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News from the Celtic League:

Sticking with the Celtic music theme and this time Breizh - but not Lorient - actu.fr describes Nolwenn Arzel as ‘the new rising star of the Celtic harp in Brittany’. She gives a performance this evening in a church in Paimpol on the north coast of Brittany.

It’s a long way to go so fortunately I have an excellent Youtube piece of her work at this link...enjoy!

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EoNpYK3A3o

Image: Nolwenn Arzel

The ‘Festival du chant de marin’ (festival of the song of the sea) has been held at Paimpol, Breizh over the past few days and active at it were volunteers collecting funds to support the work of SOS Méditerranée. It's one of a number of charities working to assist migrants attempting the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean from North Africa. Since EU support was withdrawn private bodies such as this are the only source of assistance for migrants in distress at sea.

The forty ninth edition of the Lorient Interceltique Festival will this year focus on celebrating the region of Galicia, recognised for its language, culture and traditions, with a strong Manx contingent alongside during the ten day event.

A major new poll has revealed that Scottish voters would back independence and they want another referendum on the issue in the next two years. The Ashcroft poll finds that excluding those who said they did not know or would not vote, that 52% to 48% would vote for an independent Scotland. Such a result in another independence referendum would mark the biggest shock to the United Kingdom since Irish independence a century ago. At the present time the "so called" United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Mannin (Isle of Man) Branch of the Celtic League recently had an item reporting on an article in the investigative news site 'The Ferret' about the dangers posed by ageing nuclear reactors (see below). Some of which are located within Celtic nations or close to them, such as those on the Irish Sea coastline. The danger posed by nuclear power though is not just posed by another potential disastrous Chernobyl type accident, and as the Celtic League report points out this is a real possibility.

News from the Celtic League:
Celtic League have received a reply from the MOD (RAF) to our query about the extent of training for foreign pilots at RAF Valley. The issue is focus and led to a question in the Manx Parliament Tynwald about the use of the Manx Civil Airport at Ronaldsway under an agreement with RAF Valley for training of aircrew.

The Manx Chief Minister originally told the Celtic League that they could not identify if foreign aircrew used the facility under the agreement which he bizarrely asserted assisted the training of Manx Air Traffic Controllers.

In 2017 the ancient remains of a Celtic woman buried in a coffin made from a hollowed out tree was discovered in Zurich, Switzerland. It is thought that she died about 2,200 years ago. Dressed in fine clothes and adorned with jewellery, it is clear she was someone of high standing. Since the discovery  work has been undertaken by the city of Zurich's archaeology department to discover more about this Iron Age Celtic woman's life in 200 BC.

Gorsedh Kernow - the Gorsedh of the Bards of Cornwall - exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall. The tradition of preserving Celtic history and culture through poetry, song, dance, music, art and spoken word stretches back to the story tellers – the Bards of ancient Celtic countries. The bards of Gorsedh Kernow, who have each sworn allegiance to Cornwall as a Celtic nation, help maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall by studying their own Cornish history and the Cornish language and literature, art, music, dance and sport.

News from Celtic League:

Dalkey Island in Ireland is an uninhabited island located c. 16 km (9.9 mi) south of Dublin and 3 km (1.9 mi) south of Dún Laoghaire harbour. This item from the Celtic League (below) following an article in Green News, reports on some success in the fortunes for the Arctic Tern in its Celtic breeding grounds. With its long tail streamers and general shape the Arctic tern is often known as the 'sea swallow'. 

 'TRIUMPH OF THE TERN’ - A GOOD NEWS STORY

News from the Celtic League: