ALBA: AN COMANN CEILTEACH

BREIZH: AR C’HEVRE KELTIEK

CYMRU: YR UNDEB CELTAIDD

ÉIRE: AN CONRADH CEILTEACH

KERNOW: AN KESUNYANS KELTEK

MANNIN: YN COMMEEYS CELTIAGH

� Gaelic Scotland and the Wars of Independence 2

� C. Troadec: We’ll Build Breizh!

� Osian Jones, Language Campaigner, Jailed

� 20 Year Strategy for Irish Language 2010-2030

� Radyo an Gernewegva a grevha an taves kewsys

� Ancient Cornish Sites Cleaned Up

� £100M VAT Bombshell for Mannin

� Celtic League at Llywelyn III Cilmeri Commemoration 2009

No. 145 Spring 2010 €4.00 Stg£3.00

2 Carn

Alba

Ma bhiodh tu ann an Alba am bliadhna seo,bidh thu gu math eòlach air “HomecomingScotland”. Tha cuid ag ràdh gur ecaitheamh-airgid, cuid eile ag ràdh gur edìreach rud gòrach, cuid eile a’ gearain nacheil sinn a’ ruigsinn Seumaca, Pacastan agusmar sin air adhart. Fuirich mionaid!Seumaica is Pacastan? Uill, ma leughadh tuleabhar-fòn ann an Kingston, tha nasloinnidhean gu math Albannach! Nuair atha na daoine seo a’ bruidhinn mu Pacastan,tha iad a’ ciallachadh na coimhearsnachdPhacastanach ann an Alba, agus naceangailtean aca ris na teaghlaichean aca.Sin rud caran eadar-dhealaichte. Uill, ‘smise cynic, agus tha mi a’ crèidsinn gu bheilan urram air Aimearaga-a-Tuath, Àstrailia7c air sgàth gur iad dùthchannan beartach,agus tha airgead gu leòr aig nateaghlaichean Albannach airson ticead-phleana. Leis an fhirinn innse, ged a bheilginealachd Albannach gu leòr aig naSeumacanaich, is bochd iad, agus abharrachd, thàinig an ceangail eadarSeumaica agus Alba tro tràilleachd. Tha a’mhorchuid dhen Phacastanach ann an Albaa’ faireachdainn Albannach, ach carson abhiodh Pacastanaich nach robh riamh annan Alba a’ faireachdainn Albannach?

Dè tha ann an Albannach? Feumaraideachadh gu bheil na h-Albannachsgaoilte gu tur eadar-dhealaichte ris acheile. Tha sinnsearan Albannach aigGeorge W. Bush is Bill Clinton, chan eil sinannasach. Ach dè mu dheidhinn ColinPowell is Barack Obama?! Neo Juan Perón?Tha 100,000+ “Argentiños Escoces” ann!An cuala tu mu dheidhinn Carlos JavierMacAllister? Cò aig a fios? Agus thasloinneadh Albannach aig sgriobhadairainmeil Ruiseanach, Mikhail Learmont, neoLermontov. Agus rugadh is thogadh amfeallsanaiche “Albannach” as ainmeile, airoirthir Baltach, ann an Königsburg neoKalingrad. Se Immanuel Kant a bh’air. Ritaobh Pruisia-an-Ear, ‘s iomadh Albannachsa bha anns a’ Phòlainn – a-rèir cuid, seUallas (Wallace) a tha ann an Mgr Walesa.Chan eil sin buileach cinnteach, ach thaainmean mar Kobron (Cockburn),Makalienski (MacGhill-Eain/MacLean),Machlejd (MacLeod/MacLeòid) agusSzalmerz (Chalmers) soilleir dhuinn. Annsna 1600an, bha 50,000 Albannaich anns aPhòlainn. Cha robh iad a-mhain snaMeadhan Aoisean. Bha na Gardes Écossaisaig a’ Fhraing nas aosda na Scots Guards

Tilleadh-Dhachaigh ‘09

aig na Breatannaich. A-reir scotsitalian.com,tha buaidh aca fhathast an Eadailt-a-Tuath:

“Gurro, the small town in Northern Italy,which many considered to have been thefinal resting place for the [Gardes Écossais]of France following Battle of Pavia in1525...The Lost Clan as it is locally referredto has left a lasting legacy on the town, theyrested here following the defeat of theFrench and consoled the grieving widowswhose husbands had died in the nearbybattle... The local museum even houses arelic of Tartan material worn there aroundthe 18th century. Recently one localappeared fully clad in kilt and complete withbagpipes in Italy’s version of the reality TVprogramme, Big Brother.”

An toil leat ceòl? Tha roghainn farsaingagainn san “Diaspora” fhèin. Dè mu

dheidhinn Rogers and Hammerstein? Ged abha sloinneadh “WASP” air Rogers, seOscar Hammerstein aig a bha seanmhathairAlbannach. Neo dè mu dheidhinn CalumMacLabhrainn? Malcolm MacLaren, le faltruadh air is seacaid den clò Hearadh...stiuriche den Sex Pistols? Chan eilsinnsearan Albannach sam bith aige! Ach seGriogarach a bha ann an Edvard Grieg, neo“Greig” mar a chanas iad san ear-thuath. Isiomadh daoine ann an ReggaeSeumaicanach aig a bheil sinnsearanAlbannach cuideachd.

Coltach ri Mgr Hammerstein, is ann à Albaa bha sinnsearan aig Tommy Hilfigger isDavid Duchovny. Bho àm gu àm, cuiridh“Fox Mulder” feileadh air, nuair a thèid e guAlba. Agus tha Hilfigger ag ràdh gur e balldhen Siol Raibeirt – Raibeart Burns. Secinneal mòr a tha ann – thug e mòran

1. Juan Perón

2. Malcolm X

3. Lexa Doig

4. Jerry Rawlings (former dictator of Ghana)

5. Mikhail Lermontov

6. Immanuel Kant

7. Edvard Grieg

8. Empress Eugénie de Montijo (wife of Napoleon III)

9. Mrs Rita Marley

10. Lech Walesa

11. Oscar Hammerstein

12. Barack Obama

The Scottish Diaspora is much morediverse than Scottish society is, or indeedmay ever be, as this image hopefullyproves. From left to right -

Carn 3

BackgroundIn 1286, Scotland fell into chaos, with the

death of Alexander III. His heir, the infantMargaret, Maid of Norway, died beforesetting foot on Scottish soil – or beingcrowned. 13 Competitors claimed thethrone, amongst them Robert the Bruce, andJohn Balliol. William Wallace did not,although as “Guardian of Scotland” hebecame effective national leader at onepoint. Since Margaret had married MalcolmCanmore, there had been regular attempts toundermine Scotland’s Gaelic culture.

William Wallace First a word about the Wallace, perhaps

one of the least Gaelic of the major figuresin the Wars of Independence. Blind Harrysays he wore an “Erse mantle” in Biggar,but there is little else to go on. Perhaps wecan use the old Scottish legal verdict of“guilty not proven”. He probably pickedsome up in his travels throughout Scotland.Perhaps he spoke Brythonic. Braveheart isinaccurate in the extreme, but it’s worthmentioning that Mel Gibson’s character canbe heard shouting “Alba gu bràth!” in thefilm.

The 13 CompetitorsThe more exotic claimants were King

Erik II of Norway and Florent V, Count ofHolland. They remind us that Scotland’sworld didn’t always revolve aroundEngland. Scotland had strong trading linkswith the eastern shore of the North Sea. Erikwas closely related to the Maid of Norway.Perhaps he relied on the strong linksbetween Scotland and Norway, such as theBishopric of Trondheim, which controlledthe Hebrides and northern Scotland – thelast stronghold of Gaeldom today.

Gaelic Scotland and the Wars of Independence

Robert the Bruce had no claim throughprimogeniture. His claim was based onsomething more Celtic – tanistry(tanaistearachd). This was a form of electivekingship in mediaeval Gaeldom, alsoparalleled amongst the Welsh princes.James VI (I of England) abolished tanistryin Scotland. Unlike Ireland, Scottish tanistryadopted the Pictish custom of matrilinearsuccession – Bruce’s claim was via hismother. In modern Ireland, tánaiste meansdeputy prime minister.

Kings and High KingsLike Ireland, early medieval Scotland had

kings (rìghrean), and high kings (àrd-rìghrean). It is likely that Edward I wasaware of this, exploited it, and perhaps evensaw himself as high king. The notion of highand low kings, persisted amongst Highland

clans into the mid-18th century. Thestruggles of Clann Dòmhnall and SiolDhiarmaid (Clan Campbell) are well knownin the English-speaking world. Both theseclans backed Bruce in his darkest hour, andgained in power as he did. In the Wars ofIndependence, at least, the Caimbeulaichwere not the villains.

Many other families traditionally claimedthe high kingship; some more obviouslyGaelic than the 13 Competitors. Amongstthese were the Clann Dòmhnall (ClanDonald), the Lords of the Isles, and alsoClann Griogair (the MacGregors) whosemotto is “Is rioghail mo dhream” (royal ismy tribe) to this very day.

Two powerful sub-royal families in the13th century were those of Galloway andMoray, at opposite ends of the country.Early on, they called themselves “kings”,later “lords”. The Galloway line maintainedits claim through John Balliol, and was arival of the Bruces. They had longmaintained a dual identity – for example oneof the line was known by the similar, butunrelated, names of Roland and Lochlann,depending on what the context was.Moireabh (Moray) had its own line, theMeic Uilleim (MacWilliams), named afterUilleam mac Donnchada, a son of DuncanII. The last of them was murdered in Forfarc. 1230. Moireabh remained distinct though,and one of Wallace’s commanders wasAndrew de Moray/Murray (AnndraMoireach). Murray is still a common namein Scotland.

Part II of III

continued on page 4

bhramaran. Ròsan dearga gu dearbh. Agussa Fhraing, Bana-iompaire Eugénie deMontijo, bean Napoleon III – bha ainm fadaoirre bho thus - María Eugenia IgnaciaAugustina de Palafox Portocarrero deGuzmán y Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick – CillPhàdraig mar a chanas iad an seo – bit of agiveaway, nach e. Sa Chomann Eadar-Cheilteach fhèin, tha “Moffatt” (Am MaghFada) agus “Lockerbie” againne – a-reircoltais bha ceangailtean eadar EileanMhanainn agus Siorrachd Dhùn Phrìs aigaon àm.

Clàrachadh sa Bheurla: 2009 was “Homecoming Scotland”,financed by the Scottish Government toboost tourism amongst those of Scottishancestry. Critics complained that it waspointless, or even racist. Some pointed tothe fact that North America had beentargeted, but not Jamaica, which hasplenty of people of Scottish ancestry.However, this was actually quite sensible,not because Jamaica is a mainly “black”country, but because it is sadly a poorcountry and its citizens do not have muchmoney to spend on tourism. Besides, thelegacy of slavery is not a pleasant one.(Countless well-known Jamaican reggaeartists are of Scottish descent.) Like theSwiss, Scots soldiers could once be foundall over Europe, and that has left a legacytoo. There are at least twenty millionpeople of Scottish ancestry outsideScotland, including a few in every otherCeltic country– our very own MessrsMoffatt and Lockerbie for example– but itis perfectly reasonable to point out thatpeople of Scottish ancestry aren’t allwhite, and some of them don’t even speakEnglish. Due to the frequency of Macs andsimilar names, it is not uncommon forScottish descendants to think that they areof Irish origin (Johnny Cash’s family fellinto this trap, until he found out his familyoriginated in Fife.) One of the highlightsof the Gathering (the main Homecomingevent) was in fact, a Maori dancedemonstration. And this is it - DonaldTrump may have family in the Isle ofLewis, but so it seems does PresidentObama. Even entire communities in Italyand Poland come from Scottish origins.But names are not always a good guide.Malcolm MacLaren is a Highlandsounding name, but the red headed, tweedwearing ex-manager of the Sex Pistols hasno Scottish ancestry (that he knows of!)...On the other hand, some kenspecklefigures surnamed Hammerstein, Hilfigger,Duchovny and Perón all do. It’s notalways remote either – in the case ofOscar Hammerstein and Edvard Grieg,we’re talking about their grandparents.

Iain MacFhraingein

STRAW BLOCKS PUBLICATION OF MINUTES OF 1997CABINET COMMITTEE MEETINGS ON DEVOLUTION

4 Carn

The Quarrel beginsJohn Balliol is often unfairly derided by

Scots as “Toom Tabard” (the emptysurcoat). His policies were misguided butnot without logic. He gives the impression,as a King, that his main aim was to appeaseEdward I, and/or to keep the massiveEnglish army out of Scotland. If anyonequalifies for the title of Quisling, it would behis son, Edward, not John himself.

John Balliol fought the Battle of Roslin(near the chapel of Da Vinci Code fame)against Edward I, alongside the Comyns. Incasualty terms, this was harder on theEnglish than the Scots, and proves thatBalliol was not merely a pushover. Somepeople also think this battle was as pivotal asBannockburn, and there is a big campaignrunning just now to have a proper memorialthere.

Both Balliol and Robert the Bruce wereLowlanders from the far south west, andboth were born to mothers who were proudGaels. In Balliol’s case, Dervorguilla(Dearbhfhorgaill/Dearghal), came fromGalloway’s own royal family. Galloway was

Gaelic speaking until the 18th, possibly 19th

century, and lies between Ulster, Argyll, andthe Isle of Man. Balliol College in Oxford isnamed for Dearghal.

In 1295, John Balliol conducted a militarytreaty with Phillip IV of France, which hasbecome known as the “Auld Alliance”. Itmeant they would come to one another’s aidin the event of an English invasion.Mediaeval Scotland had a strong Frenchinfluence, particularly in architecture, andScots would fight for the French at battlessuch as Agincourt. Likewise the LionRampant flag of Scotland still contains theFleur de Lys.

Edward I’s retaliation routed John’sforces. Balliol was put in the Tower ofLondon, later ending up in Picardy. His son,Edward Balliol returned a few years later,with the “Disinherited”, nobles evicted byRobert the Bruce – some possibly unjustly.Just as that group of Cuban exiles, who triedto unseat Castro centuries later, theseScottish exiles were backed by theircountry’s traditional enemy. Both failed, andpartly because they had the wrong ally.Eventually, the Kings of England gave up onthe Balliols – in 1356, Edward III pensionedEdward off to live with dad.

The dishonour was great. Bruce andStewart are common surnames. But I’venever met a Balliol. On the other hand, thereare a lot of “Baillies”. According totradition, this is no coincidence.

Ray Bell

continued from page 3

Alexander Wilson was born on 6 July,1766. His birthplace was at Seedhills, justoutside Paisley and within sight of the RiverCart. His father, who was illiterate, ran asmall illicit distillery that was concealed inthe garden. Alexander, unlike his father, didhave a formal education and attended PaisleyGrammar. After leaving school at the age of13 he was then apprenticed to his brother inlaw. The intention was that Alexander wouldlearn the trade of weaving(www.renfrewshire.gov.uk).

After his five-year apprenticeship hadended however he took to peddling and toboth writing, and attempting to sell, hispoetry. Social conditions at the time weredire. Wilson, influenced by the revolutionaryideas that had spawned both the Americanand French Revolutions, wanted to speakout. Often he did so through his poetry. Hispoems often alluded to the struggle betweencapital and labour. He berated employers inparticular for the treatment of the weavers.One of those poems, “The Shark” (written in1792) took the form of a satirical letter to theowner of Lang Mills.

The authorities, concerned already aboutthe weavers growing radicalism, took a dimview. They accused Wilson of incitementand said the poem was libellous. He wasimprisoned in the Tolbooth for a fortnight,fined and made to burn the remaining copiesin full view of the public at Paisley’s busycrossroads. Wilson -who’d lived for a time inLochwinnoch- had won some acclaim inparticular for “Watty and Meg.” Written in1791, it’s a ballad focusing onthe “battle ofthe sexes.” Wilson had also met anotherPaisley poet, Robert Tannahill, and there wasa sense of this being something of a “goldenage of song for Renfrewshire song.”

Paisley born weaver, radical poet and

“Father of AmericanOrnithology.”

The Justice Secretary Jack Straw has used his powers of veto to block the publication of minutes ofmeetings of a Cabinet Committee on Devolution.

The minutes had been requested under Freedom of Information laws and their release had beenordered by the Information Commissioner.

Straw has claimed however that disclosure would put the convention of collective Cabinetresponsibility for decisions at “serious risk of harm” (Glasgow Herald 10 December 2009).

The Cabinet Committee meetings -some 15 of them- were held between May and July 1997. TheScottish people had just voted for a Parliament with tax raising powers and the Committee was taskedwith preparing the Scotland Act.

In sessions of the Committee Jack Straw, then Home Secretary, and the Deputy Prime Minister JohnPrescott fought a bitter rearguard action against the Scottish Secretary, the late Donald Dewar. Strawand Prescott hoped to minimise the extent of the powers that would be handed over to Edinburgh.

SNP chief whip Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire, says Straw is attempting to “cover-up” the “absolute chaos and confusion and disagreement inside the Labour Government at the time ofthe debate on devolution.” He adds that “there can be no other reason for this pathetic attempt toconceal what was going on.” It shows, he says, a real “contempt for democracy” (Aberdeen Press andJournal 11/12/09).

