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‘I STOOD AMAZED; FOR IN THE ISLE OF MAN OUR POOR ARE NOT NEGLECTED’

The words above are from the Manx poet T E Brown’s work ‘Bella Gorry’ but it seems these days if you find yourself poor or in debt you are the architect of your own misfortune. This propensity to blame-shift is not peculiar to our society just go on line type in a search and you will find academics are writing papers on the tendency to make the poor ‘the architects of their own misfortune'. They don't 'budget correctly' or plan for 'unforeseen misfortunes' etc.

One hundred years ago the First Dáil (Irish: An Chéad Dáil) was held in Dublin’s Mansion House on 21 January 1919. It came after the General Election of 14th December 1918. The Irish General Election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 general election which took place in Ireland. In 1918 the whole of Ireland was a part of the so-called United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and was represented in the British Parliament by 105 MPs. It was significant moment in modern Irish history.

“A major bank told a customer who wrote to it in Welsh to complain that some services were not available in her language that she should communicate with it in English rather than a “foreign” tongue.

Nia Lloyd, a classroom assistant from Wrexham in north Wales, wrote to HSBC pointing out that online services were not available in Welsh.
Customer support replied that her message was in a “foreign” language and asked her to resend it in English. Both Welsh and English are official languages in Wales.

Children have rallied outside the Irish parliament Dail Eireann this week calling for action on climate change. Green Ireland ie reports:

“Hundreds of young protesters rallied in front of the Dáil yesterday to call on the Irish Government to immediately address the growing threat of climate change.

The Children’s Rally for Climate Action organised by Climate Case Ireland (CCI) comes just days before a high profile climate case against the Irish Government in the High Court.

Bearing in mind the decision of the Manx Treasury to bring back proposals for Employed Persons Allowance (EPA) in May I thought it would be useful to remind ourselves of the difficulties some families face in the school holiday period (see media links below). Although the focus was on the lengthy summer break there are of course equally lengthy times such as the two weeks over Easter. Also this Xmas media reported higher food bank demand.

Benbecula (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn nam Fadhla) is an island of the Outer Hebrides (Na h-Eileanan Siar) off the west coast of Scotland. Lionacleit in Benbecula is one of more than 20 recorded sites of ancient woodland that once grew in the islands. Archaeologists have now found evidence of early human activity at a submerged prehistoric forest at Lionacleit. The Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion (SCAPE) Trust, a charity that works out of the University of St Andrews, was alerted to the remains by a local resident, Ann Corrrance Monk.

With food and fuel poverty an issue in Mann and with last summer's warning from the foodbank about the problems for children from poorer households when there were no school meals I found this initiative on child welfare by the Irish Times of interest (see link below).

Tributes are being paid to Dr Brian Stowell, who sadly passed away yesterday at the age of 82. He was highly regarded for all of the work that he undertook for Manx language and culture. Speaker of the House of Keys (Manx: Yn Kiare as Feed), which is the directly elected branch of the parliament of the Isle of Man, Juan Watterson, praised him for bringing depth and meaning to the Manx language. He was praised for his contributions to the Celtic Congress and the Celtic League Mannin Branch hailed his linguistic work.

Pro Choice supporters in Mann have welcomed the introduction of Abortion law reform legislation but in Ireland where similar changes to allow abortion were introduced women are still having difficulty accessing the service

‘Rebel Telly’ reporter Madeleine Johansson talks to People before Profits Adrienne Wallace about the situation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=W1LwXV6xNLs

Bernard Moffatt

Celtic League

The Irish government's decision to licence oil exploration licences in the Celtic Sea has been condemned by political and environmental groups who say it conflict with commitments to climate change targets:

“According to People Before Profit’s Brid Smith, today’s decision to grant the licence contrasts badly with Mr Bruton’s “lofty rhetoric on climate change”.