Blogs

The Red Arrows are well known across the world as the public face of the Royal Air Force and are very popular on the Isle of Man, thrilling thousands of spectators with their speed, agility and precision.

In celebration of their 50th display season, Isle of Man Stamps will be releasing six stamps in a special anniversary pack in honour of the Red Arrows team, which is a core part of the Royal Air Force, employing pilots with previous combat experience.

It was announced this week that the new Irish Language Commissioner has been named to replace the outgoing Seán Ó Cuirreáin.  The new Commissioner, Rónán Ó Domhnaill, is a former political correspondent for Irish Television TG4 and Nuacht RTE.  The website Gaelport gives the following description of the new Commissioner: “ Mr. Rónán Ó Domhnaill, aged 38, is a native Irish speaker from An Cheathru Rua, Connemara, and is a political correspondent with Irish-language broadcast services TG4 and Nuacht RTE. “

Celtic language activists should not underestimate what has just happened.

The revival of interest in the Manx language has been an undoubted success, and during recent years a growing international awareness has led to an increasing number of individuals and delegations visiting the Isle of Man to discover the key to its success.

Our latest visitor was Deputy Darren Duquemin, a member of the States of Guernsey, Chairman of the Guernsey Language Commission and a member of the Island’s Culture and Leisure Department.

After the success of the first Manx Language App, Learn Manx, produced by Culture Vannin (formerly the Manx Heritage Foundation) with financial support from the local mobile phone business Sure (Isle of Man), a second App, Manx Songs and Rhymes, is now available to download on Google Play and the iStore.

The web site “This Is Cornwall” is reporting under the headline “More Than £1Million Spent on Cornish Funding”, that the Cornwall County Council are drafting an annual funding proposal to support the Celtic tongue of Cornwall.  Quoting from the article which describes past and current efforts by the Cornish County Council to fund the language: “More than £1Million has been spent since 2006 on promoting and developing the language that has almost disappeared.

As the Scottish anti-independence campaign crumbles United Kingdom (or ‘Greater England’ as it is now increasingly known) Prime Minister, David Cameron, decides to intervene to disastrous effect. Deciding that pressure should be put on those ‘troublesome Scots’ , as many English have always thought of them, UK Prime Minister Cameron has called for those living outside of Scotland to tell the Scottish people to vote against independence.

With Manx singers and musicians creating a growing awareness of local traditional music across the globe, Island vocalist Ruth Keggin has stepped into the spotlight, bringing with her a passion for both the language and the music, and also the launch of her debut album this month.

“When people watch us perform they are experiencing Celtic culture and I see that as the takeaway from our performance, that the audience is experiencing Celtic culture when they attend our performance”   Albannach’s Jamesie Johnston

A German social centre has banned a Scottish band ‘Oi Polloi’ because it performs in the Gaelic language as well as in English! The band was due to perform at the Strausberg Horte in eastern Germany on March 1st. This all came to light from the band themselves who called for a boycott of the music festival organised by a so called Left-Wing socio-cultural collective.