Blogs

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

It’s a National disgrace just days after Tynwald approved like a load of ‘nodding donkeys’ a £50 million give away to private sector business it has been revealed that education budgets have been cut.

Isle of Man newspapers, presumably using the access to information code with which they are becoming increasingly adept, reveal cuts at four of the five secondary schools, this despite stringent efficiencies that have already been imposed over recent years.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

Last week the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which has co-signed the ‘sweetheart’ deal which allows Manx Gas to charge consumers just about what it wants, told us:

‘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’

Well how high is ‘high’?

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

Not known for pulling her punches the Language Commissioner for Wales, Meri Huws (picture), has said that place names should enjoy the same protection as listed buildings.

She told BBC Wales that changes to historic place names should be banned by law and that certain names should be given added protection by being placed on a ‘statutory register’.

The Deputy Culture Minister in the parliament of Wales Ken Skates attempted to question the idea saying the idea would be very difficulty to deliver.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

At the annual Illiam Dhone commemoration I called for a greater emphasis to be placed by Manx nationalists on remembering those prominent in the political and cultural sides of the movement.

To this end later this month a talk will be given by Bob Carswell on the life and work of Colin Jerry (details from Mec Vannin).

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Celtic League has urged the Isle of Man government to make a further approach to the United Kingdom about returning ‘The Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles’ to the Island.

The Chronicles are currently held by the British Library and an attempt by the Isle of Man five years ago which was supported by a number of politicians and the local newspaper group proved abortive.

The Celtic festival Halloween is celebrated on the night of 31st October and 1st November every year and is associated with the Celtic feast of Kala-Goañv (Breton), Calan Gwaf (Cornish), Samhain (Irish), Sauin (Manx Gaelic), Samhuinn (Scottish Gaelic) and Calan Gaeaf (Welsh). In the Isle of Man it is the date of the celebration known as Hop tu Naa. Traditionally it is a time of year when the worlds of the living and the dead were seen to be at their closest.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Manx Museum and National Trust (aka Manx National Heritage) publicised the opening of a new ‘Kingdom of Man’ gallery at the House of Manannan in Peel.

However it’s not what is on display that’s significant it’s what is missing. The Museums blurb accompanying the launch says:

What would the Druids think of this?  The Otherworld is opening tonight in Japan.

Halloween, the modern celebration of the Celtic new year of Samhain, has taken hold in Japan and according to multiple media reports is now experiencing explosive growth expecting to generate the equivalent of over 1 Billion dollars in related sales in 2015.

As the celebration of Hop tu Naa looms on the horizon, celebrated academic Professor Ronald Hutton returned to the Isle of Man to speak about his extensive research on the subject to a packed auditorium at the Manx Museum lecture theatre.

Delving into his own studies from the early 1990s, Professor Hutton spoke eloquently about this subject and his understanding of its development over time, but remaining sensitive to his Manx audience.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

To mark the 150th anniversary since Welsh settlements were established in Patagonia both the BBC National Orchestra Wales (BBC NOW) and the National Youth Choir of Wales (NYCW) is currently touring Patagonia.

The National Orchestra Wales has this week been working with communities throughout Patagonia, in a week-long residency marking the establishment of Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in the Province.