awards including a UNESCO Artist for Peace Award, a Welsh Legend Award and the Légion d'Honneur. She was the first Welsh singer to have a number one single and also the the only artist to record three James Bond theme songs: Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker.

News from the Celtic League:

One of the consequences of the UK Brexit is that the UK Nuclear industry will separate its functions from Euratom that regulates safety standards across Europe in conjunction with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

A year ago UK energy officials were suggesting that the new bilateral arrangements with IAEA would see the nuclear industry have standards set at a higher bar than the current IAEA/Euratom provisions (link - Reuters report September 2017).

News from the Celtic League:

Sellafield are in the dock again over Health and Safety issues although the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) statement gives little away about the nature of this new omission - although it apparently involves staff contamination in an area handling ‘special nuclear materials’.

ONR say they are tight lipped for ‘legal reasons’.

Its worrying to communities around the Irish Sea that the plants safety is once again under scrutiny:

ONR statement in full below:

“ONR to prosecute Sellafield Ltd

11 May, 2018

Stonehaven (Scottish Gaelic: Cala na Creige) is a coastal town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The town grew around an Iron Age fishing village, and gradually expanded inland from the seaside. Stonehaven was a Jacobite stronghold at the time of the Jacobite rising of 1715 and this was also the case during the Jacobite rising of 1745. It was one of the north-eastern Scottish ports where reinforcements, plus money and equipment were periodically landed from France in support of the efforts of Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") to regain the throne for the House of Stuart.

News from Kernow Matters To You:

With the royal wedding set for Saturday, Cornwall Council has been notified of only two street parties requiring road closures, an all time low. Additionally, there has been one event notification.

The street parties are in Bude and St Austell and the event notification is for a village hall tea party at Carnon Downs.

This has caused the local media to ask the question: "Is anyone celebrating the Royal wedding in Cornwall?"

There has been a huge amount of British media publicity given to the forthcoming wedding of the grandson of the Queen of England. However the effort to engender a mood of patriotic fervour appears to have failed in  North Wales, where there seems to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the event. An example of this has been the lack of take-up for the idea of holding a royal wedding street party, where local residents organise an event held out of doors in a street or other public area.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Bretons and friends of Brittany gather, in Brittany and all over the world, to celebrate the culture and heritage of Brittany. Fête de la Bretagne - Gouel Breizh takes place on the days before and after the 19th May, which is the date of the feast of St. Yves (Breton: Gouel Erwan).  Saint Yves was born on 17th October 1253 at Kermartin in Brittany. He graduated in civil law and became a lawyer and judge who was famous for defending the poor without taking payment. Saint Yves was ordained in 1284 and when he retired from law in 1287 became a preacher.

News from the Celtic League:

As the Isle of Man government were given the go ahead by Tynwald to secure the sealink to the United Kingdom via a purchase of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company a new fast craft sea link between the Celtic countries was also secured.

The Irish Times this week reported on the new ‘Dublin Swift’ HSS which  entered service last month and will link Dublin Port with Holyhead in Wales - a sailing of just two hours:

News from the Celtic League:

The value of the Council of Europe (CoE) and its statements are called into question in this report on BBC Northern Ireland:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-44116786

A delegation of language experts from the  Council of Europe (CoE) is visiting Belfast (Irish: Béal Feirste) this week. The head of the delegation Dr Aleksandra Oszmiańska-Pagett has renewed calls for an Irish Language Act during the visit. The council is Europe's top human rights watchdog with 47 member states and reports on how states comply with the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.