Eibhlin O'Neill's blog

In this article in Yn Commeeys Celtiagh - Celtic League Mannin it is reported that Denis Halliday, a former Irish UN official is to return the Presidents Medal he had recieved at Ireland's NUI university in Galway in the west of Ireland. This is in protest at the award of an honorary degree by the University to former Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Enda Kenny. Denis Halliday's actions are due to what he sees as Enda Kenny's failure to protect the neutrality and peacekeeping ethic of the Irish Defence Forces: 

Ireland has joined a growing list of countries that ban the use of wild animals in circuses. Many Irish local authorities already do not allow public land to be used by circuses featuring wild animals. Michael Creed, Irish Minister for Agriculture has signed new regulations which bans the use of wild animals in circuses and which will come into effect from 1 January 2018. The Minister said:

Wild Lights at Dublin Zoo is festival of light that is on from 3rd November 2017 until 7th January 2018. An enchanted lantern trail has been designed with beautifully crafted, giant colourful lanterns and illuminated sculptures inspired by wildlife. Silk lanterns will include those in the form of a pride of lions, orangutans, tigers, giraffe and monkeys that will light up the skyline. This festival of light also has a Chinese theme with displays of a 16-metre high porcelain elephant tower and a 30-metre long Chinese dragon.

The construction of a 40 metre high wind turbine has been halted near a Neolithic cairn in Co Down (Irish: Contae an Dúin) in the northeast of Ireland. The development has been paused for 28 days due to fears that the development would have a visual impact on the integrity of the 5,000-year old site and was in breach of planning policy. The Neolithic Round Cairn on Knock Iveagh, a hill outside Rathfriland (Irish: Ráth Fraoileannin), dates back to beyond 3000BC. Measuring 100ft in diameter and 10ft tall it was used as a burial place and for ritual. 

This news item from Yn Commeeys Celtiagh - Celtic News Mannin is about the announcement that Catherine Corless, who has done so much to expose the scandal surrounding the death and burial of almost 800 children and babies at a ‘mother and baby home’ at Tuam, County Galway in the west of Ireland has been awarded the Bar of Ireland Human Rights Award 2017. The home for unmarried mothers and their children operated between 1925 and 1961 in Tuam.

A world record price has been paid for one of the last known letters to have been penned on the Titanic. Written to his mother on 13 April 1912 by American businessman and passenger Oscar Holverson, it fetched £126,000 at auction at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son. He was travelling on Titanic with his wife, Mary. She survived when the Titanic sank but Oscar Holverson died. When his body was recovered the letter was found inside a pocket book. The letter still has the sea water stains and the mark of the White Star shipping line.

The coastal town of Newcastle (An Caisleán Nua) in the northeast of Ireland witnessed a dramatic rescue yesterday. A Minke whale had become stranded on a sandbank close to the promenade. Concerned locals watched on helplessly at the plight of the distressed animal. Then John Lowry came to the rescue. A commercial diver, he put on his dry suit and told one of the onlookers to phone the Coastguard. 

The Dingle Peninsula (Irish: Corca Dhuibhne) is a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean and is in County Kerry ( Contae Chiarraí)) in the south-west of Ireland. Its stunning Atlantic coastline, mountains and lakes make this area among the most scenic in Ireland. The area is rich in history, with many internationally recognised sites of importance. A significant number of ancient monuments are located in the area around the valley of Loch an Dúin on the eastern side of the Conor Pass.

The decision by the head of An Garda Síochána (Ireland's police) Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan, to retire with immediate effect has been welcomed by many. Despite, Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar telling the Dail in June that he and his government had confidence in the Garda commissioner, she had faced several opposition calls for her to stand down. The Garda has been mired in a number of controversies.

Ireland’s seabed territory is one of the largest in Europe, and more than 10 times Ireland’s land mass. Porcupine Bank is an area of the Irish shelf, on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 120miles (200 kilometres) west of Ireland. A recent expedition of Irish waters by the Marine Institute have discovered cold water coral reefs at previously unexplored depths along the Porcupine Bank.