Yet Wilson was still troubled and poor. In1794 he and his nephew William Duncan setsail from Belfast to America. They could onlyafford deck space and after his arrival inDelaware he struggled at first working as alabourer, copper printer and -ironicallyenough- in his old trade as weaver. Howeverhe eventually secured a schoolmasters post inPennsylvania, met a naturalist WilliamBatram and found himself increasinglyinterested in ornithology. Soon he wastravelling extensively, often throughwilderness, observing and drawing NorthAmerican birds. The result was a nine volumeclassic, “American Ornithology (1804-1814)”with portraits of 320 species, 32 of them newto science. (www.renfrewshire.gov.uk)

Wilson died in 1813. He was only 47 andwas apparently worn out by his exertions.However his legacy is not forgotten. Wilson isknown as the “Father of AmericanOrnithology” and several species of Americanbird -plover, snipe, phalarope, petrel, warblerand thrush- are named after him. Back in hisnative Paisley also there is a statue of him inthe Abbey grounds and a memorial nearHammills waterfall on the banks of the RiverCart.

Alan Stewart

Alexander Wilson

Breizh

’al Lun 28 a viz Kerzu 2009 e oa bet lidete ti-kêr Kallag gant an itron maerez,Carole Le Jeune, gant Jacques Le Creff,prezidant Kumuniezh kumunioù Kallag,roidigezh diplomoù kerneveureg gant anDr Ken George da eizh brezhoneger.Deut e oa ivez un nebeud dileuridi euskomiteoù kêrioù Breizh gevellet gantkêrioù Kernev-Veur; kinniget zo betdezhe kenlabourat war dachenn arsevenadur hag ar yezh.Stajoù dibennoù-sizhun zo bet aozet eBreizh gant ar gevredigezh Eostiñ Speredar Yezh a drugarez da skoazellkelennerien gerneveureg deut meur awech da ambroug ac’hanomp war henthor yezh c’hoar: da gentañ gant levrGraham Sandercock Holyewgh an lergh,azasaet e brezhoneg gant Ken George (unalc’hwez mat a c’haller goulenn diganthor c’hevredigezh, 5 €). Da heul ar stajoùkentañ zo bet savet ur strollad emren haga labour ingal, bep miz, gant levrioùWella Brown ha gant ar gazetenn viziekAn Gannas, da c’hortoz stajoù dibenn-sizhun an nevezamzer 2010 a vo digord’an holl. Arabat ankouaat eo liammetBreizh ha Kernev-Veur dre o istorkantvedel hag o zonkad stourm ouzh argwask da zerc’hel bev o yezh, o

Carn 5

Deskiñ kerneveureg e Breizh –Dyski Kernewek yn Breten Vyghan

sevenadur, o bro. Enta, d’ar re a fell dezhedizoloiñ ha deskiñ ur yezh ken tost d’arbrezhoneg, dre ar brezhoneg, e pedompanezhe d’en em enskrivañ da greskiñ arstrollad. Eostiñ Spered ar Yezh (E-SAY) ara war-dro kelenn brezhoneg, eostiñ,dastum, ar brezhoneg komzet hag a ginnigmont buan war-raok gant arc’herneveureg.

E-SAY, 24, straed Lavanant, 2160Kallag, Breizh: 00 33 2 96 45 94 38,ronantremel@wanadoo.fr.

Ronan Tremel

Summary: The association E-SAY launched aprogram of Cornish language teachingthrough the medium of Breton in Brittanya few years ago. After a number ofworkshops at weekends, and summerschools, eight students were presentedwith their Cornish diplomas by Dr KenGeorge at a ceremony in December. Thesefirst Cornish students from Breizh willdevelop links between the two Celticnations in Kernow and Breizh. The sameprogram will start again this spring.

Ar vroioù dre vras o deus ur barzh evitskeudenniñ sevenadur ha spered ar vro.Evit Alba ar barzh-se a zo eveljust R.BURNS (1759-1796). Skrivet o deus d’armare e oa kollet un tamm loc’h evit ar vro.Alba o doa kollet ar Parlamant dre eunemglev fall gant bro Saoz (1707), hagaraok o doa torret al liammoù gant annoblañs (1603). BURNS e neus skrivetgant ur hengoun kreñv, diazezet war allabour kaset gant ar skrivagnerien AllanRamsay ha Bob Fergusson. Ar peb brasañeus e varzhoniezh oa skrivet e izel-skoseg(Scots), met skrivet e neus ivez e saozneg.Ganet e oa e-barzh ur familh paourawalc’h er Ayrshire, e mervent Alba.Diwezhatoc’h eo deuet da vezañ merour. Evarzhoniezh a ziskouezh war ar memes trobarregezh ha loureznnegezh hud.Levezonnet o deus An Emsav romantelhag ivez ar radikalezh politikel, eus anamzer-se. Eñ a zo anavezet mat evit evarzhoniezh hir ha danevelleg (eg Tam o’Shanter); evit e varzhoniezh flemmus (egHoly Willie’s Prayer, e-giz « a Parcel ofRogues in a Nation »); e varzhonegoùdiwarbenn an natur (eg To a Mouse). Met,e barzh muioc’h anavezet a zo pe eganaouenn diwar-benn ar garantez, gantkanaouennoù karantez evit ar grennardedbetek tud deuet (eg A Red Rose Rose,Mary Morrison, Ae Fond Kiss, O WertThou in the Cauld Blast, John Andersonmy Jo), pe e ganaouennoù diwar buhezboutin an dud (Auld Lang Syne, A Man’sa Man for a’ That).

Dreist holl, eo anavezet e-giz unañ e neusdiorren mennozh ar breuriezh gwelloc’h

eget bep filosofer pe politikerian. Eganaouenn ‘A Man’s a Man for a’ That’ azo ar muioc’h brudet evit plaended a lakwar well hon delenezh boutin. A vloaz-mañ, evit e genober evit an“Homecoming”, al levraoueg barzhonegoùevit Alba o deus gouestled tud a bep seurtoad dre gwrizhioù Alba (& pelloc’h ) e-barzh ur raktres faltazius evit lakaat urbanniel braz-tre, livañ ar gentañ linen euse ganaouenn. Tud oa pedet da choaz ullizherenn eus ar barzh hag da livañ allizherenn-se. Ar re se oa lakaet asamblezhag un dibab graet evit krouiñ untroïdigezh liezliv ha c’hweniañ eus arganaouenn. Goude dre numerel eo betsavet ur banniel bras kenañ evit goloiñ ur

Robert Burns...His continuing importance

to Scotland todayPouezhus a viskoazh

evit Alba

Dr Ken George (left) with Ronan Tremel next to him and the mayoress, Carole Le Juene on the right.

continued on page 6

savadur kozh ha bras e kreiz-ker Din-Edin.E touez ar varzhed a zo bet diviset evit olabour, eo bet hini R. Burns a zo vetdibabet peogwir e oa peurgwirion skozizgant leun a dalvoudegezh. (Gwelithttp://burnsbanner.wordpress.com)

Anavezet e oa evit skrivañ ganaouennoùha barzhonegoù hag ivez evit dastumkanaouennoù en doa klevet. Evarzhonegoù a ya d’an dud a greizh kalonpeogwir o deus un ton a gomz d’argevredigezh. Siwazh eo marvet yaouankawalc’h. Padal den a lavaro ne deus ketbevet kant-dre-gant. E oa ur merc’heter.Setu perag o deus bet fred diavezh efamilh. Un dra anavezet mat hag a glotgant ‘toast tae the lassies’ pad koan, dalavaret eo abadennoù izpisial gant haggis,bouet eus ar vro, toast ha prezegennoù eviter bed ha bezh e kenver e devezh laouennar vloaz, d’ar 25 a viz genver. Evarzhonegoù a zo bet troet e meur a yezhha dreist holl e bro Rusia e pe lec’h emaintbrudet.

(An account of the continuing importanceof Robert Burns and his work in Scotlandand beyond.)

6 Carn

Christian Troadec: We’ll build Breizh

Nous te ferons Bretagne – We’ll buildBreizh’, are the words of a famous Bretonwriter, Xavier Grall. These words have beenused as the name of the political alliancefounded by Christian Troadec, the pro-Breton mayor of Karaez, in 2008 for the2010 regional elections. On the 5th ofDecember, at a meeting in Pornizh, BroNaoned, the national council of the PartiBreton decided to join this alliance, thusincreasing its potential.

This new political alliance takes its inspira-tion from Grall, a mystical author who wrotea lot about the meaning of Breton life in LeMonde. Xavier Grall and Christian Troadec -two strong personalities, two rebels. X. Grall

expressed his passion for Breizh in a book LeCheval Couché (‘The Lying Horse’), and inother books. C. Troadec did it through anewspaper: Poher Hebdo, and a folk-rockfestival, an Erer Kozh (‘The Old Ploughs’).This four-day annual festival was started in1992 in the small village of Landelo in BroGerne, as a reaction against a maritime festi-val, The Old Boats, in the NATO city ofBrest. This maritime event received a lot ofpublicity and public funds when the farmingregion of Kreiz Breizh (central Brittany oreast Bro Gerne) was in bad economical andcultural shape. Three years later, the ErerKozh had become so successful that they hadto move to a larger venue at Karaez. Today

this festival is one of the top 5 in Europe. In 1996 Christian Troadec started a weekly

newspaper in Karaez called Poher Hebdo, asuccess story which helped the editor knowmore about Kreiz Breizh. Poher Hebdo wassold to Le Télégramme daily newspaper threeyears later. It’s still very alive as a Karaezweekly and provides each time one page inBreton as well as an English page, for theCeltic and English communities. After thisC. Troadec started a new challenge, in thiscentury. He bought the Coreff brewery inMontroulez /Morlaix. (Coreff is a MiddleBreton word for a beer, today used inCornish). For further development a new fac-tory was built in Karaez. He sold the breweryin 2008 in order to devote time to his politi-cal career and the new alliance. Thus C.Troadec is a strong leader ready to fight suc-cessfully for Breizh. In the French politicalsystem, businessmen of the left wing andcivil servants of the right are often goodpoliticians.

C. Troadec’s political career started in2001, as mayor of Karaez. The former jour-nalist, who covered the anti-Soviet revolu-tions in the early 90’s, beat the communistlobby in charge of the city hall at that time.As mayor he worked hard to develop jobs inthe outskirts of the city and a better quality oflife down town. On the cultural field, the ErerKozh festival (150,000 fans each year) was aleading activity. A lot of money was invest-ed in cultural activities, thanks to the festival.Karaez developed a Diwan lise (Breton-medium secondary school), Ofis arBrezhoneg, the Glenmor Congress Centrewhich has staged the famous “salons al levri-où Karaez” (book exhibition). The city isalso intending to create a special culturalcentre for a new cultural revival. ThereforeKaraez is planning to be the cultural capitalof Breizh, alongside Roazhon which is thepolitical capital and Naoned which is thebusiness one…Wait & See!!!

For the second term election C. Troadec’steam won the second leg by 2/3 against 1/3 tothe conservative UMP. The real challengecame on the first leg against Richard Ferrand,a Jacobin leader of the Socialist Party (SP).This ENArchist coming from the TOPFrench state administration is very opposedto the European Charter for Regional orMinority Languages …so he is out of touchwith the European Convention for HumanRights!

R. Ferrand is also opposed to the reunifica-tion of Breizh (the re-inclusion of BroNaoned /Loire-Atlantique in administrativeBrittany) as well as real devolution as inGreat Britain with more than 21bn € budgetfor the region.

On the other hand C. Troadec had stressedthat his list is far from the Paris political lob-bies and traditional parties. His main goal isto act on the ground here, in Breizh, withcraftsmen, trade-unionists, workers, students,etc… in fact, it’s a way to draw attention tothe fact that B. Malgorn, the right-wing can-

Christian Troadec

continued from page 5

Carn 7

didate, is a former civil servant (prefete),directly linked to President N. Sarkozy.

On the left, regional council presidentJean-Yves Le Drian is not free from the SP.In Penn-ar-Bed (29), the SP engineered theremoval from office of Yann-Bêr Thomin,the prominent supporter of the Breton lan-guage within the SP. The whole Bretonmovement was really upset with this verybad decision for Breizh. The move of the SPtowards a Jacobin political centralist stancegave Christian Troadec the opportunity todevelop a Breton “SNP”…Wait & see ifhe’ll be the Alex Salmond of Breizh!

In political terms, jobs are the first priorityfor Breizh, in Karaez and elsewhere. Thesecond priority is pollution - people haveready for more action on this since last sum-mer when seaweed killed a horse. Otherwise,the global warming cause is on track, theGreens + UDB beat the Socialist Party lastyear e Breizh. The 3rd goal is Breton reunifi-cation – the return of Bro Naoned. Weremember that Hitler and Pétain cut BroNaoned /Loire-Atlantique out of Breizh.Another problem for the SP is that Naoned’smayor and president of the SP in the FrenchNational Assembly, Jean-Marc Ayrault isvery opposed to reunification.

The last important goal of the programme,at the very beginning of 2010, is about pub-lic services, in the countryside and especial-ly in Kreiz Breizh where the problem is moreimportant. C. Troadec and the people of theKaraez area won an epic battle to keep thehospital in Karaez last year. A huge boost forTroadec, the mayor and leader of the battle.His book Carhaix Résistance (‘KaraezResistance’), shown in Carn 142, is a gooddemonstration of his fighting spirit for thepeople of Kreiz Breizh.

Now Christian Troadec, who was electedto the Council of Brittany in 2004, has decid-ed to work hand in hand with the new region-alist party Strollad Breizh/Parti Breton. With3% of the vote and momentum gained duringthe last European election (see Carn 144),“We’ll build Breizh” must find 6% in orderto go through to the second leg, with 10%altogether.

Whatever happens “We’ll build Breizh”will be good for Breizh. Wait and see if theBreton SNP is born!

GiK

Coláiste na nGael Irish LanguageCourse, St. Jacut de la Mer

We will be holding an Irish languagecollege in St Jacut de la Mer, Brittany onApril 8 – 11th 2010.

In the past, Breton activists have joinedus. We welcome Breton speakers. Pleaselet your contacts know – they will bevery welcome.

Christy Evans. UK 01277 249 274AnColaiste@aol.com

BREIZH’S VISION FOR THE 21st CENTURY

The afternoon started with a super showfrom chairman J. Bernard, and F. Bourget,manager of “Produet e-Breizh, = Produit enBretagne” (= PEB). Today PEB’s logo withthe tiny lighthouse, on the products isfamous in Breizh and all over the state.

This year the club will try to expand into afew European states with adverts andproducts placed in shops… First of all theycongratulated J.-C. Simon who thought ofthis business-club 16 years ago. The EVEN-Cooperative’s commercial manager workedon strong Bretons’ values, including ethics,solidarity and sustainable productions. Atthe beginning Breton consumers boughtthose products (+25% globally) along withadverts in solidarity with the workers inBreizh”. The number of products was verysmall and mainly came from the farmingindustry. The ethical committee took sometime to open the club to new services orcultural productions. Today 2,700 productsmake a profit off the logo and more than100, 000 workers in more than in 200 firmsare employed. This label is recognized byabout 90% of people in Breizh.

With the new chairman, innovations are inthe cultural field: books, CDs and DVDs.

PEB organised different awards for music,books and other innovations, which werealso exported, only one has failed to achievesuccess for the PEB at the moment. PEB isa recognised label with innovation andauthenticity, managed by passionate leaders- for passionate citizens!!!

After this introduction the audience tookpart in three workshops:How to develop the Breton Diaspora? How to export the Breton Know-How.How to develop Bretons’ values, in aglobalised world.

Jakez Bernard from PEB oversaw thisworkshop along with the help of Jean-Jacques Henaff. The main problem was todefine commonly held values. Many studieshave been undertaken in this area, but as yetthey remain uncoordinated. So, first of allwe need to prioritise all the actions, in orderto have some efficiency, in Brittany…

Sorry: “Bretagne”. Like Alba forScotland, Breizh is not well - known, yet!

Mainly, in the globalised world, Breizh isnot well known apart from our sailors andthe flag: Gwenn ha Du…

The main problem now is coming from thefact the all sorts of public and privateorganisations bought all kinds ofadvertising campaigns from professionals

in Paris. The people of Breizh did not haveany say. Obviously we need to doconcentrate on doing the work withinBreizh for the Breton nation. It soundsincredible but no such study exists yet.However the Breton Economical Agencystarted an important job in 2007. They willproduce a presentation of their works atLorkarn Institute (L.I.) sometime next year.The Breton President, or PM, Jean-YvesLeDrian, really wants to include the allstudies already done with the businessbodies as well as their advisers on thematter, in order to have a real image ofBreizh which will include the cultural,economic and the social aspects. It lookslike Breizh must develop a VISION, for thelong - term, to achieve success in thisglobalised world. We must be careful thatthe any new technologies will use the termBreizh for their services and products,instead of Western - which is associatedmore with the USA !!!…Breizh or Bretagneis essential and good enough for our visionfor the future.

Yann-Berr LeMat, underlined that Breizhhad a tradition of working through nets(J.A.C.) and cooperation. Otherwise, thequality of a job well done as well as vocalpress releases should help Breizh to exportits products all over the world.

Yves Pelle is working hard work on theBreton diasporas. Unfortunately the numberof inter-national members is very low. So,the Breton Diaspora (DEB) needs to dosome in depth profiling in order to beefficient in the long term. DEB’s membersmust trust the network to develop business,all over the world…

The videoconference as well as the Asian

Part 2

Jean-Yves LeDrian

8 Carn

interventions allowed the audience toappreciate the very real opportunitiesBreizh can find over there…

Jean-Yves LeDrian, reminded theaudience that the L.I. is a Think-Tank andthat he always felt free to express himself.He began with a joke, telling us that heknew about the JAC movement and evenmore about the JEC (=Christian YouthStudents) movement, in which he was veryactive when he graduated. Most of thebusinessmen felt good about that. Therepublican hardliners’ accepted it becausehe is in the leadership of the socialist partyin Breizh - A strong leader who gave backconfidence to the people of Breizh throughsymbolic actions, in the cultural field.

Next ST YVES’ Day, was dealt with -Black and White flags for a soccer final,Breizh touch parade, etc… His mainconcern came from the fact that Breizh didnot have the rank we should have in Europeand in the world. We only attracted 300businesses from abroad Our Task is to workharder to gain much more internationalfunding.

We need to re-organise cooperationwithin Brizh He said, “I would like to builda Breton-Chapter, but it’ll need one year toput all the actors, round the table!”

On the tourism front has taken four years.Now Breizh has an Irish manager, MichaelDodds, to promote our tourism activities onthe internet, on one hand and on rhe otherhand we need to gather together all thepartners, to promote the Breton image.

J.-Y. LeDrian is working hard in order topromote a “made” for Breizh image,shared by all the people and institutions. Heshowed a strong will to develop a Visionfor Breizh on the local, European andglobal stage…

President Alan Glon, thanked PM J. -Y.LeDrian,s well as all the Asian delegatesshowed a strong interest in the proposedactivities.

After the financial crisis the rules of themarkets are under scrutiny. Obviously thepeople are better than the organisations,which are willing to manage them…

We are in a binary system, with the leftwing on one side and the right on the other.It’s the same for providers and distributors.They move the percentage up and down butdo not develop any wealth. The bosses hopefor more freedom in order to become moreefficient. President A. Glon is hoping tochange the mood from one of mistrust toconfidence. Because the world is changingthis century, he is wondering if the newgeneration of managers should not destroywhat the Breton tiger built, last century???We must move on to the other side of themirror! We need to take on responsibilityfor our own businesses, to further help themreach a higher level, Glon concluded.

.GiKeltik.

The inter-regional RDV started eBreizh in 1990 with K.S.B.*managed by Per Denez on the one hand and the office of theLesser Spoken Languages (EBLUL) with Anna-Vari Chapalain,on the other hand. A grant from the EU was gained at that timefrom special funding for the Lesser Spoken Languages. Thisfunding does not exist anymore. Per Treut was the Vice-President, in charge for culture for our region, at that time. A RDV was organized in Roazhon (Rennes) in the office of theRegional Council, with associations from all over the FrenchState. Delegates and workers from Elsas, Occitania, Kataluña(Catalonia), Euskadi (Basques) and Breizh. The goal was to develop links between peopleworking in the field of the languages in non-official ways. At the same time, to develop the newlanguage policies, by giving more powers to the elected people working in this new field. Helpfrom Europe for a few delegates offered an official status to some on the body One of the best results, alongside the work done with Eukariz was the fact that the FrenchNational institute of Statistics (INSEE) undertook carry out a study in order to determine thenumber of people who speak non-official languages. From year to year we maintained theRDV, in different Regions with different subjects: education, mass media, politics about lan-guages etc. To learn from one to each other and work altogether was the goal of these meetings.To create newspapers for the children for example, or for all the population like Semana andYa! In 2008, we studied the importance of the way to write in order to make the Lesser SpokenLanguage, more official. This year in eBeizh the aim was how to make our languages alive inevery day life. The K.S.B. organized RDVs in different places in eBreizh Izel (Lower Brittanny,SKED, Ti Ar Vro Leon, Kemper, Konk…) and in eBreizh Uhel (Upper Brittany, St., Malo,Roazhon). A full weeklong meeting was held between 2nd and 7th November 2009, in order togo forward and be alive in our languages.

Tangi Louarn(Prezident, *Kuzul Sevenadurel Breizh, [Cultural Counsel of Brittany])

The Inter-Regional Rendevous (RDV)

The summer university of Regions and PeoplesSolidarity (RPS, federation of political partieswhich includes UDB) had been anticipated fora long time in Brittany. Finally, it took placelast August in Treguier where 250 people fromOccitania, Corsica, Alsace, Savoy, the BasqueCountry and Catalonia met together. Thisgives some of the main points of those threedays discussions.It began with a few conferences on the role ofregions in the fight against climate change,which was the main theme of the summeruniversity and constituted the most importantpart of the final motion of the four days.Finishing with the brilliant speech of AlainRetière, coordinator of the project ClimSat inBrest, vice-president of the regional council ofBrittany Christian Guyonvarc’h warned of theinternational dimension of increasedtemperatures and its consequences ongeopolitics in future decades. “The lessresponsible will be the most affected by thisclimate crisis”. Then, he explained to a hushedassembly (with facts and figures) that therichest States and the ones that use the mostGES were the ones that demand that thepoorest reduce their emissions from 15 to 30%! Christian Guyonvarch insists on thenecessity to give the responsibility of the fightagainst climate change to“sub-states” levels.

At the end of the day, RPS welcomed the otherpartner of Europe Ecologie : Nicole Kiil-Nielsen (green MEP), Yannick Jadot(associative MEP). The goal was to create abalance sheet and also to look at theperspectives after the European elections andthe huge success of Europe Ecologie (sincethis summer university, UDB has chosen tocontinue this strategy inside Europe Ecologie).On Tuesday René Louail, the famous farmercriticized in a very passionate monologue thepolitics of agriculture. “Food is notmerchandise like other things”. He also saidthat over-production will not solve theproblem of the farmers who live there, nor theproblem of hunger in the world. He stood upagainst the loss of 17,000 workers fromagriculture in only 5 years. To conclude,Brendan Yvet, regional secretary of the CFDT(syndicate), explained the social aspect of theworld crisis in Brittany.

The afternoon was reserved for free time thatconsisted of a trip to enjoy the north coast ofBrittany (Perros-Guirec). A long journey beforea Celtic meal where all the participants couldhave some very interesting conversations onthe future of their countries…

Gael Briand (on behalf of UDB)

Tangi Louarn

Three MEPs of Europe Ecologie in Treguier

Cymru

Carn 9

Dywedodd Cymuned ym mis Awst fodpenderfyniad Dr Brian Gibbons i benodiRheolwr Gyfarwyddwr dros dro ar gyngorYnys Môn sydd ddim yn siarad Cymraegnac yn dod o Gymru, a sydd gydagamheuaeth dros ei swydd flaenorol, yn dan-gos yn glir nad oes gan y Blaid Lafur yngNghymru mo’r ddealltwriaeth sydd angen igynrychioli trigolion y Fro Gymraeg.

’Mewn hinsawdd lle mae dybryd angenswyddi ar bobl leol, mae penodi rhywun o’rtu allan i’r Ynys sydd ddim hyd yn oed ynsiarad Cymraeg yn gam gwag difrifol syddyn anfon neges cwbl annerbyniol at boblifanc Môn’ meddai Aran Jones, PrifWeithredwr Cymuned. ‘Rydym yn galw ary Rheolwr Gyfarwyddwr newydd i ddatganar frys y bydd yn ymrwymo i ddysgu’rGymraeg o fewn y misoedd nesaf; ondrydym yn bryderus iawn nad oes gan yGweinidog y ddealltwriaeth angenrheidiolo’r Fro Gymraeg i fedru cyflawnicyfrifoldebau ei swydd fel GweinidogLlywodraeth Leol.’

Cred Cymuned fod Dr Brian Gibbonshefyd yn dangos diffyg arweiniad personolo ran y Gymraeg, gan nodi iddo gynrychiolietholaeth sydd yn cynnwys wardiau felGlyncorrwg lle mae’r canran o bobl 10 i 14oed sy’n siarad Cymraeg dros 34%. Serchhynny, mae gwefan y Gweinidog yn uniaithSaesneg, er mor syml ydy darparu gwefanddwyieithog.

‘Mae’n hynod siomedig nad yw’rGweinidog hyd yn oed yn darparu gwefanddwyieithog, heb sôn am ddysgu’r iaith eihun,’ medd Richard Evans, CadeiryddPwyllgor Gwaith Cymuned, ‘ond mae’nadlewyrchu ei ddiffyg dealltwriaeth llwyr onatur bywyd yn y Fro Gymraeg. Dyma ynunion y math o dorri cysylltiad gyda chy-munedau Cymru sydd yn arwain at dranc yBlaid Lafur.’

Mae Cymuned yn annog Dr BrianGibbons i edrych at yr enghraifft y maeNick Bourne, arweinydd y Ceidwadwyryng Nghymru, yn ei gynnig trwy fynd ati iddysgu’r iaith a thrwy fod yn ymwybodol obwysigrwydd yr iaith mewn cymunedauCymraeg. ‘Mae angen dybryd i sicrhaunewid er gwell ar gyngor sir Ynys Môn erlles pobl leol wedi cyfnod helbulus morhir,’ medd Nick Bourne. ‘Rhaid i bob pen-derfyniad am ddyfodol yr awdurdod leolgael ei gymryd gyda gwybodaeth llawn a

sensitifrwydd am faterion lleol, gan gyn-nwys yr iaith Gymraeg.’

Fel rhan o’r ymgyrch CyngorNi.com, maeCymuned yn galw ar Gyngor Sir Ynys Môni ddilyn polisi iaith hynod lwyddiannusCyngor Gwynedd trwy weithio’n fewnoltrwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg er mwyn sicrhauswyddi i bobl leol a dyfodol hir-dymor i’riaith Gymraeg.

Summary:Cymuned have condemned the appointmentby a Labour minister in the Assembly of anon-Welsh speaking director to Ynys Môn(Anglesey) council and call on this councilto follow the example of neighbouringGwynedd in adopting Welsh as the coun-cil’s internal operating language.

LLAFUR WEDI COLLI CYSYLLTIAD GYDA’R FRO GYMRAEG

Talwyd teyrged gan lawer yn y mudiadcenedlaethol i’r cenedlaetholwr amlwgHywel Teifi Edwards a fu farw ar y 4ydd oIonawr. Yn wreiddiol oAberarth, Ceredigion, ‘roedd yn bennaethac yn Athro ar yr Adran Gymraeg yngNgholeg Prifysgol Abertawe cyn ymdeol.Hanes y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg ac ynarbennig hanes yr Eisteddfod Genedlaetholoedd ei arbenigedd. Siaradai yn aml ynralïau Cymdeithas yr Iaith, ac ‘roedd yn

gyfrannwr cyson ar deledu a radioCymraeg. Safodd fel ymgeisydd seneddoldros Blaid Cymru dwywaith – ynetholaeth Llanelli yn 1983 a throsGaerfyrddin yn 1987.

Wrth ganmol ei gyfraniad enfawr atGymru a’r iaith Gymraeg, dywedoddCadeirydd Cymdeithas yr Iaith, MennaMachreth, y diwrnod canlynol:

“Credaf fod pawb yng Nghymru oedd ynrhannu’r un weledigaeth a’r un gwerthoeddâ Hywel Teifi yn galaru heddiw, ond ar yrun pryd yn gwerthfawrogi ei gyfraniadaruthrol i fywyd y genedl.

“Bu ei gyfraniad i fywyd gwleidyddol abywyd diwylliannol Cymru yn gwbl anhep-gor. Fe fydd aelodau Cymdeithas yr IaithGymraeg yn gweld ei golli yn fawr iawn. Buiddo siarad mewn nifer fawr o’n ralïau a’ncyfarfodydd cyhoeddus.

“Y tro olaf iddo wneud hynny oedd ddi-wedd Mai y tu allan i’r CynulliadCenedlaethol mewn rali oedd yn galw am yrhawl i Gymru gael y pŵerau i greu MesurIaith cyflawn. Fel ar bob tro arall cawsomganddo araith danbaid a chyrhaeddgaroedd yn ysbrydoliaeth fawr i’r dorf o’iflaen.”

Talodd arweinydd Plaid Cymru, IeuanWyn Jones, a Llywydd y Blaid, DafyddIwan, deyrngedau i Hywel Teifi hefyd.Disgrifiodd Dafydd Iwan ef fel “un o wirgewri Cymru - ysgolhaig a gwerinwr ynun”. Dywedodd Ieuan Wyn Jones AC, “Desi nabod Hywel Teifi yn dda pan oedd o’nymgeisydd dros y Blaid yng Nghaerfyrddina finnau yn Ynys Môn yn 1987 a ddaru nigydweithio’n agos gyda’n gilydd brydhynny. ‘Roedd yn ymgyrchydd brwd iawndros yr iaith, a thros ein gwlad. Trodiwethaf i mi rannu llwyfan gydag o ‘roeddo’n galw am fesur newydd ar gyfer hawli-au ieithyddol a sefydlu comisiynydd acmae’r ffaith ein bod ni ar fin llwyddo i gaely pŵerau yma yn ddiolch i’w ymgyrchu.

“Roedd yn hanesydd ac ysgolhaig o’r raddflaenaf, yn awdur toreithog, yn sylwebyddcraff ac yn Gymro i’r carn. Dyma Gymrobalch a ysbrydolodd gynifer o gyd-Gymry iymgyrchu dros yr hyn yr oeddent yn eigredu. Mae ei gyfraniad at yr iaith, ac atGymru yn enfawr. Mae’n meddyliau ollgyda’i deulu yn ystod y cyfnod anoddyma.”

Dywedodd Llywydd Plaid Cymru, DafyddIwan: “Newyddion trist dros ben yw clywedam farwolaeth Hywel Teifi - un o wir gewriCymru, ysgolhaig a gwerinwr yn un. MaeCymru wedi colli cawr o ddyn a gyfrannoddgymaint i sicrhau ein bod yn deall hanes eincenedl a datblygiad y Gymru gyfoes gyda’idemocratiaeth ifanc. Mae’r genedl heddiwyn dlotach le o golli Hywel Teifi.”Summary(Tributes from the national movement to theprominent nationalist and Welsh scholarHywel Teifi Edwards who died in January.)Hywel Teifi Edwards yn siarad yn rali’r

Gymdeithas o flaen y Senedd, Mai 2009.

Teyrngedau i un o gewri Cymru –

Hywel Teifi Edwards(1934-2010)

10 Carn

Language campaigner sentenced to a month’s imprisonment

Five Aberystwyth university students wenton hunger-strike for 24 hours on the 3rd ofDecember as a show of support forCymdeithas member Osian Jones who hadbeen jailed for protesting against thelanguage policy of major high street stores innorth Wales. Osian Jones from DyffrynNantlle, had been sentenced to 28 daysimprisonment for painting slogans on Bootsand Superdrug stores in Caernarfon, Llangefni,and Bangor in protest against their lack ofWelsh services. The students’ fast was part ofa series of events organised by members ofCymdeithas to raise awareness of theimprisonment and the lack of Welsh languageservices in the private sector.

A member of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg(the Welsh Language Society) was sent toprison for a month at a hearing in Caernarfonmagistrates’ court on the 25th of November,following his protest against major highstreet stores’ lack of bilingual languageservices. The magistrates had warned himthat he faced imprisonment because of hisrefusal to pay fines for painting slogans onhigh street stores as part of a Cymdeithas yrIaith campaign for a comprehensive Welsh-Language Measure. He had £1,000 in finesand costs to pay for painting slogans onSuperdrug, Matalan, Boots, and PC Worldstores in Bangor in April 2008 over theirlack of basic services for customers inWelsh. The action was part of the campaignof Cymdeithas yr Iaith for a change in theprivate sector’s treatment of the Welshlanguage. They are calling for a newLanguage Act to covering these retailers, inorder for the language to be promoted andnormalised in everyday life.

Speaking after the verdict, MennaMachreth Jones, Chairman of Cymdeithassaid:

“Direct action is the last step in anycampaign we run. Osian took this stepbecause the people of Wales don’t have theright to see and use the Welsh language. It’svery sad that we’ve got a system which putsthe profits of large multinational companiesahead of the right for everyone in Wales toenjoy the Welsh language. These companieswho show extreme disregard for Welsh donot deserve compensation; they should bepaying us for making the language invisible.

“Cymdeithas call on the government tomake these massive firms, like Superdrugand Boots, provide a basic service in Welsh.Unfortunately, the government of Waleswon’t have sufficient powers to do this, evenafter their latest bid for powers fromLondon.

“These companies are ignoring publicopinion. 76% of the public agree thatbilingual marketing and signage is

important and 81% believe that training staffto learn Welsh is as well.”

