Blogs

The Celtic League report that the Kernow (Cornwall) branch of the League have sent a letter to Eric Pickles MP, The Secretary of State for Communities, calling on the British Government to include Cornish "..as a distinct group under the terms of the Europe Framework Convention For the Protection of National Minorities".

The English newspaper "The Telegraph", the principal mouthpiece of the British establishment, reports under the headline "Real Danger of Scottish Independence Says Cabinet Minister" on increasing apprehension in Whitehall at the prospect of an independent Scotland. 

A proposal by the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) was in the news this month when it was reported that the Mr. Leo Varadkar, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport  announced his support for a scheme put forwad by the Gaelic League to introduce road signage that gives equal treatment to place names in Irish and English.  In actual fact the new design will give Irish precedence as the place name in Irish will continue to be placed above the place name in English but for the first time both will be in same text and in lettering of equal size.

The Kernow Branch of the Celtic League has written an open letter calling for a formal inquiry into what they allege is the “mismanagement” of an historic site in West Cornwall by English Heritage and Natural England.

The letter has been sent to a number of organisations and politicians involved with the protection and maintenance of Penwith Moors in West Cornwall and the ancient monuments on the site

The Kernow Branch of the Celtic League has reported holding a successful AGM at the end of October. Joint Convenor of the Branch, Mike Chappell, sets out below some of the issues that were raised at the meeting.

An Kesunyans Keltek Scoren Kernewek – the Cornwall Branch of the Celtic League – has held a very successful Annual General Meeting in Redruth.

The Party For Cornwall (Mebyon Kernow) is poised for an electoral breakthrough in representation on Cornwall County Council.  In an article on the Mebyon Kernow (MK) party conference held in the Cornish town of Truro, the website "This is Cornwall" quotes the noted Cornish historian Dr. Bernard Deacon. Dr Deacon is based at the Institute of Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter and is the author of several works on Cornish identity,  including "Mebyon Kernow and Cornish Nationalism". Dr. Deacon stated:

The Irish Independent in an article on it's web page under the headline "The Number Of Children Learning Through Irish has Trebbled in Two Decades", report on a surge in demand for placement at Irish language medium schools (Gaelscoil).  This development is a pleasing sign of the steady progress being made in reclaiming for the language its rightful place.  It is those that are now children who will seize back all that was taken from Ireland, but first we must take back the tongue.

Hello. How are you.  Do you speak Cornish ?

The web site "This is Cornwall" reports that a "census" of Cornish speakers will be conducted now through November 22, 2013 by "MAGA - Cornish Language Partnership". A spokesman for the organisation is quoted as follows: "With no census question (UK Government Census) and no other method of recording usage of the language, we are all groping in the dark for answers. Five years ago MAG conducted a survey which, although not comprehensive, gave us some very useful information. But five years on we feel it is time for a new survey."

Alarm bells are sounding over fresh evidence of erosion of support by the Irish Government for the restoration of the Irish language.  Put together, the recent moves by Dublin policy makers, combined with eroding support by the government for Irish language instruction in public schools, lends support to claims by Irish language activists that Dublin is waging guerilla warfare against the ancient tongue of Ireland.

Earlier this year Manx singer Ruth Keggin and local fiddle player Tom Callister travelled to picturesque Western Norway as part of a musical collaboration with Norwegian singer Margit Myhr and hardanger fiddle player Erlend Apneseth. But during November these talented Norwegian musicians will be travelling to the Island to work with their Manx counterparts, providing a unique opportunity to hear the distinctive sound of traditional Norwegian music hand in hand with Manx melodies and songs at the Erin Arts Centre in Port Erin.