proudly serving celts in north america since 1991...

Proudly Serving Celts in North America Since 1991ISSUE 28 VOLUME 4 MAY/JUNE 2019

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Inside This Issue

ARTWORK by Wendy AndrewBELTANE – Rhiannon-the lover, dances the blossoms into being. The white horse maiden brings joy,creativity and a lust for life...a time of love and celebration. Beltane or Beltaine is the Gaelic May Dayfestival. Most commonly it is held on May 1, or about halfway between the spring equinox and thesummer solstice. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle ofMan. In Irish the name for the festival day is Lá Bealtaine, in Scottish Gaelic Là Bealltainn, and inManx Gaelic Laa Boaltinn/Boaldyn. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals—along with Samhain,Imbolc and Lughnasadh – and is similar to the Welsh Calan Mai. [Read more on pages 2 & 20]

WIN FREE TICKETSWIN tickets to the BC Highland Games & Scottish Festival on June 14and 15 at Lafarge Lake Park, Coquitlam. (See pages 14 & 15 for moredetails). Mark your entry BC Highland and include your name anddaytime telephone number. Entry by May 24.

WIN a pair of tickets (2) on Saturday, July 20 to Vancouver Folk MusicFestival on July 19 to 21 at Jericho Beach Park. See pages 3 & 5 formore details. Mark your entry Vancouver Folk and include your nameand daytime telephone number. Entry by June 14.

WIN a weekend pass for two to Mission Folk Music Festival on July26 to 28 at Fraser River Heritage Park, Mission. See pages 3 & 4 formore details. Mark your entry Mission Folk and include your name anddaytime telephone number. Entry by June 21.

WIN a weekend pass for two – including the Taste of the Highlands,the Canmore Highland Games and the Canmore Ceilidh – at the CanmoreHighland Games at Canmore, Alberta on August 31-September 1. Seepages 3 & 14 for more details. Mark your entry Canmore Highland andinclude your name and daytime telephone number. Entry by June 28.

All entries by e-mail only to: [email protected] (Only one entry perperson).

SHOCK and sorrow across Ireland and the U.K. following news ofthe tragic death of 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee. She waskilled by dissident republicans while covering a disturbance in theCreggan area of Derry on the evening of Thursday, April 18.

[Read more on page 27]

THE TEN-DAY Extinction Rebellion protest in London success-fully hijacked a mainstream political discourse bogged down instale Brexit nuances, and united figures from across the politicalspectrum in agreement over the climate crisis. The action hasalready managed to focus the world’s media on the urgent need totackle climate change. [Read more on page 8]

PHOTO: Creative Commons/FlickrCIARÁN CANNON (R) the Irish Minister of State at the Depart-ment of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Diaspora and International De-velopment, was in western Canada and Washington State for theSt. Patrick’s Day celebrations this March. He met with PremierJohn Horgan (L) in Victoria while in British Columbia to discusscommon priorities and bi-lateral cooperation.

[Full coverage of the Minister’s visit pages 7, 18, 19]

MIKE HURLEY was elected thenew mayor of Burnaby, B.C. lastOctober. Born in Magherafelt,Northern Ireland he is proud ofhis Irish heritage and has a lovefor the Gaelic Games. [Page 22}

MAY/JUNE 2019PAGE 2 www.celtic-connection.com

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Distribution: Arlyn Lingat • Allison Moore • Linda Robb • Frank Dudfieldin Surrey • Eifion Williams in Burnaby & Coquitlam • Laurie Lang inCoquitlam • Joanne Long in Mission • Deirdre O’Ruaric in White Rock •Heather Murphy in Seattle • Oliver Grealish in Edmonton.Published 7X per year. Contents copyright 2019 The Celtic Connection. Opinions expressedhere are not necessarily those of the publisher but rather a reflection of voices within thecommunity. All correspondence must include a name, address and telephone number.

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THE CELTIC CONNECTION

WENDY ANDREW lives, dreams and paints in the beautiful mys-tical countryside of southern England. She has been a profes-sional artist for over 20 years and her work has been publishedinternationally.

Her paintings are inspired by the ancient mysteries that arewrapped in the turning of the seasons, and the voice of The God-dess whispering through the mythical realms.

To order images by Wendy and see more of her paintings pleasevisit her website at: www.paintingdreams.co.uk. You can contactWendy by e-mail at: [email protected].

ABOUT OUR COVER ARTIST

In Fond Memoryof William Alexander Duncan

HE late Bill Duncan was a real gentlemanand here at The Celtic Connection he willbe sadly missed.I

He was a long-time dedicatedvolunteer and his monthly tel-ephone calls to find out whenthe next issue would be deliv-ered always led to lively discus-sions with some interesting in-formation to impart and maybea few jokes.William (Bill) Alexander Duncanpassed away peacefully at hishome in Maple Ridge, B.C. onMarch 18, 2019. He was born inGlasgow, Scotland on April 26, 1936.

Bill married his childhood sweet-heart, Catherine (Kareen) and theirtwo sons, Gordon and Calum, werealso born in Scotland.The family immigrated to BritishColumbia and settled in MapleRidge when the children were stillquite young.Bill had a long-standing career as a ma-chinist/millwright at the Chevron oilrefinery, retiring in 1996. His onlygranddaughter Taylor was born in1997.In his retirement, Bill enjoyed paint-ing, watching the Rangers live telecastat the Rangers Club in Coquitlam, sce-nic drives with his beloved wife, anddelivering The Celtic Connection news-paper in Maple Ridge and area.To say Bill Duncan was an avid Scot-tish football fan would be an under-statement.He read every bit of Scottish newsabout the games and he also loved read-ing about the boxer Benny Lynch.But his all time hero was the legen-dary Celtic goalkeeper John Thomson.Bill never tired of reading and hearingevery bit of information he could gleanabout his hero who played for Celticand died during a Celtic-Rangers game.On one of his visits to Scotland, Billeven visited Thomson’s grave atBowhill Cemetery in Cardenden.Bill later related to The Celtic Connec-tion how very moved he was to finallybe at Thomson’s grave and see all thefootball scarves and tributes toThomson from football clubs and fansfrom around the world.Rest in peace Bill, it was our pleasureto have known you.If you listen to the wind, may youhear the sound of bagpipes and be con-sumed by his spirit. Forever in ourhearts, forever in our minds.

A BLESSING FOR BELTANEBless, O God, true and bountiful, myself, my spouse, and my children,everything within my dwelling from Beltane Eve to summer’s ending.From sea to sea, and every river mouth, from wave to wave, and everywaterfall, bless the kine that leave the stall, bless the sheep that depart thefold, bless the goats on the mount of mist.May Thou attend them and keep them blest, Thou being who attends to meas I bend my knee to Thee.

– Adapted from The Beltane Blessing in Carmina Gadelica[Carmina Gadelica is a compendium of prayers, hymns, charms, incanta-tions, blessings, literary-folkloric poems and songs, proverbs, lexical items,historical anecdotes, natural history observations, and miscellaneous loregathered in the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland between 1860 and1909. The material was recorded, translated, and reworked by the excise-man and folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912).]

BILL DUNCAN[1936 - 2019]

MAY/JUNE 2019 PAGE 3www.celtic-connection.com

Sir Billy Connolly leadsNew York’s Tartan Day Parade

NEW YORK – Sir Billy Connolly was thisyear’s Grand Marshal at the annual New YorkCity Tartan Day Parade on Saturday, April 6.

Connolly said he danced “a wee jig” in his heart ashe led thousands of participants, including pipersand Highland dancers, along Manhattan’s Sixth Av-enue.Around 30,000 spectators watched the Scottish comedianperform the role of Grand Marshal.The 76-year-old, who has lived in the U.S. since 2011,accepted the invitation to take part despite announcing inDecember that he was retiring from touring.He said, “I’ve absolutely loved being Grand Marshal ofthis year’s New York City Tartan Day Parade.“The crowds were brilliant and hearing the skirl of thepipes echoing along Sixth Avenue made me dance a wee jigin my heart. What a day.”Previous Grand Marshals include Sir Sean Connery, AlanCumming, Sam Heughan and Brian Cox, while KT Tunstallbecame the first woman to lead the parade last year.It is the showpiece event of Tartan Week, which brings afull programme of special events to New York from April3-8.Kyle Dawson, president of the New York Tartan Day Com-mittee, said, “What an incredible twenty-first year this hasbeen for New York City Tartan Week.“We’ve enjoyed a phenomenal week of celebrations – fromceilidhs to workshops and pipe bands performances toparties.”Scotland’s Veterans Minister Graeme Dey also took part inthe parade and said he was “delighted” that Sir Billy led theway. He added, “The annual Tartan Day celebrations arealways a spectacular showcase of Scotland.”

BILLY CONNOLLY, one of Scotland’s most popu-lar entertainers, greeted spectators as he led theTartan Day Parade through New York City.

Read more about the BC Highland Gamesand the Canmore Highland Games, page 14


BySTEVEEDGE

ROGUE FOLK CLUB

Highlights of this year’s Folk Fest Seasonand the 32nd anniversary of The Rogue

VANCOUVER –It will soon befolk festival sea-son again, but

the local events don’tseem to have very muchCeltic music on their billsthis year. I don’t knowwhy this is happening, buthere are a few highlights:Campbell Bay Music Festival (June21-23, on Mayne Island) has an in-triguing line-up, including Maritimefiddle / banjo duo Mama’s Broke,young American old time /bluegrass combo The LonelyHeartstring Band, and Frenchquartet Lausa, who combine Celticmusic with their own local musicof Gascony as well as Iberian andNorth African sounds.www.campbellbaymusicfest.com.Island Musicfest (July 12-14,Courtenay) features a lot of veteranbands in the world of blues, R&B,country rock and such, but there willalso be appearances by PEI’s IrishMythen, Newfoundland’s MatthewByrne, and Nova Scotia’s James Hilland Anne Janelle.www.islandmusicfest.com.Harrison Festival of the Arts (July12-21, Harrison Hot Springs) hasCeltic music from Cape Bretonsupergroup Beolach (15th), Quebecduo Zigue, Lisa Ornstein (a founderof La Bottine Souriante, and one ofthe pioneers of the Quebecois musicrevival of the 1970s), young BC avantgarde trio Aerialists, and MatthewByrne that wonderful singer fromNfld. www.harrisonfestival.ca.Vancouver Folk Music Festival(July 19-21) sees a rare west coastappearance by the brilliant Darda-nelles from Newfoundland – in myhumble opinion one of the finest tradbands on the planet! They were in su-perb form at the Folk Alliance in Mon-treal in February, and I can’t wait tosee them again! Matthew Byrne is themain singer in the band, and he andIrish Mythen will also perform solo.Another major highlight is Quebec’sLe Vent Du Nord, with a superb newCD and a new addition to their ranks –fiddler Andre Brunet .www.thefestival.bc.ca.Mission Folk Music Festival (July26 - 28) is getting bigger and betterevery year as they strive to reclaimtheir place amongst the most enjoy-able folk festivals in the west. Therehave been some tough years weather-wise and the festival was on the ropesfor a while, but I’m delighted to see itsrevival. Plenty of good Celtic musichere, led by Cape Breton’s AndreaBeaton and Quebec’s VeroniquePlasse, and the B.C. trio of PierreSchryer, Andy Hillhouse and AdamDobres. There will also be IrishMythen again, and more Quebec tradfrom duo Zigue (Claude Methe &Dana Whittle) and Seattle’sPodorythmie. www.missionfolkmusicfestival.ca.Islands Folk Festival (July 26-28,Duncan B.C.) has a very modern-look-ing lineup with Qristina & Quinn

Bachand, U.S. banjo diva Kelly Hunt,and East Van’s The Burying Groundleading the Celtic / trad field.www.islandsfolkfestival.ca.

•Meanwhile The Rogue presents Van-couver country / folk singer / song-writer Joe Charron with his fine bandGreat Divide (Michael Burnyeat onfiddle, Don Fraser on dobro, and StuMacDonald on bass). Joe launches hisimpressive CD This Place Called Homeon Friday May 10 at St. James Hall(3214 West 10th Avenue).This show marks The Rogue’s 32ndbirthday and the opening act is also abit special.The Eisenhauers made a fine CD acouple of years back with SteveDawson producing. Sherree andJeremy Eisenhauer moved from East

Van to the Kootenays a few years backand played at The Rogue two yearsago. Lovely harmonies, and really com-pelling songs.Ottawa Valley sisters Searson com-bine fiddle and piano with trad tunesand classic Canadian songs. ErinSearson played piano here with TheStep Crew last July and she also playstenor guitar, while her sister Colleen

is an excellent fiddler and step dancer.They are joined by multi-instrumen-talist Kian Byrne. They play TheRogue on Friday, May 31. You canfind out more about all the shows com-ing to The Rogue by visitingwww.roguefolk.com.

•There have been some brilliant newreleases this month, with Dervish lead-

ing the way. The Great Irish Songbooksees the band joined by guest singerslike Imelda May, Steve Earle, KateRusby, Rhiannon Giddens, AbigailWashburn and more.Sensational young Scottish piperBrighde Chaimbeul released her de-but CD, The Reeling. Until I saw heron the Celtic Colours website last fallI’d never heard of her: such stunningmusicianship! The CD does not dis-appoint.Flook features two flutes (BrianFinnegan and Sarah Allen), with EdBoyd on guitar and John Jo Kelly onbodhran. Their first album in over adecade just came out. Ancora is a fabu-lous collection of mostly-originalinstrumentals.Cape Breton fiddler Mairi Rankinrecently moved back home fromAbbotsford. She is a member of TheOutside Track and Beolach, and hasnow teamed up with The Fretlesscellist Eric Wright to make a superbalbum called The Cabin Sessions.Watch for this duo coming to town inNovember.You can hear music by all these per-formers and much more besides on myshow The Saturday Edge On Folkevery Saturday from 8 AM to noon onCiTR FM 101.9 and www.citr.ca.

SEARSON – Colleen and Erin – are two Ottawa Valley sisterswho combine fiddle and piano with trad tunes and classic Cana-dian songs. They are joined by multi-instrumentalist Kian Byrneas they play The Rogue on Friday, May 31.

For Celtic, Irish and acoustic fansthe Mission Folk Music Fest has it all

MISSION, BC – For folk mu-sic lovers ‘in the know’, theMission Folk Music Festivalhas long been seen as a placewhere you can savour the mu-sic made by the most talentedof artists in an intimate andfriendly setting.It’s a place where you can get up-close-and-personal with all kinds of greatmusic in a lovely park overlooking theFraser River, just east of the town ofMission.Running from July 26 to 28 in FraserRiver Heritage Park, this year’s lineup promises a weekend full of bothfamiliar sounds and new discoveries –and for fans of all things Celtic, Irishand acoustic, there’s lots to see andhear.And you need look no further for somegreat sounds than the trio of Celtic-folk masters known as Schryer,Hillhouse and Dobres, coming to theMFMF this summer.Schryer is none other than award-win-ning Franco-Ontarian fiddler PierreSchryer.He’s is one of Canada’s leading tradi-tional fiddlers and a celebrated per-former and producer.Immersed from an early age in theFranco-Ontarian tradition, he grew upcompeting in multiple fiddle competi-tions as part of the The Schryer Tri-plets, appearing numerous times onthe iconic Tommy Hunter Show.Pierre went on to create a highly suc-

cessful solo performing, recording andtouring career, receiving numerous ti-tles and awards including CanadianGrand Masters Fiddle Champion andNorth American Irish Fiddle Cham-pion.Put a fiddle in his hands, and this guycatches fire!Trio-mate Adam Dobres is an uncom-monly talented folk-oriented guitaristwith a string of credits.He’s toured all over the world and col-laborated with acts ranging from Dan-iel Lapp to folk ensemble The RuthMoody Band to pop rock singer ToniChilds.He’s performed with Dustin Bentall’salt-country group, did a stint with oldtime string band, Outlaw Social, andtoured and played on the acclaimedradio show A Prairie Home Compan-

ion with one of Canada’s favouritebands, The Wailin’ Jennys.Singer/guitarist Andy Hillhouse is nostranger to the readers of The CelticConnection.He’s been a touring bandleader in theAnglo-Celtic music world, a choral di-rector, and a music and culture scholarsince the early 1990s.He’s the founder of the popular bandMad Pudding, with whom he touredNorth America and Europe, and hasperformed with some of CanadianCeltic music’s finest.Andy released his first solo CD, Pas-sages, in 2018. In addition to a suc-cessful career as a musician, this multi-tasker is also the artistic and executivedirector of the Harrison Festival of theArts.A tour de force of versatility, fine mu-

sicianship and technical dexterity,Schryer, Hillhouse, Dobres is a trio offiddle, voice and guitar virtuososwho’ve joined together for inspiredperformances of Celtic music playedbeautifully and well.They’re at the festival all weekend.But there is, of course, more. Underthe category of “all things Irish,” thefestival also welcomes one IrishMythen.Born Jane Irish Theres MonicaBernadette Mythen in County Wex-ford, Ireland, the singer-songwriterknown simply as Irish Mythen is notto be missed at this year’s festival.Growing up listening to the likes ofDylan, Makem & Clancy and JoanBaez, went on to write and performher own poetic, rich and evocativestory songs to increasing renown andacclaim.She’s played around the world, work-ing with The Dubliners and The Poguesalong the way, and moved to PEI in2008.The director of the Philadelphia FolkFestival has called her “a force of na-ture and a gift from the Almighty Her-self.”The eclectic roster of 2019 MissionFolk Music Festival artists also in-cludes Cape Breton and Quebecois fid-dle and step dance,and everything fromklezmer, country and blues to Cubanson and Senegalese asiko – and more.The full artist listing and informationon their affordable tickets can be foundon the festival’s website:www.missionfolkmusicfestival.ca.

SCHRYER, HILLHOUSE AND DOBRES is a trio of Celtic-folkmasters coming to Mission Folk Fest this summer with AdamDobres, Andy Hillhouse and Pierre Schryer.


VANCOUVER – The legen-dary Vancouver Folk MusicFestival celebrates its 42ndyear from July 19 to July21.Held annually at beautiful JerichoBeach Park in Vancouver, BritishColumbia, the festival attracts40,000 attendees over three daysand features 60 musical acts acrossfive daytime stages and twoevening stages.Fans of Celtic, old-time, and bluegrasswill find plenty to enjoy at the festi-val. The artists come from coast-to-coast in Canada and all around theworld.The riveting and evocative IrishMythen brings trad-roots storytellingfrom Prince Edward Island. FellowEast Coasters The Dardanelles areone of the most exciting groups to evertake Newfoundland traditional musicto the global stage.Also from Newfoundland is MatthewByrne. He delivers honest folk inter-pretations with polished guitar-workand powerful vocals. New Brunswick’sDanny Boudreau Band is one of thebest Acadian bands in Canada.The Rad Trads, from down in NewYork, showcase a singular take on rock‘n’ roll that mixes punk rock energy,horn-drenched soul, and jazz preci-sion.From Ontario come Lonesome AceStringband and Andrew CollinsTrio. Lonesome Ace Stringband is oneof the most skilled trios of pickers andsingers ever to embrace bluegrass,country, and old-time music.

Andrew Collins Trio play artfully-ar-ranged, virtuosic string music best de-scribed as “chamber grass.”Emily Triggs hails from even fartherwest, in Alberta. But she bundles in-fluences ranging from Texas blues tothe Appalachian Mountains to aFrench Canadian childhood.British Columbia’s award-winningtrad-roots duo Pharis & JasonRomero intertwine beautiful harmo-nies.Then there are groups whose membershail from all over. Aerialists meld crea-tive harmonic sensibilities with a deeplove of folk traditions. Call them thebeautifully contradictory term “prog-trad.”John Reischman and the Jaybirds

combine talents from British Colum-bia, California, and Washington.Reischman, a bluegrass mandolin mas-ter, seamlessly blends original songsand instrumentals with Appalachianold-time music into a truly uniquesound.And speaking of unique, one cannotforget about California’s Front Coun-try. They sound as if bluegrass instru-ments have been unearthed in a timecapsule 200 years from now and re-purposed to make post-apocalypticmodern pop music.Experience these plus 48 other acts atthe 2019 VFMF. Discover artists play-ing in country, zydeco, and blues tra-ditions and even pushing boundarieswith Korean avant-garde string music.Along with music, the VFMF will fea-ture a host of other family friendly ac-tivities. Treasures await festival-goersat the artisan market and folk bazaar.Grab a meal or snack from tasty foodvendors or a refreshing drink from theadult beverage garden. Take the littleones to the Little Folks Village, a spe-cial kids area.The VFMF is a registered charitableorganization that prides itself on itsvalues of accessibility, inclusivity, di-versity, and strong environmental prac-tices.Over 1,200 community volunteers helpthe festival with everything rangingfrom the box office, the beer garden,recycling, and cleaning up.Single-day tickets and weekend passesfor the 2019 VFMF are available nowat www.thefestival.ca.Children under 12 attend for free. Dis-counted tickets are available for sen-iors, students, and youth.