None of the businesses targeted by Osianwere included in the draft Welsh languageorder which at the time was going throughthe Westminster parliament.

Speaking before his sentence Osian Jonessaid: “The companies we use day-to-daydon’t do enough to reflect the nature ofWelsh communities with high numbers ofpeople who speak Welsh as a first langauge.Hopefully my imprisonment will make otherpeople realise how bad these companiesreally are and how little respect they show toWales. After all, all we want is for thesecompanies to let the Welsh language live andthrive.”

Osian was the second member ofCymdeithas to go to prison in 2009. FfredFfransis was imprisoned back in June forrefusing to pay fines also imposed for hispart in the campaign for a comprehensiveWelsh Language Measure.

Osian Jones said:“It’s interesting that both Ffred and I faced

prison this year for our part in this particularcampaign. What is more significant is thatthe ‘offences’ for which Ffred wasimprisoned go back to January 2001 whichproves that this particular campaign hasbeen long and hard. The sad thing is that theWelsh Language LCO which is now on offer,and which is the product of all thiscampaigning, is utterly inadequate since itdoes not give the Welsh people theirlegitimate linguistic rights which enablesthem to live their lives fully through themedium of Welsh, nor do its powers extend tothe private sector.

“Even though we argued our case withconviction before committees in both theNational Assembly and at Westminster itbecame obvious to us that the legislativeprocess in Wales is both wearisome anddefective, and that we have no choicebut to continue with our direct actioncampaign. I hope that my imprisonmentwill give other people the inspiration tocampaign for the language and that wewill see the responsibility for legislatingon the Welsh language transferred in itsentirety to the National Assembly in thenear future. The Welsh people have hadto wait a long time to see their linguisticrights realised. They deserve a greatdeal more than the LCO which is now onoffer.”

Cymdeithas yr Iaith have sent letters toSuperdrug and Boots asking for theirreaction to Osian Jones’s imprisonment.

On his release on the 8th of December

Osian warned that ‘the next decade could seethe destruction of Welsh as a communitylanguage’, and urged companies and thegovernment simply to ‘let the language live’.His 28 day sentence had been the longesthanded down to a Welsh language activistsince 1991, and he was greeted by a crowdof supporters as he arrived at Bangor station.Cymdeithas members had marked the jailingwith pickets and streets stalls all over Wales:five Aberystwyth university students went ona 24 hour hunger-strike as a show of support.

Warning the public about the future of thelanguage, Osian Jones said:

“I hope that my actions will mark the startof a new exciting period in the history ofCymdeithas. The future of Welsh hangs in thebalance because too many politicians don’ttake it seriously. Despite the overwhelmingsupport, the next decade could see Welshdestroyed as a community language becauseof the indifference and failures of politicians,multinational businesses, and the Welshlanguage establishment.”

Writing in a letter to supporters from prisonhe said:

“The situation in prison makes me realisethat, in a sense, all prisoners here arepolitical prisoners: social injustice liesbehind every closed door in this place. I waslucky to have so much support while I wasinside, I want to thank to everyone who wroteto me - I’ve received hundreds of cards.”

Menna Machreth Jones, Chair of Welshlanguage campaign group Cymdeithas yrIaith Gymraeg, added:

“It’s time for us to remind people of ourcore message: as a society, all we want is forthese big companies to let the Welshlanguage live. So many major retailers offeronly a superficial service at best. It’s notgood enough. The Government needs to actto secure rights for people in Wales to use thelanguage in their everyday lives.”

Osian Jones

Students fast for language rights

Carn 11

All Wales Convention Report completedThe All Wales Convention report waspresented to the National Assembly on the

18th of November. The Convention wastasked by the Welsh government withassessing the level of public support forfurther law-making powers for theAssembly. This was a key commitment inthe One Wales programme of governmentagreed between Plaid Cymru and Labour inJuly 2007. Both parties also agreed subject tothe conclusion of the Convention to proceedto a successful outcome of a referendum onlawmaking powers at or before the end of theAssembly term.

Plaid Cymru’s leader Ieuan Wyn Jones ACwelcomed the report of the Convention, andsaid that the government would nowconsider the conclusions of the report andthe timing of a referendum. He added “Weare very grateful to Sir Emyr Jones Parry, hisSecretariat, and members of the All WalesConvention for the thorough andprofessional manner in which they havecarried out this extremely important piece ofwork.

“The conclusions of this report areabsolutely clear and need to be consideredcarefully. We will now discuss the report in

detail with our coalition partners and look atwhen the referendum should be held.”

Plaid’s Deputy Leader in the NationalAssembly, Helen Mary Jones (AC forLlanelli) said that it was a historic day forthose people who want to see a better systemof government in Wales. Welcoming thepublication of the All Wales Conventionreport, she said the findings were proof thatthe people of Wales have seen that areferendum is needed. Ms Jones added thatthe people of Wales can see the differencethat having a Welsh government has madeand believe that it should be given the propertools to get the job done.

“The All Wales Convention took aninnovative approach in preparing this reportand this has clearly paid dividends. We cansee from the report’s findings that the peopleof Wales are ready for change. As a nation,there is recognition that this is not aboutpower for power’s sake but about giving ourWelsh government the proper tools it needsto do the job at hand.

“People know that this Welsh governmenthas been working hard to bring aboutbenefits for Welsh communities, but theyalso know that a lot more could have beendone if the necessary powers were in Walesrather than London. People are tired of ourpoliticians having to go cap in hand toWestminster to make laws to help Welshcommunities. People can see that the peopleof Wales are no less capable than the Scots ofmaking their own laws. We need Welshsolutions to Welsh problems. We need theseextra powers in order to deliver thesesolutions.

“Our communities are tired of the brokenpolitics of Westminster, but trust the WelshAssembly government to get on and get thejob done. Our own democratically electedGovernment should have the tools to get thejob done for us; to stand up for us and ourneeds. This cumbersome system is failing allof the communities of Wales. It is wrong thatour voluntary organisations have to wastetheir precious resources having to lobby twoseparate institutions for one piece oflegislation. It is wrong that vulnerablefamilies in Wales are unable to accesshousing that they can afford while Londonpoliticians haggle over minutiae. And it iswrong that despite cross party agreement,Wales had to wait for England to agreebefore smoking could be banned in publicplaces.

“The publication of this report makes todaya historic day for Wales. It has come aboutthrough Plaid’s determination to improve theway our nation is governed. I now lookforward to the discussions that are to come indeciding exactly when the referendum is totake place.”

The chairman of the Plaid Cymru group inthe National Assembly, Dr Dai Lloyd AC,

said he hoped the publication of the AllWales Convention report would signal thebeginning of the end for “a failing system”.According to Dr Lloyd, the announcementwas the next crucial step in creating aworkable and sustainable system ofgovernment for Wales. He said that the workof the Convention had been hugely importantin engaging the people of Wales with thenation’s legislative future.

The Plaid regional AC for the South Westsaid that he looked forward to help deliveringthe One Wales commitment between Labourand Plaid Cymru for a referendum on furtherpowers to be held before the 2011 Welshelections.

18 year old Mair Evans, one of the fivestudents who were fasting, said: “We aredoing this to show support for Osian. He’s inprison because he stood up for the rights ofeveryone in Wales to see, hear and use thelanguage. It’s unfair that our legal systemcriminalises Osian. These companies should, atthe very least, provide basic Welsh languageservices, the fact that they refuse makesprotests like this inevitable.”

Commenting on the events, MennaMachreth, Chairman of Cymdeithas, LanguageSociety, said:

“I’m glad our members are holding theseevents to mark Osian’s imprisonment As asociety, all we want is for these big companiesto let the Welsh language live. So many majorretailers offer only a superficial service at best.It’s not good enough, the Government needs toact to secure rights for people in Wales to usethe language in their everyday lives. We havetried to persuade these companies to provide abilingual service, but without success.”

Dr Dai Lloyd AC“The work of the All Wales Convention has

been hugely important in engaging allsections of Welsh society in the nation’slegislative future. The publication of thisreport signals the beginning of the end for thecurrent system of government which has letpeople down so badly. I am very muchlooking forward to studying and acting uponthe report’s recommendations.

“The people of Wales can see that theyhave been short changed by the currentlegislative settlement. It’s frankly ridiculousthat we have had to wait over two years to getthe powers to provide more affordablehousing for the communities that need it themost; that in order to improve the rights ofpeople who care for others, we have to gocap in hand to Westminster; and that had wehad the powers at the time, we could havebanned smoking in public places around 3½years before it actually happened.

“The current system is failing all peopleand all parties in Wales. One backbench AMhas had to wait two years for a Westminstercommittee to even look at her proposal forsprinklers to be fitted in all new homes.

“Recent polls have demonstrated that thepeople of Wales are ready to move forwards.There was overwhelming support for theNational Assembly to have the same level ofpowers as the Scottish Parliament in therecent Yougov poll.

“The time has come for the people of Walesto be given the tools to do the job. I am surethe report will pave the way for the OneWales government to deliver on itscommitment for a referendum on primarylawmaking powers before the next Assemblyelection.”

Helen Mary Jones (AC for Llanelli)

saoil a chaith an t-aon duine clainne a bhíaige, iníon a rugadh ón bpósadh le hEleanor.Bhí Eleanor tar éis bás a fháil le linn na bre-ithe. Scrios Éadbhard gach rud ábharach agussiombalach a bhain le teaghlach ríogaGwynedd agus ba é an bás nó an príosún abhí i ndán do mhuintir agus gaolta Llywelyn.

Tógadh cloch comórtha ar láthair a bháis igCilmeri sa bhliain 1956. Bíonn ancomóradh san áit sin ar siúl ar an Satharn isgaire do lá a bháis, an 11 Nollaig. I mbliana,

ÉireComóradh Cilmeri 2009

Cuireadh tús le Tosaíodh ar ComóradhCilmeri sna seascaidí i gcuimhne arLlywelyn III, a dtugtar ‘Prionsa deireanachna Breataine Bige’ air (in ainneoin gurtháinig Owain Glyndwr ina dhiaidh roinntcéadta bliain ina dhiaidh sin, ach is cosúilnach raibh tionchar ná riail chomh leathancéanna aige sin).

Bhí Llywelyn ag troid ar feadh na mbliantachun an Bhreatain Bheag a choinneáil saor ódhaorsmacht Shasana agus ba é iarthuais-ceart na Breataine Bige (Gwynedd) an cean-tar dúchasach agus an lárionad cumhachtaaige. Bhí cúrsaí sách casta le linn natréimhse sin. Bhí gaolta le Llywelyn, adheartháir Dafydd san áireamh, agus prion-saí Breathnacha eile ag troid ina éadan tráthmar chomhghuaillithe ag na Sasanaigh.Amanna eile, ba ag troid in éindí leis a bhío-dar. Dar ndóigh, bhí na Sasanaigh ag iar-raidh easaontas a chothú i gcónaí. Sa mhul-lach air sin, bhí tionchar agus caimiléireachtna ‘Marcher Lords’ (tiarnaí teorann) in oirt-hear agus i ndeisceart na tíre le cur sanáireamh. Bhíodarsan dílis go bunúsach do ríShasana ach bhídís i gcónaí ag iarraidh agcumhacht féin a mhéadú. Mar sin féin,glactar leis go raibh Llywelyn i mbarr aréime nuair a d’éirigh leis aitheantas a bhaintamach mar Phrionsa na Breataine Bige óAnraoi I, Rí Shasana, i gConradhMontgomery sa bhliain 1257, seilbh achoimeád ar na tailte a ghabh sé agus umh-laíocht a fháil ó fhormhór na rialaitheoirídúchasacha, rud a chuir i gceannas ar anmBreatain Bheag go hiomlán é.

Sa bhliain 1272, de thoradh bhás Anraoi I,tháinig a mhac siúd, an Rí Éadbhard I(‘Longshanks’ nó ‘Casúr na nAlbanach’,mar a tugadh air ina dhiaidh sin) igcumhacht. Níor umhlaigh Llywelyn idtosach d’Éadbhard ach, tar éis do rí nuaShasana ionradh a dhéanamh agus an chuidis mó den tír a ghabháil sa bhliain 1277 agusan bhean (Eleanor de Montfort) lena raibh ségeallta a thógáil agus í ag seoladh thar far-raige chuig Llywelyn, ghéill sé. Cúngaíodh achumhacht d’iarthar Gwynedd ansin achtugadh cead dó Eleanor a phósadh. Faoinmbliain 1282, áfach, bhí fiú amháin namionphrionsaí a thacaigh le hÉadbhard aggearán faoi riail na Sasanach. Go híorónta,ba é a dheartháir Dafydd a chuir tús le héiríamach a scaip ar fud na tíre. In ainneoin arthit amach roimhe sin, thacaigh Llywelynleis an éirí amach. Ní go maith a chuaighcúrsaí, áfach. Rinne Éadbhard mar a rinne sésa bhliain 1277, ghabh sé Inis Món agus oirt-

hear Gwynedd. Is cosúil go ndearna ardeas-pag Chantarbaire iarracht Llywelyn a mheal-ladh le tairiscint ó Éadbhard eastát mór athabhairt dó i Sasana dá ngéillfeadh sé anBhreatain Bheag dó. Dhiúltaigh Llywelyn dósin, agus dúirt nach dtréigfeadh sé an pobal achosain a shinsir ‘ó laetha Kamber, macBrutus’. B’fhéidir gurb é an ráiteas sin a thoilan meas mór air a mhaireann go dtí an lá atáinniu ann.

Chuaigh Llywelyn ó dheas le hiarracht adhéanamh tacaíocht a chruinniú i lár agus indeisceart na tíre agus tús a chur le frontaeile. Is ann a maraíodh é agus tá leaganachaéagsúla ar fáil faoi céard a tharla ach táthar araon tuairim gur buaileadh bob air le go n-imeodh sé óna arm agus gan aige ach díormabeag (ocht nduine dhéag de chomhairleoirínó de ghardaí cosanta pearsanta). Ceaptar gurlig Edmund and Roger Mortimer, Hugo LeStrange and Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn,tiarnái aítiúla, orthu féin go raibh siad chuntaobhú leis, gur imigh sé le plé leo agusansan gur maraíodh é. Is i gCilmeri, Cefn-y-Bedd, ( trí míle siar ó Bulith Wells) afeallmharaíodh Llywelyn. Baineadh achloigeann de, seoladh go dtí Éadbhard éagus crochadh ar sparra é lasmuigh de ThúrLondan. Ní fios go cinnte cár cuireadh ancorp ach is cosúil gur in Abbey Cwm Hir aadhlacadh é. Taispeánadh cloigeannLlywelyn dá arm agus cuireadh ina luí orthugéilleadh dá bharr sin, ar ghealltanas nachmarófaí iad. Níor seasadh leis an ngealltanassin, áfach, agus cuireadh os cionn 7,000 fearchun báis in aice le Bulith Wells, san aít abhfuil an seachtú tí déag anois ar mhachairegailf Bulith Wells. Is i bpríosún ar feadh a

12 Carn

chuaigh scata ball ó Chraobh na hÉireannagus ó Chraobh Chorn na Breataine denChonradh Ceilteach go dtí ComóradhCilmeri. Níorbh é sin an chéad uair donChonradh Ceilteach freastal ar angcomóradh. Le blianta beaga anuas, tá baillas Cymru, Kernow, Alba agus CraobhShasana tar éis a bheith i láthair ann ach níraibh Craobh na hÉireann ann ó lár naseachtóidí. An tráth sin, d’fhreastail deich-niúr as Éirinn ar an ócáid. Bhí buíon áitiúil debhaill ó chraobh na Breataine Bige inAbertawe gníomhach an tráth san (agus anuachtlitir féin acu) agus thug said óstachasdo na hÉireannaigh uilig. Chuamar ó RosLáir go Abergwaun. An tráth sin, ní raibhmórán carranna ag dul soir siar i mí naNollag. Ar ndóigh, bhí na trioblóidí faoi lánseoil sa Tuaisceart agus gníomhaíocht ar siúli Sasana freisin. Tugadh suntas dúinn,stopadh muid, ceistíodh muid agus rinneadhcuardach ar na carranna agus ar anmbagáiste. Thángthas ar bheart de AnPhoblacht a thug ball amháin leis le díol.Coinníodh muid roinnt uaireanta a’ chloigagus glaonna á ndéanamh ag na póilíní. Ardeireadh, scaoileadh saor muid ach ní leis anmbeart nuachtán!

An bunchomóradh i gCilmeri, is mórshiúl éina mbíonn píobairí Breathnacha agus dru-madóirí Caimbriacha agus na sluaite óeagraíochtaí éagsúla (agus duine aonaracha)páirteach agus imíonn sé ón Prince LlywelynInn i gCilmeri go dtí an leacht cuimh-neacháin atá thart ar leathchiliméadar uaidh.I mbliana, thug Richard, Lord Livesy ofTalgarth, Roger Williams (Plaid Cymru) anFeisire Parlaiminte áitiúil, David Peterson (a

An mórshiúl ón Prince Llywelyn Inn go dtí leacht comórtha Llywelyn i gCilmeri.

Carn 13

bhí mar fear a’ tí) agus Adam Philips óráidí.Ócáid dhátheangach a bhí ann.

