Blogs

If you're looking for a gift with a local flavour which also helps the on-going work of an Island charity, then here's the opportunity to pop into any branch of Crossroads Care to pick up your copy of next year's calendar and their Christmas cards.

With the festive season on the horizon and the uplifting sound of music and song to warm our winter evenings, there's an opportunity to enjoy a magical, Manx Christmas at the Gaiety Theatre in Douglas.

Manannan's Winterfest, which made a successful debut at the same venue last year, will showcase a range of talent from across the Island (and one or two from further afield) who will represent a cross-section of top performers from a number of genres.

It is said that the Cornish have a long history of expressing their distinctive identity, with a steadily increasing identification and promotion of a Celtic dimension since the late nineteenth century, and there's no better way to experience this than the annual festival known as Lowender Peran.

MEDIA RELEASE FROM CULTURE VANNIN

Who will you choose as your Manx cultural hero?

November is the time to get your nominations together for the ‘Reih Bleeaney Vanannan’ Manx cultural award. Named after the seagod Manannan, this annual award is made to an individual or group who has made the greatest contribution to the Island’s culture. A small group of judges from various Manx cultural organisations gather together in December to make the decision, with the winner usually announced in January.

The Celtic League have an interesting article on the new inquest about to take place in Cornwall on the sinking of the Breton trawler Bugaled Breizh. The League has long campaigned on the issue of the dangers posed to Motor Fishing Vessels (MFVs) by military submarine activity. The Celtic League has monitored and recorded possible accidents between fishing vessels and military submarines over many years and has estimated that no less than 20 boats have been lost together with the lives of over 150 fishermen.

Cooish 2019 – Press Release

The Cooish Manx Language Festival sees a number of events over the 1st and 2nd of November that enables people to enjoy and use Manx Gaelic.

The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in interest towards the language and throughout the year there are events where both young and old can use some Manx.

The Cooish provides an ideal opportunity for everyone to engage with, speak a little (or a lot of Manx) and find out more about this remarkable cultural asset that we have in the Isle of Man.

On the 25th November 2019 at Truro Crown Court there is to be a new two week legal inquest to establish the facts behind the sinking of the Breton fishing vessel, the Bugaled-Breizh (Sons of Brittany).

One of the sons of the lost fishermen will also be there to testify.

The five-strong crew of the Bugaled Breizh drowned when it went down off the Cornish coast in January 2004.

Crew members' families claim a submarine was responsible, but that has been denied by British authorities and rejected by French courts.

All will be aware that local tax payers are being forced to underwrite and pay for the massed tourism which hits Kernow each year and even the Chief Constable, Shaun Sawyer has pointed out that it is simply not fair that local people should have to pay to provide extra policing (and other) services to the tens of thouands of holiday makers.

Now Police Commissioner Alison Hernandez has gone to Westminster with a delegation of councillors, MPs and police representatives from across the police force area to hand in a bid for extra funding.

With new and exciting ideas in the pipeline for the redevelopment of the basement displays in the Manx Museum, it will bring to a close the much-loved Folklife Gallery, which has been on permanent display since the 1950s and remains largely unchanged.

The Folklife Gallery is a gentle reminder of a bygone age on the Isle of Man, evoking memories of a mainly rural setting.

Interesting article from the Celtic League about Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's recent meeting with UK PM Boris Johnson. More specifically the location of the meeting which was at Thornton Manor close to Capenhurst. Capenhurst was the site of a past shady British surveillance operation to monitor communications between the UK and Ireland. Including routine Irish diplomatic exchanges and commercial business deals. Celtic League article below:

"VARADKAR JOHNSON MEETING - SOMEONE HAD A SENSE OF HUMOUR!