VANCOUVER FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL

One of Vancouver’stop summer attractions

PHOTO: Rachelle Richard LegerDANNY BOUDREAU is a singer-song-writer from New Brunswick wholeads one of the best Acadian bandsin Canada.

May is Mental Health Month:Show your support by walking

from Darkness Into LightVANCOUVER – Pieta House and TheKettle Society will join forces to helpsave lives from suicide by walking fromDarkness Into Light on Saturday, May11.Darkness Into Light Vancouver, is amorning walk that involves a five kilo-metre walk beginning at 4:30 AM,where participants walk from literaldarkness into the morning light all inthe name of mental health awarenessand suicide prevention.The walk takes place at Burnaby LakePark and last year, over 400 peopleattended the event and raised nearlyCAD$23,000.Support of this event means the Cana-dian charity partner, The Kettle Soci-ety, will be able to deliver vital pro-grams in our local area.The event began as a means offundraising for Pieta House and rais-ing awareness around mental healthissues in Ireland.Pieta House is an Irish based charitythat provides life saving support topeople in suicidal distress or engagingin self-harm. It also provides suicidebereavement counselling.

All of these services are provided com-pletely free of charge. This service wasthe first of its kind in Ireland when itopened in Dublin in 2006 and now has12 centres around the country.The first Darkness Into Light was heldin 2009 in the Phoenix Park with 400walkers. In 2018, over 200,000 peo-ple walked at dawn, together in hopeover 28 countries across the world.Each Darkness Into Light outside ofIreland partner with a local mentalhealth charity and the funds raised aredivided equally between Pieta Houseand the chosen partner charity.

The Kettle Society supports peopleliving with mental illness to leadhealthier lives by providing housing,employment, advocacy and supportservices; raising awareness of mentalhealth issues and promoting the in-clusion of people living with mentalillness in all aspects of society.To join the walk from Darkness IntoLight on May 11, register atwww.darknessintolight.ie/event/vancouver.To learn more about Pieta House, see:www.pieta.ie. To learn more about TheKettle Society, see: www.thekettle.ca.

PARTICIPANTS in the annual Vancouver Darkness Into Light walkto support mental health begin the undertaking at 4:30 AM to dawn.


CELTICFEST VANCOUVER CEILIDH 2019

Wonderful evening a huge successwith tickets sold out in advance

HEARTS BEAT2019

By MICHAEL VIENSVANCOUVER – This year’s CelticVancouver Ceilidh at the Scottish Cul-tural Centre on Saturday, March 16,2019, was a big success with the eventselling out well in advance.Some folks came all the way fromAbbotsford, eagerly wanting to pur-chase tickets at the door, not knowingit was sold out. Rumour has it theyweren’t turned away.The event was produced by membersof Blackthorn who felt the need to keepthe CelticFest Ceilidh going.Attendees were greeted by the soundsof a traditional Irish session featuringsome wonderful local musicians alreadyin full flight when the doors opened,setting a wonderful tone for the night.The BC Regiment Irish Pipes &Drums kicked it up a notch marchingin for their show opener.Blackthorn, stalwarts of the local Celticmusic scene, took to the stage to per-form a couple of feature numbers whichincluded an appearance by the skilleddancers of Shot of Scotch Vancouver.Blackthorn was then joined on stageby musical friends, Catherine Flynn,

Kevin Fink and Lucas Ross to formthe Grand Ceilidh Band!Dance caller Alison Moen had most ofthe crowd on the floor in short orderfor the first of many fun, inclusive cei-lidh dances throughout the evening’sfestivities.In between called dances, the audiencewere offered the opportunity to relax,catch their breath and be impressed bythe fancy footing skills of De DanaanIrish Dancers who presented a delight-ful display of Irish dancing with their

The Vancouver WelshMen’s Choir

headlined the 2019Vancouver CelticFestBy BRENDAN FLYNN

VANCOUVER – As part ofthis year’s CelticFest celebra-tions, the Vancouver WelshMen’s Choir, took to the stageat the recently renovated ChristChurch Anglican Cathedral atBurrard and Georgia in Van-couver in a concert that was areal treat to attend.A very eager audience were delightedto welcome the 80-plus “men of Wales”and their conductor on stage for anenthralling evening of song and music.Apparently choir members have a di-verse range of ethnic backgrounds andrumours abound that they can collec-tively speak over 23 languages.There was no doubt of their combinedmusical ability at Christ Church whenthey gathered to perform.Musical director Jonathon Quick is aUniversity of British Columbia gradu-ate in voice, composition and conduct-ing.He was accompanied by award-win-ning pianist Karen Lee-Morlanf, bari-tone Desmond Cooper (himself fromDublin),and pianist Caroline Cooper.The evening was thoroughly enjoyedby all with wonderful renditions ofCeltic favourites like Men of Harlech,Star of the County Down, Will you goLassie Go, The Fields of Athenry alongwith so many more songs to warm theheart.During the evening there were also solo

performances by Karen Lee-Morlanf,Desmond Cooper and Caroline Cooperand the receptive audience did not holdback in providing welcome applauseto each and all.Congratulations are certainly in orderto CelticFest and Harry Cussen chair-person for organizing the wonderfulevening at Christ Church.For local men who may be interestedin airing their vocal chords in song, thechoir would love to hear from you.Near the conclusion of the evening,Jane Byrne a long-serving member ofthe Vancouver Welsh Society who hasactively supported Welsh culture inVancouver for over 60 years, was hon-oured as this year’s Celtic Person ofthe Year.She was presented with a bouquet offlowers by Harry Cussen and was ac-companied to the concert by familymembers and close friends.[POSTSCRIPT: During the preparationof this article it came to the writer’sattention that the original building wasmade possible by Henry John Cambie,former chief engineer of the CPR’sPacific Division and People’s Wardenof the new church, who was also akey negotiator in acquiring the prop-erty for Christ Church. Cambie, origi-nally from Co. Tipperary in Ireland hasdjoined the CPR in 1880 and becamechief surveyor of the company andwas instrumental in designing the CPRline through the Rocky Mountains inAlberta bringing together eastern andwestern Canada in 1885 when the firstCPR train reached Port Moody, B.C.]

THE VANCOUVER WELSH MEN’S CHOIR is 80-men strong with diverse range of ethnic back-grounds.

JANE BYRNE, a long-time member of the Welsh Society of Vancouver was awarded the 2019 CelticPerson of the Year Award by Harry Cussen, chairperson of the Vancouver CelticFest at the WelshMen’s Choir concert on Saturday, March 16. She was joined by family and friends at the event.Pictured above (L-R) [Front] Eifion Williams (Jane’s brother), Jane Byrne, and her sister-in-law MavisWilliams. [Back] Wayne (Miriam’s husband), Miriam Arnall (Jane’s husband Peter’s niece who likePeter was born in Dublin), Ann Williams (daughter of Eifion and Mavis), Wilf Owens-Whalen, andLynn Owens-Whalen of the Welsh Society of Vancouver.

Eire Born Show and Shot of Scotch,who returned for a few more fabulousScottish dance numbers including anall inclusive Highland Fling!There are so many people to thankincluding: All the amazingly talentedmusicians, dancers and dance callerwho made the Ceilidh the magical nightthat it was; the Scottish Cultural Cen-tre; Frank Flood, Irish Consul Generaland all the staff at the Irish Consulatefor their support, with special thanksto Deputy Consul General LukeHanlon who attended with his partnerKarla; Maura De Freitas and The CelticConnection; Steve Edge and the RogueFolk Club; Gerry O’Doherty andShauneen Clark for tending bar; all ofour wonderful volunteers who tookcare of all that needed to be done;Mama’s Fish and Chips for being ourofficial “food truck”; and to BC Biafor a good supply of Taytos.We’ve already marked Saturday, March14, 2020 for CelticFest VancouverCeilidh 2020 and tickets are sure to gofast again so check out the CelticFestVancouver website early next year toget your tickets for what is sure to beanother sell out event!We look forward to seeing you there!

BLACKTHORN AND FRIENDS – the Grand Ceilidh Band.

THE CROWD were enthusiastic and loved the fun dancing.

SHOT OF SCOTCH dance troupe performing a Highland fling.

THE AMAZING dance callerAlison Moen had the crowd onthe floor in short order for the firstof many fun and inclusive ceilidhdances throughout the evening.


VANCOUVER – After thehighly successful inaugural2018 Hearts Beat event held atthe UBC Learning Exchange onMain Street, a collaborativeplanning committee met in Janu-ary to design the 2019 annualHearts Beat celebration.At the invitation of the UBC LearningExchange and the Carnegie CommunityCentre’s Cultural Sharing Program,members of the Irish in Vancouvergroup were honoured to partner againin support of their initiative.Hearts Beat is a program to furthercultural sharing in traditional FirstNations and traditional Irish drummingstyles, music, dance, and stories.Two drum/bodhran workshops wereheld at the UBC Learning Exchangeover a two week period with manyparticipants bringing drums they hadmade themselves in a drum workshopled by an Elder.In a large circle, stories were shared ofthe diverse playing styles and the cul-tural meanings of different types ofdrums.The main event was held at theCarnegie Community Centre Theatreon Main Street on March 14.With an overflowing crowd of partici-pants and observers, the evening in-cluded traditional foods cooked by theCarnegie kitchen and served by wel-coming and energetic volunteers fromthe Strathcona Community PolicingCentre.The walls were adorned with beauti-fully painted drums created bylexwst’í:lem drum group members andwall hangings representing the fourIrish provinces.When the audience was seated in thetheatre, the drummers and musiciansfrom both cultures proceeded to enterfollowing Indigenous protocols to taketheir places by the stage.The program contained a variety ofFirst Nations songs and dances by theCarnegie lexwst’í:lem Drum Group,story-telling by Joseph Dandurand,Vancouver Public Library’s 2019 In-digenous Storyteller in Residence, a se-lection of Irish tunes by local Irish mu-sicians and a display of Irish dancingby Eire Born Irish Dance Company.The evening coincided with the firstvisit of Irish Minister Ciarán Cannonand his team to Vancouver.Through Irish Consul General FrankFlood, arrangements were made to havethe minister and his team attend, alongwith Ambassador Jim Kelly and thestaff from the Office of the ConsulateGeneral of Ireland in Vancouver.

HEARTS BEAT 2019:A great evening of cultural sharing

CIARÁN CANNON the Irish Min-ister of State at the Departmentof Foreign Affairs and Trade withresponsibility for the Diasporaand International Developmentspeaks to guests at the 2019Hearts Beat.

The group thoroughly enjoyed theevent, so much so that the ministergave an impromptu speech at the endacknowledging what he had witnessedand emphasizing the strong connec-tions between our two cultures withmusic and storytelling.He mentioned the similarity betweenthe magic salmon Joseph described inone of his stories and the story aboutthe ‘Salmon of Knowledge’ from Irishmythology.

Minister Cannon and Consul GeneralFlood also participated in the finaldrumming song of the evening per-formed by the lexwst’í:lem DrumGroup.Special thanks to:• Nicole and the Carnegie Cultural Shar-ing Program and lexwst’í:lem DrumGroup for sharing their music anddrumming with us and for continuingto teach us about the rich culture andtraditions of the First Nations of B.C.and beyond;• Joseph Dandurand for sharing hisstories with us;• Denise and Tony Dalton, SalGallagher, and Denise McAuliffe whojoined us in performing Irish tunes andsongs;• The Irish dancers from Nora Pickett’sEire Born Dance Company.Of course, the magical event would nothave been possible without the extraefforts of all the volunteers who setup the theatre, greeted at the door,served the food, and managed thesound.Sincerest thanks to Nicole, Matt andDionne for the invitation to partici-pate in a program of such open andhonest celebration of our shared cul-tural richness and beauty.We are already looking forward to plan-ning 2020 and hope that we can con-tinue to grow respect and interculturalunderstanding through this uniqueevent.

LEXWST’Í:LEM DRUM GROUP shared their rich culture and tradi-tions with guests at the Hearts Beat 2019 event on March 14.

DENISE MCAULIFFE, Tony Dalton, Denise Dalton, Sal Gallagher,Blake Williams, Eilis Courtney.

THE EIRE BORN DANCERS brought an added level of excite-ment to the performance.

VANCOUVER – The Irish Graduates Association andFriends will host a speaker dinner on Saturday, May 25 atthe Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club. This year’sspeaker is Frank Flood, the new Vancouver Irish ConsulGeneral.This is always an evening of wonderful connection and camaraderiewhere the Irish diaspora come together to chat, support and enjoy oneanother’s company.It is a great way to meet new people, catch up with old friends and generallysupport the Irish community in Vancouver and British Columbia.Shaughnessy in May is a glorious place. Drinks and appetizers will be availablein the evening sunshine on the patio stretching out onto the green, followed bya fabulous buffet dinner and wine all included in the ticket price.The guest speaker is always a big draw and people are looking forward withkeen interest to this year’s speaker.To book your ticket, or for more information, e-mail Patricia [email protected].

2019 Irish GraduatesAssociation & Friendsannual speaker dinner

Saturday, May 25

READ OUR FULLINTERVIEW WITHCIARÁN CANNONIRISH MINISTER

OF THE DIASPORAAND INTERNATIONAL

DEVELOMENTPAGES 18 & 19

By BLAKE WILLIAMSand EILIS COURTNEY


London Extinction Rebellion activistsend protests after 10 days of blockades

LONDON – Ten days of pro-tests, blockades and disruptionacross London has come to aconclusion as Extinction Rebel-lion ended its action in the capi-tal on April 25.More than 10,000 police officerswere deployed during the actionand more than 1,100 people werearrested since campaigners firstblocked traffic on April 15.On the final day of action, protest-ers blocked roads, climbed on atrain and glued themselves to-gether in London’s financial dis-trict.At a ‘closing ceremony’ at Hyde Park,climate change campaigners sat on thegrass next to Speaker’s Corner – widelyconsidered London’s home of freespeech – singing and listening to musi-cians.The crowd cheered and clapped whena speaker said “the police were amaz-ing” during the days of blockades.“We will leave the physical locationsbut a space for truth-telling has beenopened up in the world,” event organ-isers said on their Facebook page.“We would like to thank Londoners foropening their hearts and demonstrat-ing their willingness to act on thattruth.“We know we have disrupted yourlives. We do not do this lightly. We onlydo this because this is an emergency.”Extinction Rebellion is urging the gov-ernment to “tell the truth” about thescale of the climate crisis.It wants the U.K. to reduce carbon emis-sions to net zero by 2025 and a Citi-zens’ Assembly set up to oversee thechanges needed to achieve this.

ONE OF THE MOST striking visuals of the protest were the silentghostly-white figures cloaked in scarlet-red, drifting gracefullythrough lines of police and crowds of demonstrators. The mysticalapparitions are the brainchild of Bristolian Doug Francisco, founderof The Invisible Circus launched as a street performance troupe inthe Nineties. He said the red is intended to represent the blood ofthe species, “They’re like spirits coming back from beyond thegrave, here to warn the living of the grave errors they’re making; abeautiful, bloody mob of nightmarish bodies, pleading with us notto destroy ourselves.”

Dame Emma Thompson, who joinedthe activists on Saturday, has defendedflying from Los Angeles to London totake part.The actress said it was “very difficultto do my job without occasionally fly-ing” but she was “in the very fortu-nate position of being able to offsetmy carbon footprint.”Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said theprotests had been a “huge challenge forour over-stretched and under-resourced Metropolitan Police.”Five days after the protest ended, MPsapproved a motion to declare an envi-ronment and climate emergency.This proposal, which demonstrates the

will of the Commons on the issue butdoes not legally compel the governmentto act, was approved without a vote.The declaration of an emergency wasone of the key demands put to the gov-ernment by environmental activistgroup Extinction Rebellion.Dozens of towns and cities across theU.K., including Manchester and Lon-don, have already declared “a climateemergency”.There is no single definition of whatthat means but many local areas saythey want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.The Welsh and Scottish Governmentshave both already declared a climateemergency.

EUROPEAN COUNCIL President Donald Tusk (R) and EuropeanCommission President Jean-Claude Juncker (L) address reportersafter the summit.

EU leaders agree to aflexible Brexit extension

to October 31LONDON – The European Union hasgranted the U.K. another Brexit exten-sion with a new Halloween deadlineafter British politicians were unable toagree on a withdrawal agreement priorto the March 29 deadline.It’s thought the new date was chosenas it would mean the U.K. would leavebefore the first sitting of the new EUCommission on November 1.Should The U.K. remain in the EU pastthat point it could create another con-stitutional headache for the EU.European Council President DonaldTusk confirmed the extension had beenagreed among the leaders.Prime Minister Theresa May had re-quested an extension until the end ofJune. She addressed the leaders at aspecial summit before leaving to allowa discussion to take place.May set out her case for a short exten-sion in a presentation behind closeddoors lasting around one hour, duringwhich she answered questions from theleaders of the 27 other member states.She then left the room to allow theEU27 to discuss the U.K.’s future inher absence.The group were locked in the summitfor almost five hours debating the is-sue. It is understood French PresidentEmmanuel Macron was the most re-sistant to the U.K.’s request and didnot want any extension to pass beyondthe end of June.He was said to have wanted clarity andassurances from the U.K. on its role in

the EU after the May elections and onthe process of getting Commons agree-ment on a deal.He warned that a no-deal Brexit wouldbe less damaging than a “disruptive”U.K. remaining for month after month.Failure to reach unanimous agreementwould mean the U.K. crashing out ofthe EU without a deal at 11 PM onFriday, March 29.The prime minister had asked for a de-lay to June 30, with a break clause al-lowing the U.K. to leave as soon asParliament has ratified her WithdrawalAgreement.European leaders were said to want alonger extension with an option to leaveearlier should the opportunity arise toallow for it.Tory sources said that the PM stoodby commitments made to thebackbench committee that she wouldhand over to a successor for the sec-ond phase of negotiations after ratifi-cation.The EU president who had originallyproposed an extension of up to a year,confirmed the U.K. had accepted thedeal.Donald Tusk said, “This extension isas flexible as I expected and a little bitshorter than I expected, but it is stillenough to find the best possible solu-tion,” he told reporters in Brussels.And he had a stark warning for Britishpoliticians who have been deadlockedfor months: “Please do not waste thistime.”

Huge protest march in Londondemanding a second Brexit vote

LONDON – Hundreds ofthousands of people havemarched in central London call-ing for another EU referendum,as MPs search for a way out ofthe Brexit impasse.Organisers of the ‘Put It To ThePeople’ campaign say more than amillion people joined the march be-fore rallying in front of Parliament.Protesters carrying EU flags and plac-ards called for any Brexit deal be putto another public vote after Europeanleaders agreed to delay the U.K.’s de-parture from the EU.Speakers at the rally included Labour’sdeputy leader Tom Watson, Scotland’sFirst Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Lon-don Mayor Sadiq Khan, former Toryturned independent MP Anna Soubryand former attorney general DominicGrieve.Crowds were told the initial countshowed more than a million people hadturned up – putting it on a par with thebiggest march of the century, the Stopthe War march in 2003.Labour’s Tom Watson told the crowdin Parliament Square that Theresa

May’s deal was a “lousy” one –whether you voted Leave or Remain.He said he had this message for her, “Ican only vote for a deal if you let thepeople vote on it too.“Prime minister, you’ve lost controlof this process, you’re plunging thecountry into chaos, let the people takecontrol.”Meanwhile, a record-breaking onlinepetition on Parliament’s website call-ing for Brexit to be cancelled by revok-

ing Article 50 has attracted more thanfour million signatures.As the number of signatures on thepetition continued to climb, its creatorMargaret Georgiadou said she had “re-ceived three death threats over thephone,” and a “torrent of abuse” viaher Facebook account.Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moransaid the petition could “give oxygen”to the campaign for another Brexit ref-erendum.

HUNDREDS of thousands of people took to the streets in Londonon Saturday, March 23 for the ‘Put It to The People’ march to callfor a second referendum vote on Brexit.


