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For those of us who are passionate about the preservation, protection and promotion of the Gaelic Tongue of Ireland it is always helpful to step back and reflect.  The following “snapshot” of the past, present and future of the Irish Language is provided to us by Conradh na Gaeilge  and additional information can be found on their website which is linked below.

The Merthyr Rising of May and June 1831 took place when the coal miners and other working people took to the streets of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales in protest against unemployment and lowering wages. With cries of Caws a bara (cheese and bread) and I lawr â'r Brenin (down with the king) the protest spread throughout the area. Before the authorities regained control of the town through brutal force on 7 June the protesters effectively controlled Merthyr.

The Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association along with the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts of St. Anns, Cape Breton, are sponsoring the 2017 Festival of Cape Breton Fiddling. The Festival will be held August 19th - 20th, featuring workshops in Cape Breton Fiddling and Gaelic Step Dancing. 

This weekend saw 219 bands with 8,000 pipers from 15 nations take park in the World Pipe Band Championships in the Scottish city of Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu). The contest is now in its 70th year and some 35,000 people attended the two-day event. The Scottish Inveraray and District Pipe Band won the Grade 1 contest, beating Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from the north of Ireland into second place and St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band from Dublin who came third. Organisers gave thanks to every one who played, competed and came to support and watch the Championship.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is to issue its first polymer £10 note to the public on 4 October this year. It is to feature images of Scottish mathematician and astronomer Mary Somerville, her hometown of Burntisland in Fife, and two otters. Mary Fairfax Somerville (26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish mathematician, geographer and astronomer, who was born in 1780 in Jedburgh but her childhood home was at Burntisland in Fife. When she died in 1872, Mary Somerville was hailed by The Morning Post as "The Queen of Nineteenth-Century Science".

As previously reported there was a considerable amount of criticism pointed at the BBC programme Newsnight after an unfairly balanced item about the Welsh language was aired on Wednesday night.

Welsh language comes under attack in the BBC Newsnight programme and in this article in YN COMMMEEYS CELTIAGH - CELTIC NEWS MANNIN it reports that the unfair coverge has prompted a petition:

Newsnight: Welsh language coverage prompts a petition

Concern over a BBC Newsnight programme on the Welsh language and proposed changes has led to the launch of an on-line petition.

The initiator of the petition Huw Marshas says:

In this article in YN COMMEEYS CELTIAGH - CELTIC NEWS MANNIN looks at the issue of Manx territorial waters and the unwillingness of a weak Manx government to fight against UK bullying:

Thieves the UK were and they still are!

‘Mec Vannin put it diplomatically I will put it bluntly – COMIN AND DEFA sit on their arse!’

This article from YN COMMMEEYS CELTIAGH - CELTIC NEWS MANNIN points to the environmental damage and pollution caused by cruise ships:

Cruise liners - they're a filthy business

‘Some 20 million people board cruise ships every year. And while they might return to land with fond memories of umbrella drinks and shuffleboard, they leave a lot at sea. About a billion gallons (3.8 billion liters) of sewage, in fact.’

A deep feeling of pride in being honoured with Cornish bardship will be plain to see this year as 9 proud initiates, 2 of whom are from outside Cornwall, wait to take their place among the 500 or so existing members of the College of Bards of Gorsedh Kernow.