Ó thosaigh an comóradh sna seascaidí bhíSaor-Arm na Breataine Bige (FWA), Frontaan Tírghrá (PU) and Mudiad AmddiffynCymru (MAC – An Conradh um Chosaint naBreataine Bige) ag tabhairt tacaíochta dóagus ag cuidiú leis. Cé nach bhfuil na drea-manna míleata sin gníomhach le fada an lá,leanann an tacaíocht do Cilmeri agus anois iscomóradh í an ócáid freisin ar cheannairí nagluaiseachta atá anois ar shlí na fírinne(Commandants Cao Evans agus DenisCoslett, Eurig ap Gylym [a thug tacaíochtagus traenáil don ghrúpa rúnda ManannachFo Hallo (Faoi Thalamh) sna seachtóidí],Toni Lewis [a chríochnaigh a shaol iManainn agus gnó seodra airgid aige] agusGlyn Rowlands, a fuair bás sa bhliain 2009).Aon duine ar mhaith leo scéal na nea-graíochtaí sin a léamh, féadfaidh siad ToDream of Freedom, le Roy Clewis, a léamh(Y Lolfa a d’fhoilsigh). Tá neart eolais ar fáilar an idirlíon faoi chomóradh Cilmeri i rithna mblianta agus na daoine in FWA agus inPU ar shuíomh duine darb ainm Gethin‘Iestyn’ Gruffydd, a bhí bainteach le FWAagus le PUhttp://coffadcilmeri.blogspot.com/ agushttp://www.gurfal.com/Cilmeri/index.htm .

Le titim na hoíche, bhí paráid eile ar siúlagus tóirsí lasta agus tinte cnámha ag anleacht. Tugadh óráidí eile ansin agus sadeireadh dódh Naprún an Bhúistéara, mar athugtar air. Bhí ceol agus amhránaíocht arsiúl san Prince Llywelyn Inn ar feadh roinntmhaith uaireanta a’ chloig ina dhiaidh san.Casadh roinnt amhrán Éireannach freisin,buíochas le Caoimhín. Le tamall de bhliantaanuas, tá comóradh deiridh seachtaineseachas comóradh lae déanta as. Ar maidin,bíonn searmanas i séipéal Llanynys, atá inainm is a bheith mar an séipéal ar ar fhreast-ail Llywelyn ar aifreann don uair dheire-anach sular maraíodh é. D’fhreastail anConradh Ceilteach air sin. Thosaigh sé thart

ar a 11.00, léadh ráitis stairiúla, dánta agusóráidí chun an slua a chur ag smaoineamhníos doimhne ar an tréimhse sin agus arLlywelyn. Bhí Geraint Roberts mar fhear a’tí air sin. Maidin Dé Domhnaigh, bhícomóradh ann ar 10.30 ag geataí an chlubgailf i mBulith. Ní thugann an cumann gailfcead dul isteach ar láthair an áir, ach tugannsiad cead an Draig Goch agus brat Llywelyna chrochadh ar na cuaillí ag an ngeata, áit andearnadh comóradh, le ceol agus dánta, arar maraíodh. Ansin ar aghaidh linn go dtíAberedw, áit a raibh caisleán (atá scriosta lefada) ag Llywelyn agus bhí a thuilleadh ceoilagus aithriseoireachta ann. Bhí ar chomhaltaían Chonartha Cheiltigh tosnú ag filleadhabhaile ansin ach lean an comóradh araghaidh le teacht le chéile ag Abbey CwmHir, áit ar reáchtáladh seirbhís. Sa tráthnóna,thug an tOirmhinneach Alec Edwards léachtbliantúil Iontaobhas Abbey Cwm Hir,bunaithe ar fhreagra Llywelyn ar ardeaspagChantarbaire John Peckham sa bhliain 1282.

Cathal Ó LuainSummaryVarious branches of the Celtic League have

attended the Cilmeri commemoration forLlywelyn III from time to time. In 2009 agroup of Celtic League members fromIreland and Cornwall attended the Cilmeri

commemoration on the 11th Dec.Appreciation was expressed for their atten-dance by various speakers. This articledescribes the circumstances leading up to thedeath of Llywelyn III, and the founding of theceremony in the sixties. Over the years it hasbeen a focal point for the Free Wales Armyand Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC) andtribute was paid to deceased members. Thecommemoration has expanded over the yearswith events on the Sat morning and Sundayalso. These events held this year are out-lined. The Websites referenced give somegeneral information and photos from previ-ous years.

Ireland’s Soldiers Song (National Anthem)seems to have turned into more of anInternationale, thanks to a free karaokedownload from Nokia that teaches thewords to Amhrán na bhFiannTo Nokia’s surprise, the application hasbecome an Irish hit for the Finnish mobilegiant. More than 25,000 downloads havebeen made in just two months of the freeapplication, which was created by Irishmobile application developers MobaNodein consultation with Irish languagepromoters Gaelchultúr last year.“Fifty per cent of the downloads were fromoutside the Irish market, includingVietnam and Turkey,” said Sian Gray,head of marketing for Nokia Ireland. Shesaid Turks in particular seemed enamouredwith learning to sing in Irish. Whiledelighted with the application’s popularity,Nokia is a bit baffled as to why there havebeen so many foreign downloads, evenaccounting for the diaspora.The company is pleased with its surprisehit, not least because Nokia commissionedthe application itself to provide an exampleof the kind of local Irish content it hopesdevelopers will produce for the company’sOvi Store portal site. Ovi – which means“door” in Finnish – offers music,applications, and a variety of free servicesand is Nokia’s rival to Apple’s populariPhone App Store.The success of the Amhrán na bhFiannapplication has encouraged Nokia tolaunch a competition for Irish developers,who can submit their own ideas for Irish-oriented applications. Nokia will selecttwo promising applications and fully coverthe cost of their development andpromotionAnyone can download it from:http://short.ie/6d5vd0

Nokia users abroaddig the sound of

‘Amhrán na bhFiann’

Cuid de bhaill an Chonartha Cheiltigh lasmuigh de shéipéal Llanynys le lucht eagraithean tsearmanais, David Peterson (filleadh beag, ), agus iad ag iompar Airm Gwynedd.

Geraint Roberts ag órádaíocht ag leacht comórtha Llywelyn.

14 Carn

The long awaited 20 Year Strategy for Irishwas launched at the end of 2009 after anumber of postponements. The 45 pagebilingual document is available atwww.pobail.ie/en/IrishLanguage . TheStrategy sets out areas of action under ninekey headings: Education; The Gaeltacht;Family Transmission of the Language –Early Intervention; Administration,Services and Community; Media andTechnology; Dictionaries; Legislation andStatus; Economic Life; Cross-cuttingInitiatives.Some of the main points are given below.Following on from the 2006 PolicyStatement, the headline goal has been set ofincreasing over 20 years the number of

� People with a knowledge of Irish fromthe current 1.66 million to 2 million.

� Daily speakers of Irish from the currentlevel of approximately 83,000 to250,000.

� Increase the number of speakers whospeak Irish on a daily basis in theGaeltacht as its invigoration will becritical to the overall plan/strategy.

� Increase the number of people that useState services through the Irish languageand can access television, radio andprint media through the language.

There will continue to be a senior Ministerand a Government Department (theDepartment of Community, Rural andGaeltacht Affairs) with central responsibilityfor Irish language affairs. Planning and Implementation of the Strategywill be directed from a Strategy Unit withinthat Department, with dedicated staff and thefunction of assigning duties andimplementation roles to implementationagencies, as necessary.With regard to the main implementationagency to be responsible for delivering onthe Strategy, it is proposed that an existingIrish language agency – Údarás naGaeltachta – will be fundamentallyrestructured as a new national Irishlanguage agency – Údarás na Gaeilge.While the implementation of certainGaeltacht policies and plans will continue tobe the responsibility of the Department ofCommunity, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, itmay, however, devolve functions to Údarásna Gaeilge, as appropriate. Foras na Gaeilge will continue to deliver onits statutory responsibilities in relation toIrish. These include undertaking supportiveprojects and grant-aiding bodies and groupsto support the language as appropriate,developing terminologies and dictionaries,supporting Irish-medium education and theteaching of the Irish language on the island,and generally facilitating and encouraging

20 YEAR STRATEGY for the IRISH LANGUAGE 2010 -2030

the use of the language in public and privatelife. In fully carrying out its remit, Foras naGaeilge will remain a key element of thesupport structure for the language in bothparts of the island.The 2007 Report on the Linguistic Study ofthe Use of Irish in the Gaeltacht recommendsthat the main strategic focus of languagepolicy in the Gaeltacht should be onsupporting and empowering futuregenerations of young Gaeltacht parents toraise their children through Irish. The Reportreinforces in particular the importance ofmaintaining and increasing the proportion ofactive Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas.As already referred to, Údarás naGaeltachta will be fundamentallyrestructured as a national Irish languageagency – Údarás na Gaeilge (with itsheadquarters in the Gaeltacht) – withresponsibility for Irish language mattersthroughout the State, as well as keepingmany of its present functions. Legislation willbe prepared in order to place the new bodyon a statutory footing. Údarás na Gaeilgewill be run by a board made up of bothelected representatives and membersappointed by the Minister. Under the new Act, a language planningprocess will be instigated whereby alanguage plan will be prepared atcommunity level for each Gaeltacht district.These plans will integrate the approach inrelation to linguistic issues, education,physical planning, and social and communitydevelopment. Community buy-in andparticipation will be critical. Resources willbe made available to implement the languageplans.The State will also develop a comprehensiveset of supports for Irish-speaking families inthe Gaeltacht in consultation with parents ofyoung children and infants, and expectantparents. There is considerable experience inother jurisdictions, including Wales and theBasque Country, in supporting familiesraising children with two languages.Building on experience in Ireland,particularly in supporting networks of Irishspeaking families and providing languagesupport for children in Gaeltacht schools,and on international best practice, a range ofpractical measures will be put in place tosupport the transmission of Irish in thefamily.A further category of language communitywill be recognised in the new Act to allow fortargeted initiatives to develop new languagecommunities/networks outside the Gaeltacht.These will be predominantly in urbancommunities that have achieved the essentialcritical mass of community and State supportfor the Irish language.TG4 will be further supported to provide

television services through Irish. TG4 nowhas a new target of a six-hour daily Irishlanguage schedule, up from a current level ofapproximately 4.4 hours. Sufficient fundingis vital for TG4 to carry out its statutoryremit and to retain its market share in anincreasingly competitive environment as anindependent statutory body.Subtitling options will be substantiallyincreased in order to offer the option to havesubtitles in Irish, English, or both, or nosubtitles, thus significantly reinforcing theaccessibility of TG4 to learners and non-proficient users of Irish as well as fluentspeakers.The Good Friday Agreement provided thatthe British Government would work with therelevant British and Irish broadcastingauthorities to make TG4 more ‘widelyavailable’ in Northern Ireland. TheGovernment will continue to work with therelevant British authorities to ensure thatthis will be achieved in the context of theswitchover to digital television by 2012.Bilingual labelling and packaging: TheGovernment will examine the feasibility ofintroducing a voluntary code for bilinguallabelling and packaging of all goods sold inIreland. This activity could be used as amechanism to develop the range of areasavailable in which people can choose Irishas a language of exchangeA portal site for Irish will be developed. Thiswill be designed to provide easy open accessto all materials and resources for and inIrish, to include e-learning materials,publications, media, terminology,placenames, academic publications,language networks, digitised sources, andsocial and professional networks.

The Strategy received a general if cautiouswelcome from the Irish languageorganisations. One positive element wasconfirmation that a senior Ministry andgovernment department with centralresponsibility for Irish language affairswould remain. It had been proposed in therecommendations of the cost cutting ‘AnBord ‘Snip’ that it be abolished. Many seethe Strategy as good on aspiration but weakon implementation. Northern commentatorsfelt it did nothing for the language in theNorth. Also of course the key issue offunding must be clarified. Some Gaeltachtcommentators do not see the restructuring of

Donncha Ó hÉallaithe

Carn 15

Údarás na Gaeltachta as a national Irishlanguage agency, Údarás na Gaeilge, as at allbeneficial to the Gaeltacht. It has to beremembered that the Údáras only came intobeing after a long campaign decades ago byGaeltacht activists and it is feared that thismove would affect provision of employmentand enterprise in the Gaeltacht. At the end of January the Dáil committeedealing with Irish language affairs confirmedcross party support and heard submissionsfrom a (randomly selected) number oflanguage bodies and activists. Concernswere expressed about the whole managerialstructure, real responsibility forimplementation and monitoring. Variousadditional proposals were made among themsome with regard to education, bilingualroad signage of equal status, recruitment toensure Irish speaking fluency in the publicservice. More clarification was need betweenthe roles of the new Údáras na Gaeilge andForas na Gaeilge. Fiontar, the Irish languageenterprise group in DCU, had provided areport to the government to inform theStrategy but not all there proposals wereaccepted. A call was made, by Donncha ÓhÉallaithe, Gaeltacht activist and researcher,for Fiontar to be invited to the Dailcommittee to discuss their proposals whichhad not been accepted in the Strategy.

Gaelscoileanna throughoutIreland are celebratingtoday’s announcment thatcircular 0044/2007 inrelation to Language andLiteracy in Infant Classesin Irish-medium schoolshas been officiallywithdrawn. The Departmentof Education and Science’sdecision to withdraw thecontroversial circular and togrant official recognition tothe early-immersion education system hasbeen warmly welcomed byGAELSCOILEANNA TEO. TheDepartment’s decision follows a period ofintense campaigning in the sector sincethe release of circular 0044/2007 in 2007.The predominant demand of thecampaign, the withdrawal of the circular,has now been achieved. The outstandingdemands, which include agreement on theofficial models of early-immersioneducation in gaelscoileanna as well asimplementation of a programme ofresearch to form the basis ofstrengthening the immersion educationsystem, will be considered and agreed in aconsultative manner with stakeholders. The decision opens the door to thenecessary and comprehensivedevelopment of the early-immersioneducation system in gaelscoileanna. Thenext step in the process will involvepublication of a draft statutory instrument

Official Recognition for the Early-Immersion Education System in Gaelscoileanna

referring to the early-immersion educationsystem, which will bepresented and agreed withstakeholders. GAELSCOILEANNATEO. extends itscongratulations to theplaintiffs in the legal caseand also its gratitude to theorganisation’s delegationwho engaged in discussionswith the Department

throughout the campaign in an effort toresolve the crisis. GAELSCOILEANNATEO. also acknowledges the central roleplayed by Irish-language partners,education partners and the teacher unionsin particular throughout the campaign. C.E.O. of GAELSCOILEANNA TEO.,Bláthnaid Ní Ghréacháin, stated, “this isvery positive news and we whole-heartedly welcome the Department’sdecision to strengthen the Irish-mediumeducation sector, thereby allowingschools to continue to implement the mosteffective system of language acquisitionavailable. This departure illustrates thepositive effect of collaborative efforts andwe are very grateful to all in the sector,including schools for their unrelentinglobbying as well as to the plaintiffs whofought against the enforcement of thecircular since its publication.”

Bláthnaid Ní Ghréacháin,CEO Gaelscoileanna

LISBON’S CONSTITUTIONAL

REVOLUTION BY STEALTH

With the coming into force of the LisbonTreaty on Tuesday 1st. December, membersof the European Parliament, who up to nowhave been “representatives of the peoples ofthe States brought together in theCommunity”(Art.189 TEC), become“representatives of the Union’s citizens”(Art.14 TEU).This change in the status ofMEPs is but one illustration of theconstitutional revolution being broughtabout by the Lisbon Treaty.For Lisbon, likethe EU Constitution before it, establishes forthe first time a European Union which isconstitutionally separate from and superiorto its Member States, just as the USA isseparate from and superior to its 50constituent states or as Federal Germany isin relation to its Länder.The 27 EU members thereby lose theircharacter as true sovereign States.Constitutionally, they become more likeregional states in a multinational Federation,although they still retain some of thetrappings of their former sovereignty.Simultaneously, 500 million Europeansbecomes real citizens of the constitutionallynew post-Lisbon European Union, with realcitizens’ rights and duties with regard to thisEU, as compared with the merely notional orsymbolical EU citizenship they are assumedto have possessed up to now. Most

Europeans are unaware of these astonishingchanges, for two reasons. One is that, withthe exception of the Irish, they have beendenied any chance of learning about anddebating them in national referendums. Theother is that the terms “European Union”,“EU citizen” and “EU citizenship” remainthe same before and after Lisbon, althoughLisbon changes their constitutional contentfundamentally. The Lisbon Treaty thereforeis a constitutional revolution by stealth. The EU Constitution, which the peoples ofFrance and Holland rejected in 2005, soughtto establish a new European Union in theconstitutional form of a Federation directly.Its first article stated: “This Constitutionestablishes the European Union”. That wouldclearly have been a European Union with adifferent constitutional basis from the EUthat had been set up by the Maastricht Treaty13 years before. Lisbon brings aconstitutionally new Union into beingindirectly rather than directly, by amendingthe two existing European Treaties instead ofreplacing them entirely, as the earlierConstitutional Treaty had sought to do. Thus

Lisbon states: “The Union shall be foundedon the present Treaty” - viz. the Treaty onEuropean Union (TEU) -“and on the Treatyon the Functioning of the Union.” These twoTreaties together then become theConstitution of the post-Lisbon EuropeanUnion. A new Union is in effect being“constituted”, although the word“Constitution” is not used.What we called the “European Union” pre-Lisbon is the descriptive term for the totalityof legal relations between its 27 MemberStates and their peoples. This encompassedthe European Community, which had legalpersonality, made supranational Europeanlaws and had various State-like features, aswell as the Member States cooperatingtogether on the basis of retained sovereigntyin foreign policy and defence and in crimeand justice matters. Lisbon changes thissituation fundamentally by giving the post-Lisbon Union the constitutional form of atrue supranational Federation, in other wordsa State. The EU would still lack some powersof a fully developed Federation, the most

continued on page 23

16 Carn

Kernow

Aswonnys yn ta yw Wikipedya lemmyn.Gwrys veu Wikipedya yn Sowsnek yn misGenver 2001 gans Jimmy Wales. Wosahenna lies yethow a wrug sywya. Ymalemmyn a-dro dhe 250 dyllans Wikipedya ha200 anedha yn fyw yn 2009. Wikipedya ywgodhoniador liesyethek gans dalgh igor,gruthys ha mentenys gans bodhogyon drevedhelweyth wiki. An Fondyans Wikimediayw hostys Wikipedya; nag eus dhodho evamkan rag budh.

