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When Anglophone bigotry raised its ugly head at Swinton Insurance Company they were quite correctly slammed by the Welsh Language Commissioner. As reported in the Welsh newspaper the Daily Post “A major insurance company interfered with an individual's freedom to use Welsh, the Language Commissioner ruled.

A personal view of the England Team and the World Cup written by a Cornish activist and member of the Celtic League.

‘That time approaches…..’

A personal view of the World Cup by a Cornish activist and member of the Celtic League

"I walked into the supermarket to buy some groceries today and my heart dropped.

A sea of red and white greeted me inviting me to support ‘your team’ with basket after basket of tat adorned with the emblem of St George - flags, hats, mugs, T shirts, footballs, banners, flip flops and other assorted paraphernalia.

The Elections for the European Parliament taking place across Europe at this time certainly does bring some strange characters crawling out of the woodwork. None more so that the highly unrepresentative Christian Party of Wales. The leader of this Party has been raving about the ancient symbol of Wales, the Red Dragon which is on the Welsh Flag. Hold your breath and read this rant from Party leader the Rev George Hargreaves as reported in the Huffington Post:

This is the very symbol of the devil described in the Book of Revelation 12:3. This is nothing less than the sign of Satan, the devil, Lucifer, that ancient serpent who deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Every year, close to the time of the northern summer solstice (Manx Gaelic: shass greiney souree) hundreds participate in Shooyl ny Skeeraghyn (Walk of the Parish’s). This is the Manx Parish Walk (sponsored by Manx Telecom) which passes through every parish on Mannin (Isle of Man). It covers a distance of 85 miles (137 km). A Parish is a church unit of land that makes up a division of a diocese. 

The Scottish National Party has condemned efforts by anti-independence campaigners to foster division ahead of Scotland’s referendum vote. SNP Westminster Leader Angus Robertson MP who is half-German and was born in Wimbledon, London said: 

History does repeat itself.  The London Times gleefully reported over the weekend that English residents of Scotland will nullify the will of a majority of the Celtic residents of Scotland in the upcoming vote on independence.  

Little can be added to the headline accompanying the Sunday Times article titled “English Army Scents Victory – The Future of Scotland in the Union Hangs on the Knife Edge – And the Nation’s 400,000 English Residents Have the Final Say”. 

The Celebration of Ireland’s International bestselling historical crime mystery series The Sister Fidelma Series is taking place at Cashel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, from Friday, September 12, to Sunday, September 14, 2014. There are now twenty-five in the series which have been published in 18 languages. They are mainly set in 7th Century Ireland where the heroine is investigator Fidelma, sister of King Colgú of Munster. With her companion, a Saxon, Brother Eadulf, she is an advocate of the Brehon Laws of ancient Ireland.

The author of the Sister Fidelma series is Peter Tremayne the pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis. Under his own name he has published 34 books covering many aspects of Celtic history and culture. As Peter Tremayne, he has also published over 50 novels and over 90 short stories. Amongst his many international fans are those from the Celtic nations. His Sister Fidelma stories have been published in a number of Celtic languages. Those in Breton are Koulm ar Marv (The Dove of Death) and Absolvenn dre Vuntr (Absolution by Murder). Later this year a further book in Breton Kegid d’ar Gousperoú (Hemlock at Vespers) will be published by ABER.  

Ar Redadeg is a relay race that takes place every two years across the nation of Brittany. It is designed as a celebration, promotion and to raise funds for the Breton language. There are only six Celtic languages spoken in the world today- Breton, Cornish, Welsh, Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic. Breton is now the only Celtic language spoken on continental Europe. 

The government has given a nod to demands that Welsh Medium education become universally available in Wales.  But the latest delay in action by the government of First Minister Carwyn Jones has not satisfied language activists. 

Plaid Cymru (the Party of Wales) MEP Jill Evans has called for a Europe wide ban on the use of Zero-hours contracts. A Zero hours contract is a contract of employment that allows employers to assert that they have no obligation to provide work for an employee but that the employee agree to be available for work as and when required. For the majority of the working population such an arrangement means that those with ongoing financial commitments and a family to support face unpredictable hours and earnings.