Great Famine Voices Roadshowrepresentative Dr. Jason King visitsVancouver and the site of planned

Ireland Canada Monument

STROKESTOWN PARK HOUSE in Co. Roscommon is the site ofIreland’s National Famine Museum. Together the house, museumand gardens embody and communicate over 300 years of Irishhistory. The museum is open to the public and contains recordsfrom the time of Ireland’s Great Famine of 1845–1852. The mu-seum was built by the Westward Group and all the documents ondisplay in the museum are from the estate. The exhibit aims toexplain the Great Irish Famine and to draw parallels with the oc-currence of famine in the world today. It is twinned with the Grosse-Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site in Quebec, Canada.

VANCOUVER– IrelandCanada Monument Society di-rectors, Brendan Flynn, TeresaMcDonnell and newest societymember Mary Monks Hatchwelcomed Dr. Jason King, theacademic coordinator of theIrish Heritage Trust, to the pro-posed monument site atWainborn Park in False Creekon April 27.The Irish Heritage Trust is responsi-ble for a number of Irish heritage prop-erties, including Fota House and Gar-dens (Cork), Strokestown Park and theNational Famine Museum (Roscom-mon) and Johnstown Castle, Estate andGardens (Wexford).King was in Vancouver as part of TheGreat Famine Voices Roadshow 2019,a series of open house events in theUnited States and Canada that bringstogether Irish emigrants, their descend-ants, and members of their communi-ties to share family memories and sto-ries of coming from Ireland to NorthAmerica, especially during the periodof the Great Hunger and afterwards.Last month the second Great FamineVoices Roadshow visited The IrishCultural Centre of New England inMassachusetts and Embassy of Ire-land, Washington D.C.From Vancouver, King will travel toParliament Hill in Ottawa for “IrishDay on the Hill” on May 6; a recep-tion at the residence of the Ambassa-dor of Ireland to Canada on May 8;

the Henry National Historic Site, King-ston on May 9; McMahon Hall, Que-bec City in partnership with ParksCanada and Irish Heritage Quebec onMay 11; and a presentation at Ire-land’s Great Hunger Institute atQuinnipiac University on June 14.The Great Famine Voices Roadshowin the U.S. and Canada is hosted bythe National Famine Museum atStrokestown Park and the Irish Herit-age Trust.The Roadshow is being held in part-nership with Ireland’s Great HungerInstitute at Quinnipiac University, theUniversity of Toronto, and ParksCanada. It is funded by the Govern-ment of Ireland Emigrant Support Pro-gramme.

In Vancouver, Ireland Canada Monu-ment Society directors provided Kingwith an overview of the project andthe names of the Irish Canadians to beincluded on the monument who havecontributed to Canada over the centu-ries.He also viewed an historic stone do-nated to the Ireland Canada MonumentSociety in 2009 by MariannaO’Gallagher, and Irish Canadian his-torian who wrote extensively on thehistory of the Irish in Quebec City.O’Gallagher was instrumental in thecreation of Grosse-Île National His-toric Site and her grandfather was amember of the Ancient Order ofHibernians who erected a Celtic crosson the site in 1909 to honour thememory of the thousands of Irish im-migrants who perished there in theyears of the FamineOriginally part of the Celtic Cross onGrosse-Île, the stone broke away fromthe cross during a violent storm in the1940s. It will form part of the IrelandCanada Monument in Vancouver.Following a tour of notable historicsites in the Vancouver area, King re-corded a number of videos which willbe added to an online archive of thevoices of Irish emigrants.A selection of these family memoriesand stories will be made freely avail-able on the Great Famine Voices onlinearchive: www.greatfaminevoices.ie.For queries, or if you would like tocontribute a family memory or storyonline, contact Dr. Jason King at theIrish Heritage Trust:[email protected].

DR. JASON KING of the IrishHeritage Trust in Stanley Park,Vancouver.

BBC announces feature-length filmon the life of poet Seamus HeaneyThe BBC has announced a fea-ture-length film exploring the lifeof Nobel Prize-winning poetSeamus Heaney.Following the Irish writer’s deathat 74 in 2013, his wife, children andbrothers have shared poems andinsights into family life with Heaneywith “intimacy and poignancy.”Raised in a family of nine children andthe son of a cattle dealer, he shot tofame in 1966 with his earthy portray-als of rural life in his lauded collectionDeath Of A Naturalist.Heaney has been described as the great-est Irish poet since WB Yeats, andforged an international reputation forverse which lead to him being awardedthe Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995.With the working title of SeamusHeaney: The Music of What Happens,the film will examine his powerful riseas a modern bard with the help of hiswife Marie, and his three childrenMichael, Christopher and Catherine.Patrick Holland, controller of BBCTwo, said, “Seamus Heaney is a cul-tural colossus who created some of themost powerful, beautiful and resonantpoetry of the last 50 years. This film

promises exceptional intimacy andpoignancy.”Mark Bell, commissioning editor ofBBC Arts, called the film “a rich andtender appraisal of this great writerusing the memories of his family andthose closest to him”.Heaney was born in Co. Derry andraised in a rural setting. He later at-tended university in Belfast.His poetic breakthrough came withpublication by Faber & Faber in 1966.

His younger life was lived in parallelwith The Troubles, which he refusedto let dominate his poetry.Heaney moved to Co. Wicklow in theRepublic in the early 1970s, and re-mained an Irish citizen.A friend of Ted Hughes, Heaney’s po-etry came to be admired internation-ally, and his work has been widely usedin school syllabuses.The famed poet was also praised forhis translation work, in particular theancient epic Beowulf.

NOBEL LAUREATE Seamus Heaney was internationally recog-nized as one of the principal contributors to poetry during his life-time.


LONDON – The British Govern-ment has started issuing passportswithout the words “European Un-ion” on the front cover eventhough the U.K. remains a full mem-ber of the bloc – for now.The Home Office was working underthe assumption that Brexit day wouldhave been March 29.This has since been extended with theU.K. currently due to leave the EU byOctober 31 at the latest but, as yet, nowithdrawal deal has been approved byMPs.Regarding the new passports, theHome Office have released a statementsaying the removal of the words “Eu-ropean Union” was part of a two-stageprocess that will culminate in the oldblue British passports being reissuedfrom late 2019.Of course, the blue passport was em-blematic of the U.K. Government’spromise to “take back control” afterthe 2017 election.The statement reads, “Burgundy pass-ports that no longer include the words‘European Union’ on the front cover

LONDON — U.S. PresidentDonald Trump will pay a three-day state visit to Britain as aguest of Queen Elizabeth II inJune, Buckingham Palace hasannounced – more than twoyears after Britain extended himan invitation for a pomp-filledceremonial stay.The palace said Trump and hiswife, Melania, had accepted an in-vitation from the Queen for a visitthat will take place June 3-5.Though many other American presi-dents have visited the monarch, onlytwo – George W. Bush and BarackObama – were honoured with a statevisit, which typically features ceremo-nial greetings, a horse-drawn carriageride and a banquet with the Queen atBuckingham Palace.It’s rare for a state visit to be announcedjust a few weeks before it takes place,but this one has been contentious eversince Prime Minister Theresa Mayinvited Trump soon after his inaugu-ration in January 2017.The trip has been deferred amid con-cerns about the president’s receptionin the U.K. and Britain’s extended cri-sis over Brexit, which has consumedmost of the government’s political en-ergy.Trump finally made an official trip tothe U.K. last summer, though thatwasn’t a state visit.Demonstrators followed him every-where nonetheless, with tens of thou-sands flooding the streets of centralLondon to protest his presence and asix-meter balloon depicting the U.S.president as a screaming baby flownnear Parliament.More protests are all but certain thistime around with anti-Trump cam-paigners considering launching a hotair balloon, five times the size of theblimp, which would also depict Trumpas a wailing baby in a nappy.Emily Thornberry, foreign affairsspokeswoman for Britain’s main op-position Labour Party, criticized theplanned visit.“It beggars belief that on the very sameday Donald Trump is threatening toveto a United Nations resolutionagainst the use of rape as a weapon ofwar, Theresa May is pressing aheadwith her plans to honour him with astate visit to the U.K.”In addition to meeting with the Queen,Trump will also hold talks with May,whose handling of Brexit he has re-peatedly criticized.The president has said he gave Mayadvice on how to negotiate Britain’sexit from the European Union, but shedidn’t listen. May has said Trumpadvised her to sue the EU.Trump has also said May’s proposedBrexit deal, which calls for Britain toretain close economic and regulatoryties with the EU, would likely scup-per the chances of a U.K.-U.S. freetrade deal.It hasn’t been announced whetherTrump will address Parliament, anhonour granted to presidents includ-ing Ronald Reagan and Obama.

Trump baby blimp backand could be even biggerfor U.K. state visit in June

The U.K. fits in with Trump’s plansto attend the June 6 commemorationsin France marking the 75th anniver-sary of the D-Day landings.Trump and the first lady plan to at-tend a ceremony in the naval city ofPortsmouth to commemorate D-Dayon the final day of his visit, the WhiteHouse said.Nations that took part in the campaignto liberate Europe from Nazi Germanyhave been also been invited to attend.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in-spect the Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle during the presi-dent’s last visit to the U.K.

ANTI-TRUMP campaigners considering launching a hot air bal-loon, five times the size of the blimp, which would also depictTrump as a wailing baby in a nappy.

They include Canada, France, Aus-tralia, New Zealand, Belgium, Luxem-bourg, Poland, Norway, Denmark,Netherlands, Greece, and Slovakia andthe Czech Republic. Germany has alsobeen invited in keeping with previousD-Day commemorative events.After leaving Britain, Trump and hiswife will travel to Normandy, in north-ern France, as a guest of PresidentEmmanuel Macron to attend D-Dayceremonies at the Normandy Ameri-can Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.

NEW BRITISH passports (L) are now being issued without thewords ‘European Union’ on the front cover.

UK passports without‘European Union’

on front cover issueddespite Brexit delay

will be introduced from 30 March2019.“Passports that include the wordsEuropean Union will continue to beissued for a short period after this date.“You will not be able to choosewhether you get a passport that in-cludes the words European Union, ora passport that does not. You will notbe issued with a passport that includesthe words European Union after theU.K. has left the EU.“There will be no difference for Brit-ish citizens whether they are using apassport that includes the words Eu-ropean Union, or a passport that doesnot include the words European Un-ion.“Both designs will be equally valid fortravel. U.K. passports issued beforethe U.K. leaves the EU will remainvalid travel documents. You do nothave to replace a passport that meetsyour travel needs.”The introduction of these new pass-ports has angered those applying fornew ones who were hoping to hold onto an emblem of EU membership.

Record demand for Irish passports ahead of Brexitleads to warnings ahead of the summer season

DUBLIN – There continues tobe record demand for Irishpassports with one-in-three ap-plications coming from GreatBritain and Northern Irelanddue to Brexit.New figures show more than112,000 people applied for anIrish passport in March, thehighest number ever in a singlemonth.As the original deadline for Brexitapproached, the Department ofForeign Affairs was also floodedwith 4,800 phone and 1,500 webinquiries every week.Paper applications from Great Britain

and Northern Ireland residents fromJanuary to March were up 103 per-cent and 71 percent, respectively, onthe same three-month period last year.There were 58,000 applications fromNorthern Ireland, and 41,000 frommainland Britain.Tánaiste Simon Coveney has urgedfamilies to check their passports aheadof the summer holiday season to en-sure they are in date.“Every year we see hundreds of fami-lies who end up spending thousandsof euro re-booking flights because aday or two before travel they realisethat one of the children’s passports isout of date.

“We have expanded the online serviceto allow for both child and adult re-newals and we would ask anyone trav-elling to take the five minutes to checkthe family passports ahead of the busyseason of May, June and July.”The spike in demand began in Januarywhen 100,400 applications were re-ceived.This continued with 100,500 passportrequests in February before a big jumpin March.Demand is being driven by a rush ofpeople in Northern Ireland and GreatBritain to obtain an Irish passport.This will ensure they still have openaccess and full employment rights in

other EU countries after Brexit.The UK was due to leave the EU at 11PM on March 29 but this has nowbeen put back twice and possibly willnot happen until October 31.Prior to the first quarter of 2019, therewere only two months over the pastfive years when the application figureexceeded 100,000.In 2018, there was a total of 850,000applications, but based on the currenttrajectory the department is planningto cope with 1.1 million requests thisyear.Hundreds of extra staff have been takenon to process applications and dealwith enquiries. The largest single cat-egory of applications is now online,which officials say is the fastest wayof obtaining a passport.


VANCOUVER – This yearmarks the hundredth anniver-sary of the building of theCambrian Hall, the only Welshsocial facility in North Americabuilt specifically for that pur-pose.Early Welsh immigrants brought toCanada the rich cultural traditionsof their homeland, such as the ei-steddfod and the gymanfa ganu.In the 1920s they formed the CambrianSociety, later renamed the Welsh Soci-ety, to celebrate and coordinate theircontributions to the cultural life ofVancouver.By the end of the decade members ofthe Cambrian Society came to realizethe need for a building where theycould hold their various activities.The society was fortunate at the timeto have some prominent and wealthyVancouver donors whose names arecommemorated on the cornerstone ofthe building at 17th Avenue, just offMain Street.The Cambrian Hall was officiallyopened by Marion Malkin, the may-or’s wife, on September 1, 1929.The ceremony was followed by sold-out afternoon and evening concertspresented by society members.Throughout its history, the Welsh So-ciety has held an annual anniversarydinner to commemorate the openingof the Hall.Since its opening, the Cambrian Hallhas seen many renovations and im-provements, including conversion ofthe lower hall into the Red Dragonlounge and the addition of a stage inthe upper hall.A bar licence was also obtained to helppay the hall’s costs. These changesmade the building rentable, easing thefinancial burden on the society.Throughout its history, the hall hasbenefited from voluntary work carriedout by dedicated members of the soci-ety. A monthly work day has been in-stituted to carry out repairs and main-tenance on the building.In the 1980s the Vancouver City Coun-cil recognized the cultural significanceof the Cambrian Hall by designating ita Heritage B building.In addition to the Welsh Society, it hasalso over past years been home tomany affiliates and offshoots, includ-

By EIFION WILLIAMSVANCOUVER – On Saturday, April 26 the Van-couver Welsh Society held its annual spring sale,one of the society’s most successful regularfundraising events at the Cambrian Hall.As in other years, prospective customers were linedup outside the hall before the 10 AM opening and forthe first hour the upper hall was packed with buyerschecking out the items on display.The spring sale has benefited from the Cambrian Hall’s

THE CAMBRIAN HALL has been home for the Welsh communityin Metro Vancouver for 100 years.

ByEIFIONWILLIAMS

ing the Cambrian Circle Singers, theVancouver Welsh Men’s Choir, theVancouver Orpheus Choir and theDylan Thomas Circle.Today, the Welsh Society hosts vari-ous activities in the hall throughout theyear.In addition to traditional celebrationslike the Gymanfa Ganu, the St. David’sDay festivities and the anniversarydinner, there are Welsh spirit after-noons, a book club, a genealogy club,pub nights, quiz nights and twmpath(Ceilidh) dance nights.There are also Welsh language classesfor learners and conversation sessionsfor Welsh speakers. A bilingual reli-gious service is held at the hall on thesecond Sunday of every month.Plans are now being developed to offi-cially celebrate the hall’s centenary.On Saturday, October 5 there will be aconcert featuring the VancouverOrpheus Choir with guest artists fromWales.On Sunday, October 6 there will be aGymanfa Ganu at the hall.The conducting will be shared by LianaSavard, artistic director of the OrpheusChoir, and Eifion Thomas, music di-rector of the Llanelli Male Voice Choir,who is well known to the Welsh com-munity from several previous visits.Details on these events will be pro-vided at a later date.

Welsh Society’s annualspring sale held last month

Vancouver Welsh SocietyCelebrates 100 yearsat the Cambrian Hall

GWENLLIAN FERCHGRUFFYDD:

The ‘Joan of Arc’of Wales

Read moreon page 28

PHOTOS: Alcwyn RogersVOLUNTEERS were very busy for the first hour as prospectivecustomers who had been lined up waiting outside rushed in toview items on sale at the annual spring sale.

THE TABLES with the home-made Welsh baking and preservesare usually the most popular. Other tables offered pre-owned books,collectibles, children’s wear and electronic goods.

MARY LEWIS in traditionalWelsh cosume.

PAT MORRIS was another greatvolunteer who worked to makethe day a success.

location on Main Street, which has become a popular andtrendy shopping street for many Vancouverites.As in past years many customers headed first to the home-made baking and preserves table to buy homemade Welshfare.Other items for sale included collectibles, pre-owned books,kitchenware, children’s wear and electronic goods. Therewas also a silent auction of goods donated by Vancouverbusinesses and individuals.The spring sale was organized by Gillian Rogers and theWelsh Society Social Committee.

Images for planned Loch Lomondtourist development released

PLANS for a new £30 million tour-ist development at the foot of LochLomond were recently unveiled forthe world-famous tourist site.Loch Lomond is a popular lake insouthern Scotland, part of the LochLomond and The Trossachs NationalPark.It is the largest inland stretch of waterin Great Britain by surface area.The proposals include a 60-bedroomapartment-hotel, 32-bedroom budgetaccommodation, a craft brewery, boathouse, leisure centre and restaurantsas well as upgrades to public footpathsand green spaces.Named Lomond Banks, the site wouldbe developed in part of Balloch, whichis currently marked for tourism devel-opment in the local plan.Lomond Banks director Andy Millersaid: "As you can see from our artistimpressions, we are fully committed

AN ARTIST’S IMPRESSION of how the development at Loch Lo-mond would look. The development would include a 60-bedroomhotel.to seeing Balloch become the true gate-way to Loch Lomond."Our plans for West Riverside andWoodbank House offer an opportu-nity for a unique leisure-based devel-opment and, with Lomond Banks,

Scotland will have a quality destina-tion that respects and compliments thesurrounding area."It is estimated it would create 80 full-time jobs, 50 part-time jobs and 70seasonal roles in the area.


EDINBURGH – ScottishFirst Minister Nicola Stur-geon has issued a rallyingcall to Nationalists to helpbuild a majority for inde-pendence as she unveiledplans to hold a second ref-erendum within the next twoyears.It came as the SNP launched a re-vived “Yes” campaign intensifyingthe prospect of a repeat of the 2014referendum in response to theBrexit turmoil.The first minister’s plans werebranded “absurd” by opponents atHolyrood on April 23, who accusedher of seeking to stoke up griev-ance and division just five yearsafter the last vote on leaving theU.K.New legislation will be brought for-ward at Holyrood by the end of theyear which would provide the frame-work for the vote, the SNP leader hasannounced.But the Scottish Government will holdoff seeking a Section 30 order fromWestminster which has control overthe constitution, including referen-dums.Theresa May has made it clear thatshe would refuse such an order – butshe is expected to be replaced as primeminister within months.The first minister also held out an ol-ive branch to opposition parties as sheannounced plans to convene cross-party talks on more powers forHolyrood to address the broken “sta-tus quo.”Plans for Citizen’s Assembles werealso set out which would see a “crosssection” of Scots society come togetherto set out the way forward for the coun-try.Sturgeon has been under pressure formonths to set out an update on herplans for a referendum after declaringher plans to stage a vote in responseto the Brexit vote which saw a major-ity of Scots vote to remain.“I consider that a choice betweenBrexit and a future for Scotland as an

GLASGOW – More than 100 peoplewere at the Clutha Vaults pub when apolice helicopter, returning to its baseon the banks of the River Clyde,crashed through the roof on Novem-ber 29, 2013.A fatal accident inquiry into the crashopened at Hampden Park in Glasgowon April 8, 2019 and heard from anumber of people, including a taxidriver and pedestrians.Statements on behalf of six of the 10victims were also read out after aminute’s silence was observed.The final seconds of the flight in Glas-gow city centre were described at theopening day of a hearing into the trag-edy.Eyewitnesses described hearing noisescoming from a police helicopter beforeit crashed.The inquiry heard that there was noevidence the aircraft’s fuel had beencontaminated but that both water andcompressor washing fluid could affectfuel gauge readings.Robert Vickery from the Air AccidentsInvestigation Branch said no indica-tion of fuel contamination had beenfound.However, under cross-examination byDonald Findlay QC, for the family ofvictim Robert Jenkins, he acknowl-edged that fuel contamination on such

Nicola Sturgeon issues rallying cry fornew Scottish independent referendum

NICOLA STURGEON has unveiled plans to hold a second Scot-tish indepence referendum within two years.

THE SCENE at the Scottish National Party (SNP) spring confer-ence in Edinburgh.

independent, European nation shouldbe offered in the lifetime of this parlia-ment,” Sturgeon told MSPs.“If Scotland is taken out of the EU,the option of a referendum on inde-pendence within that timescale mustbe open to us. That would be our routeto avoiding the worst of the damageBrexit will do.”The referendum is being sought to giveScots an alternative to the turmoil ofBrexit amid growing fears over the im-pact jobs and the economy in Scot-land, particularly if there is a no dealdeparture.The legislation being introduced atHolyrood will set the framework ofrules and procedures for a referendumthat would fall within the competenceof the Scottish Parliament.It will be on the statute book by theend of the year, with Constitution Sec-

retary Mike Russell to set out the de-tails next month.The SNP has also voted in favour ofsetting up a separate Scottish currency“as soon as practicable” if Scotlandbecomes independent.A grassroots challenge changed a pro-posal by the SNP’s depute leader andScotland’s Finance Secretary of ena-bling MSPs to vote on establishing anew Scottish currency within fiveyears of leaving the U.K., removingthe stipulated time in favour of “assoon as practicable.”The amended proposal was passedunanimously, marking a major shift inpolicy from the party’s stance in therun-up to the 2014 independence ref-erendum when then-first minister AlexSalmond said Scotland would continueto use the pound in a U.K.-wide cur-rency union.Campaign group Scotland in Unionsaid the SNP had voted to “fast-trackits plan to scrap the pound.”Deputy leader Keith Brown and Fi-nance Secretary Derek Mackay’s planwas for Scotland to continue to usethe pound in a transition period afterleaving the U.K. while aiming for avote on establishing a new Scottishcurrency by the end of the first termof an independent Parliament.Urging delegates to back the plan,Mackay said, “Our currency proposi-tion is simple. On day one the cur-rency will be the pound because it isour pound too.“We know that keeping the pound inthe early years of independence is thepreferred choice of the Scottish peo-ple, it’s how people pay their bills,and they don’t want us to take thataway from them. And no U.K. Gov-ernment can threaten to do that.“Our policy will only change when anindependent, democratically electedScottish Parliament, informed by anindependent Scottish central bank thatwe would build, decides it is in oureconomic interests to do so.”

VICTIMS of the November 29, 2013 crash (TOP: L to R) DavidTraill, PC Kirsty Nelis, PC Tony Collins, Gary Arthur, SamuelMcGhee (BOTTOM: L to R) Colin Gibson, Robert Jenkins, MarkO’Prey, John McGarrigle, Joe Cusker

Clutha crash inquiryhears of helicopter’s

final secondsa small aircraft would be “barely de-tectable.”Vickery, senior inspector of air acci-dents at the AAIB, agreed with Findlaythat “absence of evidence is not evi-dence of absence.”He told the court, “All our investiga-tions are based on evidence. We can-not work by speculation, we cannotwork by making assumptions, becausemaking assumptions and speculatingis not good for aviation safety.“We can cause problems by guessing.”Vickery told the inquiry that there wasno smell of fuel or any evidence of aleak at the scene of the crash.The inquiry has previously heard thatthe helicopter’s pilot had received fivelow fuel warnings before the crash.It has also heard that the aircraft didnot have a flight recorder, which meantthere was no data about when fuelwarnings came on and the length oftime they stayed on.Pilot David Traill, 51; PC TonyCollins, 43; and PC Kirsty Nelis, 36,lost their lives along with seven cus-tomers who were in the bar onStockwell Street. They were GaryArthur, 48; Joe Cusker, 59; ColinGibson, 33; Robert Jenkins, 61; JohnMcGarrigle, 58; Samuel McGhee, 56;and Mark O’Prey, 44.

Scotland’s ‘oldest clan chief’ the16th Laird of Invercauld turns 100

BRAEMAR, Scotland – Celebra-tions were held at the family seatof Scotland’s oldest clan chief tomark his 100th birthday.Captain Alwyne Farquharson, 16thLaird of Invercauld, turned 100 onMay 1 with the occasion marked at

with the attraction since flourishing asa visitor attraction.Captain Farquharson is the Laird ofInvercauld Estates but spends muchof his time in Norfolk.He assumed the title in 1941 after hisaunt, Myrtle Farquharson, was killedin a London bombing raid.The captain served with distinction asa captain in the Royal Scots Greysduring the Second World War.Following the war, as he recoveredfrom his injuries at his father’s homein Yorkshire. He met his first wifeFrances, a fashion editor with Voguein the United States.Clan Farquharson branched from ClanShaw in the 16th Century and the firstClan Chief, Finlay Mhor was stand-

ard bearer for Mary Queen of Scots atthe Battle of Pinkie in 1547.The 9th Laird of Invercauld stoodalongside the Earl of Mar when thestandard was raised to start the 1715Jacobite rebellion in Braemar.Over the centuries, the clan has spreadworldwide and each year many returnto visit their clan seat and to walk inthe footsteps of their ancestors.The clan chief’s birthday will also becelebrated at the Ballater HighlandGames in August.

CAPTAIN Alwyne Farquharson,16th Laird of Invercauld.

Braemar Castle on Deeside.The chief of Clan Farquharson has heldthe role for 70 years and was honouredby the community to mark his specialday in his honour.He leased Braemar Castle to a localcharitable organization 11 years ago

BRAEMAR CASTLE was leased to a local charitable organizationin Braemar in 2006 and is open to the public.


DINBURGH –The SNP’s springconference inEdinburgh was

A Fond Farewell Dennis MacLeod

Esomething to behold.In an era when other Scottish po-litical conferences look like strug-gling Parish councils, the SNP con-ference features a vast auditorium,standing room only sessions anda stage microphone so active thatit must be hot to the touch.I had lots of time to study this from aseat close to the back on the last Sat-urday in April. I was an observer ratherthan a voting delegate, but it was hardnot to be impressed by both the scaleand content of the thing.Speaker after speaker proposed mo-tions on Sri Lanka, global warming,Lyra McKee and numerous other is-sues. And they were not limited, as insome other conferences, to those of acertain age.A group of teenagers proposed andpassed a motion on the introductionof a school leaver kit based on a NewZealand model “aimed at equippingyoung people with practical skills forlife.”The particular focus of the first after-noon session, however, was the issueof what currency an independent Scot-land will adopt if and when it comesto pass.The debate was a rather quixotic mixof those who perorated on virtuallyeverything except currency and otherswith considerable subject knowledge.In the end, one of the latter won theday and the original motion wasamended to say that Scotland wouldshed the pound and adopt its own cur-rency “as soon as practicable” afterindependence.Right on cue, a panel base survey inthe Sunday Times found that if the U.K.leaves the EU without a deal supportfor independence would rise to 52 per-cent. It also revealed that 59 percentfelt that independence would be bet-ter for Scotland than a no-deal Brexit.In the midst of all this, I couldn’t helpbut think of Dennis MacLeod whodied on Vancouver Island just beforethe conference started.Dennis was born in a croft inHelmsdale in Sutherland, his ancestorshaving been cleared from Kildonan.His father was killed in the SecondWorld War and his mother supportedthe family by waiting on tables andcleaning the local school.From these difficult beginnings Dennisbecame a millionaire, operating min-eral mines in Africa and Canada andeventually employing 1,500 staff in aninternational operation called Caledo-nia Mining.Dennis made a temporary return toScotland in the 1990s and lived inScatwell House in Strathconon whichbecame a kind of unofficial northernheadquarters for high profile membersof the SNP.

ByHARRY

McGRATH

DENNIS MACLEOD presenting the statue to the Helmsdale com-munity.

It was from there, for instance, thatthen-SNP leader Alex Salmond madehis controversial address to the nationduring which he branded the NATOintervention in Kosovo as “an unpar-donable folly.”In 2007, Salmond unveiled a statue inHelmsdale that was commissioned byDennis and dedicated to those affectedby the Highland clearances.The 10 foot-high bronze statue “TheEmigrants” commemorates the peoplewho were cleared from the area by land-owners.It stands in opposition to a controver-sial statue of “clearance laird” the Dukeof Sutherland down the coast atGolspie.Dennis also raised a twin statue to theHelmsdale one on the banks of the RedRiver in Winnipeg with “Selkirk Set-tlers” inscribed on the plinth.I first met Dennis in Vancouver in 2005at a reception I helped organise forGeorge Reid – now Sir George Reid –who was the Presiding Officer of theScottish Parliament.On my frequent return visits to Canadathereafter, I would visit Dennis andhis wife Glynis on Vancouver Islandand he’d regale me with Highland sto-ries, poetry and music as the gloamingdescended on Saanich, four-and-a-half-thousand miles from Helmsdale.In 2006 Dennis co-authored a bookcalled Grasping the Thistle withMichael Russell who is now MSP forArgyll and Bute and Cabinet Secretaryfor Government Business and Consti-tutional Relations.

I have a pristine copy before me as Iwrite this. It’s inscribed: “To Harrywith best wishes, Dennis MacLeod”and bookmarked with a Swartz Bay toTsawwassen ferry ticket dated Sep-tember 7, 2015, the last time I visitedhim.The reason the book is pristine is thatI already had a copy but didn’t havethe heart to refuse his generosity.Generosity defined Dennis both asprivate host and public figure.His start-up funding enabled the es-tablishment of the University of theHighlands and Islands Centre for His-tory and our own modest Homecom-ing project would not have been pos-sible without him.He even flew in from Canada to joinnewspaper designer Graeme Murdochand myself at our “this is who we are”reception and exhibition at the Scot-tish Parliament on St. Andrews Day,2009.Above all, Dennis’s financial supporthelped sustain the SNP at a time whenit was on its uppers.Back then the party’s current position– 12 years in power in Scotland, themajority of MPs at Westminster, pollsthat show independence within itsgrasp – was the stuff of dreams.The next step, as announced by NicolaSturgeon, is the establishment of a“Citizen’s Assembly” to build agree-ment on Scotland’s constitutional fu-ture.Media outlets here are citing an Irishmodel but “Grasping the Thistle” ref-erences a British Columbian one thatlong preceded it.Dennis’s idea was to muster a Scot-tish “Citizens Convention” by echo-ing the process used during B.C.’s2004 Citizens’ Assembly on ElectoralReform.The convention would then be embed-ded in Scotland’s political system asan aid to democracy.There was much to learn from Dennis,much to enjoy and now, alas, much tomiss. RIP.

THE SELKIRK SETTLERSmonument in Winnipeg.

Tomb of Robert the Bruceat Dunfermline Abbey

DUNFERMLINE, Scotland – A 3D reconstruction of the tomb of Robertthe Bruce is now on display at Dunfermline Abbey Church.A half-scale model of the lost tomb was presented by the Chief Executiveof Historic Environment Scotland (HES), Alex Paterson on April 26.A collaborative project between HES and the Centre for Digital Documen-tation and Visualisation (CDDV) to recreate the lost tomb from fragmentsstarted in 2013.On his death, Bruce’s heart was removed so that it might posthumouslybe taken to the Holy Land, it is buried at Melrose Abbey.His tomb was destroyed during the Reformation (along with all the otherRoyal tombs in the Abbey). Fragments of it along with Bruce’s remainswere discovered in 1817 and excavated in 1818.


OQUITLAM –Visitors to the BCHighland Games& Scottish Festi-

The Paperboys to headlinethe 88th BC Highland Games

in its new lakeside venue

THE PAPERBOYS led by Tom Landa is a Juno Award winninggroup and one of B.C.’s premier Celtic music bands.

PHOTO: City of CoquitlamTHE TD COMMUNITY STAGE at Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam, B.C.This new location for the 2019 BC Highland Games is an intimategrassy, treed area on the edge of Lafarge Lake in downtownCoquitlam. It is the site of a number of summer civic celebrationsincluding Canada Day and the Kaleidoscope Festival.

Cval in Coquitlam on June 14and 15 will be in for a realtreat this year.Not only is the almost centuryold event expanding and mov-ing to a new location, but one ofB.C.’s premier Celtic musicgroup, The Paperboys, kicks offtheir summer touring scheduleat the Games on both Fridaynight and Saturday afternoon.“We’re thrilled that The Paperboyswill be with us,” says Mike Chisholm,BC Highland Games executive direc-tor.“I have been listening to this band foryears and I’m looking forward to twogreat concerts from Tom Landa and hisband in our new venue.”The band will play Saturday after-noon, June 15 at the Games, along witha free set on Friday evening June 14on the Ceilidh Stage on the new LewRoss Scottish Heavy Event Field.It is one of a number of events kickingoff the 88th Highland Games, includ-ing an inaugural 5 and 10k Tartan Run/Walk, vendors, whisky tasting andopen Piobaireachd on the main stage.The Juno-award winning band has pro-duced nine albums in its 25-year his-tory and was a key part of a wave ofpopular Canadian folk music in the1990s that included Ashley MacIsaac,Great Big Sea, Leahy, The Rankins andRawlins Cross.“One big difference between CanadianCeltic artists from the east coast, andCeltic bands in other parts of the worldis that we have a different approach toplaying the music,” says Landa.“We are not flame-keepers in preserv-ing tradition, so we are free to messaround with it and create somethingdifferent.”The band has travelled all over NorthAmerica and Europe over the pastquarter century, including VancouverFolk Festival, Bumbershoot, Edmon-ton Folk Fest and The Kennedy Cen-tre.The band is one of the highlights ofthe BC Highland Games which is mov-ing to its new location at Coquitlam’sLafarge Lake Park after 27 years atPercy Perry Stadium.“We have been planning this move forthe past three years,” says Chisholm.“The new location is a much bettersite for a Highland games with trees,real grass, plenty of space and of coursea beautiful location on Lafarge Lake.“I’m pretty sure everyone will loveit.”Other performers at the 2019 BC High-land Games include Bob Collins, Metissinger J.J. Lavelee, east coast piperBarry Shears, Blackthorn lead singerMichael Viens on the Traditional Stage,Cookeilidh from Victoria and KilbirnieStation.

Lafarge Lake Park is at the end of the Skytrain’s Evergreen extension.Parking is limited so attendees are encouraged to take public transit to theGames.

Friday evening is a free event, but Saturday requires tickets which can bepurchased online in advance, or at two entry gates. The Paperboys willperform starting around 7 PM on Friday.

Bring lawn chairs as beer garden seating may be limited.

2019 BC Highland GamesHow to get there:

The CanmoreHighland Games:

A Celtic blending of oldand new world charm

CANMORE, Alberta – Imagine a beautifulmeadowland surrounded on all sides by spectacularmountains.

SET in the magnificent Canadian Rockies, the Canmore HighlandGames attracts over 5,000 visitors from across North America overthe weekend of August 31 and September 1.

By SALLY GAREN

The remnant of the powerful forceof nature that created this magnifi-cent scene is today a crispheadwater of a meandering moun-tain river that glistens as it cutsthrough the valley floor.A sunny green park sits at the centerpoint of this breathtaking setting. It isa natural amphitheater of awesomeproportions where the thunderingsounds of massed Pipes and Drumsreach a crescendo each year.This is the heartbeat of a HighlandGames.We could be describing Brae O’ Maralong the River Dee in Scotland whereKing Malcolm III (Canmore) – orCeannMor in Gaelic, meaning greatchief – presided over the first everHighland Games.Instead, we are describing an entirelydifferent place.This is a vibrant community windingalong the beautiful Bow River thatcuts through one of the most impres-sive parts of the Canadian RockyMountains.This town, named after Malcolm him-self, is Canmore, Alberta.Now in its 29th year, the 2019Canmore Highland Games will beopened by honorary Chieftain BruceMcGee of McMillan McGee Corp.Over the days of August 31 and Sep-tember 1, when the Bow Valley isshifting from full summer bloom tostunning autumn crimson, approxi-mately 5,000+ visitors from acrossNorth America will take part in therhythm and flow of three events – theTaste of the Highlands, the gamesthemselves and the Ceilidh.There is an old Gaelic word thatharkens back to 16th century Scotland,craic (pronounced ‘crack’), which de-scribes a lively social atmosphere withgood conversation and revelry.The Taste of the Highlands is fantas-

tic craic and the best way to get intothe Highland spirit. Sponsored by TheFamous Grouse, the Taste hosts over40 scotch, beer and wine producers,along with local food vendors.It is all the charm of a Scottish pubpaired with some of the best expertsin the world of fine drink.Moderation during the taste is prudentas games day is full of not to be missedevents and entertainment.Featuring the largest Highland dancecompetition in Canada, an assortmentof heavy sports, pipes and drums com-petitions, sheep dog demonstrations,as well as food and retail vendors, thereis truly something for everyone to en-joy.In the big tent local volunteers serveup great food and drink while ScottishCountry, Highland and Irish dancersdelight the crowd.The musical entertainment has alwaysbeen a huge hit amongst festival goersand this season promises a very excit-ing lineup.Banda Taverna from Brazil transportsaudiences back in time with traditionalCeltic music and costume right out ofan old-world tavern.Cabot’s Crossing is a four-piece en-semble of incredible musicians oftenjoined in song and dance by the crowd.The closing event is a Canadian CelticRock band that goes by the name offront man Johnny McCuaig.The energy of these showmen is sec-ond only to that of the electrifiedcrowd.Just as soon as it began the sound andfury of the Canmore Highland Gamesdraws down and the echo against theCanadian Rockies subsides.Festival goers make their way homewith lungs full of mountain air andhearts full of old and new world Celticcharm.For more information: https://canmorehighlandgames.ca.


THE IRISH CLUB OF WHITE ROCK

Plans underway for an upcomingnew season after this year’s AGM

By DEIRDRE O’RUAIRCWHITE ROCK, BC – Irish Club ofWhite Rock is off to another greatyear! Our year goes from April toMarch 31.The club held its annual general meet-ing on April 25 at the Elks Hall WhiteRock and like many AGMs...not a bigturnout.Disappointing for the president andthe executive, nonetheless those in at-tendance made up for it. It was a veryenthusiastic group with one amazingvolunteer.Sharon Woods gave a brief history ofthe club.It began unofficially in the early Six-ties and officially launched in 2004with first president Brendan Hamill asa social group supporting Irish arts andculture.It offers support and a welcome to allthe Irish in the community. It is opento all Irish and those of Irish heritageor those who just want to enjoy Irishculture – “there is always a welcomehere for you” is our motto.Sharon provided a summary of eventsheld over the past year, including: apub quiz, pub nights, summer barbe-cue, Halloween party, and Christmasdinner.Members also attended several func-tions with the new Consul General ofIreland Frank Flood, meeting withother Irish groups in Vancouver.This has been a great opportunity tomeet and know the other groups andto work more closely together whilesupporting each other’s events.Sharon will continue as president thisyear along with her current executiveand a new member June Parnell – wewould like to welcome June and wethank you for your support and ideas.Highlights of the past year have beenthe summer barbeque and our Hallow-een party with special guest ConsulGeneral Frank Flood and his wife Orla.The annual St. Patrick’s Day dinnerdance on March 16 was another greatsuccess. It was held at the HazelemereGolf and Tennis Club with music pro-vided by the local Celtic band HappyHour.Once again, Frank Flood and his wifeOrla were special guests, along withlocal MP Gordon Hogg and Mayor ofWhite Rock Daryl Walker.Plans are already underway for March2020.Sharon and the executive are workingto put together plans for our upcoming2019/2020 season.The club welcomes all input and wouldlove to hear from you. Please sharewith any newcomers to the area thatthe Irish Club of White Rock will al-ways extend a warm Irish welcome.The Irish Club of White Rock includesWhite Rock and surrounding areaswhich is only a 45 minute drive fromVancouver, straight out Highway 99.White Rock is a beautiful seaside com-munity and it has a lot to offer, so docome and visit.Everyone is invited to follow us onFacebook. For more information, e-mail: [email protected], or call Sharon at (604) 338-3553,or Deirdre at (604) 803-0773.

ST. PATRICK’S FAMILY DAYPHOTO GALLERY

IRISH CLUB OF WHITE ROCK executive pictured above with IrishConsul General Frank Flood and his wife Orla at the St. Patrick’sbanquet at Hazelmere Golf and Tennis Club on March 16.

IRISH CLUB OF WHITE ROCK president Sharon Woods with herhusband James and friends at the St. Patrick’s dinner dance.

JUNE PARNELL with family and friends at the St. Patrick’s ban-quet at Hazelmere Golf and Tennis Club on March 16.

GUESTS at the St. Patrick’s banquet at Hazelmere Golf and Ten-nis Club on March 16.

DARYL WALKER with FrankFlood the Irish Consul General,Vancouver.

GORDON HOGG and his wifeLaVerne celebrating St. Patrick’sDay on Saturday, March 16.

A LEPRECHAUN stopped by for a visit at the St. Patrick’s FamilyDay celebration (also known as Tom O’Sullivan). He is picturedabove with Catholine Butler of The Celtic Connection.

LALLA COULSON was busy at the Celtic Treasure Chest displaywith a table stocked full of delicious treats from home for parentsand kids alike.

THE LITTLE people had a wonderful time celebrating with balloons,face painting and lots of treats. They loved the music and were updancing and enjoying themselves all afternoon. It was a day ofhappy memories for everyone.

THE t-shirt says it all for this happy Irish baby: “I’m a little luckycharm” at the St. Patrick’s Family Day celebration on March 17.


Saint Patrick’s Day Family Celebrationin an extraordinary year for the Irish Vancouver

AINT Patrick’s Day, celebrated globallyon March 17, is Ireland’s national holi-day. It commemorates Saint Patrick, thePatron Saint of Ireland and it is both a

By RHONDA McDOWELL

Scultural and religious day of celebration at home andabroad.Brand Ireland is one of the world’sfastest growing ‘nation brands’.It is believed that there are up to 70million people around the world claim-ing Irish ancestry and heritage.According to the Irish Times, the valueof Brand Ireland increased 26 percentin 2018 to 469 billion moving it intothe Top 30 of Nation Brands.It comes as no surprise then, SaintPatrick’s Day (synonymous withBrand Ireland) is honoured worldwideand Vancouver is no exception.The Irish community is growing inVancouver and throughout B.C.Numerous events were held to pro-mote Saint Patrick’s Day, including thehugely popular Saint Patrick’s DayFamily Celebration, held in Vancouverfor the first time on, you guessed itMarch 17! It has been a year of firsts.The community welcomed a new IrishConsulate office in Vancouver, led byIreland’s first Consul General in Van-couver, Frank Flood.For the first time, an Irish Minister ofState at the Department of ForeignAffairs and Trade, Ciarán Cannon TDwas in Canada around Saint Patrick’sDay.The Consulate team offered a finan-cial contribution and practical assist-ance that helped spark the Family Dayinitiative.In the spirit of true collaboration, theConsulate team along with over a dozenIrish cultural groups and their volun-teers worked in partnership, bringingto life the Family Day in less than twomonths.Commenting on the motivation behindthe event the Irish Consul GeneralFrank Flood said, “To me, St. Patrick’sDay has always been about family andtaking the kids to a parade or a matchor a family get-together.“We realised in the Consulate after weheld the community forum breakfastat the end of January that, althoughthere were a number of events plannedaround St. Patricks’ Day, there wasnothing for families to do on the dayitself.“What was really satisfying was that

KATHERINE KISS with the Consulate General of Ireland, Vancouver, distributed ballons to delightedchildren at the St. Patrick’s Day Family Celebraton.

FIDDLER Doug Medley waded into the crowd and soon had every-one on their feet dancing along to his tunes like a Pied Piper.

ON A LOVELY SPRING AFTERNOON a long line of families linedup outside St. James Hall waiting for the doors to open for the St.Patrick’s Day festivities on March 17.

once the Consulate indicated that wewanted to see a family event and werewilling to fund it, the Irish communityresponded immediately and positively.“Particular credit must go to ClaireDiamond who led from the start andwas then supported in organising theevent by the Rogue Folk Club, theIrish Women’s Network and the IrishFamilies in Vancouver.“Not to mention all the other Irishcommunity groups and volunteers onthe day who made the event so suc-cessful.”The Family Day represented an au-thentic celebration of the rich culturethat Ireland boasts.Rogue Folk Club opened its doors atthe St. James’ Community Square at1:30 PM on Saint Patrick’s Day andwere met by a steady line up of kidsand adults eagerly awaiting all the pro-gram had to offer.In true Saint Patrick’s Day fashion,they donned their various shades ofgreen as a nod to the Emerald Isle.It was a glorious Sunday afternoon thatlent itself to indoor and outdoor ac-tivities.The program was varied and includedeverything from Irish music, dance andlanguage to kids’ art, craft, sport, ashowcase of Irish Wolfhounds and thealways popular Irish snacks and drinkswent down a treat!

You know it’s going to be a successwhen a new supply of Tayto is neededearly in the day.Those attending were officially wel-comed to the event by Frank Floodand a representative of the MusqueamNation who spoke to an excited crowdabout his own Irish heritage.All ages showed up to celebrate, rang-ing from 70+ years to one of ouryoungest, five week old Lucy who wasso content listening to the music thatshe stayed for the duration!This was a celebration that extendedwell beyond the immediate Irish com-munity.It was supported by a great many na-tionalities, all excited to be part of theIrish community for the day, to learnabout our culture, honour our tradi-tions and there wasn’t a beer of thegreen variety in sight!Quite simply everyone joined in thefun, experienced the naturally socialand welcoming environment that Ire-land is famed for and proud of.Many expressed their thanks at hav-ing somewhere to go with young kidsthat was like ‘home from home’, notcontrived, just a feel good factor.Volunteer coordinator, Claire Diamondcaptured what inspired the event say-ing, “We don’t mind green beer, Guin-

ness and leprechauns, but there is somuch more to Saint Patrick’s Day.“We want to showcase the richness ofIrish culture and talent, offering a wel-coming and fun social environment forboth kids and adults.”The day was a huge success with at-tendance far exceeding anticipatednumbers.Thanks to the stellar efforts of theConsulate, community groups and agreat many volunteers in making sureeveryone was accommodated safely.Feedback on the day and in the daysthat followed has been exceptionallypositive.Perhaps the proof of success was in

the last spontaneous act of the daywhen a group of approximately 15 tod-dlers, inspired by the musicians andStewart School of Dance took to thestage for an impromptu dance sessionof their own making.This was echoed by Frank Flood whosaid “My favourite part, besides theIrish Wolfhounds, was when all thetoddlers took over the stage and dancedaway after the Irish dancers’ perform-ance. For me, that alone made it allworthwhile.”That’s a hard act to follow; we lookforward to St. Patrick’s Day 2020!

•For more information, e-mail RhondaMcDowell at: [email protected].

TWO little girls came dressed forthe day and ready for fun.

“My favourite part,besides the IrishWolfhounds, was

when all the toddlerstook over the stageand danced away

after theIrish dancers’performance.”

— Frank Flood


Global Ireland: A New Visionfor Closer Connections with the Irish Diaspora

ANCOUVER – Ciarán Cannon the IrishMinister of State at the Department ofForeign Affairs and Trade with responsi-bility for the Diaspora and InternationalV

Development was in western Canada and Washing-ton State for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations thisMarch.

He met with various Irish culturaland business organizations in bothCalgary and Vancouver and madea flying visit to Victoria betweenevents to meet with John Horgan,the premier of British Columbia.While in Vancouver, the minister alsoattended a community consultationluncheon to speak about Ireland’s am-bitious new diaspora policy: GlobalIreland – Ireland’s Strategy for the U.S.and Canada 2019-2025.The meeting brought together repre-sentatives from almost 26 local Irishorganizations to discuss Ireland’s sup-port for the diaspora and how the gov-ernment can better engage with Glo-bal Ireland.

New Irish ConsulateAnnounced for Toronto

During his address, Minister Cannonalso announced plans to further expandIreland’s diplomatic presence inCanada.The Consulate of Ireland in Toronto isscheduled to open mid-2020 and willbe the second in Canada since SimonCoveney, the Irish Minister for For-eign Affairs and Trade, announcedplans for Ireland to expand its globalfootprint.At a press conference in October 2017,Minister Coveney said the opening ofnew consular missions in Canada re-flects the strength of the Ireland-Canada relationship and the expand-ing Irish community here.He also said, “This will strengthen ourhand when helping Irish business totake full advantage of the opportuni-ties offered by the EU-Canada Com-prehensive Economic and Trade Agree-ment (CETA).”In addition, “The announcement ofthese new Irish embassies and consu-lates are important first steps in ex-panding our global footprint and di-versifying our trade portfolio as weprepare for Brexit.”

Ireland Preparing for BrexitIn Vancouver, Minister Cannon rein-forced the importance of Ireland’s workin preparation for Britain’s departurefrom the European Union.The positive impact of Ireland’s deci-sion to establish the first Republic ofIreland consular mission in Canadasince the embassy opened in Ottawain 1939 has been immediately appar-ent since the arrival of Frank Flood,the new Irish Consul General in Van-couver.

CIARÁN CANNON (centre) the Irish Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Tradewith responsibility for the Diaspora and International Development with Frank Flood the Irish ConsulVancouver (L) and Jim Kelly the Ambassador of Ireland to Canada (R) outside the British ColumbiaParliament Buildings in Victoria, B.C.

[Continued on page 19]

“Frank Flood has only been here for afew months and from accompanyinghim around Vancouver the last coupleof days it is apparent that he has madea wonderful impact in a very shortperiod of time,” said Minister Cannon.“He primarily sees his function hereas two-fold. The first is to sustain andgrow and develop the Irish commu-nity here in Vancouver and indeedthroughout British Columbia, and thesecond is to begin to develop a reallystrong trading relationship betweenIreland and British Columbia.“So, he’s done very well in both re-gards in a very short space of time.”One of the biggest boosts to the in-creased Ireland footprint in Canada hasbeen CETA, a new free-trade agree-ment between Canada and all 28 Euro-pean Union member states.The signing of CETA eliminated 9,000various trade tariffs between the EUand Canada and has also led to a newIndustrial Development Authority(IDA) office in Toronto, along with anexpanded presence of Enterprise Ire-land and Tourism Ireland in Canada. “This means that there are now hugetrade opportunities for both the Euro-pean Union and Canada as a wholewhich are going to emerge,” said Can-non.“What we want to do is to positionIreland as the launch pad for investorsin Canada and in B.C. who are con-templating establishing their first pres-ence in the European Union to thatmarket of 450 million people.“Ireland will be the only English speak-ing country in the European Union af-ter Brexit. Members of the Eurozonehave a common law system, similar toCanada, so it all makes sense in termsof building that relationship.”Cannon pointed out that in his discus-sions with John Horgan, it was pointedout that traditionally British Colum-bia has looked to Asia in terms of atrading relationship, but CETA hasbrought a new dimension to the table.“One of the reasons that I’m here thisweek is to start that kind of engage-ment so that when business people inthis part of the world are contemplat-ing expanding beyond B.C. and beyondCanada, they now start to look towardthe European Union and that they lookto Ireland as a natural home for thatinvestment.”One indication of the importance Ire-land has placed on its relationship withCanada can be seen in the fact that noless than 19 Irish Government minis-ters have visited this country over thepast 24 months.

Brexit and the Good FridayAgreement

At the time of our meeting in Vancou-ver, Brexit was reaching yet anotherdeadline without any resolution and itappeared that the British prime minis-

ter would seek a delay to extend theArticle 50 departure date beyond the29th of March.Minister Cannon indicated that theIrish Government would be support-ive of that delay.He said, “It gives Britain a bit ofbreathing space in terms of being ableto convince I suppose first of all theparliamentarians and ultimately thegeneral public that an orderly with-drawal is a winner for everyone andthe alternative is a disaster.“A no-deal Brexit would be a lose-lose-lose proposition for everyone – forBritain, for the European Union, andindeed for Ireland and particularly forNorthern Ireland.“Our deepest fear since Brexit was firstmooted as a possibility, even beforethey had the referendum was that itwould set the peace process back avery long way.“That’s something that is very pre-cious to us, it was a very hard wonpeace process, one that we’ve had inplace now for 20 years. It has beenextraordinary in terms of bringing to-gether two communities in NorthernIreland and in terms of Northern Ire-land’s economic growth it has beenpowerful.“We want that to continue. We wantto have the seamless movement of peo-ple and goods and trade back and overan essentially invisible border andBrexit’s potential capacity to damagethat is pretty immense.”The opportunity to protect the Good

Friday Agreement and the peace proc-ess, according to Minister Cannon isthrough an orderly departure as set outin the withdrawal agreement negoti-ated between the European Union andBritish Prime Minister Theresa May.“The protection of peace in NorthernIreland has been central to that agree-ment,” he said, “so, for Britain to leavethe European Union beyond that struc-tured withdrawal agreement would bea really dangerous place to go.”Cannon said the alternative howeveris not a good one for Northern Irelandwith very serious potential conse-quences.“The carefully and meticulously as-sembled Good Friday Agreementwhich we all signed up to – the U.K.,Northern Ireland and the Republic ofIreland – and we believe if any kind ofborder infrastructure appeared in anylocation, you would begin to see thatpeace process unravel pretty quickly.“It would give those on the fringes ofboth communities who, to be frank,many never had any interest in a peaceprocess, it would give them a new le-gitimacy that they don’t deserve.”

Vancouver Irishcommunity growth

In closing, Minister Cannon discussedone of the most remarkable changeswe have witnessed in almost 30 yearspublishing The Celtic Connection,which has been the transformation ofthe local Irish community.Where once there was very limitedIrish immigration to British Columbia

and a very tight-knit but aging com-munity, the 2007-2008 financial crisisin Ireland changed all that.It began with a trickle but young Irishaccents can now be heard throughoutMetro Vancouver with the arrival of awhole new wave of migrants under theCanadian Experience Class ExpressEntry visa.This program administered throughCanada Immigration and Citizenshipallows individuals who have workedhere for at least one year to immigratepermanently.These young migrants are outwardlooking, dynamic, and most of all arehighly skilled in a wide range of indus-tries from trades to technology.Minister Cannon spoke about howimpressed he was with these youngpeople and said, “You’re very luckyhere in Vancouver because you havean Irish community that is being re-plenished over and over again.“You can sense that vibrancy, even herein this room, and that isn’t the casewith Irish communities all over theworld.“As I said earlier, a lot of Irish com-munities are now facing up to the factof having no new people coming in.Their immigration pipeline has essen-tially been shut down, particularly inthe United States.“Their challenge now is to how to sus-tain these communities if there are no

ByMAURA

DE FREITAS

“You can sense that vibrancy, even here in this room,and that isn’t the case with Irish communities all over theworld. As I said earlier, a lot of Irish communities are

now facing up to the fact of having no new peoplecoming in. Their immigration pipeline has essentially

been shut down, particularly in the United States.”– Ciarán Cannon


BREXIT UPDATEEuropean Union leaders agreedto grant the United Kingdom an-other six-month extension toBrexit after late-night talks inBrussels on April 11.

Following the agreement, Euro-pean Council President DonaldTusk said in a message to Britishfriends....“please do not wastethis time.”

Theresa May, who had wanted ashorter delay, said the U.K. wouldstill aim to leave the EU as soonas possible.

The U.K. must now participateand hold European elections inMay, or leave on June 1 without adeal.

[Continued from page 18]young people coming. They’re hav-ing to work now to address that prob-lem because their Irish identity is veryimportant to them.”The difference of course is the oldergeneration were much more cohesive,they put down roots and shared amuch closer bond since communica-tion and travel were greatly restrictedonce they immigrated.Many were never to return home oncethey left Ireland, so they made Canadatheir new home and they built localcommunities to maintain their culture.In fact, Minister Cannon remarkedthey built Canada.And indeed they did, from east to westthere is a rich history of the Irish inCanada and the enormous contribu-tions they have made building roadsand railroads, in fact the very infra-structure of this country.

CLARE TIMONEY welcomed guests to the breakfast meeting withMinister Cannon hosted by the Ireland-Canada Chamber of Com-merce Vancouver.

MINISTER CANNON (centre) with members of the Ireland CanadaChamber of Commerce Vancouver. Pictured far left is Lar Quigley,president of the ICCC.

RUARI SPILLANE, Frank Flood, Ciarán Cannon and Harry Cussenat the Irish Diaspora consultation lunch in Vancouver on March 15.

BRENDAN FLYNN and Theresa McDonnell of the Ireland CanadaMonument Society with Frank Flood the Irish Consul General, Van-couver, following the Irish Diaspora consultation lunch.

(L-R) Mike McNaney, VicePresident, Industry, Corporate& Airport Affairs, WestJet;Dana Walsh, Manager,Canada, Tourism Ireland, To-ronto; Minister Cannon; EdSimms, CEO, WestJet; JimKelly, Ambassador of Irelandto Canada, Ottawa; Mark Por-ter, EVP People and Culture,WestJet; Laureen Regan, Hon-orary Vice Consul Trade andInvestment Ireland, Calgary;Geoffrey Keating, Director,Irish Abroad Unit, Dublin.

CIARÁN CANNON, the Irish Minister of State at the Departmentof Foreign Affairs and Trade, Diaspora and International Develop-ment in Calgary, Alberta while on his visit to western Canada inMarch. He is pictured above meeting with executives of WestJet.

CATHERINE FLYNN sang theIrish National Anthem at theConsular Corps Reception ac-companied by Rebecca Blair onharp.


EDINBURGH – Edinburgh’sworld-famous Beltane FireFestival has been overhauled sothat the spectacular showstaged atop Calton Hill on thenight of April 29 tackles climatechange for the first time.The central character of theMay Queen is seen expressingrage at the damage being doneto the planet at the outset of thefour-hour performance, whichmarks the changing of the sea-sons.Her ceremonial costume has been al-tered with recycled materials to por-tray oil spills, deforestation and wasteto depict “the earth as it truly is.”Members of the 300-strong cast in theshow, which has been running for morethan 30 years, have been encouragedto use recycled materials in their cos-tumes.Organisers pledged to look at less harm-ful ways of creating the fire effectswhich draw 8,000 revellers to the land-mark each year on the last night of Aprilto herald the arrival of summer.First held in 1988, the fire festival cel-ebrates “the return of the fertility ofthe land at a time when livestockwould have been out to pasture.”However, organisers have decided to“ramp up its green message” by alter-ing the “ordinarily stoic” May Queen,played by Katie O’Neill this year.A blog posted on the festival websitestates: “The world as we know it isdying. We’re living through a majorextinction event.“Even if our societies can stomach thechanges it will take to limit globalwarming, we are – for most of theplanet – reaching a point of no return.“Our planet is dying, and collectively

Edinburgh’s BeltaneFire Festival 2019

has a new focus onclimate change

By CYNTHIA WALLENTINEBeltaine begins at twilight on May Eveand stretches to twilight on the first ofMay.Beltaine, like its counterpart Samhainon October 31, is a great hinge of theyear, swinging us into the bright bluesky, and down again to earth, like thechildren we once were.The air is warm, the nights timeless.All around us, the vegetative world haswoken hungry, the soil breathes withlife. The beauty of the natural cycle isunmatched.Yet within this whir of sunlight andstars, there is forever a restlessness.Despite the plans and plantings ofsummer, no outcome, no harvest cantruly ever be guaranteed.The winsome green of summer coilsaround a gnarled bough, one a part ofthe other.The fetching night and the darker wis-dom, two sides of the same coin, tossedamidst unsuspecting human commu-nities.

Such is the gift and the grit of the highseason of the year.From a young age, humans are taughtto visualize and achieve goals. We plotsolutions to good outcomes, we set oursights on tomorrow.Yet concretized dreams can becomeleaden, the sail left unfilled for the lossof the moist breath of the soil.Still, imagination and creativity with-out form or discipline fail. Ideas takeflight, unable to make landfall becausethere was no soil prepared for theirgrowing season. Heart and hand to-gether build future.Humans forever seek more than whatis before their eyes.From the earliest spirals, to cathedralsof piety and skyscrapers of fortune,we are a species that strives, builds,bites back on itself, and strives again.All in the service of restless seasonsthat manifest in our hands.The brightest point of the season, sum-

mer solstice on June 21, is followedby a slowly dimming walk toward thewinter solstice, where the light is bornagain.From Beltaine to Samhain, and sum-mer to winter solstice, our world isheld in earthly and celestial thrall. Wededicate our lives to cosmic memoryand the churning existence of ourworld.Beltaine, like Samhain, is a fire festi-val. The heat and light provide and con-sume.Sparks pop and fly skyward along withour gaze as our feet rest upon theground. Driven by the sun, midsum-mer reminds us that twilight is com-ing.Run, sleep, love, and weep. Use heartto guide and hand to build. Be deepand be bright in this high season.From fireflies to fireworks, hard workto leisure bring ideas to life and be opento the fruits and gifts of every harvest.Blessed Be.

we are living through the cycles of grief.This year’s Beltane reflects that grief.“The May Queen – embodiment ofthe Earth – arises this year, not as theperfect flower of tradition, but as theEarth as it truly is – covered with plas-tic, oil spills, and on fire. She is angry.She is sad. She is grieving for what islost.”In a video message, O’Neill said,“Beltane honours the goddess, the di-vine feminine that is within all of us,regardless of gender. It’s about foster-ing qualities of care, compassion, com-munity, equity, empathy, collaborationand communication.“The May Queen’s story and charac-ter this year is quite different from thepast. When she rises out of the Acropo-lis on Calton Hill she is not the flow-ery goddess she has always been.“She is really angry, looks down at herdress covered in oil spills, pesticidesand deforestation and is enraged. Shewants to call war.“But she comes out of her state of an-ger, which is ultimately from a placeof fierce love for the earth and her chil-dren. Her story is one of alchemy andof taking that anger and turning it intojoy.”Festival trustee Bradley McArthursaid, “The May Queen will look asmajestic as normal, but for anyone whohas been to Beltane before, her regaliawill look different.“When she is awakened she is verymuch in an abused state, to representhow much the earth has been abused.There will be changes in her manner-isms and behaviour.“There will be subtle differences inhow she carries herself throughout thenight, moves about the hill and inter-acts with certain groups.“She will very angry at the start, butthat tempers off a bit as she realisesyou don’t have to be angry to be strongor defend what you believe is right.”

THE May Queen at this year’s Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburghwas dressed in a ceremonial costume of recycled materials toportray oil spills, deforestation and waste and to express the dam-age that is being done to the planet.

KELOWNA, B.C. – The Okanagan Irish Society hosted a greatSt. Patrick’s Day celebration at the Kelowna Golf and CountryClub on Sunday, March 17. Over 170 guests enjoyed a deliciousbuffet dinner and a wonderful evening of entertainment.

The Okanagan Irish SocietySt. Patrick’s Day Celebration

THE Blakey School of Irish Dance performed for guests at theOkanagan Irish St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

GUESTS enjoyed a delicous buffet dinner at the event which washeld at the Kelowna Golf and Country Club on March 17.

PEARSE WALSH, president ofthe Okanagan Irish Society atthe St. Patrick’s Day celebrationon March 17.

YOUNG dancers with the BlakeySchool of Irish Dance delightedguests and brought a wonderfulyouthful energy to the evening.

The passage of Beltaine on May 1moves us into the high, bright

season of the year


By DREW BROADFOOTMy story begins in Northern BritishColumbia, in Prince George, where weare fortunate to have our UniversityHospital.My knowledge of hereditaryhemochromatosis began in June of2018. But wait a minute it started toaffect my health way before that.I am currently 66-years-old, and visitmy family doctor (GP) on a regularbasis.I had been diagnosed with high bloodpressure and Mr. Gout (inflammationin joints in my toes) a few years ago,and have been on medication for awhile. I have a complete physical examannually.In 2015, during a regular visit, my doc-tor asked me how much alcohol I con-sumed, as my liver enzymes werehigher than normal.High alcohol use can cause elevatedliver enzymes and signal possible liverdamage.My consumption did not coincide withthe elevated liver enzymes but he mayas well have called me a liar.This question was asked of me manytimes over months as he must havethought I was not telling him the truth.You might be asking why I am tellingyou this. My answer is because he-reditary hemochromatosis is a stealthcondition that can lead to other dis-eases. But I felt great!Over the last 5 years I had exhibitedsome of the more common symptomsfor hemochromatosis, such as jointpain, fatigue and elevated liver en-zymes. I assumed that was all a nor-mal part of the aging process. I hadnot been physically active during mylife, unless you count hitting the links.Needless to say, I packed around a fewextra pounds for many years. My GPhad always tried to get me to loseweight.In the spring of 2018, my wife and Iwent to see the doctor, together. Onthis particular day he asked, “How canI help you to exercise more?”It is embarrassing to admit that we haveaddictions; mine is food.To answer his question I replied, “Well,if my feet were not so frigging sorewith seemingly thousands of needlespoking into the soles of my feet, I mightwant to do more walking, hiking, etc.”He listened intently as he knew I didnot walk the golf course anymore, butrather rode a motorized cart. Then mywife piped up and said, “He is tired allof the time and lays around.”Boom! It was like the light came on,and my doctor’s mind went elsewhere.He sent me in for more blood work.The next week I went to see him again.He told me he wanted another test toconfirm results, and sent me for a DNAtest for hereditary hemochromatosis.After a couple of weeks he called usinto his office, where he had the long-est face on.All I could think was “Is it cancer?”He informed us it was hereditaryhemochromatosis.By this time I had read up on the dis-ease and I was not surprised. I wascomforted that we now had an answer.He immediately referred me to aninternist. His recommendation was toget my ferritin level down to between

May is HemochromatosisAwareness Month

50 and 100 ng/mL, closer to 50.I went in for an ultrasound withinweeks, but the results were not con-clusive so a CT scan was ordered.There appears to be no permanent in-jury to my liver. If the iron overloadwas left undetected, there might havebeen serious damage.Before my first phlebotomy, my ferri-tin level was at 2100 ng/ml.Within a few days of my confirmeddiagnosis, my weekly phlebotomiesstarted (which is having a pint of bloodremoved from me), for a duration be-tween June and December.On December 18, my ferritin level haddropped to 40 ng/ml. I would ratherdo this than the chemical chelation.

The RNs here at University Hospitalof Northern B.C. were awesome.They had to be patient with me andmy hidden veins. My time there wasenjoyable; I was getting to be knownas the “Iron Man.”We all must keep our humour no mat-ter what diagnosis we receive. Nowmy ferritin has increased slowly to 52ng/ml.Upon reflection over the past fewmonths and years, I have found thatsince my iron levels have been low-ered, the following has happened: Myitchy abdomen has disappeared;chronic splits on my finger-tips whichwould bleed have stopped; pins andneedle sensation on my feet has dis-appeared; I have more energy; angermood swings have disappeared.Were these directly attributed to myiron levels? I am not sure.My family doctor strongly recom-mended that my sister and children bechecked out.My sister does not havehemochromatosis. My youngest son’sgenetic test results came back positivefor the mutated genes while my otherkids have not yet been tested.I recommend reading about a recentstudy in the U.K. that uncovered ahigher number of cases of disease thanoriginally thought was caused byhemochromatosis.The article can be found on the Cana-dian Hemochromatosis Society’swebsite, toomuchiron.ca, where youcan find further good reads.This is a hidden disease which is socommon, yet many people have noteven heard of it.I hope my story helps prevent anydisease in your future that would havebeen caused by undetectedhemochromatosis.

HEMOCHROMATOSIS hasbeen called ‘The Celtic Curse’due to the high incidence amongpeople of Celtic heritage. DrewBroadfoot pictured above isamong those diagnosed withHereditary Hemochromatosis.

Major global alcoholconference to be hosted

in Dublin next yearDUBLIN – A major global conference on alcohol control and policy will takeplace in Dublin in 2020.Ireland’s capital has been selected as the destination for next year’s GlobalAlcohol Policy Conference.The event takes place every two years, and brings together policy makers,researchers and advocates, civil society representatives and practitioners toshare knowledge on alcohol issue.Health Ministers Simon Harris and Catherine Byrne welcomed the announce-ment.The theme of the conference complements the vision of the national ‘HealthyIreland Framework’; to create a society where everyone can enjoy good physi-cal and mental health and well-being.The announcement follows a recent report which shows Ireland is a nation thatcontinues to drink to excess, downing 11 litres of pure alcohol per person lastyear.That’s the equivalent to nearly a bottle of vodka a week, or 482 pints of lagera year.A separate report warned that adolescent girls in Ireland have one of the highestlevels of binge drinking in the world.The shock statistics were deplored by Alcohol Action Ireland – which alsowarned about a rise in the consumption of spirits.There has been a 21.4 percent rise in spirit consumption over a five-yearperiod, 2014-2018, amid a trend for greater consumption of gin and cocktails.Separately, a study published in The Lancet tracked the countries with thehighest levels of young women binge drinking – with a prevalence of more than55 percent – were Denmark, Finland, Ireland and New Zealand, in that order.


Mike Hurley: ‘The pipeline question to meis from a Burnaby perspective and Burnaby alone’

BURNABY – Magherafelt,Northern Ireland-born MikeHurley became the new mayorof Burnaby in the British Co-lumbia civic election on Octo-ber 20, 2018.With an intimate knowledge ofthe needs of the City of Burnabyfrom his years as a firefighter itseemed a natural progression tothe office of mayor.He immigrated to Canada in 1984 andjoined the Burnaby Fire Departmentin 1988. As a firefighter he also servedas vice-president and later as presidentof the Burnaby Fire Fighters Associa-tion.As president of the Professional FireFighters Association Burn Fund, Hur-ley led the effort to raise $15 millionto build a facility that accommodatesfamilies and burn unit outpatients forVancouver General Hospital and B.C.Children’s Hospital.The society raises money for commu-nity groups and non-profit organiza-tions which supports more than 50charities.Over $800,000 annually is given forbursaries and they operate a Nutri-tional Food Program that benefits kidsat 26 elementary schools, four highschools and four youth centres.As a firefighter, Hurley garnered manyawards, but none more proudly thanwhen he received the Queen’s GoldenJubilee Medal in 2002 and the Dia-mond Jubilee Medal in 2012.Hurley has a love of sports particu-larly Gaelic football that he grew upplaying in Ireland.That love continued in Canada, whenhe joined the Vancouver Irish Sportingand Social Club and serving for a termas president of the club.Recently, early one morning I droppedin to speak with Mayor Mike Hurleyin his office at Burnaby City Hall.He was seated at his desk with thedefinite look of a man with an agendain a hurry to get out into the Burnabycommunity. There is even a shinyshovel leaning against one of the walls,albeit a ceremonial shovel given to him.He spoke about some of the projectsthat he is most focused on as a prior-ity.“Actually,” he said, “one of the mainreasons that I decided to run for mayor,was the homeless issue within thiscity.“As a firefighter we dealt with that alot and really there was no hope foranyone here who was homeless be-cause nothing was being done to assistthem.“The answer always seemed to be thereis a shelter in New Westminster or

ByCATHOLINE

BUTLER

Vancouver and it didn’t seem to be thatit was our responsibility.“And technically that was correct, butit’s still a human issue and, at the endof the day, I believe public service ishere to serve people, and do anythingyou can to help people and give thema little lift up ...that’s the reason I’mhere.”Speaking about one of the other majorissues, Hurley said, “The other issueis housing but really it’s all the sameproblem.“Families are finding it difficult to livein Burnaby because it has become soexpensive.“When I talk to parents and grandpar-ents, their main concern is how theirfamilies who want to stay and live inBurnaby are going to be able to sincehousing has just become more andmore impossible.“But, not only that, we are not build-ing the type of houses that familiesneed. Pretty much the answer to mostof the homelessness is getting the righttype of housing.”Speaking about the pipeline question,Hurley said, “The pipeline questionto me is from a Burnaby perspectiveand Burnaby alone, and that is extracapacity means extra tanks sitting upon Burnaby mountain.“Remember, we’re in an earthquakezone here and the extra danger thatbrings to our community in our opin-ion cannot be justified by the seemingneed that I think is a fantasy... that ifwe can get Alberta oil to tidewater it’sgoing to bring premium prices.”Continuing, Hurley said, “Rememberthat the oil coming out of the oil sandsis a very low quality product and costs$15-20 more to refine that product, if

you can find a refinery that can actu-ally do it.“Most refineries cannot refine theproduct because of the different chemi-cals that make-up that oil.“So, we will never get premium pricefor that oil because it’s an inferior prod-uct.“There are a lot of misconceptions thatI think are being put out there by theoil industry which is very well-healedand funded.“In my opinion there is not really themarket for this oil that we are led tobelieve.”With time at a premium, I asked Hur-ley if he had any plans for a visit toIreland.“Well it won’t be this year as I have alot on my plate. But, I am hoping thatme and my family can go back nextyear and take in an All Ireland Finaland I know that the battle for ticketswill be on again.”Then, he laughed and said, “MaybeI’ll contact the mayor of Dublin andsee if he can help with the tickets.”Does Mike Hurley miss playing Gaelicfootball? He said, “Yes, I really missplaying Gaelic football. It was my bigthing growing up and I had the goodfortune of playing for my county inthe Derry under 21 and I miss itgreatly, especially the camaraderie.”He also said, “The Gaelic football thisyear is going to be hosted right here inBurnaby. And the main tournamentwill be here and the main facility also.“We have been able to assist the clubin being able to get these fields in thesummer.“And there is such a growth here now

MIKE HURLEY was elected Mayor of the City of Burnaby in theB.C. Civic Elections in October last year.

“When I talk to parents and grandparents,their main concern is how their families

who want to stay and live in Burnaby aregoing to be able to since housing has just

become more and more impossible.”

PHOTO: Courtesy of Burnaby NowCITY OF BURNABY City Hall on Canada Way in Burnaby, B.C.

with three different clubs. I can remem-ber how difficult it was to field justone team.“ It’s wonderful to see the sport grow-ing but I guess from an Ireland per-spective more and more young peopleare leaving because they need to go else-where to find work.“So we are back to the old story of thegreatest thing coming out of Ireland istheir people.”

Continuing, Hurley said, “Back in theFifties when the Irish came to Canadait was mostly trades and manual la-bour.“Now, for example, I go to a lot ofmeetings in Metro Vancouver, and oneday I heard six presentations and threeof those were actually young Irish peo-ple.“So, it’s good to see the Irish peoplecoming here and getting good jobs.”

Shadow over Belfastas Bombardier puts

up for sale signBELFAST – Canadian aerospace giantBombardier has announced it plans tosell its aerostructures business in Bel-fast.Around 4,000 people are employed inthe east Belfast plant. No new redun-dancies have been announced and Bom-bardier has said it is committed to find-ing the right buyer.Bombardier is already embarking on aseries of cost-cutting measures withinits Northern Ireland business.In November it announced plans toshed 490 jobs, which would leave itsworkforce at 3,600, around half ofwhat it was five years ago.The Belfast plant specialises in aircraftcomponents, engine nacelles and manu-factures wings for the A220 aircraft.Airbus took a majority stake in thenarrow body jet series in July 2018.Bombardier bought the Short Broth-ers operation in 1989. The originalcompany dates back to London in1908, but Shorts started building air-craft in Belfast in 1936.The facility became increasingly im-portant during the Second World Warand by 1948, Shorts became a Belfastcompany in its entirety.U.K. Business Secretary Greg Clarkdescribed the Belfast plant as one ofthe “most important aerospace facili-ties in the country” and a “vital asset”to the sector.“The Belfast plant, its expertise andits highly skilled and dedicated staffwill be highly sought after – the gov-

ernment will work with potential buy-ers to take this successful and ambi-tious business forward,” he added.In response to the announcement, tradeunion GMB, which represents manyBombardier employees, said it wasdemanding the company provide reas-surances over the future of its work-ers in Northern Ireland.“Our members – and their families –have already suffered a terrible year,”said GMB organiser MichaelMulholland. After months of uncer-tainty following Trump’s tariffs – theywere then hit with the news of 490 joblosses – and now this.“Bombardier jobs are absolutely vitalto Northern Ireland’s economy and it’stime workers were treated with therespect they deserve. GMB will bemeeting reps today and over the nextfew days to discuss next steps.”

THE BOMBARDIER Aerospaceplant is now up for sale puttingthousands of jobs in jepardy.


Dustin Johner is a Canadian-born hockey player who hasbeen playing in leagues allover North America and Eu-rope for the past 15 years.Most recently when an opportunitycame up for him to play in the UnitedKingdom for the Belfast Giants ofthe EIHL (Elite Ice Hockey League),Johner jumped at the chance tomake the move to Northern Ireland– a place where he and his familyhad always wanted to go.The Giants saw much success this sea-son including a silver medal in the Con-tinental Cup, second consecutive Chal-lenge Cup Championship, the ErhardtConference Cup, as well as the all-cov-eted Elite League Championship title.“It was pretty incredible to see thatthe Giants have such a big and dedi-cated fan base, considering NorthernIreland is not known for hockey andonly has two ice rinks in the wholecountry,” says Johner.The Belfast Giants team employs amajority of North American players,13 of whom are Canadian. The teamalso has players from Scotland andEngland, and local players from North-ern Ireland.Johner and his family have really fallenin love with the city of Belfast and thecountry itself over their two seasonswith the team.

Canadian HockeyFamily Finish Careerin Northern Ireland

Dustin and wife Amy with their children Georgia and Luca at the2019 Challenge Cup win in Cardiff, Wales.

Immersing themselves in the cultureand traveling around the United King-dom and the Republic of Ireland asmuch as possible has been a highlightfor the young family.One of the stand-outs was to attendthe U.K. Pipe band Championships atBelfast’s Stormont Estate last June,which saw over 100 bands compete.Dustin’s in-laws founded the CanmoreHighland Games in 1991, so the pipeswere always a fond memory for hiswife Amy.Being able to see bands perform acrossthe pond was quite a special event forall the Johners.“It’s going to be tough to leave thisamazing place,” says Johner. “Our chil-dren are so young; this is really theonly home they remember.”Johner announced his retirement as theseason came to an end in mid-April.The Giants organization has a spon-sorship with Ulster University andhave been able to set Johner up for lifeafter hockey.He comes home with an MBA afterworking in an intensive study programover his two seasons with the team.“It’s going to be so great reconnectingwith family and friends when we makethe move back to Alberta this summer,but we’re for sure already looking for-ward to coming back to Northern Ire-land to visit all the great friends andplaces we’ve grown to love over ourtime here.”

John O’Beirne: Irish businessmanplans to expand his successful

retail marketing conceptVANCOUVER – John O’Beirne, a native son ofCo. Roscommon, Ireland, and his wife Olga are theowners of Mad Hatters retail outlets, and they havean ambitious business plan for their company.

By CATHOLINE BUTLER

As a team they have workedhard and built Mad Hatters intoa very successful retail conceptthat specializes in accessoriesfor men and women such as lug-gage, purses, scarves, linens,and a wide selection of manyother seasonal products.Their stores are located in many mallsacross western Canada – Manitoba,Saskatchewan, Alberta and BritishColumbia.They carefully source their merchan-dise both overseas and locally, and indoing so are able to market the prod-ucts for about half of what you wouldpay in a department store.After 15 years of nurturing and build-ing up the Mad Hatters brand, theyare now ready to take their next calcu-lated business step – a franchise planto market the Mad Hatters retail con-cept to other successful operators.

JOHN O’BEIRNEJohn O’Beirne recently spoke to TheCeltic Connection about how he visu-alizes this program will work for suc-cessful operators to get in on the groundfloor of this unique concept.He explained “What we are doing isgoing to smaller cities where there isnew population growth, such as new

immigrants, who have a real demandfor fashion at valued priced products.“Fashion generally costs and what wewant to do is have fashion combinedwith function and bring people verynice items that are value priced.“We tend to be more successful insmaller cities such as Edmonton orCalgary, not that those cities are smallbut smaller than Vancouver or To-ronto.”Continuing, he said, “People take greatpride in running their own business andwe are setting our businesses up sothat they can be easily franchised. Theowner/occupier, such as a husband andwife team can take the business by thereins with a modest enough investmentin a smaller size store concept, sayabout 2,000 foot size.“They could make a good income, say$50,000 to $70,000 a year, providedthey run the business themselves aslabour costs are so high these days andin such short supply.“Also, people working in their ownfield are a lot more motivated becausethey have an invested interest in en-suring its success.”Speaking about the types of merchan-dise that would be stocked in thesestores, O’Beirne said, “We classify itas ladies and mens accessories – ladiesleggings, tops, hats, gloves, scarves,purses, luggage – all accessories.“Also, household items such as cur-tain panels, kitchen towels and all col-our co-ordinated. Basically anythingyou could carry out in a bag. Youwon’t need any trucking service to getthe items home.“In this country, the seasons are 80percent cold with a 20 percent sum-mer, so it’s a fairly conservative col-our blend. Whether we like it or not,it’s cold weather for two thirds of theyear.”Speaking about Vancouver franchiselocations, O’Beirne said, “we have apresence in Vancouver with two stores,but Vancouver is a very mature high-fashion market.“Our newer markets are the smallercities in B.C. and Alberta, where a lotof new immigrants are likely to go,because that’s where they can affordto live.“They can go there and get a home,the kids can go to school, they get abusiness and everyone is progressing.In about two years they are up andrunning.“Some of these new Canadians mayhave come from very warm climates,but their kids will grow up here andsooner or later they are calling BritishColumbia and Alberta home.”Mad Hatters has a large distributioncentre in Surrey from where all themerchandise is shipped to the stores.The plan is that some of the Mad Hat-ters retail stores will be corporatewhile others will be franchised in thenear future.John has wasted no time and is nowenergetically marketing his franchisingconcept to new immigrants to Canada.For more information about Mad Hat-ters franchising, contact Sunbelt Busi-ness Brokers by e-mail at:[email protected], or call(587) 400-6989.

DISPLAY racks of merchandise stocked at Mad Hatter retail out-lets across western Canada. Owners John and Olga O’Beirne planto franchise their successful marketing concept.

VANCOUVER ISSCDATES TO REMEMBER – 2019 SEASON

Victoria Highland GamesMay 18 - 20 Victoria

San Diego 7’sMay 25 - 27 San Diego

Western Canadian ChampionshipsJune 29 - 30 Edmonton

North American ChampionshipsAugust 23 - 25 Leesburg, Virginia

Vancouver Gaelic Games League & ChampionshipJune 2 Round 1 Burnaby LakeJune 10 - 14 Round 2 Burnaby LakeJuly 8 - 12 Round 3 Burnaby LakeJuly 22 - 26 Round 4 Burnaby LakeJuly 29 - August 2 Round 5 Burnaby LakeAugust 10 Finals Burnaby Lake

Game of Thrones boost toeconomy in Northern Ireland

Fantasy drama series Game of Thrones is providing an unex-pected economic boost in Northern Ireland.Filmed at studios in Belfast, and on locations across the area, the show is partof a big growth in the arts and entertainment industry there.Northern Ireland's popularity as a filming location is worth around £270 mil-lion to the economy, an industry figure has said.The second series of the Channel 4 hit Derry Girls and the highly anticipatedfinale of Sky Atlantic's Game Of Thrones were among the highlights of abumper 2018.In total, nine television dramas and six feature films were made there in the last12 months.Northern Ireland Screen chief Richard Williams said the industry is now esti-mated to be worth £270 million.Game Of Thrones alone is estimated to have brought more than £206 millioninto the local economy over eight seasons.The HBO show's legacy is set to live on through a tourism project.The 2018 roll call, which includes Mrs. Wilson and Krypton's second series,were all filmed with funding support from NI Screen.


SEATTLE IRISH NEWS

U.S. SENATOR Maria Cantwell, Honorary Grand Marshal NicoleRusseff, Galway Mayor Níall McNelis, Irish Government MinisterCiarán Cannon and Parade Grand Marshal Joe McDermott blow-ing the ceremonial starter whistles at the start of Seattle’s St.Patrick’s Day Parade on March 16.

DRUM MAJOR Scotty Bach (R) checks out the route ahead as heleads the Seattle Police Pipes & Drums in Seattle’s St. Patrick’sDay Parade on March 16.

PHOTO: Becky WashingtonCIARÁN CANNON, Irish Government Minister of State for theDiaspora and International Affairs, and Galway Mayor Níall McNelistry on some Pirate headgear at the Pirate’s Landing of St. Patrickon March 15.

OISIN KEELY of the Seattle Gaels briefly takes the microphone toexplain the rules of Gaelic Football to spectators at Seattle’s St.Patrick’s Day Parade on March 16.

CIARÁN CANNON, Irish Govern-ment Minister of State for theDiaspora and International Af-fairs, with Seattle Mayor JennyDurkan, at the March 19 an-nouncement of the opening of anEnterprise Ireland Trade Office inSeattle.

HONORARY GRAND MarshalNicole Russeff poses with St.Patrick (aka Tom Keefe) beforethe start of Seattle’s St.Patrick’s Day Parade.

FORMER U.S. CongressmanJim McDermott chats with KingCounty Council member JoeMcDermott, the Grand Marshalof Seattle’s St. Patrick’s DayParade, at the Mayor’s IrishWeek Proclamation luncheon onMarch 15.

PHOTO: Becky WashingtonDANNY SULLIVAN, president ofthe Seafair Pirates, poses withGalway Mayor Níall McNelis atthe Pirate’s Landing of St.Patrick on March 15.

NANCY PELOSI, the U.S. Speaker of the House of Representa-tives, at a gathering at the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs inDublin. She said a trade agreement that damages peace in Ireland“just can’t possibly happen.”

‘Don’t even think aboutit’ – Pelosi warns Trumpover U.S.-U.K. trade deal

that threatens damageto peace in Ireland

DUBLIN – The Tánaiste Simon Coveney welcomedNancy Pelosi and a delegation of eight Congres-sional leaders to Dublin for the first official engage-ment of their two-day visit to Ireland on April 16.The third most powerful politician inthe United States warned DonaldTrump and the Brexiteers not to eventhink about a U.S.-U.K. trade deal ifthere is any threat of a border in Ire-land.Pelosi, the U.S. Speaker of the Houseof Representatives, said a trade agree-ment that damages peace in Ireland“just can’t possibly happen.”Addressing a small gathering in the De-partment of Foreign Affairs last month,she said the Good Friday Agreementis “not just a peace agreement” butsomething that resolved hundreds ofyears of conflict.She said America, including PresidentBill Clinton and former senator GeorgeMitchell, had worked hard to ensurepeople on this island could live in har-mony. “This isn’t for us an issue or anagreement. It’s a value.”Pelosi, who regularly clashes with U.S.President Donald Trump, went on tosay that while speaking with U.K.politicians in recent days she madeclear the position of the DemocraticParty.She said the U.K. people had voted to

leave the EU and politicians must fa-cilitate that. But she added, “And asthey work that out, not to think forone minutes that there’s any comfortfor them that if they leave the EU theywill quickly have a U.S.-U.K. tradeagreement.“That’s just not in the cards if there isany harm done to the Good Fridayaccord. Don’t even think about it.”Pelosi said that U.S. politicians werenot taking sides. “We’re just holdingto our values. It’s an ideal that is amodel for the world other places copyso that they can make peace and findcommon ground.”Coveney told the same lunch gather-ing that Ireland respects the U.K.’s de-cision to leave the Union.“We have no desire to make life diffi-cult for the U.K.,” he said, adding thatIreland would be the strongest voicein the EU when it comes to support aclose relationship in to the future.“We want our nearest neighbours tothrive and to prosper.”He said Britain will make its own deci-sions about the future but “they donot have the right to determine ours.”

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Speaker Nancy Pelosi(right) and Congressman Richard Neal (left) are greeted by SimonCoveney, Ireland's Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs andTrade at Iveagh House, Dublin.


ByJOHN

KEANE

SEATTLE IRISH NEWS

PASSINGS• Don McCarty (75), a native of Dublin,died in Tacoma April 9;

• James Douglas (55), who lived inSeattle for many years, died March 29in his native Bray, Co. Wicklow;

• David Maxwell (85), a native of Bel-fast, died March 30 in Vancouver, WA;

• Catherine Quigley (78), a native ofSeattle, died February 15 in Corkwhere she had moved in 2006;

• Laura Garrison (83), a sister of HubieMcMorrow of Edmonds, died Febru-ary 6 in England;

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílisMay their faithful soulsrest at God’s right hand

•MAY 27 MEMORIAL DAY MASS – Anopen-air Memorial Day Mass will becelebrated at the Seattle area’s IrishPioneer Cemetery, St. Patrick Cemeteryin Kent, at 10:30 AM on Monday, May27.

The four and a half acre cemetery islocated one mile east of I-5 on OrilliaRoad at 204th Street, just east of Sea-Tac Airport.

Founded by Limerick-man RichardO’Connell in 1880, the cemetery is theresting place for numerous Irish-bornSeattle Pioneers and they are espe-cially remembered on Memorial Day inaddition to remembering those whohave given their lives in service to thiscountry.

All are welcome but bring a lawn chair!For information, contact (253) 237-2811.

MAY 31 FR. TREACY’S 100TH – It’snot every day that a community getsto celebrate a member turning 100, butCo. Laois native Fr. Bill Treacy willreach that milestone on May 31, 2019.

To mark the occasion, a concelebratedMass will be celebrated on Saturday,

Founded in 1979, the Seattle Gaels will cel-ebrate their 40th Anniversary with an all-dayGaelic Football, Hurling and Camogie Tourna-ment at Seattle’s Magnuson Park on Satur-day, June 8 and with various evening events onFriday and Saturday, June 7-8.The highlight will be a function on Saturdayevening, June 8, at the Marriott Hotel onSeattle’s waterfront.The team’s first coach, Tommy Jordan, has alreadybooked his ticket to fly back from Australia to attend.

For all the details, visit the Seattle Gaels on Facebookor go to http://bit.ly/2V5Vs0x.

Gaelic Football was played sporadically in Seattle fromthe 1920s to the 1960s, but other than some pick-upgames at Irish picnics or a few games organized in the1960s between teams from Seattle, San Francisco andVancouver, by 1970 Gaelic football had become dor-mant in the Seattle area.

The game was revived in Seattle in 1979 when theSeattle Gaels GAA Club was formed and that year theGaels played a few challenge games against the IISGteam from Vancouver, B.C.

In 1980 a Tacoma team was organized and they joinedSeattle and Vancouver to form the Northwest DivisionalLeague.

That same year, 1980, the Seattle Gaels also affiliated

THE VERY FIRST Seattle Gaels team which played Vancouver at John Hendry Park in July1979. The Gaels will celebrate their 40th anniversary with a GAA tournament and other events inSeattle on June 7-8.

SEATTLE GAELS’ 40TH ANNIVERSARYwith the North American GAA for the first time and trav-elled to San Francisco’s Polo Fields to play the San Fran-cisco winners in the North American GAA Senior FootballQuarter-Final.

Seattle lost at the end by just 6 points in their first everofficial GAA game.

The Northwest Divisional League was later expanded toinclude teams from as far away as Calgary and Edmon-ton, and at various times included other teams from Port-land and another Seattle team, Pearse Ogs, but those lasttwo teams and Tacoma only lasted a few years.

However, the Northwest Champions would annually par-ticipate in the North American GAA Finals (the NationalChampionship Tournament for Gaelic Games) and theSeattle Gaels have sent one or more teams to the Finalsevery year since 1994.

In 1997, for the first time the Seattle Gaels affiliated awomen’s Gaelic Football team, and in the years sincehave also affiliated Hurling and Camogie teams.

Officially a program of the Irish Heritage Club, the SeattleGaels GAA are more than just a sporting organization, butare a key component in the cultural landscape of Seattle’sIrish community, helping to promote a sense of Irish iden-tity and belonging.

Over the past 40 years, the Gaels have played a signifi-cant role in the promotion of Irish activities in the Seattlearea. They should be very proud of what they have ac-complished and long may they prosper!

June 15 at 11 AM at AssumptionChurch, 6201 33rd Avenue NE (justnorth of Calvary Cemetery), Seattle,and all members of the Irish commu-nity are invited to attend.

Since he arrived in Seattle in 1945, Fr.Treacy has consistently tried to buildbridges between peoples of differentfaiths and his involvement in estab-lishing the Treacy Levine Center is atestament to a life which has been ablessing to the people of Seattle andespecially to the area’s Irish commu-nity.

Please show your esteem for a won-derful human being by attending theMass at 11 AM, Saturday, June 15,Assumption Church.

JUNE 15 SENIORS’ LUNCHEON – InAssumption Church Hall immediatelyfollowing the 11 AM Mass, there willbe an Irish Seniors’ Luncheon cel-ebrating all seniors but especially 100year old Fr. Bill Treacy.

All Irish seniors and spouses andfriends, those of Irish birth, Irish de-scent or Irish connections, are invitedto attend the luncheon at $20 per per-son. Please note that ADVANCE RES-ERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED listing thenames of all guests to (253) 237-2811.

JUNE 16 BLOOMSDAY – The WildGeese Players of Seattle will performa staged reading from James Joyce’sUlysses on Bloomsday, Sunday, June16, 2:30 PM at the Seattle Central Li-brary, 1000 4th Avenue, downtownSeattle.

Ulysses is set in 1904 and chroniclesthe wanderings of Leopold Bloomaround Dublin on June 16th. For moredetails, visit wildgeeseseattle.org.

JULY 7 PICNIC – Seattle’s Irish Com-munity Picnic is noon-6 PM, Sunday,July 7, at Lake Sammamish State Parkin Issaquah (exit # 15 off I-90). Gamesand fun for the entire family, and allare welcome.

There’s a covered picnic area andseveral barbeque grills if you bringcharcoal. Gaelic football and hurlinggames at 1 PM followed by games andfun for the entire family – tug-o-war,sack-races, water balloon toss, etc.For details, contact (253) 237-2811.

JULY 14 IRISH RACES – Irish Day atthe Races at Emerald Downs is Sun-day, July 14 at the racetrack in Au-

burn. Coupons for free admissions andfree race programs will be e-mailedthe end of June or contact:[email protected].

Irish Day features Irish music,stepdancers, free kids activities (ponyrides, inflatable slide, face painters),etc., along with thoroughbred racing.

For reserved seating or dining reser-vations, or for more information, con-tact Emerald Downs.

JULY 25 IRISH BASEBALL – Irish Nightat the Seattle Mariners is Thursday,July 25, vs. the Detroit Tigers atSeattle’s T-Mobile Park.

Watch the Tara Academy Irish Danc-ers and the Seattle Police Pipes andDrums perform in center field about30 minutes before the game whichstarts at 7:10 PM.

Reduced price tickets ($29 View Levelor $41 Main Level) include a free IrishNight Mariners’ cap. The cap and re-duced prices are available only onlineat mariners.com/Irish (Promo Code:Irish).

IRISH TRADE OFFICE – Enterprise Ire-land has announced the opening of anew trade office in Seattle to promotebusiness connections between thisarea and Ireland.

The announcement was made at a

meeting between Seattle Mayor JennyDurkan, and the Irish Government Min-ister for the Diaspora and InternationalDevelopment, Ciarán Cannon.

“We are thrilled that Enterprise Irelandhas chosen to expand its presencehere in Seattle,” said Mayor Durkan.

“We will continue working tostrengthen Seattle’s cultural and eco-nomic ties with Ireland, and we willcontinue to celebrate the incrediblecontributions of our Irish community tothis great city.”

Enterprise Ireland already has officesin New York, Chicago, Boston, Austin,and San Francisco.

TRADE PARTNERS – WashingtonState was the #1 source of merchan-dise exports to Ireland in 2017, andIreland was the #1 customer of Wash-ington State services exports in 2016,as estimated by The Trade Partner-ship in Washington, D.C.

Those stats are copied from the U.S.-Ireland Business Report published bythe American Chamber of CommerceIreland which devotes four pages toSeattle and its connections to Ireland.More details at amcham.ie.

GAELIC-SPEAKING MAYOR – SeattleMayor Jenny Durkan, who took someIrish language classes during a year

studying at University College Dublin,recently did a PSA greeting in Gaelicfor Irish TV during Seachtain naGaelige (Irish Language Week).

Here’s the text of her message:

Is mise Jenny Durkan, MhearaSeattle. Beannachtaí chuig OileánIathghlas na hÉireann ón gCathairIathghlas! Tá súil agam go leanfaidhan caidreamh agus ancomhpháirtíocht idir Éire agus Seattle– agus Washington state – sa bhliainatá romhainn, agus dar ndóigh snablianta eile amach romhainn. Goraibh maith agaibh agus slán go fóill!

Translation:

I am Jenny Durkan, Mayor of Seattle.Greetings to the Emerald Isle of Ire-land from the Emerald City! I hope therelationship and cooperation betweenIreland and Seattle – and Washingtonstate – will continue in the next year,and of course in the years ahead.Many thanks and good bye for now!

MISCELLANEOUS• Celtic Woman, Ancient Land, at TheParamount Theatre, 7:30 PM, Friday,May 10;

• Ceol Cascadia Irish Music Week atthe Evergreen State College in Olym-pia July 21-28 - details atceolcascadia.org.


THE VIEWFROM IRELAND

ByMAURICEFITZPATRICK

NOVENA TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARYNovena to the Blessed Virgin Mary (never known to fail). O most beautifulflower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, Blessed Motherof the Son of God. Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. Thereare none that can withstand your power. O show me herein you are myMother, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse tothee (three times). Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands (threetimes). Holy Spirit, you who solve all problems, light all roads so that I canattain my goal. You gave me the Divine gift to forgive and forget all evilagainst me. This prayer must be said for three days, even after the requestis granted and the favour received, it must be published.

– PJMK, MJK, CC, CB, KLS

Say what you like about British poli-ticians who still advocate Brexit, butthey know their worth.Faced with the prospect of the U.K.participating in European Parliamentelections this May if it does not leavethe EU by then (as it certainly willnot), Nigel Farage, leader of the BrexitParty, made the following threat: thathe would get elected to it.Prime Minister of the U.K. TheresaMay couched her threat differently,but it amounted to something similar.She offered to resign as prime minsterif the Withdrawal Agreement she ne-gotiated with the EU is passed throughWestminster (it got hammered yet athird time on March 29).What both Farage and May in effectwere saying was: push ahead withBrexit because if you do not you willbe stuck with us. British politics re-ally is a sorry sight just now.Writers have been making hay out ofthe crisis.On March 29 the Irish Times enlistedabout a dozen writers on Irish mattersto air their views on Brexit.The writers set about describing Brit-ain’s maestros who have led the chargeto leave the EU.The choice image came from poet NickLaird who likened the consequence ofBrexiteers’ efforts to Britain to “stand-ing at the very edge of the pool, ourhands tied behind our backs, pretend-ing we’re Olympic swimmers.”In addition to reducing Westminster,the “mother of parliaments,” to alaughing stock, Brexit has alsothroughly fatigued the body politic; somuch so that now, as the entire enter-prise may be fading away like a stormthat has uprooted nearly everything

Nancy Pelosi visits Irelandat crucial Brexit crossroads

in sight, the dominant mood is not re-lief but a numbed awe at the wreckage.The once efficient legislative body,Westminster Parliament, has become azombie, incapable of animation eitherby those who advocate Brexit or bythose who do not.The parliament, where serious debateused to prevail, has completely disin-tegrated and its members have beenwarned to take extra security precau-tions in arriving and departing.A serious politician like SpeakerNancy Pelosi blew like a cyclonethrough the fripperies of Brexiteers onher recent trip to London and Dublin.Speaker Pelosi was accompanied byCongressman Richie Neal, Chair of theFriends of Ireland caucus, who led thecongressional delegation, which had asits central mission the articulation ofthe position on Brexit by the U.S.Congress.The force of the Friends of Ireland cau-cus has been bolstered since earlier thisyear when Neal became the chair ofthe powerful Ways and Means Com-mittee.That status has enabled Neal to rein-force the agenda of the Friends of Ire-land to maintain an open border in Ire-

land and to protect the Good FridayAgreement.Strong statements of support duringSt. Patrick’s Day in Washington thisyear were followed by a visit by Sena-tor Chris Murphy to Dublin duringwhich he voiced U.S. concern aboutBrexit and the need to protect the openborder in Ireland.Speaking in Dublin on March 22, Sena-tor Murphy, a member of the SenateForeign Relations Committee, gave anunequivocal guarantee of U.S. supportto an open border.He said that there was “no chance”that the U.K. would sign a trade dealwith the U.S. and that “we can’t com-promise the sanctity of the Good Fri-day Agreement and folks in [the U.K.]parliament need to know that,” addingthat “it only takes a minority of sena-tors to stop a trade agreement.”This set the tone for the Speaker’s visitin mid-April. In an interview at theLondon School of Economics on Mon-day, April 15, Pelosi endorsedMurphy’s stance and said, “If therewould be any weakening of the GoodFriday accords, there would be nochance whatsoever – a non-starter –for a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement.“The Good Friday accord ended 700-years of conflict. It’s not just aboutthe geography though, this is not atreaty only: it’s an ideal, it’s a value.“It’s something that is a model to theworld and we don’t want that modelto be something that can be bargainedaway in some other agreement.”The Speaker reiterated these commit-ments the following day in Dublinwhen she met members of the Irishcabinet.Coming from the Speaker of the House,this was a shot across the bow offantasists who believe that the U.K.can negotiate a better trade deal withthe U.S. outside the E.U., and can doso while disregarding how importantthe Good Friday Agreement is to sen-ior members of the U.S. congress.Neal, in particular, is apt to remindpeople that the U.S. is a co-guarantorof the Good Friday Agreement.Pelosi’s intervention echoes directlyback to the visits to Ireland of SpeakerTip O’Neill in 1979 and 1985.Then, as now, the Speaker’s commentson the British Government’s respon-sibility for peace and stability in Ire-land have been discomfiting for theBritish.Theresa May made the questionabledecision of not meeting the delegationof nine congressmen when they vis-ited London.Instead she took time out from herwalking holiday in neighbouring Wales(some of her antagonists hoped thatshe would walk the length of the GreatWall of China instead) to speak to themby telephone.Presumably this is May’s way of lay-ing the groundwork for a future tradedeal with the U.S.?Her reception for the delegation standsin contrast to the royal welcome thatPresident Trump received in Londonlast July.Yet London’s denialism is futile. Whilethe British Government is betting onsupport from the White House for atrade deal, it cannot avoid, sooner orlater, coming to a reckoning with theU.S. Congress.

POLITICIANS from across the U.K. and Ireland, including ArleneFoster, Mary-Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill, attended thefuneral of Lyra McKee.

Northern Irelandpowersharing talks

to resume withall political parties

BELFAST – The British and Irish Governmentshave announced a new talks process, aimed at re-storing devolution in Northern Ireland would beginon May 7.An agreement has been reachedto establish a new round of talksinvolving all the main politicalparties in Northern Ireland,Theresa May and Leo Varadkarhave said in a joint statement.Negotiations are expected to take placeafter local council elections in North-ern Ireland on May 2. All the mainparties will be invited.The move comes after politicians werepublicly challenged by a priest at thefuneral of journalist Lyra McKee overwhy it had taken the 29-year-old’smurder to force politicians to unite.The British prime minister andtaoiseach said in a joint statement theywere “determined to work together toensure this process comes to a suc-cessful conclusion.”The statement said, “In coming to-gether with other political leaders inSt. Anne’s Cathedral to pay tribute toLyra McKee, we gave expression tothe clear will and determination of allof the people of these islands to rejectviolence and to support peace and abetter future for everyone in NorthernIreland.“We also heard the unmistakable mes-sage to all political leaders that peopleacross Northern Ireland want to see anew momentum for political progress.We agree that what is now needed is

actions and not just words from all ofus who are in positions of leadership.”It is the latest attempt to restore thepower sharing agreement after theStormont Assembly collapsed inNorthern Ireland more than two yearsago.Sinn Féin collapsed the coalition gov-ernment in January 2017 in protest atthe DUP’s handling of a green energyscandal.Since then, several rounds of talks havefailed, with the two parties failing tofind a compromise on a number of out-standing issues including Irish languagerights and the legalisation of same-sexmarriage.For almost 10 years, the DUP and SinnFéin worked together in governmentunder a system of mandatory coali-tion, where unionist and nationalistparties shared power.But in late 2016, a row developed overthe DUP’s handling of a flawed greenenergy scheme that could cost the tax-payer £490 million: the RenewableHeat Incentive (RHI) scheme.On January 9, 2017, Sinn Féin’s Mar-tin McGuinness resigned as deputyfirst minister, citing the DUP’s con-duct around RHI as the main reason.That meant DUP leader Arlene Fosterlost her job as first minister and trig-gered the collapse of the Northern Ire-land Assembly.


BELFAST – A priest at the fu-neral of Lyra McKee in Belfaston Wednesday, April 24 asked“why in God’s name” it tookher murder to bring politiciansto a point where they may seekto resolve their differences.Father Martin Magill, a friend ofMcKee and of her north Belfast fam-ily, spoke about the murdered journal-ist’s qualities when he delivered thehomily at her ecumenical funeral serv-ice in St. Anne’s Church of IrelandCathedral.She was shot dead by members of theNew IRA while covering a disturbancein the Creggan area of Derry on theevening of Thursday, April 18.The chief mourners at the funeral wereMcKee’s mother Joan, her partner SaraCanning, her sisters Joan, Nichola andMary, her brothers Gary and David,nieces and nephews and great-nieceAva.Some hundreds of people gathered out-side St. Anne’s clapped in solidarityas the coffin was carried into the ca-thedral. The wreaths at the funeral in-cluded a heart of pink and white flow-ers and wreaths made up of the rain-bow colours symbolising the LGBTcommunity.The funeral attendance included Presi-dent Michael D. Higgins, Taoiseach LeoVaradkar, British Prime MinisterTheresa May, Northern SecretaryKaren Bradley, British Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn, DUP leader ArleneFoster, Sinn Féin leaders Mary LouMcDonald and Michelle O’Neill,SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, UlsterUnionist Party leader Robin Swann,Alliance leader Naomi Long, TánaisteSimon Coveney, the SNP leader in theHouse of Commons Ian Blackford, andPSNI chief constable George Hamil-ton.Magill spoke about Lyra’s warmth, herlove of her family, writing, and HarryPotter, of her “determined dogged-ness,” and of her love of life and fun.However, Magill also had stern wordsfor her New IRA killers and also forthe politicians who have contributedto the political paralysis and pessi-mism in Northern Ireland.“Many of us will be praying thatLyra’s death in its own way will nothave been in vain and will contributein some way to building peace here.“Since Thursday night we have seenthe coming together of many people invarious places and the unifying of thecommunity against violence,” saidMagill.“I commend our political leaders forstanding together in Creggan on GoodFriday.“I am, however, left with a question:Why in God’s name does it take thedeath of a 29-year-old woman with herwhole life in front of her to get us tothis point?”The priest received a spontaneousstanding ovation after delivering thatchallenge although it was reported thatpoliticians were slow to stand duringthe applause and finally rose awk-wardly to their feet.Afterwards, he said, “The people, in asense, really put the pressure on inthe cathedral to stand.

At journalist’s Belfast funeral, priestasks ‘why in God’s name’ it took a

murder for politicians to come together

DERRY – Pro-IRA graffiti has ap-peared in Derry with a chilling warn-ing against helping the police.Painted on a wall, one message reads“Informers will be executed,” and an-other says “IRA here to stay.”Another message includes a picture ofa rat, with the message “Informers willbe shot. IRA,” and another says “RUCInformers: They will forget about you,we won’t. IRA.”The slogans appeared early on themorning of May 2 in the Creggan area,metres from where journalist LyraMcKee was killed on April 18.She was shot by a dissident republi-can linked to the New IRA who firedat police lines during disturbances overthe Easter weekend.Pro-IRA graffiti which had beenpainted over in the days after McKee’smurder has been restored, saying theIRA “aren’t done” and is an “unde-feated army.”The new graffiti comes as the PSNIoffered anonymity for anyone in thecommunity who comes forward with

LYRA MCKEE’S partner Sara Canning (L), reacts as pallbearerscarry the coffin of journalist Lyra McKee as they leave St. Anne’sCathedral in Belfast on April 24 following her funeral.

Obviously the politicians realised, ‘Ohgoodness, everybody behind us isstanding, we need to move,’ and theyliterally moved because people hadmoved.”Father Magill added, “I dare to hopethat Lyra’s murder on Holy Thursdaynight can be the doorway to a new be-ginning. I detect a deep desire for this.”He quoted one of McKee’s friends inDerry who said, “We have had enough.There is a younger generation comingup in the town and they don’t needguns put in their hands.“They need jobs, they need a betterhealth service and education. Theyneed a life, not a gun put in theirhands.”To those who had any part in her mur-der, Magill said, “I encourage you toreflect on Lyra McKee, journalist and

writer, as a powerful example of ‘Thepen is mightier than the sword’. I pleadwith you to take the road of non-vio-lence to achieve your political ends.“To those still intent on violence, I askyou to listen to the majority of thepeople on your beloved island of Ire-land who are calling on you to stop.”McKee’s mother, sisters, brothers andher partner issued a statement beforethe funeral acknowledging “the out-pouring of support and love we havewitnessed these past few days.”“We as a family know that the wholecommunity has been touched by theevents of Thursday night and thatmany are rightly angry,” they said.“Lyra’s answer would have been sim-ple, the only way to overcome hatredand intolerance is with love, under-standing and kindness.”

evidence about the death of McKee orthe New IRA.Police have made a number of arrestsand released images of the suspectedgunman before and after the killing inDerry in a bid to encourage witnessesto come forward.Detectives say more than 140 peoplehave already come forward with infor-mation, videos and images from theunrest.Complete anonymity, including givingevidence behind a screen and usingvoice altering technology, have beenoffered for anyone called to give evi-dence at a trial.Crimestoppers has offered a rewardof £10,000 for information leading tothe conviction of those responsible forthe murder.Kevin Campbell, Sinn Féin councillorand a Creggan resident, said the peo-ple of the area had sent a message tothe perpetrators and will not be de-terred.“It’s an absolute insult to the memoryof Lyra McKee, who was murderedby these people,” he said.

‘Informers will beexecuted’: chilling graffitipainted near spot whereLyra McKee was killed

DERRY – The landmark Free DerryCorner has been repainted to reflectrevulsion felt at the killing of LyraMcKee.The 29-year-old journalist was shotdead by indiscriminate fire during vio-lence in the city on the evening ofThursday, April 18.The famous civil rights-era slogan on agable wall is regularly altered to reflectcommunity sentiment in the Bogsideestate.The city’s Catholic bishop has said thenationalist community needs to be lib-erated from dissident republicansblamed for McKee’s shooting.A message at Free Derry Corner said,“Not in our name, RIP Lyra” with aheart painted beside it.Police arrested two teenagers who theysuspect are members of the dissidentrepublican New IRA involved in shoot-ing the young journalist in the head.They were later released withoutcharge.A gunman aiming to kill police hitMcKee when he fired indiscriminatelyduring disturbances in the Creggan es-tate.Bishop Donal McKeown told BBCRadio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence pro-gramme, “The one liberation they re-quire in that community is liberationfrom Saoradh.”Saoradh, translating to liberation inIrish, is a grouping which has the sup-port of the dissident republican groupthe New IRA.Bishop McKeown added, “We don’twant to be laboured with a reputationthat comes from a small group that rep-resents a small number of people butis actually a danger to all of us.”Floral tributes were piled up at thelamppost where McKee fell, includ-ing one written to “beautiful Lyra”from her partner Sara Canning.Police Service of Northern Ireland(PSNI) Detective SuperintendentJason Murphy said since the shooting

there has been a sea-change in commu-nity attitudes towards the gunmen.The New IRA is an amalgam of armedgroups opposed to the peace processand it recently claimed responsibilityfor parcel bombs sent to London andGlasgow in March.Murphy conceded there remains fearof reprisals from the shadowy gunmenfor giving information to police.Police believe the violence was orches-trated in response to an earlier searchby officers aimed at averting imminenttrouble associated with the anniver-sary of the Easter Rising.Around 50 petrol bombs were thrownin the confrontation and two cars wereburned out.McKee was reported to be a prodi-giously talented journalist, one of thebrightest and best of her generation,with a body of work that includedground-breaking research into suicidein Northern Ireland.She was a regular contributor to theBelfast Telegraph and in a Valentine’sDay feature, she talked about the greathappiness she had found with “thelove of her life,” the young woman withwhom she recently moved to Derry tolive with.On the professional front, too, as wellas her journalism, she was enjoyingsuccess and had signed a book deal withFaber & Faber.On the night of the shooting, she wasdoing her job, covering riots in theBogside. Her last tweet reads, “Derrytonight. Absolute madness.”Gail Walker editor of The Belfast Tel-egraph wrote, “That Lyra should havebeen shot dead at a time of such joy,when life was just beginning to reallycome together for her, is the cruellestof ironies.“The loss of such a journalistic talentis immense, but the loss of such a genu-inely lovely, warm and empathic per-son is a huge and enduring heartbreakfor her family and partner and mythoughts are with them all.”

THE LANDMARK Free Derry corner has been repainted to reflectrevulsion felt at the killing of Lyra McKee.

Free Derry Cornerrepainted after Lyra

McKee murder


The untold story of Wales’ Joan of ArcOST people will have heard the namesJoan of Arc or Boudica. But not manymight know about one of history’s

ByELFANJONES

POSTCARD FROMBOURNEMOUTH

M

Birdwatching, off to Ibiza, the EU elections,and watching a comedian become president

Greetings from a chilly and cloud cov-ered Bournemouth. Unpredictableweather is predictable for this time ofyear.The Easter weekend was glorious withtemperatures rising to 26 degrees andthe beaches were packed with sunworshipers.Off came the winter woollies and onwith the shorts and tee shirts. Twodays later we were all switching theheating back on.Living by the sea is wonderful as thesea air and the aroma of the pine treesare an assurance of a good night’ssleep, but in recent years seagulls havenested on the roofs of the apartmentcomplex I live in and made a goodnight’s sleep something I can onlydream of.I have come to suspect that the birdsare on drugs as the “rave” starts ataround two in the morning and the ca-cophony lasts until five when they arepresumably all partied out and go tobed.I have tried placing a fierce lookingwooden tawny owl on my balcony toscare them away but after a few daysit had changed colour from brown towhite suggesting that the gulls had lit-tle respect for it.The birds are a protected species sowe are not allowed to kill them, butthis year all the residents have got to-gether and we are fighting back: we havehired a “falconer” to bring his birds ofprey along and scare the living day-lights out of them.The whole process costs around£3,000 but will be worth it if we canpersuade our feathered friends to moveon.Seagulls nest in the same place everyyear and their young return to nest inthe same area, consequently the sizeof the flock increases annually as doesthe noise level.So the theory is that by introducing

most fearless and ferocious females –Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd.Some say she was the originalMaid Marion or femaleBraveheart – but she was theoriginal heroine of Wales.Heavily pregnant and with chil-dren in tow, she, alongside herhusband, would ride again andagain into battle to protect theirland from Norman invasion.Even after her brutal death, describedby one historian as an “insult” toWales, the words “revenge forGwenllian” became a battle cry acrossthe country – inspiring its own revolt.The daughter of the King of the Gwyn-edd and his wife Angharad, Gwenllianferch Gruffydd was born in Anglesey.Growing up, she quickly becameknown for her intelligence and beauty,but was far from a typical princess.At 16-years-old her father received avisit from two men – Prince Gruffyddof Deheubarth, now much of southwest Wales, and his brother Hywel.Immediately, Gwenllian and the princefell in love, he impressed with hersword fighting skills as much as eve-rything else.In her book Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd,the Warrior Princess of Deheubarth,historian Laurel Rockefeller writes,“In the year eleven fifteen Gwenllian’shope became reality.“In a private wedding in the castlechapel she wed her prince at last, ce-menting in marriage the alliance be-tween Gwynedd and Deheubarth andmaking both prince and princess thehappiest of all men and women inWales.”From there it wasn’t long before chil-dren followed – Morgan, Maelgwyn,Owain, Maredudd, and Rhys apGruffydd.By the year 1130 the prince and prin-cess had also welcomed twin daugh-ters Nest and Gwladus.However, with the growing fear ofNorman invasion, there was little timeto enjoy an idyllic family life inDinefwr.Instead, the family were often forcedinto thick woodlands and mountains,and from there conduct raid after raidon the enemy.Rockefeller said “Gruffydd andGwenllian fought together for 20 yearswith her children in tow. She would beeight months pregnant. That’s thestrength of a Welsh woman.”By using a guerilla style campaign, bothGwenllian and Gruffydd were able toattack Norman and Flemish settlementsinvading the kingdom.After redistributing the goods andmoney, it is said that the pair gained areputation similar to Robin Hood andMaid Marion.In 1135 the opportunity came for thefamily to take back control of theirlands. After the death of King Henry Iof England, both his nephew anddaughter began fighting for the crown,

taking their eyes away from activityover the border.By the following year, tension in Waleshad begun to rise.On New Year’s Day 1136, Gwenllianand Gruffydd woke to the sound ofalarm bells ringing through DinefwrCastle.At Carn Goch – six miles away – thebattle was already raging as 1,000Welshman marched up north to takeback farms and pastures previouslylost to the Normans.In what became know as the Battle ofLlwchwr, it is thought the Normanslost around 500 men, thanks in part tothe actions of Gwenllian, Gruffyddand their son Morgan.By January, the people of Deheubarthwere preparing for war. LeavingGwenllian in charge, Gruffydd trav-elled north to Gwenllian’s homeland,ready to help her father rid their landof the enemy.Meanwhile, Norman survivors, lead byLord Maurice de Londres, sheltered inKidwelly Castle.For two weeks, time passed as Prin-cess Gwenllian continued to rule herkingdom.One day, however, a messenger arrivedwith the news – more Normans hadset sail headed for west Wales.With Maurice de Londres desperatefor revenge, it was only a matter oftime before they moved, aided by thou-sands of men sent from English bar-ons.It was time to act.“One week later Princess Gwenllianinspected her forces,” Laurel wrote.“In all of Deheubarth only two to threehundred men and women were strongenough to answer her call to arms.“The rest of her people were too weakfrom the bitter winter and the recentfamine created by the Normans to beable to assist her.“Among those before her, most werefarmers and shepherds armed only with

hawks and falcons on a regular basisfor three months we can hopefullypersuade the gulls to go.Raising a family in an area where thereare dangerous predators flying aroundmight be a bad idea and consequentlythey will pack their bags and leave.What I find remarkable is that with allthe modern technology, the incrediblehi-tech advances that man has achievedover the centuries, there is nothing toscare off seagulls and we have to em-ploy the services of a man using tech-niques from the Middle Ages.Watching the performance is fascinat-ing. When the falconer arrives he standsin our parking area with a peregrinefalcon on his arm.When the gulls see it there is an al-mighty amount of screeching and theyfly off in all directions.You can almost hear them saying “Ohmy God, get me out of here,” but notall of them fly off and I can only as-sume that the ones that remain are thebirds with eggs in a nest.They just stand in pairs on the rooftop, watching every move the falconmakes, really quite brave.The peregrine does not attack them butflies back and forth from the man’s armto different balconies for about an hour.There is an eerie stillness, not a squawk

from the seagulls nor the falcon, butthe remaining gulls are motionless,they just stand there staring at the in-truder.The area remained peaceful for the re-mainder of the day but by 2 AM thefollowing morning it seemed that wordhad got round that the tough guys hadgone and it was party time again.We do not know how successful thiswill be as there are differing reports,but hopefully our feathered friends willfind another night club. Only time willtell, and in the meantime I have got myear plugs ready.

•Next week my wife and I are off toIbiza, one of the Balearic Islands whichI am told is beautiful, but I have alsoheard that it is a great favourite amongyounger people.Parts of the island are famous for theirnight clubs where you can party allnight. I am just hoping that we are go-ing to the quiet part.

•The Easter break gave everybody achance to forget about Brexit for ashort while but in the next few weeksthe elections for the European parlia-ment will take place.As a result, 73 lucky British winnerswill receive £91,000 salary plus hand-some expenses, to sit in a parliamentthat we should have left two monthsago.However the big political story wasthat Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old comedian with no discernible poli-cies has won the election to becomethe president of the Ukraine.The media had a field day, but I sawnothing exceptional in this because inour houses of parliament we have 650comedians with no discernible policies,and it seems that people have only re-cently noticed.All for now.

Best wishes,Elfan.

the most simple of weapons and noarmour to speak of.“Only her sons Morgan andMaelgwyn possessed formal trainingin warfare.”Despite the odds, Gwenllian contin-ued to prepare for battle. She dividedher forces – entrusting half her menwith Welsh chieftain Gruffydd apLlewelyn.However, marching straight toMaurice, the chieftain betrayed hisleader and revealed the location of hisprincess and the army.With no other choice, Gwenllian feltshe had to take action. Along with hersons Morgan and Maelgwyn, she ledher army out of the forest to attackthe stronghold at Kidwelly Castle.However, vastly outnumbered, her andher men found themselves over-whelmed.“Helpless, Gwenllian could only watchas her son Morgan was impaled beforereceiving a blow to the neck.Rockefeller writes, “A knight brokeapart Gwenllian’s shield with his mace,breaking her arm. Maelgwyn rushedto his mother, blocking with his sword

brought out to the site where the prin-cess was executed on the spot.Rockefeller said, “It was against chiv-alry to kill a woman. When you cap-tured a king you were supposed to ran-som them like as happened with Rich-ard the Lionheart.“But they decided to take a log out ofKidwelly and they beheaded her withan axe. It was just layer upon layer ofinsult.”According to legend a spring welledup on the spot where Gwenllian died– now known as Maes Gwenllian.Up and down the country the battlecry went up – “Ddail AchosGwenllian,” or “revenge forGwenllian.”As news of her death spread, the Welshvowed revenge, culminating in theGwent Revolt of 1136.Before long, armies took backCeredigion, while Gwenllian’s broth-ers wrestled control of Llanfihangel,Aberystwyth, and Llanbadarn.Laurel said, “She was a vital part ofcultural history, as much as Boudicawas. She deserves to be known as oneof the heroines of Wales.”

the blow meant to kill her and suffer-ing great injury in the process.“Finally only Princess Gwenllian andPrince Maelgwyn remained among theliving.”With their hands tied behind theirbacks, Maelgwyn and Gwenllian werelined up in front of Maurice.Replacing chivalry and custom with aburning need for revenge, a log was

“A knight brokeapart Gwenllian’s

shield with his mace,breaking her arm.

Maelgwyn rushed tohis mother, blockingwith his sword theblow meant to killher and suffering

great injuryin the process.”

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