Eth warn ugens dyllans a’n jeves pub hunimoy ages 100,000 erthygel: Sowsnek,Spaynek, Almaynek, Frynkek, Japonek,Italek, Polonek, Swedek, Iseldiryek,Portyngalek hag erell...

War-lergh Hitwise, kowethyans musuryawar-linen, Wikipedya yw an wiasvapennfenten derivadow moyha usys war anKesrosweyth.

Dres oll an yethow soedhogel na yma tyllerrag yethow nyns yw soedhogel, po yethownebes kewsys po yethow marow avelGalythiek, Kernewek po Latin! Meur anedhaa wra pedri yn bywnans poblek po ynbywnans oll an dydhyow mes war an wiasvabyw hag usyes yns i!

An yethow nebes kewsys a wrug kavoes ynWikipedya le rag bleujyowa po splanna hadegemmeres an keth dyghtyans a’n yethowsoedhogel. Henn yw kas an yeth bretonek,rag ensampel gans meur a 30,000 erthygel!Henn yw an 51a yeth moyha poesek warWikipedya!

Sevys veu an Wikipedya yn Bretonek yn2004. Henn yw ynwedh an yeth keltek gansmoy erthyglow. Hag yma moy erthyglow ynBretonek ages yn yethow soedhogel ragensampel an Albaynek! Magys yw dre vrasdyllans bretonek gans studhyoryon hadyskadoryon pennskolyow Breten Vyghanow havoes erthyglow ha derivadow wardhyllansow erell hag ow threylya anerthyglow ma yn Bretonek.

Byttegyns res yw dhyn notya stat andyllans katalanek gans meur a 207,000erthygel! An yeth katalanek yw an 15vesyeth moy poes war Wikipedya war an keth

nivel ha yethow soedhogel avel finnek ragensampel. Yma yethow nebes kewsys avelGalythiek, Baskek po Cebuano (unan a’nyethow Filipinys).

Spas da yw Wikipedya rag an yethkernewek! Da via ynkressya niver aerthyglow yn Kernewek war Wikipedya, dellgrysav. Yma lemmyn 1,811 erthyglow waran Wikipedya Kernewek. Hwi a yll agangweres mar kodhewgh konvedhes Kernewek- gwra skrifa erthygel a-dro dhe neppyth a lesdhewgh, po gwelhe, po ewnhe an pyth usiomma seulabrys.

* Kewgh dhe borth an gemmynieth ragkavos derivadow a-dro dh’agas akontdevnydhyer, tybyansow rag erthyglow, hamoy.

* Rag gweres, kewgh dhe’n tavern. Hennyw an le rag govynadow, profyansow hakows ollgemmyn a-dro dhe Wikipedia.

* A-dro dhe skriforyon-kompostor:

Pubonan a vydh kummyes dhe skrifaerthyglow nowydh y’n skrifa-kompostera’ga bodh. Pubonan a yll chanjya anskrifa-komposter usys yn unn erthygel,mars usi va/hi ow lesa an erthygel haekspondya war desten ev.

Summary : Wikipedia, the free web-based, collaborativeand multilingual encyclopedia was launchedin 2001 by Jimmy Wales is currently thelargest and most popular general referencework on the Internet. Wikipedia is a fabulousopportunity for minority languages, amongthem Cornish. As Wikipedia is writtencollaboratively by volunteers around theworld, and almost all of its articles can beedited by anyone with access to the site itcould be a real opportunity for Cornishspeakers to increase the number of articleswritten in Cornish. And this could be donewith the other Celtic languages too...

José Calvette

WIKIPEDYA, TROESPONS HA FENESTER AN YETHOW NEBES KEWSYS.

Radyo an Gernewegva a grevha

an taves kewsys

Y’n termyn eus passyes, nyns esa meur ajonsow a glywes Kernewek kewsys y’nbywnans poblek. A-darr mos dhe’nBennseythun Gernewek po Lowender Peran,ny’gan beu saw BBC Radyo Kernow gans‘An Newodhow’, towlenn omma hag ena deran bellwolok, ha rag termyn verr yth esanowodhow der Pirate FM ynwedh. Byttegyns, an bys re dreylyas yn feur.gans ankesroesweyth. Lemmyn ni a yll dannvon sonha gwydheo a-hys an bys heb edhomm awernow tavethli. Ytho my a lonchyas gorsavradyo der an kesroesweyth nans yw diwvlydhen. Yn gwir, nyns yw gorsav, sawkodhethliansow (po podkastys). My a dhallathas gans ‘Nowodhow anSeythun’ (Mis Gwynngala 2007) neb a ros annowodhow a Gernow pub seythun y’gan

taves ni. Pesya a wrug bys y’n mis Ebrylwarlyna, mes res o dhymm y hedhi awos bosre a ober dhymm dh’y wul. Byttegyns ymahwath ‘Radyo an Gernewegva’ (dalleth awrug mis Meurth 2008). An dowlenn ma ywkodhethlys pub seythun. Durya a wra hanterour, hag ynni y kevir keskows hag ilow – ollanodho yn Kernewek. Nyns yw es gul hanterour seythunweyth, byttegyns challenj da yw,ha dell glywav, degemmerys yw yn ta ganstus ow tyski an taves a-hys an bys. My reglywas dhiworth Kembroyon ynwedh neb awoslow pub seythun, hag es lowr yw ragdhakonvedhes. Mar mynnowgh goslowes orti agas honan,ewgh dhe: www.radyo.kernewegva.com

SummaryRadyo an Gernewegva started in March2008 providing a weekly half an hourprogramme totally in Cornish. It is a mix ofmusic and chat. The service is helpingstudents of the language, particularly furthera-field.

Matthew Clarke

Matthew Clarke

ANCIENT CORNISH SITES CLEANED UP

Carn 17

It was hard graft for all as members of An Kesunyans Keltek Scoren Kernewek (the CornishBranch of the Celtic League) joined those of Roesweyth Gwith Hen Leow Kernewek - RGHLK(Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network) in clearing the ancient rights of way as well as theactual surrounds of the Holy Well at Sancreed, west of Penzance.

The well is pre Christian and under the care of RGHLK, a completely voluntary organisation,which works hard to maintain and protect many, such sites.

In addition to cutting back wild vegetation, many inappropriate ‘clouties’ left hanging in thenearby tree were removed. Suitable offerings were carefully left.

Clouties are traditional custom at healing wells, whereby rags were torn from part of the bodywhere there was injury or hurt and tied on a tree close to the well. As the material disintegratedso the hurt was supposed to go.

Nowadays, the gifts are hung by local people for good luck although sadly, holiday makershave been found leaving Tesco carrier bags and the like being not fully aware of the significanceof their actions. Sancreed is dedicated to St.Credan, a mythological saint who in the old texts sup-posedly accidentally killed his father and became a swineherd in penance In Celtic mythologypigs were totem animals of the Otherworld.

At the end of a very successful day and as the sea mists rolled in, mead and hot cross buns wereshared and a blessing made in Cornish. A similar such clearance day is planned for next month.

Tony Leamon, An Kesunyans Keltek Scoren Kernewek

The ‘Melting Pot’ Cafe, situated at‘Krowji’, the old Redruth Grammar School,was filled with scores of Cornish languagespeakers from all manner of Cornish organi-sations, groups and societies from aroundRedruth for a musical ‘Troyl’ - an evening ofsong and dance in celebration of Christmas.

Aside from the usual Christmas fare, ‘thun-der and lightning’ - treacle and cream onsplits and saffron buns were freely distrib-uted.

Singers from the Tregojorran Choir enter-tained the crowd in attendance performingmany very traditional Cornish Carols.

Hardly a word of English was to be heardas the many Cornish speakers conversedfreely in the resurgent Celtic language.

The ever popular Clive Baker, who teachesthe Cornish language at various classes in theCamborne and Redruth area was able to wishall his students ‘Nadelik Lowen ha BlydhenNoweth Da!’ (Merry Christmas and a HappyNew Year) and above the merrymaking,responses of ‘Gorhemmynadow as Seson re

‘Melting Pot’ Cafe

Tony Leamon

‘A Sign of the Times’Seemingly timed to coincide with the recent decision by Cornwall Council to proceed withthe policy of an ‘old for new’ dual English and Cornish language signage replacementpolicy, despite the not unexpected Tory opposition, this thought provoking graffitiappeared on the Cremyll Ferry route from Kernow to Plymouth, England. Situated on theeast bank of the Tamar near to Plymouth’s Stonehouse Jetty, it has drawn much publicattention including from many tourists who have photographed it.Again, not unsurprisingly, it has not been mentioned in the press normally quick to reportsuch things, probably as it does not mention violence and lacks the sensationalism calledfor in the centrally controlled media.

‘gas bo, Clive’ were called back. (Seasonsgreeting to you, Clive)

The Melting Pot holds a ‘Nos Kernow’every Wednesday, late afternoon andevening, for those wishing to learn Cornishand to later enjoy Cornish traditional music

and has hosted Cornish Language fact find-ing visits from groups of visitors from as fara field as the USA.The venue is also available for hire anddetails may be found at the website:http://www.themeltingpotonline.co.uk/

18 Carn

JOWAL LETHESOW St Piran “First”The ‘First Bus’ Company, whose

passenger vehicles serve most of theDuchy, have announced that their driversin Cornwall will be displaying the nowwidely accepted St. Piran’s flag on theiruniforms.

The older ‘Truronian’ bus company hasnow been absorbed into ‘First Bus’ and inaddition to the driver uniforms there is anongoing policy of adding St. Piran flags tovehicle liveries.

Marc Reddy, who is managing directorof First Cornwall, said: “We believe thesechanges will benefit most people inCornwall, so we are celebrating theirintroduction as well as our own Cornishheritage. With this in mind, we have hadsome pin badges made featuring the StPiran flag and the First logo; our staff willwear them as they serve local people.”

Craig Weatherhill “Jowal Lethesow:Whedhel a’n West a Gernow”, Co. Mayo:Evertype, 2009, £10.95

Back in 1991, I remember stumbling intothe late and lamented Truro Bookshop andcoming across a novel called The LyonesseStone: A Novel of West Cornwall. Havinggrown up on an epic diet of StephenDonaldson (The Chronicles of ThomasCovenant), J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of theRings) and Jack Vance (Lyonesse), thisfantasy seemed the very thing for me. At thetime, Weatherhill’s novel was a tremendousbreakthrough in Anglo-Cornish literature: amature, intelligent and well-written novelthat managed to weave together manymythological strands of history, folklore andlegend.

Although perhaps marketed then by thePadstow-based publisher Tabb House as ateenage or young person’s fiction, it in fact,has considerable appeal for adult reader aswell. Even better, it was dedicated to that‘old Celt’ William Bottrell, folklorist andstory collector. Weatherhill’s originalproject concerned the story of modern-dayPenny and John Trevelyan, who are caughtup in a centuries old quest for power andimmortality, connected to the flooding ofLyonesse – the mythical land betweenLand’s End and the Isles of Scilly. Havingan almost Alan Garner-like realism and aSusan Cooper-style darkness, the novelmanaged to redefine contemporary fantasyliterature of Cornwall. What I always foundgreat about the novel is the way thatWeatherhill managed to weave in place-names and their meanings (the author is anacknowledged place-names expert), withPart One ‘The Crownstone’ linking MenScryfa, the Hooting Carn and a fogou, andPart Two: ‘Shall Times Intermingle’, linkingthe past with the present – in a way, a notionthat sums up the Cornish experience.

So, why the revisit? Well, the novel hasnow been expertly translated into Cornish byNicholas Williams, and the result is that wenow have an important contribution toCornish-language literature. The effect ofWilliams’ translation is often dazzling; theCornish giving new illumination to majorsequences in the novel, as well as presentinga further realism of space and place.Williams is a precision translator, weavingabsolutely the correct meaning from theoriginal, but also giving a tremendous feel ofthe original: in fact, the two qualities onewould most want. Jowal Lethosow, is thenovel’s title in Cornish and it has beendiligently produced by Evertype of CountyMayo in Ireland. Evertype have madesomething of a reputation for themselves oflate, not only producing an acclaimed seriesof publications on the Cornish language, butalso translating a range of world-class

literature into Cornish. One such publicationis Weatherhill’s novel. What is veryimportant about this book is that it marks anew watermark for literature in Cornish. Wehave, so it would seem, moved on from safe‘bang the drum’ novels solely aboutnationalism or 1497, and now have acotemporary literature that sits up there withJ.K. Rowling and Michael Murpurgo.Evertype have high production values, sothis is not the thrown together piece of workof some Cornish language organisations.Instead, we see a modern typeface,contemporary styling and an awareness ofwhat a modern literature needs to look like.

2009 would appear to have been asignificant year for Weatherhill. Halsgrovehave just reprinted a fine new edition of hisCornovia: Ancient Sites of Cornwall andScilly 4000BC – 1000AD, which featuresmany of the places imagined in JowalLethosow. For that extra degree of realism,read the two books together, and one is ableto map the characters’ journeys across thelandscape of West Cornwall. The sequel toJowal Lethosow was Seat of Storms, whichwas a thoroughly enjoyable secondinstalment of the saga. A third, The Tinner’sWay, is planned for the near future. It wouldbe a fine thing indeed, if these could also betranslated into Cornish, and that Weatherhillcontinues to both examine and recreate ourmythological past. The book containsillustrations by the author. Copies may beobtained from Amazon.co.uk, fromAmazon.com, or from Spyrys a Gernow: e-mail shoppa@spyrys.org. Seealsohttp://www.evertype.com/books/jowal.html

Alan M. Kent

A new secretary of the Kernow Branch of theLeague has been appointed following anextra ordinary meeting. It was decided at themeeting in November in Roche that MichaelChappell should be approached to take up theposition of branch secretary again followingIwan LeMoine announcement that he wishedto step down for personal reasons. MrLeMoine consequently invited Mr Chappell– who was not present at the meeting toconsider being reappointed as branchsecretary in view of the good work that MrChappell had undertaken in organising thebranch during his time as branch secretarybetween 2005 and 2008.Mr Chappell who accepted the invitation totake up the role again was warmly welcomedby Kernow branch treasurer Tony Leamonand general secretary of the League RhisiartTal-e-bot. Mr Leamon said: “Mike is a greatpersonal friend of mine, but he is alsosomeone who has a commitment to Cornwalland the other Celtic countries that is secondto none. In addition he is a fantastic organiserand gets things done. I am so pleased heagreed to take up the lead again. He is thenatural choice for secretary.”

NEW SECRETARYFOR CORNISH

BRANCH

Mike Chappell

Carn 19

ManninGear-cheim ayns Nerin Hwoaie reeshtagh

Veih’n aght ta ymagglaghey goll erresooney syn ym-ysseraght Ghoaldagh,s’aashagh smooinaghtyn dy neeymaggleyderyn Muslimagh ta jannoo ynchooid smoo jeh’n ymagglaghey ayns yReeriaght Unnaneyssit. Agh cha nel shenkiart. Dy ve firrinagh, she ayns NerinHwoaie son y chooid smoo ta sleih soie ersleih elley dy raghtal. As son y chooid smoo,she ass-unnaneyderyn pobblaghtagh tajannoo yn stoo raghtal. V’eh grait dy jinnaghCoardail Jeheiney Caisht cur sthap dableaystaney, shottal sleih as kerraghey sleihliorish bwoalley ad dy trome. Agh ny shleena jeih bleeaney lurg y Coardail shen, ta’nearroo dy haghyrtyn agglagh ayns NerinHwoaie goll er bishaghey.

