Blogs

In today's Irish Times, Ruadhán Mac Cormaic Foreign Affairs Correspondent, reports on the story of Nadia Murad a member of the Yazidi community. She tells of when in early August 2014, Islamic State gunmen arrived in the village of Kocho, near Sinjar in northern Iraq. Nadia Murad tells of the horrific events that unfolded under the evil rule of Islamic State also known as Isis.

A very rare map that was found stuffed up a chimney during a house renovation in the Scottish city of Aberdeen has been saved. The item was in extremely poor condition and appeared to be a little more than a bundle of rags when discovered. However, the finder suspected it might be something special and gave it to the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh to investigate. Conservation experts set to work in a painstaking and delicate restoration process in what they have described as one of the most complex ever conservation tasks they have undertaken.

Welsh wildlife campaigners have welcomed the Scottish government announcement last week that the Eurasian beaver is to be formally recognised as a native species, four centuries after being hunted to extinction in Scotland. Lead partners in the Scottish Beaver Trial, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) hailed the decision as a major success story for conservation.

It seems that there is little else left to say about the incompetence of the Scottish Labour Party. This is the Party that lost 40 of the 41 seats they held in Scotland in the 2015 United Kingdom general election. The Scottish National Party (SNP) won all but three seats in Scotland in a remarkable landslide during that election. Since then Scottish Labour has stumbled from one crises to another. In the Scottish Parliament elections in 2016 it lost a third of its seats, dropping from 37 to 24.

Tourism Ireland have reported that Ireland’s tourism sector enjoyed a record year in 2016. Latest estimates show that 10.5 million people will have visited Ireland by the end of 2016, an increase of 11% on 2015. It takes annual tourism-related revenues to a total of €5.4 billion. Projections suggest the figure is likely to increase further in 2017. Tourism Ireland has stated its intention to target audiences in North America and mainland Europe with marketing campaigns next year. 

Ireland remains a partitioned country which is still partly under foreign rule. It has long been the objective of those who support a united Ireland to build support for achieving Irish reunification by peaceful and democratic means. Now a discussion document titled 'Towards a United Ireland' has been launched. Stressing the economic advantage Northern Ireland Minister for Finance Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said reunification would mean a benefit of £35bn between now and 2025.

St. Andrew's Day (Scottish Gaelic: Là Naomh Aindrea) is Scotland's official national day. St Andrew has been the patron saint of Scotland from at least the mid tenth century and legend says long before. He was born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee in the early 1st century and is the brother of St Peter. According to the Gospel of St John, Andrew was a follower of the preacher John the Baptist and then became a disciple of Jesus who he recognised as the Messiah. The name Andrew is Greek in origin.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will visit Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) on Monday. She is seeking to expand business, cultural and political links between Scotland and Ireland. During the trip to Dublin the First Minister will visit the Scottish Government's Investment and Innovation Hub which was established to build on collaborative work between Scottish and Irish companies. Nicola Sturgeon said: "Scottish exports to Ireland are worth £1.125 billion and Irish investment into Scotland currently supports more than 6,000 jobs".

News from the Celtic League:

We reported recently on the standoff between Native Americans and there supporters over the construction of a major pipeline from South Dakota to Canada (link):

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1152333184815441&id=805941286121301&substory_index=0

In the latest salvo in the battle aginst Dublin’s malevolent attitude towards Gaelic, Ireland’s President Michael Higgins has called on senior officials in the public service to uphold legislation guaranteeing the right of Irish speakers to interact with the State in their own language.