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NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Isle of Man Government AGENDA FOR CHANGE has got a three point plan:

1) Balance the budget
2) Protect the vulnerable
3) Grow the economy

The plan was cited to us by OFT when they responded to our concerns over the hike in Gas prices they said:

“One of the three key priorities of the current administration is to “Protect the Vulnerable” and the Council of Ministers and all Departments and Statutory Boards have this high on their agendas.”

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

Peter Crellin, Mec Vannin’s resident statistics 'Guru' (that’s when he’s not analysing the bizarre utterances from the Chamber of Commerce) has been number crunching Isle of Man income figures on the Mec Vannin Facebook pages.

We urge everyone who reads our CL post to go over to the Mec Vannin Facebook site and have a look at the statistics which I hasten to add are all based on government figures (no denying this then Allan!).

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

We have followed up correspondence to the Irish government about the marine vandalism cause by so called ‘super trawlers’ fishing of the West of the British Isles with a call to both the EU Commissioner for the Marine Environment and the UK government to act before these vessels do irreparable damage to both fish stocks and the overall marine eco-system.

The text of the correspondence is set out below:

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

Cracks have been found in graphite bricks which line the reactor core at the Hunterston B nuclear power station (picture) in Ayrshire.

EDF which operate the plant say the fault was detected during routine maintenance. They say:

"The level of cracking which is considered reasonable is far below anything which would affect the reactor's safe operation.

"It is accepted by our regulators and materials experts that cracks will occur in some of the bricks and that the core will lose some of its mass as part of the normal ageing process."

Significant gains are being made by the Irish Language in Ulster. The Tyrone Times is reporting that the advance of Gaelic medium education is continuing. Under the headline “The rise of Mid Ulster’s Gaelscoils is dramatically changing the face of local education, according to the latest figures from the Department of Education”, the article cites a 500% increase in the number of students enrolled in Irish language medium schools in some districts in County Tyrone over the past five years. This is the highest rate of increase in Northern Ireland.

In February of last year Transceltic reported on the significance of action taken by Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws to enforce the provisions of the “Welsh Language (Wales) Measure – 2011” as it applies to the private sector.

The resurgence of Gaelic culture and language in Nova Scotia serves as an inspiration in our efforts to preserve, protect and promote the Celtic culture of the Six Nations. We at Transceltic salute the efforts of the Gaelic Language Society of Halifax.

The following are excerpts from the web site of the The Gaelic Language Society of Halifax

Dear Friends, 

BZH New York expresses our dismay and pain regarding the horror of events that took place last night in Paris. 

There'll be a special concert at the Erin Arts Centre later this month, when Manx Gaelic singer Ruth Keggin teams up with Anna Czajkowska for a flute and piano recital.

Although originally from Poland, Anna (a private music teacher) now lives on the Isle of Man. Awarded a Master's Degree in music performance (piano), Anna has performed a wide variety of chamber music throughout both Europe and the USA, as a soloist and in partnership with various ensembles.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The second largest trawler in the world the 143 metre Margaris which can catch and process 250 tonnes of fish a day is in waters to the North West of Donegal.

I have been tracking the vessel all day as it meanders back and forth obviously enjoying steady catches because it has stayed in the one area for many hours.