Emmett McIntyre's blog

The Irish Independent reports that the President of Ireland, Michael Higgins, Irish speaker and champion of of the Irish tongue, has visited the Scottish Hebrides island of Iona. "President Higgins was welcomed to the Island by Scottish Culture and External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslup who said the visit was a fitting way to celebrate Scotland's links to Ireland."

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), which represents all counties in the Province of Ulster, have announced a collaboration with the University of Ulster. The GAA is an athletic association of the sports of Hurling, Gaelic Football, Camogie and Handball. 

Breton, the Celtic language of Brittany, is the topic of an article on the language interest website "Freelang".  The article highlights the decades old campaign of discrimination against the Breton language by the French Government. Paris has refused to ratify the "The European Charter For Regional or Minority Languages" and by doing so deprive Breton speakers of the rights and priviledges protected by the Charter.

The London Daily Mail reports: "The New York Times sparked outrage on Twitter yesterday calling Murray an "English Tennis Player". The Mail continued: "..Alex Salmond (First Minister of Scotland) was accused of political opportunism after unfurling a Saltire (Tradional Scottish Flag of St. Andrew's Cross) behind David Cameron's head (British Prime Minister) in the wake of Andy Murray's historic Wimbledon victory. The move was politically sensitive because Scotland is planning to hold an Independence Referendum in Autumn 2014.

As reported on the website "forArgyll.com", the BBC Alba Gaelic Broadcasting Channel have announced an increase in funding of 1 million pounds for the coming year.  The channel offers a wide selection of Gaelic language programming and has been widely hailed as a force in the preservation and renewed growth of Scottish Gaelic. The announcement also highlighted statistics showing an increase in viewership for its Gaelic Language programming.  

The latest expression of Nationalist unrest on the Isle of Man (Ellen Vannin) is reported by the Celtic League News Service. Nationalist graffiti was sprayed on the residence of the Lieutenant Governor. The Celtic League's report includes the following: "The Governor is the last vestige of English Colonialism and despite calls over the years for a range of solutions to the 'Governor Problem', the anachronistic role continues."

Councillor Dick Cole, Leader of the Party For Cornwall (Mebyon Kernow) has congratulated the Truro City Council on the adoption of a Progressive Language Policy.  

Truro is the administrative centre of Cornwall and thus the advancement of Cornish language rights in the city is a significant step forward for the Cornish tongue.

The Mebyon Kernow give us the following from their web page: "It is our belief that the historic nation of Cornwall, with its own distinct identity, language and heritage, has the same right to self determination as Scotland and Wales."

The Nova Scotia Herald News has an article on the the 75th Anniversary celebrations of the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts; "Seventy five years of ceilidhs, milling frolics, fiddle playing and bagpiping certainly sounds like something to celebrate...the only college in North America devoted to the preservation of the language, culture, traditions and musical legacy of the Highland Scots..".

The web site "Show Me Wales" reports that the ITV series "Britains's Secret Homes" highlights the home of the founder of the Welsh speaking community in Argentina,  Michael Daniel Jones.

Language tensions spilled on to the Cricket pitch over the lack of respect for the Wesh language during a Cricket game.  As reported in the Western Telegraph, two players for Crymych walked off the field to protest remarks about the Welsh language made by members of visiting Lamphey: "Statements on the Crymych club Twitter page later that evening suggested that the players had walked off following criticism from the opposition over the batsmen's use of the Welsh language on the pitch."