Er y gherrid, va bleaystan kiare cheeadpunt faagit ec ard-offish y voayrd-poleeneyayns Beeal Feirshtey – cha ren eh bleaystey.Va ass-unnaneyderyn as meoiryn-sheelhiggey gunnaghyn noi ry hoi ayns Co. FearManach. Ayns y Strah Bane, ren ass-unnaneyderyn lhiggey gunnaghyn syn aer ecoanluckey, kionfenish sleih dy liooar vabwoalley bassyn – y chied cheayrt haghyr ylheid rish nuy bleeaney. Va daa hidoor asmeoir-shee marrit ayns Mee Vayrnt, as, aynsny shey mee ny lurg shen, va meoiryn-sheesoit er un cheayrt jeig lesh gunnaghyn.Harrish y daa vlein shoh chaie, va 720 raaue-bleaystan currit. Ass yn earroo shen, va 420red oddagh oo gra ‘bleaystan so-chredjal’rish. Ayns Nerin Hwoaie nish ta mysh un‘taghyrt ymagglaghey’ ayn gagh laa.

Son shickyrys, cha nod shoh goll ercosoylaghey rish ny reddyn mooarey va’nIRA jannoo paart dy vleeantyn er dy henney.Ta ny possanyn ass-unnaneagh beg, lane dyvrahderyn, as cha nel ad goll er pohlldal gollrish ny pobblaghtee armit ayns ny bleeantyntree feed as jeih, as kiare feed. As, ec y traacheddin, ta Sinn Féin goll er pohlldal feerniartal. Agh hug y Commishoon-scruteeEddyrashoonagh skeeal magh er y gherriddy vel yn earroo dy hoiaghyn armit ec yleval syrjey neayr’s va’n Commishoon curriter bun shey bleeaney er dy henney. As takimmeeys ny leighalee phara-hidooragh feerard neesht. Ta ny leeideilee phobblaghtaghas unnaneysagh goaill rish dy jig y raghliddy ve ny smessey, s’cosoylagh.

Cha nel ad ayns coardailys mychionemonney stoo elley. Ec y traa cheddin as ta’ntroddan ass-unnaneagh gaase mastey nypobblaghtee, ta gear-cheim er jeet er rheynnpooar eddyr unnaneyseyryn as pobblaghtee.Er y daa heu, ta ass-unnaneyderyn girree

magh noi’n status quo. Er y cheu leighalagh,ta’n Partee Unnaneysagh Deynlagh fobaggyrt veih’n Choraa UnnaneysaghTradishoonagh – ny deiney feer chreoi.T’adsyn lhiettal garraghey pooaraghynpoleeney as cairagh gys shecktyrys NerinHwoaie, red va coardit un vlein jeig er dyhenney. Son pobblaghtee as ashooneyrynYernagh, ta’n chooish shoh smoo scanshoilna cooish elley erbee. Dy beagh pooaraghynpoleeney as cairys currit da shecktyrys NerinHwoaie, veagh Nerin Hwoaie geddynsmaght deynlagh harrish niart va ymmyd jehson traa liauyr dy hranlaasey dy scarreydaghyn mynlagh sy steateen t’ad gra NerinHwoaie rish. Kyndagh rish shen, ta nyleighalee er chroo conaant lurg conaantyn dylhiettal garraghey ny pooaraghyn scanshoilveih Lunnin gys Nerin Hwoaie.

Myr shen, ta sleih er ve gra foddee dybeagh Sinn Féin cur reihyssyn fo raad, nyfoddee dy beagh rheynn pooaraghyn tuittymveih my cheilley. Ta Jeffrey Donaldsonveih’n Phartee Unnaneysagh Deynlagh granagh vel eh feer voirit, as dy vel lught SinnFéin kinjagh lhiggey er dy vel ad doo-aignagh tra nagh vel ad geddyn ny t’adgeearree. Agh ta’n gear-cheim pohlldal asniartaghey troddan ny h-ass-unnaneyderynpobblaghtagh. By vie lhieusyn rheynnpooaraghey y vrishey sheese. My t’ou toiggaly niart as y shennaghys jeh tradishoonpobblaghtagh Nerin, cha nyrrys nagh velmynlagh pobblaghtagh er ghoaill rish ylhiggey lesh y cheilley va jeant ec Sinn Féinmyr ayrn jeh’n choardail-shee. Sonshickyrys, ta sidooryn Goaldagh er gholl dyvalley, as ta unnaneyseyryn er ve eginit dyrheynn pooar lesh sleih v’ad soit er stroie. Asta foddey smoo cairyn theayagh as corrymidheayagh ayn. Agh ta oikyn y reiltys foast nynayrn jeh’n steat Goaldagh, as ta Nerinunnaneysit foast foddey ersooyl. Nerinunnaneysit – she ard-dean phobblaghtysYernagh va shen rieau. Y lhiass-eaghtyranejeh Sinn Féin Pobblaghtagh, t’eh gra naghvel ad goll boayl erbee. As eshyn: ‘Cha nelad agh loayrt mychione cur bree da reillGoaldagh as leigh Ghoaldagh’. Aghdooinney ta loayrt son Sinn Féin, t’eh gra dyvel caggey lesh gunnaghyn y red s’jerree dyyannoo. Mannagh vel strateish ayd, as chanel oo agh goll magh dy varroo sleih, shemarrooder oo. She fer-gunney oo, cha neeravval.

Ta sleih ennagh cosoylaghey troddan ny h-ass-unnaneyderyn pobblaghtagh nish rishtroddan yn IRA ayns ny bleeantyn jeih as

daeed – troddan ren goll er fioghey kyndaghrish genney pohlldal. Agh dy beagh redagglagh jeant as dy beagh ymmodee sleihmarrit, foddee dy jinnagh shen greinnagheyaawoalley mooar as cooyl-skyrraghtynatçhimagh. Cha ren Coardail Jeheiney Caishtfeaysley yn caggey, ren eh cummal asdooney stiagh eh. Reeshtagh ayns NerinHwoaie, ta sthurneish unnaneysagh lhiettalpolitickaght cheeallagh. Kyndagh rish yghear-cheim argidoil, foddee, t’eh jeeaghynnagh vel ny reiltyssyn ayns Lunnin nyDivlyn cur monney geill da taghyrtyn feerghaueagh ayns Nerin Hwoaie. Bee ehommidjagh erskyn towse my vees nyreiltyssyn shen lhiggey harrish y raaue. Chanel sleih laccal y clag dy ve currit erashdaeed blein. Ayns ny bleeantyn tree feed, hirrmynlagh Nerin Hwoaie cairyn theayagh. Charen reiltys Lunnin veg. Sleih va fo chosh, hirrad ny cairyn shen er aghtyn sheeoil, as eishtva brouityn unnaneysagh lowit dy hoie orroolesh claghyn as maidjyn. Cha row fir-ghunney ry-akin as va’n IRA marroo. Aghva’n IRA aa-chrooit ec raghtalidunnaneysagh as ec faasid reiltys Lunnin. Chanel shin laccal ooilley shen reeshtagh.

SummaryIt looks as though power sharing in the Northof Ireland could fall apart over the issue oftransferring policing and justice powers tothe Northern Ireland executive. Maybe thefinancial crisis is making the London andDublin governments not to take thingsseriously enough.

Brian Stowell

The Cooish is a festival that has been held formany years now in November each year, thisyear’s report of the Cooish which took placeon the 7th – 14th of November, is evidenceof the growing strength of the Manxlanguage and arts. Also the organisers of theCooish have expanded the event, which nowembraces an Inter Celtic dimension.As ever the festival wouldn’t happen withoutthe Manx Heritage Foundation; Cains theArts Council also thanks must go to ManxTelecom for their publicity and Manx Radiofor their extensive coverage.The full report can be found athttp://www.learnmanx.com/cms/news_index_all.html Carn readers are stronglyencouraged to visit this site, which showsclearly how Manx is progressing and howInter Celtic links can help. Below are a fewsnippets of some of the events that occurredover the week.

Cooish Review,2009

continued on page 20

20 Carn

The Isle of Man Government announced inOctober a cut of between £100 - £140 millionin its share of the Isle of Man/UK VATRevenue Sharing Arrangement which willhave serious implications for Governmentspending for years to come. While in theshort term this is clearly a massive blow tothe Manx people it does allow for a morehonest and potentially much bolder approachto Manx politics.

Ever since the ‘great deceit’ in 1765 whenthe Duke of Atholl sold us out to the BritishCrown as a result of the haemorrhaging ofcustoms duties from Britain to the Isle ofMan, the Isle of Man has had a Customs andExcise Agreement with the UK. For much ofthis period the UK was a significantbeneficiary of this and other elements of theBritish Crown’s ‘purchase’ of the Isle ofMan. During the period when the Isle ofMan’s lead mines dominated worldproduction vast sums of money left ourshores headed for UK Government coffers.

In recent decades however the Isle of ManGovernment has been particularly successfulin negotiating attractive deals for the Isle ofMan which have meant that the Customs andExcise Revenue Sharing Arrangement hasbeen greatly beneficial to the Isle of Man.This has allowed the Isle of Man

£100m VAT Bombshell Hits Isle of Man� As a prelude to the Festival Marcas MacRuairí from Downpatrick from the Northof Ireland visited the island. Over the lastfew months organisers have beenworking to develop close links with thelanguage Community there; hopefully,next year group of children and teachersfrom their Irish Medium school willattend. Marcas was able to share withteachers and parents from the Bunscoillpractical advice for encouraging parentsand children to use their Manx outside ofa classroom situation. This is a keylanguage development area which can beprogressed over the next few years.

Government not only to build up substantialreserves of £1.3 billion (more than double theannual revenue spend) but also to undertakea massive upgrading and renewal programmefor the Island’s infrastructure.

Successive Government’s have indeed beenregularly criticised for their profligate use oftax payers’ money, and rightly so in anumber of cases. However, the decision hasclearly been taken that while the beneficialRevenue Sharing Arrangement continued weshould undertake this massive infrastructurespend.

The difficulty which I, and I’m sure otherpoliticians, have faced is that we have notbeen able to openly discuss the reasoningbehind the ‘profligate’ spending, attacked byGovernment’s critics. Clearly if we publiclyexplained the level of spending was possibledue to an attractive deal which probablyresulted in us receiving £100 million a yearmore than we could reasonably justify itwould not be long before the UK would pickup on this and the deal would be changed.

There will now be a difficult few years asgovernment spending is weaned off thislucrative additional income, however, whenwe emerge out the other side of the inevitablecuts in spending and services the Isle of Manwill be a stronger place. For Nationalists a farstronger argument can be made forindependence and clearly a more open debatecan be undertaken.

There are, as ever with politics, a variety ofreasons why the change has been made butthe primary reason appears to be thedesperate state of UK finances. It wouldappear that the UK has become increasinglyaware of the apparent inequitable nature ofthe Revenue Sharing Arrangement anddecided it could no longer afford to continuethis ‘over generous’ funding.

In outlining the scale of the challenge inOctober Tynwald, Chief Minister TonyBrown MHK pointed out the UK gave littletime for discussion on this matter. “On the17th September 2009 the Isle of ManGovernment was informed that the UnitedKingdom Government wished for theRevenue Sharing Arrangement to be furtheramended.” “Over the last month there havebeen intensive and extensive discussions withUnited Kingdom officers and politicians.”

“I can confirm that the changes required bythe UK Government to the Revenue SharingArrangement by the 15th of October have,after intensive negotiation, now been agreedand formally signed. I have to advise that thechanges agreed will result in a loss ofincome to the Island estimated to be at least£50million for the year from April 2010, anda further £50million per year from April2011.”

“This is in addition to the already projectedloss of income, due to the performance of theUK economy and the decision made by the

Marcas and Cathy Clucas

� Over the years the Cooish has welcomeda number of fantastic speakers fromaround the Celtic world to deliver theNed Maddrell Lecture. This year wasno different with Jenefer Lowe, from theCornish Language Partnership, wasable to attend and provide what was afantastic overview of the languagesituation in Cornwall.

helped us with and is an important nextstep for the language: it’s vital childrenhave the opportunity to use the languageoutside of a school environment. CathyClucas is the Manx Gaelic leader at thegroup and thanks must go to those whoare helping her with this project and theIOM Youth Service for theircommitment to the language. Last weekthere were 16 children at the regularMonday night sessions; this is veryencouraging.

� As ever Friday was the busiest day on theCooish programme where a concert washeld at The Centenary Centre in Peel. Anumber of excellent musicians fromIreland and Scotland performedincluding Aodán Mac Shéafraidh, MaeveMcKibben and Deaglan O Doibhlin fromIreland and from Scotland MairiMacInnes, Sineag MacIntyre and MarkSheridan took part. Of course a numberof Manx musicians performed some ofthe best Manx music around. Theevening finished off with a great sessionin the White House, a pub in Peel whereManx music can be heard regularly onSaturday nights.

Courtesy: Adrian Cain, Manx LanguageOfficer, Manx Heritage Foundationwww.learnmanx.comhttp://twitter.com/greinneyder

Jenefer being interviewed for Manx Radio.

� In many ways the highlight of the week’sevents was the official launch of theManx Gaelic Youth Group PossanAeglagh – at the Youth Centre in Peel.This fitted in well with the work Marcas

continued from page 21

Carn 21

UK Government last year to lower the rateof VAT to 15%, both of which will result inlower receipts to the Island.”

“As a consequence of these factors weanticipate that under the agreement we willreceive some £30million to £40million lessthan previously estimated.”

“Consequently, for the financial year2010-2011 the Island faces a total reductionof some £90million in relation to ourrevenue income from the Revenue SharingArrangement, from that previouslyestimated, with that figure increasing to£140million in subsequent years.”

“I would remind Hon Members that theIsland’s present total revenue expenditureBudget for 2009/2010, which funds ourpublic services, public sector salaries, andall other public revenue expenditureundertaken by Government is estimated at£572.1million.”

“This situation is clearly extremely seriousfor the Island and unprecedented in ourrecent history. However, I am confident thatwe will come through this present situation,albeit that at times it will be extremelydifficult for us all; some very difficultdecisions will have to be made, especiallyover the coming months and for some timeinto the future.”

Richard Murphy, an ardent critic of the Isleof Man’s finance sector, claimed some of thecredit for the UK’s decision in an essay inthe Isle of Man Examiner in December.Murphy is a founder of the Tax JusticeNetwork, an organisation which has hadincreasing influence on the UK Government.

The Tax Justice Network claims to promote“transparency in international finance andopposes secrecy. It supports a level playingfield on tax and opposes loopholes anddistortions in tax and regulation, and theabuses that flow from them. It promotes taxcompliance and opposes tax evasion, taxavoidance, and all the mechanisms thatenable owners and controllers of wealth toescape their responsibilities to the societieson which they and their wealth depend.”

Murphy wrote in the Examiner “Idiscovered that the Isle of Man VAT sharingagreement provided the Isle of Man with asubsidy of £230 million a year from theUK.” He claims his calculation showed theIsle of Man’s national income “would haveneeded to be almost three times higher tohave achieved that outcome. So I publishedthat fact because I could see no reason whythe people of the UK should subsidise the, onaverage better off, people of the Isle of Manso that the Isle of Man could return thecompliment by seeking to undermine UK taxrevenues whilst hiding behind a veil ofsecrecy when doing so.”

“If that revelation by me and the resultingchange in the VAT sharing agreement willcause real people real pain in the Isle of ManI am sorry. But don’t blame me: blame yourpoliticians who said I was not telling thetruth and dismissed all my claims whilstrefusing to provide information to the

Tynwald to justify their own bravado. It isthey that misled you. It is they who deceivedyou behind the veil of secrecy they built toprotect themselves. That, unfortunately, isthe Isle of Man way”.

As one of the politicians Murphy isattacking I can’t argue with much of hisrhetoric. However, if secrecy was the priceto pay for repatriating at least some of thefunds which the UK had pocketed from usduring the first two centuries of the Customsand Excise Agreement then I believe it wasreasonable for any Manx politician whocares for his people to pay that price. Thefact that that money has helped us rebuildour infrastructure and build up reserves canhardly be seen as a bad thing.

What is perhaps more encouraging forthose of us who are more at home being openand transparent is that we can now be muchmore forthright in the future. Despite theVAT bombshell and the ending of areciprocal health care agreement with theUK (which means all travellers to and fromthe Isle of Man will need health insurance inthe future), the Isle of Man still needs andhas a close relationship with the UK.

Recent events have shown, however, thatsuch over dependence on our ‘friends’ inLondon is far from risk free. A greatopportunity now presents itself to Manxnationalists to work with the Manx people todevelop a route map to independence. Wecan and I’m sure will work over the nextdecade to lessen our dependence on the UKand build greater partnerships with othercountries.

With strong nationalist representation inthe governments in the North of Ireland,Scotland and Wales it is clear thatnationalism can no longer be described as afringe activity. The UK’s decision to betough with the Isle of Man has I’m surecreated the right environment for our smallnation to be friends with its neighbours butdependent on none.

