Blogs

There has been increased interest in the Isle of Man (Manx: Mannin) recently about Rushen Abbey. Rushen Abbey was founded in 1134 by Monks of the Sauvignac Order on land granted to them by Óláfr Guðrøðarson (died 29 June 1153) who was a twelfth-century King of the Isles. The Kingdom of the Isles, also known as the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, comprised the Hebrides, the islands of the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Man from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD.

I’m reading about this Manx Radio report on the latest Climate Change Coalition (CCC) foray and humming the tune of Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ to myself. You know the one with the line; ‘you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows’:

https://www.manxradio.com/…/momentum-is-building-says-envi…/

Obviously the Dylan analogy is a little awry (check Weathermen’ on Wiki)’.

Local quartet Drogh Yindys was selected to represent the Isle of Man at the annual Pan Celtic International Song Contest in Letterkenny, County Donegal, during the local heat Arrane son Mannin at the Masonic Hall in Peel recently.

Robert Burns was born in the scottish village of  Alloway (Scottish Gaelic Allmhaigh) on January 25, 1759. The eldest of the seven children of  William Burnes (1721–1784), a tenant farmer from Dunnottar in the Mearns, and Agnes Broun (1732–1820), the daughter of a Kirkoswald tenant farmer. His parents ensured that their son received a relatively good education.  He died at the age of 37 on 21 July 1796 and his Mausoleum is at St Michael’s churchyard in Dumfries (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Phris). Throughout his life he was a practising poet and wrote many poems, lyrics and other pieces.

Isle of Man News and Politics host, James Corrin, sends me a link. I thought my reading tastes were wide ranging what with The Star (of Lebanon) and the Finsbury Communist but James supplies a much more exoitic link, ‘The Nepali Times’.

Nepal to us is more associated with twinned towns, mountain holidays and overseas aid but it seems it's also in the arena of ‘tax twinning’ or dodging.
It’s apparently a land of hidden money as well as hidden mystical ‘paradise’ (no pun).

Good for David Cretney MLC for keeping the issue of child poverty centre stage although whether his efforts will have any impact on this selfish government is another matter

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm…

The usual depressing remarks from some inhuman beasts in our society in some of the comments below the story show just what sort of ‘pond life’ this Island plays host to.

I recalled recently after hearing of the death of Brian Stowell my attendance with him at the Connolly Association (CA) conference in Liverpool in 1985 on the Irish sea its militarisation and pollution for which I was a speaker. Brian was a member of the Connolly Association and had high regard for its General Secretary Desmond Greaves - although having said that everyone had high regard for Desmond who was an infectiously charming ‘radical’.

Wick (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Ùige) is a town in Caithness (Gallaibh), in the far north of Scotland. In common with other parts of the country, many in the town stayed awake to welcome in the New Year.  One being Charlie Williamson, who had gone out of the door of his house after the bells sounded at midnight. It was then that he saw a strange light overhead. He is convinced he spotted a UFO and apparently he wasn’t the only one to witness the phenomenon.   “It was like a very large circle with lights.

The Celtic League have written to the Council of Europe ‘watchdog’ on Police and Prison services making it aware of a recent case in the Isle of Man which raised concerns about the circumstances of the detention at CPHQ of a person with ‘complex mental health problems’.

“Hugh Chetwynd
Head of Division
CPT
Council of Europe
Strasbourg-Cedex
France

23rd January 2019

Police detention Isle of Man Court criticism

A New Year and more Brexit. Howard Quayle MHK Chief Minister (aka ‘The Great Man’) has been setting ot his vista of the Brexit future.