Blogs

News from the Celtic League:

Celtic News reported periodically on the controversy surrounding the proposed new airport at Nante (Notre Dame des Landes) plans for which were abandoned this year.

Nantes is of course the old Capital of Brittany and was an integral part of the country prior to its ‘hiving off’ by the French to the department of Loire-Atlantique.

News from the Celtic League:

Emmanuel Macron President of France strives to portray a new image of French politics but when he turned up in Noumea, Kanaky (New Caledonia) earlier this month nothing had changed.

Old style French colonialism holds sway as the territory is about to vote later this year on self determination and the political elite in Paris want the ‘status quo’ to prevail.

Gŵyl Ganol Haf  Dinbych - Denbigh Mid Summer festival organisers have decided to make this years festival a month long event. Starting on June 1 of June the decision to extend the length of the festival is to give everyone the opportunity to see the best of Denbigh (Welsh: Dinbych). This will be the fifteenth year of the festival which has a range of planned activities. It is non-profit with most of the over 30 scheduled events being free and where there is an entry fee it is to contribute towards the running of the festival.

News from the Celtic League:

Campaign groups are expressing concern that deaths in prison are not being investigated ‘quickly or rigorously enough’ according to a report for BBC Cymru this week:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44072973

With the Year of Our Island initiative encouraging everyone to get out more and explore the Isle of Man, there's a great opportunity this month to discover more about a rare, architectural gem in the south of the Island and its valuable contribution to rural life.

Kentraugh Mill will be open once again as part of the annual National Mills Weekend, which celebrates the remarkable history of milling heritage in its many forms and includes both windmills and watermills across the length and breadth of the British Isles.

News from the Celtic League:

Within weeks of being elected President Emmanuel Macron was being lowered onto a French Navy ballistic missile submarine ‘Le Terrible’ of the coast of Brittany. Its reported he was present on the vessel when it dived and simulated a missile launch. Macron ‘a la’ Trump also made sure his perilous descent had an airing on his twitter feed (see pic). This man is more a ‘showman’ than a Statesman

This year’s National Famine Commemoration will take place on Saturday, 12thMay 2018 in University College Cork.  The event will be hosted by University College Cork in collaboration with Cork City Council. The focal point of the 2018 commemoration will be the launch of The Great Irish Famine Online. A replica mud cabin - An Bothán -  has been built on the grounds of University College Cork as part of the National Famine Commemoration event.

Negotiations have now concluded for the community purchase of  the Scottish island of Ulva. The ownership will transfer on 21 June and follows negotiations that were launched about a year ago. North West Mull Community Woodland Company have bought the island after receiving £4.4m from Scottish Land Fund, financed by the Scottish Government, to make the purchase.

The flag of Brittany is called the Gwenn-ha-du, which means white and black in Breton. On Friday the largest Breton flag in the world was laid out on the ground of Roazhon Park, a stadium in Rennes, Brittany. Roazhon is the Breton name for Rennes. The Gwenn-ha-du is 45, 75 meters long and 30.5 meters wide giving a total area of ​​1 395 m2.

News from the Celtic League:

NATO's military exercise ‘Joint Warrior’ held last month over a two week period appears to have passed off without incident although in the past the exercises have provoked protests from fishermen and environmentalists.

Joint Warrior exercise are usually held twice yearly however this year apparently the Highlands and West of Scotland will get a respite because with NATO forces committed fully to the defence of Western Europe it appears they will not have enough capacity to ‘play soldiers’ in the Autumn.