Phil Gawne MHK

Manx nationalist feeling is coming to thefore again in the Isle of Man after many longyears. This rise of nationalism is linked togrowing anger at the UK’s apparent hostilitytowards the Island, starting with UKChancellor Alistair Darling describing theisland as a ‘tax haven sitting in the Irish Sea’,continuing with the scrapping of the recipro-cal health agreement and culminating withthe raid on the island’s VAT revenues.A Facebook page, Mannin Aboo has been setup to call for Mannin Seyr - The Isle of Manna Republic !!The page has attracted widespread interestsince its launch in December last. The creatorof the site goes under the name of ManannanMac Leirr and asks: ‘Should the Isle of Manbe an independent Nation again? Join if youagree. The Isle of Man forever – ManninAboo.‘

MANNIN ABOO!

MANNIN SEYR: Graffiti daubed on theroad at the top of the Ballagyr hill

heading north just outside Peel.

Nationalist banners were also posted on roadsigns and graffiti was sprayed across theroads on the main routes into Peel. All readMannin Seyr, which means ‘Manxindependence’. Signs written in Manx Gaelicwere also posted on flagpoles in Peel. All theflags targeted had Union Jacks on them.One of the people at the inaugural meeting ofthe Manx nationalist party, Mec Vannin, Mr.Bernard Moffatt, said there appeared to be agrowing number of young people in the Isleof Man who were getting involved with theManx language and nationalism. But MrMoffatt criticised the tactics of paintinggraffiti. He said: ‘I always believed in anupfront approach rather that skulking arounddaubing paint under the cloak of darkness.’ It’s not the first time that nationalism hasbeen expressed through non-violent action.The 1980s saw the FSFO arson campaignwhere newly built properties were targeted ashouse prices rose considerably, leavingyoung Manx people unable to enter theproperty market. In the 70s Fo Halloo (Manxfor ‘underground’) opposed the IoMGovernment’s New Resident’s Policy, whichresulted in mass immigration eventuallyleading to the indigenous Manx becoming aminority in their own country also used non-violent action. Both groups mentioned abovewere also strongly opposed the growingdependence on the finance sector as the mainsource of income for the Island.

Phil Gawne MHK. Minister Departmentof Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

22 Carn

Celtica

Product Details: Hardcover 320 pages(October 14, 2009) Price: Stg. £14.99Publisher: Gibson Square Books, ISBN-10: 1906142432 / ISBN-13: 978-1906142438A paperback edition will be available by thesame editor in March 17, 2010 at £8.09with ISBN-10: 1906142424 and ISBN-13: 978-1906142421

About the AuthorSimon Young is 35 years old. He was

awarded a First in Anglo-Saxon, Norse andCeltic studies from Cambridge University,as well as the Chadwick Prize for Celticstudies and completed a doctorate at theUniversity of Florence. He becameinterested in the early Middle Ages (400-1000) and especially the British Celts in thisperiod. He has lived in Spain, Ireland andItaly. He combines a commitment to serioushistory, especially that of the medieval Celts,with a desire to communicate Dark Agehistory to the general public. He is the authorof books for the general reader such as 500AD and Farewell Britannia, and of manyother academic publications both academicand freelance on the theme. As a freelancejournalist he has written on Europeanminorities and the right of self-determination. In 2001, he received thePremio Historia Medieval de Galicia -(Galicia Medieval History Prize - for hisbook Britonia: camiños novos about thesettlement of British Celtic colonies inGalicia during the Dark Ages. He is nowliving outside Florence with his Italian wifeand his young daughter.Book DescriptionThis excellent book, or should I say(brilliant?) is a window to almost 2,000 yearsof Celtic history from Iron Age Celts to lateMiddle Ages Celts. The book is divided intothree parts:

Part I: Making the Roman Empire, Part II:Saving Dark Age Christianity, Part III:Creating the Modern World. There are alsotwo appendices, Appendix I beingDiscovering America? The Irish Exiles in theNorthern Atlantic and Appendix II being –Will the Real King Arthur Please Stand Up?

All three parts of the book, ancient,medieval, and medieval/modern are goodand interesting but the two appendices areeven more interesting; the first one exploringthe Celtic discovery of America and the otherthe historical origins of the legend of Arthur.

Today we think of the Celts as amysterious, fringe people doomed toextinction. Some historians even questiontheir existence. But in this riveting guide totwo thousand forgotten years, Simon Younguses the latest research to show how pivotalthe Celts were to the modern world.

Of course some of the information given inthe book could be well known by some of ourreaders but this book is a novel history that,based on sources in many languages, goesbeyond ordinary history books and bringsback to life a people as important as theancient Greeks, the Romans or the Etruscans.

As Simon Young states in his introduction:‘ The following pages have been written as apartial antidote to the poisonous idea ofCeltic failure. They are a reminder that on atleast three occasions in their history theCelts worked a revolution in theirneighbour’s affairs and that the world welive in today would be a different one if theCelts had never existed. [...] By saying thenthat the Celts changed the world I am notclaiming that the Celts were special orblessed. I am canvassing for their right tomatter as the Greeks or Romans, theEtruscans or Carthaginians matter, and to berecognized as a major influence on ourhistory ».This book is just very interesting, very goodand very entertaining, i.e. a great read!

José Calvette

The Cult of Relics: Devocyon dheGreryow published by Evertype

The Cult of Relics yw novel nowythdhyworth Dr Alan M. Kent (auctour a ProperJob, Charlie Curnow! hag a ElectricPastyland), hag yma va dyllys gans trailyansKernowek Nicholas Williams, Devoycyondhe Greryow. An whedhel-ma a gebmer lei’n West a Vreten Veur in cres anbledhydnyow mil, naw cans, peswar ugansha deg, termyn cot warlergh Bresel anMorbleg. Yth eson ny ow metya ino gans tryferson, meur a les: Jûd Fox, Viajyores a’nOos Nowyth; Eddie Hopkins, anfôtojornalyst Amerycan; ha’nhendhyscansyth dhia Gernow, RobertBolitho. Ymowns y aga thry ow dyscudhabos kescolm intredhans dhyworthbledhydnyow avarr an seytegvescansvledhen. I’n whedhel hudol-ma ymaKent ow qwia warbarth bêwnans kenyveronen anodhans gans an “Stranjer” kevrînek.Crer sans ha stranj re beu gwethys ganso ev,ha’n dra-na yw an crespoynt a’n othem a’njeves kettep onen a gowethyans ha govenek.

Robert Tannahill Federation2010 Bicentenary Concert

Tannahill Weavers will be appearing onFriday 21st May at 8pm at Paisley ArtsCentre, New Street, Paisley.

Entrance: £10/£8. Tickets: 0141 887 1010 www.roberttannahillfederation.com

The Celtic Revolution: In Search of 2000 Forgotten Years that Changed Our World.

The Cult of Relics is a new novel by DrAlan M. Kent, member of An KesunyansKeltek Scoren Kernewek (author of ProperJob, Charlie Curnow! and ElectricPastyland), presented in a bilingual format,with a Cornish-language translation,Devocyon dhe Greryow, by NicholasWilliams. The story is set in Western Britainin the mid-1990s just after the Gulf War, andtells of three extraordinary people: of theNew-Age Traveller Jude Fox, of theAmerican photojournalist Eddie Hopkins,and of the Cornish-born archaeologist RobertBolitho. The three characters discover a setof connections between them, stretchingback to the early seventeenth century. Kent’sintriguing story weaves together theirdisparate lives with that of the mysterious“Stranger”, whose preservation of a curiousholy relic becomes a focus for theircollective need for communion and hope.

Y hyll cavos copyow a’n lyver dhyworthAmazon.co.uk. dhyworth Amazon.com, bodhyworth Spyrys a Gernow, shoppa @spyrys.org. Gweler Copies may be obtainedfrom Amazon.co.uk, from Amazon.com, orfrom Spyrys a Gernow, shoppa @spyrys.org.

See http://www.evertype.com/books/cult.html

Carn 23

At the League’s annual general assembly inKernow in 2009, the League reiterated itssupport for the Scottish referendum andpledged to help promote and publicise apositive result in the run up to the vote. At theend of 2009 a statement was issued.“A positive vote in Scotland’s referendum onindependence in 2010 will be the biggestsingle political development to occur withinthe Celtic countries since devolution wasgranted by the UK government in 1997. 2010will therefore be a decisive year not only forthe people of Scotland, but by all the peoplesof the Celtic countries and throughoutEurope. The Celtic League calls on Scottishvoters not to be fooled by flattery about theclose geographical and cultural links betweenScotland and England that would be a shameto undo. Many countries have much incommon in terms of culture, but they are stillindependent. Scotland is an ancient nationwith a distinctive national culture, so theScottish people needn’t worry about anypossible cultural loss in being independent.The Celtic League calls on England andunionists in Scotland to respect thereferendum and respect the result of thereferendum if the Scottish people vote forindependence. We hope they will not try todo as was done in Ireland and demand thatScotland be partitioned to placate unionistswho refuse to accede to the wishes of themajority.We call on the international community,particularly the European Union and theUnited Nations, to ensure that England doesnot use force or dirty tactics against Scotlandin the run up to the referendum or in the eventof the Scottish people voting in favour ofindependence. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuaniabecame independent again after 50 years ofRussian occupation. The Czech Republic andSlovakia separated peacefully in 1993. A vote for independence in Scotland willhave a positive impact in the other Celticnations. It will no doubt encourage the Welshpeople to vote for further powers for Walesand possibly a referendum on independencetoo. It may also prompt the Manxgovernment to finally decide to hold areferendum on full independence and thepeople of Cornwall will also be encouragedby a positive Scottish vote to step up theirdemand for self-government. Scottishindependence will have enormousimplications in Ireland too and it will hastenIrish reunification. Throughout 2010 the Celtic League will beoffering its support to those organisationsthat are campaigning for a yes vote andasking the peoples of the Celtic nations andothers around the world to support theScottish people’s right to independence andto assist them in any way they can to helpachieve this goal.”

Rhisiart Talebot

ALBA REFERENDUMSUPPORT CALL FROM LEAGUE

obvious one being the power to force itsMember States to go to war against theirwill. It would possess most of the powers ofa State however, although it has nothing likethe tax and spending levels of its constituentMember States.

Three steps to a federal-style ConstitutionLisbon’s constitutional revolution takesplace in three interconnected steps:Firstly, the Treaty establishes a EuropeanUnion with legal personality and a fullyindependent corporate existence in all Unionareas for the first time (Arts.1 and 47 TEU).This enables the post-Lisbon Union tofunction as a State vis-a-vis other Statesexternally, and in relation to its own citizensinternallySecondly, Lisbon abolishes the EuropeanCommunity which goes back to the Treaty ofRome and which makes European laws atpresent, and transfers the Community’spowers and institutions to the new Union, sothat it is the post-Lisbon Union, not theCommunity, which will make supranationalEuropean laws henceforth (Art.1 TEU).Lisbon also transfers to the EU the“intergovernmental” powers over crime,justice and home affairs, as well as foreignpolicy and security, which at present are notcovered by European law-making, leavingonly aspects of the Common Foreign,Security and Defence Policy outside thescope of its supranational powers. TheTreaty thereby give a unified constitutionalstructure to the post-Lisbon Union.

Thirdly, Lisbon then makes 500 millionEuropeans into real citizens of the newFederal-style Union which the Treatyestablishes (Arts.9 TEU and 20 TFEU).Instead of EU citizenship “complementing”national citizenship, as under the presentMaastricht Treaty-based EU (Art.17 TEC),which makes such citizenship essentiallysymbolical, Lisbon provides that EUcitizenship shall be “additional to” nationalcitizenship.

The EU will be constitutionally superioreven though the powers of the new Unioncome from its Member States in accordancewith the “principle of conferral” (Art.5TEU). Where else after all could it get itspowers from? This is so even though theMember States retain their nationalConstitutions and their citizens keep theirnational citizenships. Under Lisbon population size will in turnbecome the primary basis for EU law-making, as in any State with a commoncitizenry. This will happen after 2014, whenthe Treaty provision comes into force thatEU laws will be made by 55% of MemberStates as long as they represent 65% of thetotal population of the Union. The constitutional structure of the post-Lisbon EU is completed by the provisionwhich turns the European Council of Prime

Ministers and Presidents into an “institution”of the new Union (Art.13 TEU), so that itsacts or its failing to act would, like those ofthe other Union institutions, be subject tolegal review by the EU Court of Justice. Constitutionally speaking, the summitmeetings of the European Council willhenceforth no longer be “intergovernmental”gatherings outside supranational Europeanstructures, as they have been up to now. TheEuropean Council will in effect be theCabinet Government of the post-LisbonUnion. Its individual members will beconstitutionally obliged to represent theUnion to their Member States as well as theirMember States to the Union, with the formerfunction imposing primacy of obligation inany case of conflict or tension between thetwo.One doubts if all the Heads of State orGovernment who make up the EuropeanCouncil themselves appreciate this! As regards the State authority of the post-

Lisbon Union, this will be embodied in theUnion’s own executive, legislative andjudicial institutions: the European Council,Council of Ministers, Commission,Parliament and Court of Justice. It will beembodied also in the Member States andtheir authorities as they implement and applyEU law and interpret and apply national lawin conformity with Union law. MemberStates will be constitutionally required to dothis under the Lisbon Treaty. Thus EU “Stateauthorities” as represented for example byEU soldiers and policemen patrolling ourstreets in EU uniforms, will not be needed assuch.Although the Lisbon Treaty has given the EUa Federal-style Constitution without mostpeople noticing, they are bound to find out intime and react against what is being done.There is no European people or demos whichcould give democratic legitimacy to theinstitutions the Lisbon Treaty establishes andmake people identify with these as they dowith the institutions of their home countries.This is the core problem of the EU

integration project. Lisbon in effect has madethe EU’s democratic deficit much worse.It is hard to imagine that this will not makestruggles to re-establish nationalindependence and democracy and torepatriate supranational powers back to theMember States the central issue of EUpolitics in the years and decades ahead.

Anthony Coughlan(Director of the National Platform EUResearch and Information Centre, Dublin,and President of the Foundation for EUDemocracy, Brussels).

OPEN EUROPE’S EXAMPLES: To readexamples of EU waste in full, see here:www.openeurope.org.uk/research/top50waste.pdf

continued from page 15

EU Democrats initiatives, the Foundation for Democracy

Irish Postcodes

24 Carn

Membershipand

SubscriptionsAll those who agree with the constitutionand aims of the Celtic League are eligiblefor membership. The membership/subscription rates (including Carn) are: €24.00, Sterling £14.50, Europe (airmail)£20.00, Outside Europe £22.00. US$30.00(US funds, cheques drawn on a US bank).

For information about the Celtic Leaguecontact secretaries:

ALBA. Iain Ramsay, 22 DenholmeGardens, Greenock, PA16 8RF, Scotland

BREIZH Gi Keltik Plougerne, BP44 -29880 Breizh/Brittany.

CYMRU Robat ap Tomos, 11 HeolGordon, Y Rhath, Caerdydd, CF2 3AJ.

ÉIRE Caoimhín Ó Cadhla, 16 AscaillGairbhille, Ráth Garbh, B.Á.C 6

Email: eire@celticleague.netKERNOW M.J. Chappell, 3 Edwards Apartments, Gweal Pawl,Resrudh/Redruth TR15 3AE KernowEmail: kernow@celticleague.netMANNIN Ruth Black, Thie Meanagh,

7 Michael St., Peel, IM5 1HA Tel No: 07624 474159

ENGLAND BRANCH Florence Kenna,72 Compton Street, London, EC1V 0BN.

USA Margaret Sexton, c/o P.O. Box20153, Dag Hammarshjold PostalCentre, New York, NY 10017.

INTERNATIONAL BRANCH MarkLockerby, 12 Magherdonnag, PonyFields, Port Erin, IM9 6BY, Isle of Man.

GENERAL SECRETARYRhisiart Tal-e-bot, 5 Chyandour, Resrudh/Redruth TR153AB. Kernow/CornwallEmail: rhisiart.talebot@gmail.com

EDITOR Ms P. Bridson,33 Céide na Grianóige, Ráth Cúil, Co. Átha Cliath, Éire. Email: patriciabridson@eircom.net

Articles for Carn should be e-mailed to theEditor. Appropriate photographs should besent with them.

Material for the next issue of Carn shouldreach the Editor no later than 1st March2010. Articles sent for publication in Carnmust relate to our aims. All materialscopyright © Carn unless otherwise stated.The views expressed in Carn are notnecessarily those of the editor or of theCeltic League.

ISSN 0257-7860

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Conradh na Gaeilge wants theDepartment of Communications to baseIreland’s postcode system on the originalplacenames in Irish. Postcodes based onthe abbreviated form of the placename inEnglish only would completelycontradict the Government’s bilingualpolicy as well as the policies of theEuropean Union that are dedicated toencouraging and fostering minoritylanguages. The Minister forCommunications Éamon Ryan indicatedthat there was nothing in the NationalPostcode Projects Board’s proposal thatwould oppose postcodes being based onthe Irish version of the placename in thecase of towns situated in the Gaeltacht,but he made no provision for using theIrish placename in postcodes for areasoutside the Gaeltacht.

Check out FIONTAR’s new websitehttp://www.logainm.ie/ to find yourarea’s original placename in Irish and tellthe Minister for Communications that thecountry’s postcodes should be based onthis Irish version by sending a SupportIrish Postcodes email today. Send to:eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie