Eibhlin O'Neill's blog

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

Our report on the film to be released this year (The Siege of Jadotville) on the Irish UN contribution to the Congo peace-keeping mission has provoked quite a bit of interest and an extremely good take up in terms of page reach.

It was the first of what was to be over fifty years of peace-keeping in which Ireland’s Defence Forces have gained a reputation for professionalism and even-handedness

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The United States Ambassador to Ireland recently visited Trinity College to view progress of a major project which will see four of the Library’s most important early medieval Irish manuscripts conserved, digitised and made available online to the public and world of scholarship for the first time.

The work is being funded by a US financial institution and it will undoubtedly through the interactivity associated with its roll out alongside other manuscripts ensure Trinity and Dublin becomes a focus for both education and research on this period.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

A film to be released this year will celebrate the heroic defence by Irish UN peacekeeping forces of the town of Jadotville in Katanga (see link):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jadotville

The peacekeepers, men of A Company, 35th Battalion of the Defence Forces hitherto have not had proper recognition for what they achieved as UN soldiers in the Congo in September 1961.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

Crooked financial institutions, dodgy businessmen and a government in thrall to them sounds almost like Mann today but it was Ireland before the banking collapse.

In this article Eibhlin O'Neill says despite inquiries many believe the truth is still being concealed.

Paradoxically the Manx government were recently in Ireland on a ‘fact-finding’ mission over the plans for their EDF what they didn’t say was that a large percentage of Ireland’s economic development funds are wasted.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Corrib Gas field started to pump gas on to shore at the North Mayo terminal built by Shell.

The project one of the largest undertaken in the Irish state was also one of the most contentious. Protest initially passive eventually turned to violence and that violence was on both sides but with an overwhelming emphasis on Shell its security staff and the Irish State. Large numbers of police were deployed and in the end also the military to confront those in the small community who opposed the project.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

I never had contact with Veronica Guerin the murdered Irish journalist mentioned in an earlier post but as General Secretary and Director of Information (a role I finally relinquish in March this year) over the years I got to know a good few journalists in newsroom in Belfast and Dublin and farther afield.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Isle of Man a Tax haven? It was all in the murky mists of past times according to Liberal Vannin’s Kate Beecroft thirty years ago everyone’s terribly professional now (here’s the clip):

http://www.manxradio.com/…/lib-van-does-not-think-island-i…/

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

Remember David Cameron proving his green credentials by having a ‘photo op’ driving a sledge pulled by huskies in the Arctic some years ago.

Well the good news is that ‘Dave’ is still green!

As of today the United Kingdom government start a process which will create a marine reserve as large as the United Kingdom and whilst its goods news the downside is it will not be in waters close to home.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

We are still attempting to locate rare footage of inter-Celtic involvement in the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Easter rising that came to light some years ago. This year’s 100th anniversary gives it a new impetus.

The Easter Rising had an influence however far beyond Ireland and indeed the other Celtic countries as Australian historian Daniel Leach recorded in an article some years ago. He said:

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Xmas visit by Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and Irelands Defence Minister, Simon Coveney, to Irish peacekeepers deployed as part of the United Nations force on the Golan Heights, between Syria and Israel underlines Ireland’s contribution to world peace

Here’s a link to the background to the visit and the deployment (with video) at the Irish Independent: