ISSUE 28 VOLUME 1 Proudly Serving Celts in North America ...

Proudly Serving Celts in North America Since 1991ISSUE 28 VOLUME 1 DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019

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COVER illustration by artist Jessica Boehman.

Winter: A time of kindness, love,rebirth, peace and unburdeningBy BRIGIT ANNA MCNEILL

We are approaching the threshold ofwinter.Life is being drawn into the earth, pain-lessly descending down into the veryheart of herself.And we as natural human animals arebeing called to do the same, the pull todescend into our bodies, into sleep,darkness and the depths of our owninner caves continually tugging at ourmarrow.But many find the descent into theirown body a scary thing indeed, fear-ing the unmet emotions and pastevents that they have stored in the darkcaves inside themselves, not wantingto face what they have so carefullyand unkindly avoided.This winter solstice time is no longercelebrated as it once was, with theunderstanding that this period of de-scent into our own darkness was sonecessary in order to find our light.That true freedom comes from accept-

ing with forgiveness and love what wehave been through and vanquishing thehold it has on us, bringing the goldentreasure back from the cave of ourdarker depths.This is a time of rest and deep reflec-tion, a time to wipe the slate clean as itwere and clear out the old so you canwalk into spring feeling ready to growand skip without a dusty mountain onyour back and chains around your an-kles tied to the caves in your soul.A time for the medicine of story, offire, of nourishment and love.A period of reconnecting, relearningand reclaiming of what this time meansbrings winter back to a time of kind-ness, love, rebirth, peace and unbur-dening instead of a time of dread, fear,depression and avoidance.This modern culture teaches avoidanceat a max at this time: alcohol, lights,shopping, overworking, over-spend-ing, bad food and consumerism.And yet, the natural tug to go inwards

as nearly all creatures are doing isstrong and people are left feeling as ifthere is something wrong with them,that winter is cruel and leaves themfeeling abandoned and afraid.Whereas, in actual fact winter is sokind. Yes, she points us in her quietsoft way towards our inner self, to-wards the darkness and potential deathof what we were, but this journey ifheld with care is essential.She is like a strong teacher that asksyou to awaken your inner loving elderor therapist, holding yourself withawareness of forgiveness and allowingyourself to grieve, to cry, rage, laugh,and face what we need to face in orderto be freed from the jagged bonds wewrapped around our hearts – in orderto reach a place of healing and lightwithout going into overwhelm.Winter takes away the distractions, thenoise and presents us with the perfecttime to rest and withdraw into a womblike love, bringing fire and light to ourhearth.

You could win an ‘Irish Fry Up’ basket with all the fixin’s for an IrishBreakfast from Black Pudding Imports in Langley. Check out their weeklysales on Facebook. (See page 7 for more info). Mark your entry BlackPudding and include your name and daytime telephone number. Entryby January 7.You could win Lori Pappajohn’s newest CD, Call of the Sea, (Seepage 9 for CD review). Mark your entry CD and include your name anddaytime telephone number. Entry by January 7.Watch our upcoming February issue for a chance to win free ticketsto the John Cleese show. See page 3 for details. All entries by E-mailonly to: [email protected] (Only one entry per person).

BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May promised to heal hercountry’s Brexit-inflicted rifts. Instead, her deal with the Eu-ropean Union brought them all to life. After a series of crush-ing defeats, can her government survive a crucial Brexit voteon Tuesday, December 11? [Read more on pages 10 & 11]

Also Inside This Issue

IRELAND’S 18th Ambassador to theUnited States, Dan Mulhall, was inSeattle, WA, on December 6-8. Hispublic events included a speech atSeattle University hosted by theUniversity’s Institute of Public Serv-ice; a talk at a business breakfasthosted by Irish Network Seattle; andhe attended an Irish seniors’ lunch-eon where he was greeted by about180 attendees.

[Read more on pages 28 & 29]

• Celebrating Robert Burns,Scotland’s National Bard

• A retrospective on 20 years withthe Irish Women’s Network of BC

by Mary Hatch• New Irish immigrants makingpositive contributions to Canada

by Meadhbh Monaghan

WIN A FREE GIFT BASKET OR A FREE CD

DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019PAGE 2 www.celtic-connection.com

See Our AnnualChristmas GreetingSection - Page 15

THE CELTIC CONNECTION

ISSUE 28 VOLUME 1Established in 1991

#452 - 4111 Hastings Street,Burnaby, B.C. V5C 6T7

Tel: (604) 434-3747 www.celtic-connection.com

Maura De Freitas - Publisher• E-Mail: [email protected]

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Colleen Carpenter - Copy Editor• Thary Chhom - Ad Production

Distribution: Arlyn Lingat • AllisonMoore • Linda Robb • Madi McCay •Frank Dudfield in Surrey • EifionWilliams in Burnaby & Coquitlam •Laurie Lang in Coquitlam • JoanneLong in Mission • Bill Duncan in MapleRidge • Deirdre O’Ruaric in WhiteRock • Heather Murphy in Seattle •Oliver Grealish in Edmonton.Published 7X per year. Contents copyright2018/2019 The Celtic Connection. Opinionsexpressed here are not necessarily those ofthe publisher but rather a reflection of voiceswithin the community. All correspondencemust include a name, address and telephonenumber.

Canada Post Canadian PublicationsAgreement 40009398

CATHOLINE Butler and ColleenCarpenter in December 2017working on distribution of ourcombined winter issue last year.

DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019 PAGE 3www.celtic-connection.com

Why rehab for Christmas?Recovery from addiction is a gift

VANCOUVER – At first, the thought of spending the holidaysaway from family can be daunting – but for those struggling withdrugs or alcohol, it can be the safest place to be.

has hope. You’re providing your fam-ily and yourself with peace of mind.”Ultimately, it would serve anyonestruggling with substance use to getaway from the “I can’t be away forChristmas, I’ll get sober for my NewYear’s resolution” mentality.There is an inherent value in actuallystarting the new year already sober.The holidays are a time of year whensubstance use can be at its highest sobeing in the safe, supportive environ-ment of a recovery center is a greatway to practice sober living and de-velop the tools for surviving futurecelebrations, Christmas and beyond.

•Resources: If you are struggling withaddiction or your recovery, considercelebrating the holidays at OrchardRecovery, where you’ll be in a tran-quil, beautiful setting surrounded bypeople who want to help. https://orchardrecovery.com.

If going into treatment is not an optionfor you this holiday season but youare in need of support, please usethese resources and attend as manyAA or NA meetings as you need to getyou through the holidays sober:https://www.vancouveraa.ca –https://www.bcyukonaa.org –http://www.bcrna.ca.

Many people opt to put off goingto treatment until after the holidays,making it a New Year’s resolutionto quit.But the holidays can prove challeng-ing for a number of reasons; firstly,the culture of the holiday season in-cludes a lot of indulgence and drink-ing.Additionally, the holidays can proveto be tough emotionally for a lot ofpeople. There’s an expectation of per-fection – that everyone is going tohave a picture perfect family holiday.People suffering from grief and loss orfacing any kind of emotional challengescan also find the holidays to be diffi-cult.“If your coping mechanism is to reachfor alcohol or reach for a drug, thenthat intensifies at this time of year,”says Lorinda Strang, Orchard Recov-ery’s executive director. “You can getyourself into even more trouble.”The holiday season can also provestressful for the families and friendsof those struggling with addiction.

“What we have found from the peoplewho actually do come in to treatmentis it’s such a relief to the other familymembers,” says Strang.“Addiction is a disease of denial. Of-ten you think you’re fooling every-body. You think that everybody elsedoesn’t see it; whereas in actual fact,everybody else does see that there’s aproblem.”Family members can find themselveswalking on egg shells, worried abouthow their loved one is going to behave,and whether he or she is going to showup at family gatherings at all, or if thereis going to be some kind of catastro-phe.“If you go into treatment, then you’resafe,” says Strang. “Your family knowsthat you’re safe, and everyone now


BySTEVEEDGE

ROGUE FOLK CLUB

Reflections on a great year....andlooking forward to another in 2019

VANCOUVER – I can’t be-lieve that 2018 is almost over!December already! Soon betime for wassailing and gift ex-changing and festive gatherings.And year-end lists, and a time forreflection on what we’ve achieved– and what – and who – we havelost along the way.I’ve witnessed some incredible musicthis year, both at The Rogue andaround town and beyond.One of my main highlights of 2018 wasThe Rogue’s Fiddle Festival – TheDriven Bow – which made a hugelysuccessful debut in February.Thanks to a grant from Creative BCwe were able to stage three concertsand six participatory workshops, allfeaturing B.C. bands led by amazingfiddle players: Locarno (KalissaLanda), Metis Dance Project(Kathleen Nisbet), Daniel Lapp,Early Spirit (Gabriel Dubreuil),Jocelyn Pettit, and Mad Pudding(Cam Wilson).Unfortunately, one of the stipulationsof that grant was that Creative BCwould not fund a second year, so in2019 the scope of the event will ex-pand to include concerts by Louisi-ana’s The Revelers, Cape Breton’sAshley MacIsaac, and (to be con-firmed) Quebec bands Genticorumand De Temps Antan.Mercurial fiddler Ashley MacIsaac willperform a very rare set as an acousticduo with the brilliant Victoria guitaristQuinn Bachand (celebrating the tenthanniversary of their first tour to-gether!).Quinn will also play a set with his sis-ter, Qristina, who is another excel-lent fiddler and a fine singer too. Thefestival will take place February 9-11at St. James Hall. Full details onwww.roguefolk.com.In February we also presented twoshows in a day with Donegal legendsAltan, who were in brilliant form insupport of their latest CD The GapOf Dreams.A few days later, Margaret and I tookthe train to Portland to see Altan in aremarkable double-bill with Lunasa,who also released a great CD in 2018 –Cas (which features vocals for the firsttime. Guest singers Natalie Mer-chant, Tim O’Brien, Mary ChapinCarpenter, Daoiri Farrell, and EricBibb).You can see Lunasa – sans vocals – atWest Vancouver’s Kay Meek Theatreon March 26, 2019.Over the next few months, we hadspectacular shows from Canada’sStepCrew, English guitar wizardMartin Simpson, Scots guitar maes-tro Tony McManus, B.C. fiddlerextraordinaire Kierah, Nova Scotia’sLaura Smith and Madison Violet,Welsh singer Martyn Joseph, and theamazing fiddle/cello duo AlasdairFraser & Natalie Haas.Outdoor festivals in Jericho Park (Van-couver Folk Music Festival), FraserRiver Heritage Park (Mission FolkFestival), Maillardville (Festival duBois), and Granville Island(RogueFEST) also had some trulymemorable performances from a widerange of musical styles and musiciansfrom all over the world.

We are very lucky to live in a placethat is on everyone’s list of favouritedestinations!Our trip to the Edmonton Folk Mu-sic Festival in August was marred byappalling weather (everything fromextreme heat to dense smoke to coldrain), but the music won through asusual, with great performances by thelikes of Sharon Shannon, MairtinO’Connor, Iarla O’Lionaird,Breabach, The StepCrew, and Mar-tin Simpson’s incredible workshops!Unfortunately I couldn’t make it toCape Breton for Celtic Colours thisyear, but caught a few of their LiveStream shows before heading over toSt. James Hall for some stunning con-certs by the likes of Galway’s WeBanjo 3, Nashville’s Claire Lynch(with a hot Canadian trio backing herup), The Fretless, and Guy Davis –all during the Celtic Colours’ week!Following that, we had The EastPointers (PEI), The Once (Nfld),Irish Mythen (from Wicklow, viaPEI), and a memorable CD launch fromEarly Spirit.

•It’s been a great year at The Rogue!And we show no signs of easing off in2019, either!Meanwhile, we present the return ofPortland Old Time/Old Country duoCaleb Klauder and Reeb Willms onThursday, December 13 at St. James.They are half of the wonderful Fog-horn Stringband and have releasedtwo CDs as a duo as well.Tickets are available at HighlifeRecords and Tapestry Music and alsoon www.roguefolk.com.

•Our annual celebration of the season –Van Django’s Cool Yule – takes placethe following evening (Friday 14)when the amazing gypsy jazz quartetare joined by chanteuse L.J.Mounteney (who starred in the re-

cent White Album Revisited show), andharmonica wizard Keith Bennett.Tickets are going fast, so I’d recom-mend that you purchase yours ASAPat Highlife or Tapestry orwww.roguefolk.com.

•In January 2019 we have some stirringtrad music from Swedish quintet Sver(16th), the irrepressible wit of LoudonWainwright III (24th), and NovaScotia backwoodsman / banjoist/song-writer Old Man Luedecke (28th).February 1st sees the return of SarahMacDougall (BC/Sweden/Yukonsongwriter extraordinaire), and thenThe Driven Bow Fiddle Festival withThe Revelers on Feb 9, AshleyMacIsaac and Quinn & QristinaBachand (10th), and Genticorum &De Temps Antan (11th).Ontario’s hugely entertaining song-writer Danny Michel returns on Feb20th, and Cape Breton quartet Coigcome back to The Rogue with a brandnew CD on March 9.There’s a mouthwatering bluegrassdouble bill on March 10 with FrankSolivan & Dirty Kitchen and dobromaster Rob Ickes with guitarist TreyHensley, then the Celtic ‘supergroup’Imar makes its Vancouver debut at TheRogue on March 20.Loads more shows to be announced.Check out the full concert schedule onwww.roguefolk.com.

•We lost some wonderful musicians in2018, including Irish piper LiamO’Flynn, Donegal fiddler TommyPeoples, De Dannan’s bouzouki mas-ter Alec Finn, Fairport multi-instru-mentalist Maartin Allcock, Englishsinger Roy Bailey, blues legend OtisRush, gospel singer Terry Evans,South African trumpet player HughMasekela, Jefferson Airplane’sMarty Balin, Rogue volunteer MaryBentley, and renowned scientistStephen Hawking.May their memories stay with usthrough their music and/or their inspi-ration.

•Here are few recommendations for CDsfor the Celtic music lover on yourChristmas gift list:• Scots bands Old Blind Dogs (RoomWith A View), Tannahill Weavers(Orach: 50th Anniversary Special), andTalisk (Beyond);

THE ROGUE Folk Club annual celebration of the season – VanDjango’s Cool Yule is at St. James Hall on Friday, December 14.

[Continued next page]


[Continued from page 4]• Imar’s second CD Avalanche is an-other one hot off the press, as is EarlySpirit’s debut Unrelated;• The collaboration between Quebecbands Le Vent Du Nord and DeTemps Antan (Notre Album Solo) hasjust come out, and is amazing!;• Kevin Burke (ex Bothy Band, OpenHouse) recently launched An EveningWith Kevin Burke: Tunes and Stories,which showcases his dexterity on thefiddle, skill as a raconteur, and his trulyunique accent;• If you haven’t already found these2018 releases, I reckon they are wellworth hunting down as well: Lunasa(Cas), Altan (The Gap Of Dreams),Mike McGoldrick & Dezi Donnelly(Dog In The Fog), Fear Of Drinking

Sports near the entrance to the ‘island’.Call us on (604) 732-1305 first, toensure there is someone here beforeyou venture down!)The calendars include over 40 colourphotos of performers at Rogue gigs in2018 – taken by yours truly. The priceis $20.You might also like to purchase aRogue gift certificate in any amount,a Rogue membership ($30 individual,or $50 family) and/or ParcelO’Rogues ($179), or tickets to our2019 concerts. These are all on sale onour website, at all Rogue concerts, andalso on demand at our Granville Islandoffice.

•You can hear much of the music fromthese albums on my radio show, TheSaturday Edge On Folk, every Satur-day from 8 AM to noon on CiTR fm101.9 in Vancouver and www.citr.caeverywhere. Tune in for the followingspecial editions:• December 15 – Steve’s Best of 2018;• December 22 – My annual Christ-mas Special;• December 29 and January 5 – To beannounced. (Could be a remote broad-cast from the South Pacific, or morelikely guest host Paul Norton in thechair!)• I’ll be back for the January 12 show.Meanwhile, here’s wishing you all thevery best for the Solstice / Christmas /Hanukkah / Kwanzaa or whatever elseyou celebrate at this festive time ofyear. Wassail!

(Live In Zurich), Maeve MacKinnon(Stri), Julie Fowlis (Alterum), LukaBloom (Refuge), and The Fretless(Live From The Art Farm).

•We have some 2019 Rogue Folk Cal-endars available at our shows and alsoat our Granville Island office (1504Duranleau Street, above Theatre

FOLK LEGEND Loudon Wainwright III brings his irrepressible witto The Rogue on Thursday, January 24.

THE SWEDISH trad quintet Sverplay The Rogue on January 16.


A visit to Mahony and Sonsis to taste the Emerald IsleBy LIA HART

VANCOUVER – I’m lucky enough tohave had a storytelling Irish immigrantgreat-uncle, whose image I rememberas sitting on the porch smoking a pipe.During my years at the University ofB.C., I found a refuge in Mahony andSons restaurant on campus.In hindsight, it was probably a seriesof details within the family’s three run-ning restaurants that continue to bothcomfort and attract me – the Irish oakinterior, the Mondrian-style stainedglass, the painted murals – especiallyprominent at the Stamps Landing lo-cation – and the quotation honouringthe salmon.Or, maybe it’s the history and herit-age that’s kept alive through a smalldisplay of artifacts and photos in therestaurants.The presence of history is alive in eachlocation like no other I’ve ever seen inthis city. History and heritage, in com-bination with a family’s story of exile,yet continued success in business iswhat the Mahonys stand for.Truth and value in their Irish rootsgives authenticity and bravery to thetelling of their struggle for cultural con-tinuance from 1811, despite deporta-tion to Australia for supposed pick-pocketing and war.Mahony and Sons stays true to an iden-tity formed next to the ocean – a worldwhere camaraderie over football goesalongside a hearty meal.This Irish, or one might say Irish-Ca-nadian restaurant brings with her Irishsons spirit- language, food stuffs,award winning bangers and mash, po-tato soup, and an Irish take on poutine,among other comforts of a land somany miles from Vancouver.A fusion food between Irish and multi-

MAHONY & SONS Stamps Landing location offers an authenticexperience blending the traditional and contemporary Irish influ-ences. The restaurants feature embellished hardwood mouldings,inlaid stone, Celtic artwork, and genuine bric-a-brac. It takes inthe stunning views of False Creek and Vancouver and situatedminutes from the Aquabus False Creek Ferry Dock 4

THE UNIVERSITY of British Columbia campus location was thefirst Mahony & Sons restaurant launched in Vancouver in 2006.

MAHONY & SONS Burrard Landing located overlooking Coal Har-bour and Stanley Park, features exquisite Celtic artwork on theceilings and magnificent woodwork throughout.cultural Canadian eats makes Mahonyand Sons a popular place for any soul.Taking the effort to include local freshingredients like Salt Spring Island mus-sels and dim sum – as well as honour-ing local talent such as that of

chocolatier Greg Hook makes Mahonyand Sons unique.Mahony and Sons has proven theiradaptability to Canadian food culture,while hanging onto the heritage theyso obviously treasure.

Shane MacGowan is marriedat wedding ceremony in Copenhagen

DUBLIN – The Pogues front man andhis long-term love Victoria MaryClarke tied the knot on November 26in a ceremony attended by their clos-est family and friends – including Hol-lywood actor and close pal of thegroom Johnny Depp.The couple, who go back 32 years, said“I do” in a private celebration in Co-penhagen City Hall after revealing justdays earlier that they were to be wedafter an 11-year engagement.The beaming bride stunned in a longsleeved V-neck red dress by Bella FreudLondon, after previously revealing thatshe would be forgoing the traditional‘big white dress’ on the day.She finished her look off with a freshflower crown which featured festive-feel red berries and carried a hand-tiedbouquet of berries, roses and greenfoliage.Groom Shane donned a black suitjacket, navy tie and trousers, toppedoff with a black trilby hat.Matching the groom’s headwear wasgothic-clad Pirates of the Caribbeanstar Johnny Depp, whom the briderevealed would be performing at thelow key nuptials.Depp looked in flying form, minglingwith guests and sharing an embracewith both the bride and groom as theyposed for formal photos.

Clarke had earlier revealed that duringher 11-year engagement she has dis-covered something special about wed-dings.“People really, really want to showthat they love the people that theycare about. And no matter how awk-ward or introverted you are, the lovethat they have for you finds a way tosmash through the walls that you putup. And when it happens, it is a mag-nificent thing.”In her pre-wedding portrait, Clarkerevisited her first meeting with hernow husband, explaining that she was“awe-struck” by him.“I became consumed by the thoughtof him. He says that he felt the same

way, that we were destined to be to-gether.“But ours were not to be easy, uncom-plicated lives and ours was not to bean uncomplicated love affair.“There have been times when you havewished each other dead – you see eachother as flawed, nasty, fragile, maybeeven hideous.“But when you get there, if you stilllook into each other’s eyes and laughat the sheer joy of each other’s exist-ing; if you still see each other’s facesand know that these are the most beau-tiful faces that you have ever seen andknow that this person is the one youwould chase to hell and back, then Ithink you are on the right track.”

SHANE MacGowan and his longtime love Victoria Mary Clarketied the knot in a ceremony attended by close friends and family,including Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, on November 26.


Big Winner at The Wolf & Hound:Session Music and Roast Beef Dinner

By CATHOLINE BUTLERVANCOUVER – Irish music sessionsand roast beef Sunday dinner is prov-ing to be a big winner at the Wolf &Hound Irish Pub on West Broadway.Owner Brian Dsouza said, “The Irishsessions are going phenomenal, thecustomers are bringing new customersin. I think that’s what is missing inthis city, people really want more livemusic.“The roast beef dinners are just theperfect combination” said Brian, “andwe have added a dollar off Guinness,Harp, Kilkenny and Magnerspints...so this is a win-win for every-body.”He said, “It’s always difficult to addmore live music, but when you see theparticipation from the customers, somany enjoying and relating to it, there’sa feeling of belonging and we are veryhappy to have it here. It’s a homeaway from home for people.”For Christmas, The Wolf & House willonce again have carol singing on De-cember 18, at 7 PM.On New Year’s Eve, at 4 PM (PST),to coincide with New Year’s Eve inEurope, The Wolf & Hound will againshow the big ball drop in England.Brian said, “This is very popular everyyear with so many away from home.”Later in the evening, he said, “we arevery lucky to have the group LuckyPennies playing for our New Year’sEve.“We will not have a cover charge onNew Year’s Eve and will offer a drinkand food special. Everyone is invitedto bring in 2019 at the Wolf & Hound.”

•

WOLF & HOUND owners Brian Dsouza and Chandrahaas Pathak.

LIVE Irish music sessions have been a big draw on Sunday nights.Pictured above (far left) popular local fiddle player Mary Brunnerand bodhran maestro Blake Williams (centre).The Wolf & Hound is located at 3617West Broadway (between Dunbar andAlma) in Vancouver. For more infor-

mation, call (604) 738-8909, or onlineat: www.wolfandhound.ca.

Black Pudding Imports: Stocked upand ready for the Christmas holidays

By CATHOLINE BUTLERLANGLEY, BC – Greg Bowles andLinda Hazelton have been in businessfor almost 20 years in Langley. Theymoved shops a couple of times whenthe merchandise simply outgrew thestore.Greg Bowles spoke about some of thenew products in the store this yearsaying, “We have just received plaiceand cod fillets from Ireland and theyare really delicious. So many of ourcustomers kept asking us for plaicefish.”For Christmas, Black Pudding has or-dered some old favourites such asMarks and Spencer cakes, Thorntonstoffee, Macsweens haggis and Caledo-nian haggis from Scotland.With Robert Burns celebrations on thehorizon, Greg said, “We have tons ofhaggis, along with Cadbury selectionboxes and chocolates, Harris tweedhats, caps and bags from Scotland.”He added, “we’re also getting in someunique handmade bags from Scotlandwith Pictish designs on them.”In addition, they also have Hanna hatsand caps coming from Ireland and theyhave just received Irish white puddingand Irish sausages which are really sell-ing very well.There are lots of gift items, souvenirsand footballs and other soccer para-phernalia for the sports fan on yourlist at Black Pudding.

Give yourself plenty of time to lookaround. There are nice wide aisles inthe store with lots of items to choosefrom for the holidays.

•

Black Puddings Imports is located at#107 - 20353 - 64th Avenue, Langley,B.C. For more information, call (604)532-1223 or check out online at:www.blackpudding.ca.

LINDA Hazelton and Greg Bowles of Black Pudding Imports havesteadily built a thriving business in Langley over 20 years.


New location for the hugely popularCeltic Creations in North Vancouver

By CATHOLINE BUTLERNORTH VANCOUVER – Celtic Crea-tions has moved to a new location inNorth Vancouver at 21 Lonsdale Av-enue on the southwest corner ofLonsdale and Esplanade, across fromthe Pinnacle Hotel.Cork-born Helen Ritchie is well-knownin the Vancouver area and has been inbusiness for the past 24 years.Celtic Creations is mainly known fortheir Celtic gifts and goods but theirfirst love is their beautiful Celtic jew-ellery and they carry an especially wideselection of Claddagh rings in silver andgold.Keith Jack from Scotland designs beau-tiful Celtic jewellery for the store andhis award-winning designs are knownworldwide.Helen Ritchie said, “Our new locationis a flagship store for Keith Jack, sowe have an incredible collection of hisdesigns in stock.“One of the hot items for men that wehave in the store for Christmas are hatsand scarves from Mucros Weavers inKillarney. But, for women, it’s alwaysour specialty jewellery.”

•Drop in to the new Celtic Creations lo-cation where you will receive a warmfáilte (welcome) and say hello to HelenRitchie and Keith Jack. For more infor-mation, call (604) 903-8704, or visitonline: celticcreations.ca.

HELEN RITCHIE and Keith Jack of Celtic Creations are proud toannounce the opening of their new location at 21 Lonsdale Avenuein North Vancouver.

Celtic Traditions:Everything Celtic....from

sweaters to jewelleryBy CATHOLINE BUTLER

VANCOUVER – Celtic Traditionson West 10th Avenue in the Kitsilanoarea of Vancouver is known as thesweater shop for their distinctivequality and design wool productsfrom Scotland and Ireland.....butreally they offer so much more.Owner Michael Pratt was born in Eng-land but his mother and father are bothfrom Ireland. He frequently travelsback and forth to Ireland to visit rela-tives and on buying trips for the store.Pratt is also a fiddle player and withinthe store are music rooms to teach fid-dle, harp, whistle, bodhran, concertinaand voice lessons.Speaking about some of the merchan-dise he stocks, he said, “This year Ihave some beautiful lightweight woolscarves from Mucros Weavers.

MICHAEL PRATT who owns and manages the Celtic Traditions isalso a talented musician. Along with Celtic merchandise, CelticTraditions also features a music room with lessons available onvarious instruments.

“Also new this year are merino cash-mere blankets – beautiful soft wool ina herringbone design.“I have lots of Aran fisherman knitsweaters and Fair Isle sweaters fromScotland, especially on the women’sside.“My Aran sweaters are from Galwayand the Scottish ones are from Harleyin Aberdeen. Our sweaters come in allsizes and weights – light, medium andheavy weights.“We also have some beautiful wool andmohair throws and capes and lots ofsilver Claddagh rings, pendants andearrings. Actually, I have a great selec-tion of everything Celtic.”

•Celtic Traditions is located at 3721 West10th Avenue in Vancouver. For moreinformation, call (604) 222-2299 or visitonline at www.celtictraditions.ca.

A whole array of Christmas gift ideason offer at the Celtic Treasure ChestBy CATHOLINE BUTLER

VANCOUVER – Celtic Treasure Chestin the Dunbar area of Vancouver is afamily owned and operated business.This will be the third Christmas for theCoulson family at the Celtic TreasureChest since becoming the proprietorsand it was just by chance on the day Istopped by that the whole family wasthere.As you enter the well merchandisedstore, the first thing to catch the visi-tor’s eye are tables of delicious Christ-mas items.

THE COULSON FAMILY own and operate Celtic Treasure Chestin Dunbar. (L-R) Lalla, Cristina, Gianluca, and Stephen Coulson.

Stephen Coulson said many holidayitems have already been received fromoverseas with many others en route.“We have all the fixin’s for the tradi-tional U.K. breakfast including blackand white pudding and specialtybacons and sausages.“We have a baker in Richmond who isScottish trained and supplies us withall the traditional meat and chickenpies. We also have a very nice spicycurry meat pie.”Stephen then laughed as he told me agreat story.“Speaking about curry, my uncle wasa salesman and he used to travel allover the place. On one of his trips whenhe was staying in Bombay, he wentdown to the concierge and asked if therewas a good place to get curry. Withoutbatting an eye, the conciergereplied...‘Yes, in London’.”

Continuing, he said, “We will be get-ting the little mince pies and the Mr.Kipling’s mince pies and the Battenburgcakes shortly.“We already have quite a variety ofpuddings and cakes from small right upto the two pounders.“New this year is our Guinness fruitpudding. We also have Clootie puddingand, of course, the ever popular, Scot-tish shortbread cookies.”Celtic Treasure Chest offers a wholearray of gift ideas, including Harry Pot-ter, Game of Thrones, and some door-mats that are quite amusing. One witha quote from the Lord of the Rings,reads ‘You Shall Not Pass’.

•Celtic Treasure Chest is located at 5639Dunbar Street in Vancouver. For moreinformation, call (604) 261-3688, orcheck online at: celtictreasurechest.com.

By CATHOLINE BUTLERVANCOUVER – Tapestry Music onWest Broadway is a one-stop storefor all your music needs, whetherit’s for instruments, music lessons,repair services, school bandrentals, or sound system rentals.The knowledgeable staff will help youselect the correct musical instrumentfor all age groups on your holiday list.There are also music lessons and gift

BRIAN HARDING at Tapestry Music demonstrates some of themost popular instruments for Christmas gifts.

Tapestry Music: Yourone-stop music store

for all age groupscards for that aspiring musician withlessons in violin, guitar, banjo, ukelele,drums and woodwind instruments toname a few.Brian Harding at Tapestry Musicspoke to me about what are some ofthe most popular Christmas instru-ments.“The ukelele is still very popular, wehave them in sizes ranging from so-prano to baritone, and also a little babysize ukelele.

“We also have a bass ukelele that isvery popular with all age groups. Es-pecially for children – particularly inthe age group three to five. We havelessons for ukelele, strings and prettymuch all the instruments.”Tapestry Music also has experiencedmusic educators who teach everythingfrom violin, cello, double bass, all thebrass instruments – trumpet, trombone– woodwinds, guitar and banjo.They offer gift cards which can be usedfor any item in the shop, includingmusic lessons.The violin and piano are good instru-ments for small children to start learn-ing since they come in smaller sizeswhich is really good for young chil-dren to handle.

•There are three Tapestry Music storelocations: Vancouver – 3607 WestBroadway – call (604) 736-3036;White Rock – 1335 Johnston Road –call (604) 538-0906; Victoria – 828Fort Street – call (250) 590-0752. Formore information, check out:tapestrymusic.com.


Reviewedby Catholine Butler

MUSIC REVIEW

LORI PAPPAJOHNCall of the Sea

Fans usually associate singer and mu-sician Pappajohn with the music ofWinter Harp and she continues topresent her wonderful annual Christ-mas concert series but her new CD,Call of the Sea, is a departure from herusual style.This CD features a collection of songsabout sea sirens and sailors. Some ofthese sea maidens are whimsical andfun, while others are treacherous andhaunting.What we may not know about LoriPappajohn is that she is also a mer-maid and is surprisingly and equallyat home on both land and sea.Her great joy is donning a monofin anddiving deep into the mysterious wa-tery-blue sea and swimming eye-to-eye with all the sea creatures.She is a professional mermaid with herown company – Mermaids Interna-tional – and has been featured on GoodMorning America and The Rick Mer-cer Report.

Her new CD Call of the Sea featuresLori’s mesmerizing singing voice ac-companied by harps, flutes, fiddle,cello, percussion, and guitar.She takes inspiration from poets Tho-mas Moore, Lord Alfred Tennyson,Shakespeare, and Walter de la Mare increating the lyrics for her Celtic-styledsongs.This is a seductive journey into thewatery-blue world of the mysteriousrolling sea. Featured tracks include: TheHidden Cove; A Sailor’s Life; I WillSearch for Her; Origin of the Harp;The Mermaid; I Had a Love;Lisdoonvarna; The Merman; The Lassand Her Sailors; To Drive the SailorsMad; Are Ye Sleeping Maggie?; Sam;The Siren.

In a world increasingly noisy,Pappajohn takes us under the rollingsea that becomes calmer the furtheryou venture and as she says, “there isnothing like swimming in the turquoiseblue waters of the tropics. It is puremagic.“You are truly in another world andone never wants to return to the sur-face again. Swimming with a monofinis very demanding. The fin is large andmoves a lot of water, so you can divedeep very quickly.“Diving through the corals and swim-ming with the wild creatures trulytakes one into another dimension – di-mension of mystery and surprise.”This is the fourteenth album Lori hasproduced under the Winter Harp la-bel.

Mary’s BritishHome Store in Langleyall ready for ChristmasBy CATHOLINE BUTLER

LANGLEY – Birmingham, England-born, Mary Carter is the proud ownerof Mary’s British Home Store inLangley.In business for over 39 years, Mary’sBritish Home Store was a destina-tion in Steveston Village in Richmondbefore moving to Langley last year.Shortly after opening the new shopin Langley, The Celtic Connectiondropped in for a visit and shelveswere just getting stocked and the newoutside sign hadn’t even arrived yet.This year the sign is up and promi-nently displayed outside, shelves arefully stocked and many Christmasitems are already in with more on theway.Store manager Bernie Blake, whohails from County Meath in Ireland,spoke about the U.K. products al-ready in and on the shelves.“We have just received our shipmentof haggis for Hogmanay and RobbieBurns celebrations and it is also agreat stuffing for poultry.“Along with the sausages, specialtybacons and cheeses, we also have alot of items for gift giving such asfootball items, jams, preserves,specialty biscuits and chocolates,

including the Cadbury Selection boxes.“We already have our Christmas cakesand puddings in, and Mr. Kipling itemswith the Battenburg cakes are expectedshortly.“Our baker in Richmond is making ourmince meat tarts...he made them for uslast year and he’s wonderful.”

•Visit Mary’s British Home Store inLangley at 20435 Fraser Highway at theintersection of Glover Road. For moreinformation, call (604) 427-0368.

STORE manager Bernie Blakeholds a haggis sample as she dis-cusses the products available.


HE weatherhere today iswhat Scottishpeople call

LONDON – Mark Carney, the formergovernor of the Bank of Canada, rarelyshies away from expressing strongopinions.As Governor of the Bank of England,he is facing a backlash over a bluntBrexit analysis that has led to calls thathe’s hysterical, incompetent and a“failed, second-tier Canadian politi-cian.”Carney has been under fire since thecentral bank released a detailed reporton how Britain will fare after the coun-try leaves the European Union onMarch 29.The study examined several scenariosincluding the possibility of the coun-try crashing out of the EU without anyagreement on trade or other matters.Under that scenario, the bank said thatwithin five years Britain’s economywould shrink by eight percent, houseprices would fall by 30 percent, un-employment would nearly double toseven and a half percent, the poundwould lose 25 percent of its value andinflation would soar to six and a halfpercent.That’s a far worse hit than the coun-try experienced after the 2008 finan-cial crisis.“Our job is not to hope for the bestbut to prepare for the worst,” Carneytold reporters after releasing the as-sessment. “We have looked at a po-tential no-deal, no-transition Brexit ...the reason we do that is to be pre-pared for all eventualities.”He went further, telling the BBC thatBritish businesses were largely unpre-pared for a no-deal Brexit.“Less than half of the businesses inthe country have initiated their con-tingency plans for a no deal Brexit,”he said, citing the bank’s contacts withbusinesses and other surveys.He stressed that the no-deal scenariowas unlikely and that Britain’s finan-cial system could withstand the tur-moil.And he took pains to say that hewasn’t advocating government policybut simply responding to a request forinformation from Parliament.That did little to quell the criticism.Several pro-Brexit members of Parlia-ment attacked Carney for being hys-terical, politicizing the central bank andseeking to undermine a hard Brexit.“It is unusual for the Bank of Englandto talk down the pound and shows thegovernor’s failure to understand hisrole. He is not there to create panic,”said Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg.“Unfortunately, he’s a second-tier Ca-nadian politician. Having failed in Ca-nadian politics, he’s got a job in theU.K., which he isn’t doing well.”Another pro-Brexit Tory MP, BernardJenkin, said Carney had trashed theeconomy “as part of a propaganda ex-ercise.”It wasn’t just politicians piling on.Nobel Prize winning economist andNew York Times columnist PaulKrugman also weighed in.“I’m anti-Brexit, and have no doubtthat it will make Britain poorer,”Krugman said in a series of posts on

Mark Carney’s direBrexit warningsearn the wrath

of British politicians

Twitter. “And the [Bank of England]could be right about the magnitude. Butthey’ve really gone pretty far out on alimb here – their bad-case losses froma no-deal Brexit look extremely high.”Krugman, who is based in New York,has been a critic of many of the direeconomic forecasts surrounding Brexit,suggesting that economists’ claims havebeen dubious.Andrew Sentance, a former member ofthe bank’s rate-setting monetary-policy committee, also criticized thereport, calling it bogus and “highlyspeculative.”The report “will add to the view thatthe bank is getting unnecessarily in-volved in politics and that will furtherundermine perceptions of its inde-pendence and credibility,” Sentancesaid on Twitter.But the report won the backing ofPrime Minister Theresa May, who hasbeen scrambling to win support for aBrexit deal she has struck with the EU.That agreement, which calls for a tran-sition period and close economic tiesto the bloc, will be put to a vote in theHouse of Commons on December 11,and so far few MPs expect it to pass.May has argued that if MPs don’t sup-port her deal, the country risks thechaos of a no-deal Brexit, and she hascited the bank’s report as evidence ofwhat could happen.This isn’t the first time Carney hasrun into controversy over Brexit.Just before the 2016 referendum onBritain’s membership in the EU, hewarned the country could fall into atechnical recession if it left.That prompted anger from many pro-Brexit Tories, who have since notedthat the economy has performed bet-ter than expected since the vote.Carney has refused to back down anddefended the bank’s analysis. “Wehave a responsibility to have the sys-tem ready for whatever happens,” hetold the BBC. “In order to do that weneed to do this type of analysis.”He also has a bit more at stake person-ally in Brexit.While he still holds Canadian citizen-ship, he recently became a British citi-zen as well. He told reporters that hisnew status hasn’t made him any moreor less comfortable about speaking outon important issues.“I feel as comfortable as I’ve ever donetalking about Brexit or any other issuefacing the U.K.,” he said.

MARK CARNEY, the Governorof the Bank of England.

Black Humour Prevails AmidWarnings the Ship is Sinking

POSTCARD FROMLONDON

ByELFANJONES

t‘gey driech’.I don’t know if that is thecorrect spelling, but itmeans bloody miserable.The grey, dreary damp condi-tions suit the mood of the coun-try; we are all depressed...sickto death of the word Brexit andthe shameful self-seeking anticsof our politicians.According to Mark Carney, theGovernor of the Bank of England,we are doomed....doomed!In 10 years time our economy will bein the gutter, the Queen – if she is stillalive – will be taking in washing tomake ends meet, Prince Charles willhave a market stall selling organic veg-etables, and the rest of us will bescratching a living working for the Chi-nese.It would be wonderful to find an en-lightened leader who cares more for thegood of the country than for their po-litical party or personal ambition.David Cameron, our previous primeminister, started this chaos simply tosee off a challenge to his leadershipfrom a faction in his own party andquell a threat from an ultra-right wingparty called UKIP, whose sole raisond’être was to get the U.K. out of Eu-rope.After the debacle of the referendum,Cameron skipped off into the sunshineto count his money and write his mem-oirs hopefully entitled “How to ScrewUp a Country.”Added to the Brexit fiasco, we havejust had Black Friday.Over the decades many wonderfulthings have crossed the Atlantic fromthe U.S.A., although apart fromMarilyn Monroe I can’t think of oneat the moment, but Black Friday wecould do without.The run up to Christmas is, for inde-pendent retailers, the busiest and mostprofitable time of the year, so givinglarge discounts at a time when peopleare spending money buying gifts makesno economic sense to them.I remember an American departmentstore buyer telling me that he boughtin bulk at discounted prices for thesepromotions.The products are initially put on sale

THE pro-Brexit flotilla sailing down the River Thames may be headedfor France in the near future if dire predictions by the Governor ofthe Bank of England Mark Carney are correct.

A SILENT DISCO on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile during the 2018 Edin-burgh Fringe Festival.

at an inflated price for a few weeksbefore the promotion, then drasticallyreduced for the promotion, still achiev-ing a larger than normal mark up.The way he put it was, “we are tryingto fool all of the people all of the time.”Small retail stores cannot buy in bulkand in the U.K. we already have a prob-lem because independent stores arestruggling to survive.The gift shop, clothes shop, butcher,greengrocer, baker, ironmonger etc. aredisappearing from the centre of towns,all affected by the uncertainty ofBrexit, high business rates, parkingdifficulties, and, of course, onlineshopping.Consequently, our high streets are los-ing their individuality, the independ-ents being replaced by charity shops,estate agents, or just lying empty.In France, the small town centres arestill where people shop and althoughthe chain stores are there they sitalongside the independents, so thetowns retain their charm and are busy.Sale promotions are heavily regulatedin France with official start and enddates set by the government, safe-guarding the independents.The latest news shows films of refu-gees currently camped outside Calais,now risking life and limb to cross theEnglish Channel in little boats fromFrance to start a new life in Britain.They must know something we don’tbecause if business carries on the wayit’s going there will be an armada goingthe other way.Although, life is not quite all gloomand doom.

Wales won all four of their winterrugby Internationals, and most impor-tantly we defeated the Wallabies, forthe first time in years.I think the last time we beat them Aus-tralia was a penal colony.Ireland played simply marvellouslyand outplayed the All Blacks, tempt-ing me to spend my life savings and goto Japan next year for the Rugby WorldCup.The worry is that if Mr. Carney fromthe Bank of England is correct, thepound will be worthless and I will notbe able to afford a glass of sake, letalone a ticket to the Wales v Irelandfinal.And finally, a news item from Scot-land.In Edinburgh the city council is con-sidering banning silent discos becausethey are too noisy.These events have become a craze withstag and hen parties where the revel-lers dance along the Royal Mile wear-ing headphones and all listening to thesame music.Councillor Jo Mowatt said, “silent dis-cos are not silent because there is a lotof whooping and screaming, especiallywhen you have 40 women on a henparty.”She added that hey are dangerous be-cause the dancers cannot hear ap-proaching vehicles.On the other hand, a witness remarkedthat the out-of-tune singing and thegrunts of the dancers is great fun forthe people watching.On that silent note, I wish you a veryMerry Christmas,

Elfan.


LONDON – On Tuesday, De-cember 11, Britain’s House ofCommons will vote on whetherPrime Minister Theresa May’sBrexit deal should go ahead.Given that May’s Conservativeparty has no overall majority andtoo many of her own members ofparliament are against it, she wasalready braced for defeat in thatvote.But after extraordinary scenes in theCommons on Tuesday, December 4,that likely defeat could also mean theend of her premiership.In little more than an hour, the govern-ment suffered three defeats on its Brexitplans.The first two were embarrassingenough: MPs voted that the govern-ment was in contempt of parliament,the first time that’s ever happened inBritish history.By refusing to publish in full the legaladvice on the Brexit deal agreed withthe European Union last month, min-isters were found to have breached thesovereignty of parliament – and par-liament has fought back and reassertedits control.The third defeat, while more techni-cal, was still hugely significant becauseit means that MPs from all parties candecide not only to reject May’s dealbut instruct the government on whatto do next.Until now, the prime minister haswarned MPs that voting down herBrexit plans will mean a no-deal de-parture from the EU by default.That scenario is relished by somehardline Brexiteers who want out ofthe EU at any cost. But it has spookedfinancial markets, businesses and theBank of England, who have warned thatit will come at a severe economic priceto Britain.But Tuesday’s scenes made one thingclear: MPs are likely to use their new-found power to block a no-deal out-come. The hardest of all Brexits seemsoff the table.After that, everything seems up forgrabs. Proposals are already being putforward for a softer Brexit.For example, Britain could adopt amodel similar to Norway, which is nota member of the EU but pays for ac-cess to its single market.The campaign for a second nationalreferendum, or People’s Vote, is gath-ering momentum – one that could leadto no Brexit at all.But the likely defeat of the vote onDecember 11 could also see the oppo-sition Labour party call for a vote ofno confidence in the government. IfMay lost that vote, a general electioncould follow.Labour says it is ready for another elec-tion – the second in less than two years.Significantly, the Northern Irish DUPparty, which has an agreement to sup-port the Conservative minority gov-ernment in order to keep it in power,has made clear it is also ready for anelection.

EDINBURGH – Nicola Stur-geon has stepped up efforts to“postpone” Brexit in talks withTheresa May as the UK Gov-ernment’s agreement with theEU appears increasinglydoomed to defeat in the Houseof Commons.The Scottish first minister was inLondon seeking an “alternativeway forward” for the country, withMPs expected to vote on delayingthe Article 50 process that will takethe UK out of the EU next March.The prime minister is also facing amotion of no confidence in the eventthat her deal is rejected on December11, Labour has said.A defeat for May would prompt a gen-eral election. But Environment Secre-tary Michael Gove has insisted thegovernment can win the Commonsvote, despite scores of Tory MPsthreatening to vote against it.Sturgeon urged opposition parties inthe Commons to use the parliamen-tary process to avoid both the currentdeal and the “cliff edge” no-deal sce-nario.Nationalists will be among those whovote down the deal, but the SNP leaderinsists she also wants to see the “arti-cle 50” process under which the UKleaves the EU to be put back.“The last week has been a watershedmoment in the Brexit process,” Stur-geon said ahead of the meeting.“Having now finally published its ownofficial analysis of the economic con-sequences of Brexit, the UK Govern-ment can no longer hide behind theirown spin – it is clear that any kind ofBrexit will make Scotland and the UKpoorer.“The reality is the best deal is remain-ing in the EU, which is exactly whatthe people of Scotland voted for.“With so much at stake for people’sjobs and living standards, it is vital thatMPs come together to reject the PM’sdeal, to rule out a No Deal Brexit andto secure an extension to Article 50.”MSPs at the Scottish Parliament areexpected to reject the prime minister’s

Nicola Sturgeon travelsto London in bid

to force Brexit delay

Brexit proposals with the SNP, La-bour, Liberal Democrats and Greenshaving agreed a joint motion whichboth rejects the current plan, but alsorules out a no deal Brexit.“I hope the Westminster Parliamentwill follow suit,” the first ministeradded. “As soon as the prime minis-ter’s deal has been put to bed, all par-ties and MPs must come together toagree a better way forward.”Pro-remainers such as the SNP leaderobject that the deal will take the UKout of the EU single markets and cus-toms union while Brexiteers also op-pose the agreement struck last montharguing it give too many concessionsto Brussels.Gove has said the most difficult ele-ment of the deal was the Northern Ire-land “backstop,” intended to preventthe return of a hard border with theRepublic.Brexiteers have warned that it couldsee the UK tied to EU customs ar-rangements for years with no exitmechanism, while negotiations con-tinue with Brussels on a trade deal.But Gove insisted there was no incen-tive for the EU to prolong Britain’sstay in the backstop.

SCOTTISH First Minister Nicola Sturgeon challenged Theresa Mayto a debate on the UK Government’s Brexit proposals last month.She also met all opposition leaders at Westminster and said theywere united in planning to vote down May’s deal, but claimed thenext step was to agree on an alternative.

“Having now finallypublished its ownofficial analysisof the economicconsequences

of Brexit, the UKGovernment can nolonger hide behind

their own spin – it isclear that any kindof Brexit will make

Scotland andthe UK poorer.”

Theresa May is the first BritishPM to be found in contempt

as extraordinary scenesplay out in House of Commons

THOUSANDS of Pro-EU protesters took part in a march in July,on the second anniversary of the Brexit vote. The People’s Voteprotest was calling for a second referendum on the UK’s final deal.Organisers say more than 100,000 people attended the marchlast summer. Many now believe the December 4 amendment togive Parliament more power over the Brexit process could openthe way for a second referendum.

Its leader in Westminster, Nigel Dodds,said, “We will happily go to the elec-torate and put our views to the peopleif needs be.”The DUP opposes May’s Brexit dealbecause it holds out the prospect ofNorthern Ireland operating on differ-ent regulatory and customs arrange-ments from the rest of the UK, in theevent that future negotiations on a tradedeal between London and Brusselscollapse.On Wednesday, December 4, when thegovernment was forced to publish thatlegal advice in full, it became clear thatunder the “backstop” or insurance ar-rangement, the agreement would pro-vide different EU regulatory and cus-toms rules for Northern Ireland fromthe rest of the UK and be treated as a“third country” in terms of trade withEngland, Scotland and Wales.Goods passing between Britain andNorthern Ireland would have to un-dergo customs checks. The DUP, astaunchly unionist party, see this aseffectively breaking up the union be-tween Great Britain and Northern Ire-land.Since taking over as prime ministerfrom David Cameron in July 2016 af-ter the turmoil of the Brexit vote, Mayhas portrayed herself as a dutiful, busi-nesslike leader acting in the nationalinterest.Despite several ministerial resignationsand letters of no confidence from herMPs, the PM has been resilient in theface of such turbulence. Her aides havelong insisted May is not the type toquit when the going gets tough.Those around her are also fearful thatif she were to resign, her successor

would be someone who wants a harderBrexit – such as Boris Johnson, theformer foreign secretary, or backbenchEuroskeptic Conservative MP JacobRees-Mogg. She has much more toprotect than her own reputation.And yet, events in Parliament on De-cember 4 may have changed those as-sumptions.When the prime minister addressed theCommons minutes after those threebruising defeats, her tone was typi-cally determined – but this time, herspeech sounded more like a farewelladdress.“I have spent nearly two years nego-tiating this deal,” she said. “If I hadbanged the table, walked out of theroom and delivered the very same dealthat is before us today, some mightsay I had done a better job. But Ididn’t play to the gallery. Don’t letanyone here think that there is a betterdeal to be won by shouting louder.”This is the heart of May’s message toher own and opposition MPs – thatthere is no better deal to be done withBrussels.After events in the Commons thisweek, MPs clearly think otherwise,and are likely to make their positionclear on December 11.A large-scale defeat would not onlymean the end of May’s Brexit plans,but it would amount to a loss of confi-dence in her premiership.After her government has been held incontempt, and with such a crushingdefeat on the most important policyof her premiership, it is hard to seehow May would be able to remain inDowning Street.

“If I had banged the table, walked outof the room and delivered the very same deal

that is before us today, some might sayI had done a better job. But I didn’t playto the gallery. Don’t let anyone here think

that there is a better deal to be wonby shouting louder.”


ByHARRY

McGRATH

Holiday Season Can’t ComeSoon Enough in Brexit Britain

DINBURGH –According tothe Office ofNational Statis-E ONCE a thriving destination, the former home of Edinburgh’s House

of Fraser, now lies empty and forlorn.tics, about 82,000 Cana-dians live in the UK.The figure isn’t that recent andin the last couple of years, wouldhave been marginally affectedby two high profile immigrationcases in Scotland.A Canadian family had to returnto Calgary despite running ashop in Laggan in the ScottishHighlands and a Nova ScotianGaelic teacher was denied avisa despite being the only ap-plicant for a Gaelic-languageteaching job on the Isle of Mull.The Wikipedia list of notable Canadi-ans living in the UK is also in need ofupdating.It includes, for instance, a former stu-dent of mine who came to Scotland toplay professional soccer but returnedto Canada in 2004.It also, however, cites one Canadianwho has left his mark (pun intended)on British public life and still lives onthis side of the Atlantic.Mark Carney has been Governor ofthe Bank of England since 2013 havingpreviously served in the same capac-ity for the Bank of Canada.Last week, with scant regard for theseason, Carney announced that, a no-deal Brexit could plunge Britain intoits deepest recession since the 1930s.The pound would plummet, the UKeconomy shrink by eight percent andhouse prices fall by a third.Brexiteers tend to have the same atti-tude as Donald Trump when it comesto ‘experts’.It wasn’t long before leading BrexiteerJacob Rees-Mogg (a kind of amalgamof various characters from P.G.Wodehouse) derided Carney as “a sec-ond tier Canadian politician who failedto get on in Canadian politics and thengot a job in the UK.”This initiated a bout of head scratch-ing among those of us who rememberCarney as a banker and economist inCanada, but not as a politician. A quickGoogle search confirmed that Rees-Mogg had been economical with thetruth.The “failed politician” jibe carries aparticular irony in Scotland where vot-ers of a certain age remember Rees-Mogg’s first foray into politics.He stood for the Conservative Partyin Central Fife in the 1997 general elec-tion and came third with nine percentof the vote.And this despite having a nanny in at-

tendance and touring the constituencyin a Bentley (Rees-Mogg claims it wasa Mercedes).Needless to say, all of this has donelittle to enhance the festive atmospherein the run up to Christmas.In Edinburgh the ever-expandingChristmas market is doing its best tojingle over whatever doubts the localshave about Brexit, but even the mar-ket has seen its share of controversythis year.Back in October 50 trees were felledin Princes Street Gardens, ostensiblyto allow for landscaping work and anextension at the Scottish National Gal-lery.The sight of Christmas stalls beingerected on the cleared land sent theTwitter conspiracy brigade into over-drive.Just west of the Christmas market, thegrand building that was the source ofso many Christmas presents in pastyears lies empty and forlorn.Edinburgh’s House of Fraser didn’tsurvive the chain’s takeover by SportsDirect and was picked clean back inSeptember in a sale that included themannequins and the shelving. We nowawait the inevitable office conversion.It would be difficult to pin the Houseof Fraser closure on a yet-to-happenBrexit – Internet shopping and failureto move with the times are more likelyexplanations – but there are those whowill see it as a symbol of Carney’spossible future with more, and worse,to come.

So where can we look for holiday joybetween forecasts of economic catas-trophe and the prospect of not-so-splendid British isolation?Family and friends would be an obvi-ous place to start. We could all justcoorie in (to use a good Scottish ex-pression that is suddenly back invogue) and hope that our Brexit trou-bles eventually pass.Or I may head down to the EdinburghChristmas market where I will try todrown out that Joni Mitchell songabout trees and museums that is lodgedin my head.All kinds of good things are on offerthere – Swedish Grogg, GermanBratwurst, Italian Panettone, Frenchcrepe, Czech pilsner and so on – andfolk have come from across Europe andelsewhere to share the holiday seasonwith a city that voted 74 percent re-main to 26 percent leave.Withdrawing from the EU and the feel-ing of being European are not neces-sarily the same thing but they are start-ing to coalesce, at least in Scotland.While I was writing this, the newsbroke of a senior adviser to the Euro-pean court of justice averring that EUlaw allows a country to unilaterallyrevoke Article 50 which triggers Brit-ain’s EU departure notice.He was responding to a cross partygroup of Scottish parliamentarians thatlaunched a legal action last December.Hope springs eternal, as a famous Popeonce said.

Happy Holidays everyone.

25th AnniversaryCelebrations of

the RMM Pipe BandBURNABY – The Simon Fraser Uni-versity Pipe Band is proud to an-nounce that the Robert Malcolm Me-morial (RMM) Pipe Band, the youth(8-18) division of the SFU Pipe Bandorganization, is turning 25 years oldthis January.The six-time world champion SFUPipe Band is working hard to developthe next generation of pipers and drum-mers, getting ready for another 25years of success.The celebration kicks off with theSFUPB annual Robbie Burnsfundraising dinner and silent auction,hosted at the Executive Plaza HotelMetro Vancouver (located at 405 NorthRoad in Coquitlam), on Saturday, Janu-ary 26, 2019.This will be followed by an exclusiveSFU Pipe Band in concert perform-ance specifically in honour of this 25thanniversary year, on Saturday, April12, 2019, at the Vogue Theatre onGranville Street in Vancouver.Pipe bands are a vital part of our Ca-nadian heritage and world music expe-riences, performing in many importantcelebrations and memorials.The SFU Pipe Band is proud to havecreated a strong and successful learn-ing environment for this unique styleof music and instruments, developingthe next generation of players.RMM draws youth (8-18) fromacross all of Metro Vancouver, theprovince, and beyond.The SFUPB provides their young play-ers with world-class instruction bymembers of the SFU Pipe Band, andthe opportunity to gain strong musi-cal and leadership skills. The RMMPipe Band also participates in manylocal charity and community events.RMM was founded 25 years ago inJanuary 1994, to honour the untimelyloss of two young SFU Pipe Band play-ers and instructors – Robert Barbulakand Malcolm Bokenfohr.When these young players were tragi-cally killed by an impaired driver onthe 28th of November 1993, their losswas felt deeply by the pipe band thatthey loved.Pipe Major Terry Lee, Lead DrummerJ. Reid Maxwell, and Pipe SergeantJack Lee, were determined to memori-alize the contributions these twoyoung men made to their community,and create a legacy through the train-ing of young pipers and drummers di-rectly through the SFU Pipe Band.This legacy lives on. Starting with ahumble 35 players in January 1994,RMM has since taught over 2,000

young players, moving through theranks of this ambitious youth band,and developing musical talent and im-portant life and leadership skills alongthe way.Now, the band enjoys a membershipof nearly 150 pipers and drummers an-nually, and has levels ranging from be-ginner up to grade 2, with the poten-tial for motivated players to join thecoveted grade 1 SFU Pipe Band itself.RMM proudly continues to competeand perform at local, provincial, andinternational events, and on the worldstage in Scotland.The success of this youth pipe bandshines through their history, includingfour consecutive wins in the juvenilecategory at the World Championshipsin Scotland, and ongoing high place-ments at the Worlds and at many com-petitions within our region and inter-nationally.And with this 25th anniversary cel-ebration comes a changing of the guard.Band manager Jack Lee is passing thetorch to his highly talented son,Andrew Lee, who will be ushering inthe next era for RMM, with a renewedfocus on high performance band lev-els.And the band is in excellent hands –quite literally.Andrew Lee, a proficient solo com-petitor as well as RMM band instruc-tor and pipe major, has accrued an ad-mirable list of accomplishments, in-cluding his unanimous win in early2017 at the Boney Music Invitational– a fundraising event created by thelate SFU Pipe Band piper and BC Pip-ers’ Association Life Member AndrewBonar in support of the BC CancerAgency.Lee’s knowledge of the instrument isdeep; Lee and his father, Jack Lee, arethe creative forces behind Lee & Sons,making the bags and drones that createthe iconic music of the great Highlandbagpipes.With the strength of the talents of theSFU Pipe Band leading the way, theRobert Malcolm Memorial Pipe bandhas every reason to be jubilant in theirupcoming 25th anniversary year!We can all look forward to great thingsyet to come from this young and en-thusiastic band in 2019 and beyond.

•To book tickets, or for more informa-tion on the SFU Robbie Burnsfundraising dinner on Saturday, Janu-ary 26, 2019, e-mail SFUPB Burns din-ner committee chair Lucinda Pentin at:[email protected],or visit: https://sfupipeband.com.

MEMBERS of the six-time world champion SFU Pipe Band marchin formation with their youth division, the RMM Pipe Band. Thegroup will celebrate the RMM Pipe Band’s 25th anniversary attheir Robbie Burns Fundraising Dinner on Saturday, January 26.

Robert Burns [25 January 1759 – 21July 1796], also known as RabbieBurns, the Bard of Ayrshire, Plough-man Poet and various other names andepithets, was a Scottish poet and lyri-cist. He is widely regarded as the na-tional poet of Scotland and is cel-ebrated worldwide.Each year, January 25 is recognizedworldwide as Rabbie Burns Day. Af-ter his death he became a great sourceof inspiration to the founders of bothliberalism and socialism, and a culturalicon in Scotland and among the Scot-tish diaspora around the world.As well as making original composi-tions, Burns also collected folk songsfrom across Scotland, often revisingor adapting them.His poem (and song) Auld Lang Syneis often sung at Hogmanay (the lastday of the year), and Scots Wha Haeserved for a long time as an unofficial

national anthem of the country.Other poems and songs of Burns thatremain well known across the worldtoday include A Red, Red Rose, AMan’s a Man for A’ That, To a Louse,To a Mouse, The Battle of Sherramuir,Tam o’ Shanter and Ae Fond Kiss.Burns passed away on July 21, 1796,of rheumatic fever. His most famouspoem, Address to the Haggis is nowrecited at Burns Suppers and other cel-ebrations of the man now rememberedas the National Bard of Scotland.

Robert Burns: The NationalBard of Scotland


By CATHOLINE BUTLERCOQUITLAM, BC – Tartantownshop in Coquitlam is a hotbed of Scot-tish culture steeped in bagpipes, kilts,Highland dancing and all things Scot-tish.Manager Terry Lee is the former pipemajor of the world champion SFU PipeBand and was with the band when theyreceived the top title six times in Scot-land. A huge accomplishment for aCanadian pipe band.Heather Jolley, the other partner inTartantown, leads the award-winningHeather Jolley School of HighlandDance. Many of her students havealso won acclaim in Scotland.This is an extremely busy time of theyear at Tartantown with Christmas,Hogmanay and Robbie Burns all onthe horizon.Kilts and full Highland costumes are ahuge rental item for all of the aboveevents, including weddings.Terry said, “We have been in businessfor over 40 years (1976) and this yearour expansion into more Highland andcasual gent’s wear is our newest prod-uct line.”He said, “Our ‘casual’ kilts, along withour budget-line of complete outfits,helps make Highland dress more af-fordable. We can produce an outfithead-to-toe starting at $399.”Along with kilts and bagpipes,Tartantown offers luxurious shawls,beautiful chinaware and other uniquegift items from Scotland....no need togo to Scotland, everything Scottish isat Tartantown.

•Tartantown is located at 555 ClarkeRoad, Coquitlam. For more information,call (604) 936-8548, or call toll-free at1-877-800-5458. Visit online:www.tartantown.com.

The heart of Scotlandlives in Coquitlam at Tartantown

TERRY LEE, former pipe major of the world champion SFU PipeBand, is the manager at Tartantown. He said this is an extremelybusy time of year at the shop with Christmas, Hogmanay andRobbie Burns celebrations all on the horizon.

Stars out in force forthe Scottish music awards

GLASGOW – Annie Lennox, SusanBoyle and Mark Knopfler were amongthe big winners at a star-studdedawards ceremony in Scotland.Snow Patrol, The Script and Kyle Fal-coner also picked up honours at the20th annual SSE Scottish MusicAwards.Singers Boyle and Lennox were bothinducted into the Scottish Music Hallof Fame during the event in Glasgowon Saturday, December 1.The event is the main fundraiser forthe music therapy charity NordoffRobbins Scotland.Upon receiving her award, Boyle, whoopened the night with a performanceof Wild Horses, said, “I’m very hum-bled and pleased. I’d like to congratu-late Nordoff Robbins on their anniver-sary. Thank you so much, I will treas-ure this.”Lennox was unable to attend the eventbut sent a video message to the audi-ence. She said, “I just wanted to saythank you so much for giving me thisvery special award.“I’m very, very sorry that I can’t joinyou tonight, but I’m there with you inspirit. I’m so proud of the work thatNordoff Robbins does and all I can sayto you is thank you, thank you, thankyou.”

Knopfler, who made a name for him-self as Dire Straits’ frontman, pickedup the “living legend” award, saying,“When I was a little fellow lying inbed not far from here listening to themusic of the River Clyde, the noise ofthe fog horns and the ships, I used toabsorb all the sounds of Scotland.“A songwriter couldn’t ask to be bornin a better place.”The View’s Falconer was handed thebest album award for his first soloproject and said he had put his “heartand soul” into the record.Snow Patrol, who played an acoustic

set, were named artist of the year whileIrish trio The Script took the best in-ternational artist gong.Donald MacLeod, chairman of NordoffRobbins Scotland, said, ”We’ve had aphenomenal night celebrating the 20thSSE Scottish Music Awards with someof the biggest and best stars in theworld, together with all of our won-derful partners and friends.“To see musicians like Snow Patrol,Mark Knopfler, Amy Macdonald andmore come together to supportNordoff Robbins Scotland and all whowork there is truly outstanding, and itgets bigger and better every year.”

SUSAN BOYLE accepted the first award of the night. Along withAnnie Lennox, she was inducted into the Scottish Music Hall ofFame.


VANCOUVER – On Satur-day, November 17, Welsh So-ciety members and visitors en-joyed an afternoon dedicated totwo well-known Anglo-Welshpoets.

DYLAN THOMASLong-time Dylan Thomas Circle mem-ber David Webb gave a presentationon the work of the Swansea-born poet,while Welsh Society member DavidLlewelyn Williams discussed the lifeand work of poet R.S. Thomas.The event was the latest presentationin an on-going monthly series entitled“Welsh Spirit,” whose aim is to presentstories from myth, legend, music, his-tory, poetry and dance that form partof the Welsh experience.These monthly events are organizedby Welsh Society member Pat Morris.Dylan Thomas’s works are well-known throughout the world andDavid Webb pleased the audience witha spirited reading of some familiar ex-cerpts from the poems.Although Dylan Thomas wrote exclu-sively in English, David Webb’s majortheme was an analysis of how the po-et’s works fit into the Welsh bardictradition.While decrying any nationalist feelings,Thomas drew inspiration from hisearly years in Swansea, the “ugly,lovely town” where he grew up, as well

as from the characters and rural land-scape of his native land.Thomas’s poetry also celebrated thedivine purpose that he perceived innature amid the recurring themes oflove, birth, death and renewal. Aboveall, Thomas’s universal appeal islargely based on the richness and im-agery of his words.

R.S. THOMASIn his presentation on R.S. Thomas,David Llewelyn Williams also referredto God’s divine purpose, albeit in adifferent environment.R.S.’s poetic world centred largely onlonely Welsh hill farms and the farm-ers who endured the harshness of thatenvironment.In the words of one critic, “R.S. Tho-mas produced remarkable poetry outof the unforgiving hill country ofWales.”R.S. Thomas was born in Cardiff andstudied to become an Anglican priest.He spent his working life in a succes-sion of remote Welsh communities untilhis death in 1990.

He was also a prolific poet, producinga body of work that received high ac-claim from critics.His volume Song at the Year’s Turningwas praised by John Betjeman, whileR. George Thomas, in the Anglo-WelshReview, called him the finest livingWelsh poet writing in English. In 1996,he was nominated for the Nobel Prizefor Literature.R.S. Thomas’s poems reflect the harsh-ness of the Welsh environment and thecharacters who inhabit it.A fervent Welsh nationalist, he endowshis subjects with love and compassionand criticizes the alien influences thatwould destroy their rural way of life.David Llewelyn Williams, a great ad-mirer of the poet’s work, shared someof R.S. Thomas’s poems with the au-dience.

•The afternoon’s celebration and appre-ciation of the works of two of theTwentieth Century’s most talented andadmired poets was well-received bythe audience.Readers are reminded of the presenta-tions of A Child’s Christmas in Walesat the Cambrian Hall on December 15and 16.Popular actor Russell Roberts, togetherwith Colleen Winton and musicianBrian Tate will again read Dylan Tho-mas’s famous short story. For ticketsat $25 each, call (604) 294-4332 or(604) 970-6434.

An afternoon of Welsh Spiritat the Cambrian Hall

ByEIFIONWILLIAMS

THE DYLAN THOMAS Memorial Stone in Swansea’s CwmdonkinPark. The poet was born a few yards from the park and many ofhis poems and prose writings were inspired by his visits there.Cwmdonkin Park is a popular destination for Dylan Thomas fans.The Memorial Stone was recently restored after years of naturalerosion and overgrown vegetation.


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Hereditary Hemochromatosis:Reflections on a diagnosis

By RAYMOND FYNESPresident, Canadian

Hemochromatosis SocietyIt is the time of year when wegive and receive gifts and countblessings.My hereditary hemochromatosis di-agnosis came as a shock, but over timeI have come to realize it was also ablessing in disguise because it wastimely.Luckily, I had not sustained organ-dam-age despite years of my body beingunable to regulate how much iron Iabsorb, particularly over the decadeswhen I used to take a daily multivita-min with iron.After the hematologist confirmed mydiagnosis, I thanked my family doctorfor his timely suspicion, since it likelyadded back whatever my life spanmight otherwise be, simply because heticked the ‘serum ferritin’ box on myannual check-up lab requisition.Not only that, but his intervention hasprobably spared me years of declininghealth and symptoms caused by ironloading in my liver, heart, pancreas,joints, brain, etc.He smiled modestly and acknowledgedthat I was probably right!I asked what had raised his suspicionswhen he examined me, and he repliedthat he could not remember, but it mighthave been small patches of skin pig-mentation.What a gift to have hemochromatosisdiagnosed before organ damage ensues.Thank you to doctors who raise thealarm early! I will take some creditthough for having an annual medicalcheck-up.There is a saying that when a doctordiagnoses a patient withhemochromatosis, a family gets diag-nosed as well.In my case, when my sister in-law(also Irish-born) learned of my diag-nosis, she asked her family doctor ifshe might have hemochromatosis.Her doctor ordered tests and confirmedthat she did.Further genetic testing confirmed thather sister – my wife – hashemochromatosis too!! That knowl-edge is a huge gift for our siblings andespecially our children.I think of my diagnosis as a gift thatkept on giving, the other beneficiariesbeing family members who discoverthat they might be carrying the genemutation, or have a double mutationand be at risk of developing iron-load-ing. Or they can sleep easy.Happily my siblings sleep easy. How-ever, each of my children has a 50 per-cent risk of being a carrier and a 50percent risk of inheriting double mu-tations, so they know to forewarn theirchildren about the “bronze killer” lurk-ing in their family tree.How common is hemochromatosis? Inthe Canadian population, estimatesrange from 1:200 to 1:400. In Ireland,the estimate is 1:83.Those of us with Irish parents need tobe especially mindful ofhemochromatosis.There is another way my diagnosis isa gift that has kept on giving.I now keep the iron in my body frombuilding up by donating blood to Ca-nadian Blood Services every twomonths.

RAYMOND FYNES, president of the Canadian HemochromatosisSociety.How wonderful that my treatment canalso be life saving for others.So, timely diagnosis is a gift of lifespan that is not shortened prema-turely, added quality of life, an alertfor siblings and offspring, and a gift oflife for the person on the receiving endof the unit of blood.What a win-win-win! Or is it bless-ing-blessing-blessing?Discovering the CanadianHemochromatosis Society was an-other blessing in coming to terms withmy diagnosis.It took several months from my fam-ily doctor’s first suspicions until a spe-cialist could see me and report back.There was a lot of nail-biting in thosemonths: did I need a liver biopsy, oran MRI – and how long would thattake?I found answers to many questionsonline at the CanadianHemochromatosis Society.I would urge anyone who has ques-tions about hemochromatosis tobrowse the www.toomuchiron.cawebsite.My wife and I subsequently becamemembers of the CanadianHemochromatosis Society.Later I was invited to join the board ofdirectors and then last year I was nomi-

nated and elected to become president.Being involved with the Society is awonderful experience for me.I am awed by the generosity of every-one involved – donors, volunteers,board members past and present, andprofessionals who provide their serv-ices pro-bono.All of us either have hemochromatosisor have a spouse, relative or friend whohas.I am struck by the generosity of newand long-term donors, but also dis-tressed by the increasing number of InMemoriam donations we receive fromfriends and family of ahemochromatosis sufferer who died.It is a reminder that diagnosis is notalways timely for everyone.Let me take this opportunity on be-half of the Society to wish you ablessed holiday and happy new year.

•[The Canadian Hemochromatosis So-ciety’s mission is to strengthen thewell-being of Canadians affected byiron overload through its programsdesigned to foster awareness andearly detection of hemochromatosis.You can support this mission with adonation to the CanadianHemochromatosis Society, 285 – 7000Minoru Blvd., Richmond, BC V6Y 3Z5.More information can be found atwww.toomuchiron.ca/celtic.]

Ireland investigating UFOsightings by multiple pilotsDUBLIN – Authorities in Ireland areinvestigating reported sightings of pos-sible unidentified flying objects(UFOs) by several commercial airlinepilots, including a flight from Mon-treal to London on Friday, November9.Chatter between the airline pilots andIrish air traffic control focused brieflyon the sightings, with at least four avia-tors confirming that they’d seen thephenomenon.The exchange began when the pilot ofBritish Airways Flight BA94 fromMontreal asked Shannon air trafficcontrol if there was nearby militaryactivity.When the air traffic controller repliedin the negative, the pilot said that shehad seen something moving “so fast.”“OK, it was moving so fast,” the BApilot reported. “It came up on our left-hand side and then rapidly veered to

the north. It was a very bright lightthat disappeared at very high speed.”The pilot said the speed that the ob-ject – or objects – were traveling was“absolutely astronomical, like Mach 2or something.”Commercial jetliners travel at a cruis-ing speed of around 430 knots, orMach 0.64. The F-18, the mainstayfighter of the U.S. Air Force, can travelat up to Mach 2.5.A Virgin Airlines pilot noted that hesaw “multiple objects” about the sametime, during the flight to Manchester.“Meteor or another object making somekind of re-entry,” the pilot said. “Thereappears to be multiple objects follow-ing the same sort of trajectory, verybright from where we were.”The Irish Aviation Authority said it isinvestigating the reports of “unusualair activity.”


ByMEADHBH

MONAGHAN

Many new Irish immigrants proudto be making positive contributions to Canada

The Celtic Connection speaks to some of theenthusiastic and competent Irish immigrantswho have made their home in western Canada.

EMMA McCRUDDEN

‘Dream Job’Educating Canada’s future athletes isall in a day’s work for Irish dietitianEmma McCrudden, who moved toVancouver almost six years ago.The 33-year-old has worked as anapplied performance dietitian for theEnglish Institute of Sport and was thelead dietitian for Leinster Rugby.Following her move to Vancouver in2013, with her husband GavinMurray, Emma secured a job with theCanadian Sport Institute, where shesupported the Canadian Women’sSoccer team, Swim Canada and multi-ple winter sports competing in do-mestic and international competitionsand the Olympic games.Three years later she landed her“dream job” at the University of Brit-ish Columbia (UBC). Emma teachessport nutrition and provides sportsdietetics support to the UBCThunderbirds Athletics teams.She also has a consultancy role withthe Vancouver Whitecaps profes-sional soccer team.She relishes both roles and points tothe differences between the two.“In the UBC varsity program, we arenot only training athletes to be ath-letes, but we are training them to behigh achieving adults as well. We arehelping them on their journey intoyoung adulthood. For a lot of themit’s their first time living away fromhome.”In contrast, the pro-environment is“high stakes” and medals are “all thatmatters.”Of her UBC role, Emma says, “It’snice working with students and see-ing them graduate. They come up toyou after and thank you for every-thing you taught them.”In a world of fad diets, “it is a realmoment of pride” for Emma whenstudents approach her with questionsand demonstrate critical thinkingabout their health.Emma and her husband have taken upnew sports since they moved here,including back country skiing, backcountry hiking, canoe kayak campingand curling “which is a lot harder thanyou think!”

Emma reflects, “When we first movedover, we were conscious that we weremoving to Canada and we wanted toexperience Canadian culture, which wedo.“But, when you move abroad, you re-ally realize how special the Irish com-munity are and how it is so nice to havefriends who understand your traditionsand values – and who get your Fr. Tedreferences!”

•

CIARA REYNOLDS

‘No Intentionof Going Home’

Six years ago, Ciara Reynolds had justgraduated with a degree in criminal jus-tice.The Limerick native was on theJobBridge scheme in Ireland whichmeant she worked as a legal assistant inexchange for a supplement to her wel-fare payment.“It was terrible and awful, and Icouldn’t do it anymore,” the 29-year-old recalls.“There was a lack of opportunities inIreland and I didn’t want to be stuck asa legal assistant for the rest of my lifewith no chance to utilize the skills Ihad learned at university.”She moved to Calgary, where her careerimmediately took an upturn.Ciara initially worked with a privateinvestigation and risk management com-pany, before securing a job as judicialassistant with the Court of Appeal inEdmonton.She is currently employed as a policyanalyst at the Alberta Justice and So-licitor General, working to “improveand enhance access to justice forAlbertans.”She finds her career very fulfilling, inparticular, her interactions with indig-enous communities, who often assumethat the Irish will understand some ofthe injustices they suffered when theEuropean settlers came to NorthAmerica.Ciara and her partner have bought ahome in Alberta and “have no intentionof going home.”In winter, Edmonton can reach lows ofminus 30 but Ciara enjoys the winterevents in the area and the fact that she

is just four hours away from Jasper.She volunteers for the Alberta Dachs-hund Rescue, taking abandoned dachs-hunds for walks to the vet.Like many Irish who are new toCanada, Ciara’s first port of call wasthe local GAA club. She has been sec-retary of the Edmonton Wolfe Tonesfor the past two years.“People back home would scoff at theidea of me being involved in the GAAbut it’s purely an admin role!” Ciaralaughs, adding, “The GAA club is asocial outlet and a great way to stayconnected.”

•‘Do Something

to Help’Falling in love with a North Vancou-ver girl sealed Ronan Deane’s fate as aCanadian resident.The Cork native arrived in British Co-lumbia long before it became the cur-rent destination of choice for increas-ing numbers of Irish immigrants.He faced many obstacles, and despitebeing a qualified mechanical engineer,spent his early days nannying, plumb-ing and landscaping.The couple have moved 14 times in 14years and are now settled in Deep Covewith their daughters, Lily (12) andGretta (eight).They initially moved to Calgary, whereRonan worked on various oil, gas andpower projects with Delta Hudson.From there, the couple moved to FortMcMurray, taking advantage of the oilboom which came to a grinding haltfour years ago.In 2006, they considered moving backto Ireland, but instead decided to moveto Vancouver, where Ronantransitioned to civil projects.He is now business development man-ager at Graham Infrastructure LP.

RONAN DEANE, a native of Co. Cork, arrived in Canada long be-fore it became a destination of choice for many young Irish. Aftermeeting a girl from North Vancouver, the couple settled in B.C.with their two daughters.

During his time in Calgary, Ronan be-came secretary of the Calgary Chief-tains GAA club, later helping estab-lish the Western Canada division.As a mainstay of the local communityin western Canada, he was considereda first point of contact for hundreds ofyoung Irish men coming across to workin construction.Ronan would often take their resumesand make sure they landed on the rel-evant desks. After the economic crash,he noticed a lot less “spoiled brats”arriving in Canada.Outside of work, Ronan is chair of theVancouver Regional Construction As-sociation’s Education Committee.Under his watch, volunteers have vis-ited 4,000 young people in 40 differ-ent schools, aiming to create a posi-tive image of construction as a careerchoice.An avid Tough Mudder athlete, the 43-year-old trained by running throughVancouver at night. During those runs,he was struck by the homelessness inthe city.“All these people had parents, andsomeone was glad they were born. Butsomething changed in their lives. Whenyou see that enough times it does hityou. I wanted to do something tohelp,” he says.Ronan runs races in aid of charity, and,for the past two years he has com-pleted a charity sleep out to raisemoney for Covenant House, a home-less shelter for young adults in Van-couver.He also found time to establish andoversee the Irish Sporting and SocialClub’s (ISSC) Youth Gaelic GamesProgram which, to date, has promotedthe Gaelic Games to over 6,000 youthsacross the Lower Mainland.

•‘Diversify’

In Saskatchewan at this time of year,the Irish employees at Glenform Con-struction are getting ready for a harshwinter.The company’s managing director is29-year-old James Bradley, fromCounty Derry.“We’ve had a few hard winters in Sas-katchewan. It’s flat and the wind chillis severe.

JAMES BRADLEY

“At one stage in Estevan the wind-chill was minus 52 Celsius. You stopworking after minus 38-40,” Jamescomments.While temperatures plummet, the hardworkers continue their mission to com-plete projects on time.“The guys still travel back and for-ward to Ireland.“Whenever they are here, they wantto make as much money as possible,”says James, adding, “Whenever we goin to do a job, whatever it takes to getthe job across the line on time, we willtry our best to make that happen.”He has observed that “many peopleon the two-year visa come over, puttheir heads down and work hard. Thenthey find that they fall in love withhere and end up staying for good.”Hurting from the financial crash, whichhad decimated the Irish constructionindustry, Glenform moved to Canadain 2011.The company, founded by his fatherConor, made good initial impressionsand “just kept building our connec-tions in Saskatchewan.”Over the past six years, Glenform hassecured projects across Saskatchewan,Alberta, Manitoba, the NorthwestTerritories, and B.C.“The construction sector out here hasbeen good to us,” says James, whonotes that the Irish construction work-ers are recognized for “not messingaround and getting the work done.”Community out-reach is important tothe charitable businessman, who nowlives in Vancouver.Glenform sponsored the jerseys for aGaelic team in Saskatoon and a secondcompany which James is involved with– CLA – currently sponsors the FraserValley Gaels female team jerseys.A recent visit to the Canuck Place Chil-dren’s Hospice had a lasting impacton James, who decided to arrange acharity golf event at Whistler whichraised $21,000 for the facility.Not content with success in Canada,James has his sights firmly fixed onthe United States of America; initiallyCalifornia, which is experiencing aboom and is only a two-hour flightaway.James concludes, “I would rather notbe reliant exclusively on the Canadianeconomy. If we can drum up somebusiness and get some guys workingdown there, it means we don’t have allour eggs in the one basket.”

•

[Continued next page]


‘Exciting Timeto be Here’

Back in Vancouver, it took just oneweekend hanging out in Donellan’sIrish Pub on Granville Street for new-comer Áine Coady to plant the seedsfor the first Vancouver Irish Film Fes-tival.The television producer from Kil-kenny arrived in Vancouver eightmonths ago, fresh from her travelsaround South America.Following a psychology and sociol-ogy degree at University College Cork,Áine completed a Masters in Film Pro-duction through Stafford University,based at the Dublin Film Base cam-pus.She spent five years working full timein television and film production, in-cluding: the BBC One Show, GoggleBox Ireland and various freelance indieshows with TG4.She also co-produced a successful low-budget feature film called The PoisonPen which was featured at film festi-vals across Europe.“I just fancied a change in scenery andpace, so I decided to come to Vancou-ver,” the 29-year-old explains.“I came here for adventure but there isa really thriving film industry here andI craved having a career again after mytravelling.”She continues, “There are Irish filmfestivals worldwide and I was sur-prised that in a city with such a bigproud Irish community and thrivingfilm industry, that there wasn’t thatkind of outlet.”Áine “put out the feelers” among theIrish community and “got a really posi-tive response.”Her next stop was the Vancity Thea-tre – “a stronghold in film in Vancou-ver” – which needed convincing thathers was a good idea.“They said Vancouver is saturatedwith film festivals but they were awarethat there is a strong Irish community,so they said they would give me achance,” she recalls.She screened two sold-out Irish filmsduring the summer, and, based on thatsuccess Áine, decided to hold her firstofficial festival in Vancity Theatre fromDecember 7-9.She is excited to offer Irish films toCanadians and Irish alike.Áine, who plays for the ISSC Vancou-ver Ladies Gaelic Football team, con-cludes, “I really like Canada. Canadi-ans are really open to ideas and op-portunities here in the creative indus-try. It’s an exciting time to be here.”

•Meadhbh Monahan is a freelance jour-nalist and communications specialistfrom County Fermanagh. Meadhbhwas senior journalist in her local news-paper, The Impartial Reporter, beforemaking the move to Vancouver sevenmonths ago. She hopes to undertakea Canadian road-trip in the near futureand would like to gain permanent resi-dency.

ÁINE COADY[Continued from page 20]

Irish citizens returning home facingbarriers to housing and social welfare

DUBLIN – Irish citizens return-ing home from abroad are fac-ing significant barriers to hous-ing and social welfare, a gov-ernment committee has heard.Representatives from SafeHome, Crosscare Migrant Projectand the Irish Council for Prison-ers Overseas say lack of knowl-edge, delays in administration andthe current housing problems areplunging some returning emi-grants into crisis situations.The committee on Foreign Affairs andTrade heard that many people areblocked from returning to Ireland be-cause those with children or a partnerfrom non-European Economic Area(EEA) countries are not automaticallygiven a visa, and when applying forthe visa from Ireland, the partner isnot eligible to work.Richard King, from Crosscare, said,“The reason a majority of people re-turn is to be closer to family, they leftIreland after college and now want tocome back to raise their family here,but this process acts as a deterrent andis difficult.“One Irish citizen I dealt with in NewZealand is pregnant and cannot returnhome because they cannot survive ifshe and her partner cannot work forsix months.”

It was noted that EU citizens who havea non-EEA partner do not face the samevisa requirements, meaning returningIrish citizens have a “lesser” status thancurrent EU citizens.Another growing trend for returningemigrants being refused social welfareis because of lack of access to infor-mation on the Habitual Resident Con-dition.The Habitual Residence Condition(HRC) is a situation that you mustsatisfy in order to be eligible for mostmeans tested social welfare paymentsin Ireland.Danielle McLaughlin from Crosscaresaid the people facing these issues aresome of the most vulnerable returninghome.“In majority of these cases individu-als face vulnerable situations with noincome or family support,” she said.

“Last year, we dealt with 280 queriesand worked directly on 18 cases onHRC, and every case successfully ap-pealed.“There is a five to nine month longdelay and those surveyed said the proc-ess was intimidating, demeaning, andmade them feel guilty.”She added those dealing with the proc-ess expressed misconception, lack ofinformation and said it was activelydeterring emigrants returning home.Karen McHugh, from Safe Home Ire-land, referred to one case of an Irishcitizen returning to care for an elderlyuncle who was turned down for carersallowance and not considered a “ha-bitual resident.”The man, who was saving the stateover 52,000 euro a year by caring forhis family member, won his appeal fivemonths later, however was told he

would not have money for anothermonth, which is likely to be January2019.The committee chair, Fianna Fail’sBrendan Smith, said there was a “to-tally unacceptable” delay in carer al-lowances applications and said everycommittee member had faced similarissues with their own constituents.The groups asked that the 30 recom-mendations produced in the IndeconEconomic Report on Addressing Chal-lenges Faced by Returning Irish Emi-grants be acted upon, as since the re-port was published no time frame hasbeen set or seen any productive actiontaken.They also asked that provisions bemade in the current housing allocationsystem for returning emigrants, espe-cially for returning elderly people whowant to spend their remaining life inIreland.

Is it time for an Irish languageimmersion weekend in Vancouver?

By BARRA Ó SCANNLÁINThe reactions I got when I started totell people I would be moving halfwayacross the world to teach Irish to Ca-nadian students were mixed.Most were positive of course, somewere confused, but everyone I told wascurious. “Who would be learning Irishout in Canada?!” “Are they just acrowd of plastic Paddys, aye?”And, honestly, I asked myself similarquestions.Luckily for me I already had plenty ofexperience working with learners fromNorth America – I’ve spent the lastfour summers working in Oideas Gael,a cultural centre in remote southwestDonegal which offers Irish languagecourses to adults in the summer, andattracts a huge amount of people fromthe U.S. and Canada – and I even taughtat an Irish language weekend in Cleve-land, Ohio this summer.So, I knew what I was letting myselfin for – to an extent!Let me give a bit of context. Since myuniversity days I had always knownof the Ireland Canada University Foun-dation’s teagascóir Gaeilge (Irish lan-guage instructor) programme.Every year, thanks to funding from theNational Lottery and the Departmentof Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht,they send eight Irish instructors to Ca-nadian universities to teach courses inlanguage and culture.I imagined myself going to Montreal,or Ottawa, and being immersed inFranco-Canadian culture, as these are

longstanding partners of the pro-gramme.What I didn’t imagine was that on mylast day working at a high school inthe west of France in late April, I’d getan e-mail telling me I was going to bethe first teagascóir to be working inthe University of Alberta in one of thenorthernmost cities in North America.A quick Google maps search of Ed-monton was enough to make me feelcold – and reading that minus 20 de-gree in winter is commonplace didn’thelp!But that initial shock quickly turnedto tangible excitement, as I realised thatI was after being presented with anamazing opportunity.I am now teaching the language andculture I am so passionate about, in afantastic (underrated) part of the worldwhich is rich with history (good andbad) and its own indigenous culturesand languages which, like Irish in manyways, have resisted efforts towardstheir extinction and continue to thrivein their native lands.Now that I’m here I still get askedthose questions – who would be tak-ing Irish language as a universitycourse in the Canadian prairies!?Well, I have six committed students inmy class this term – not a bad start!Yes, they all have some Irish heritage,some more immediate than others, butthat’s not necessarily their motive fortaking on this language which is noth-ing like anything they’ve encounteredbefore.

One, for example, is studying Irishmythology; another student is doing aPhD in Irish contemporary art; thereis a linguistics major in the class andanother who is interested in literature.We cover topics like ordering food in arestaurant, talking about your averageday at work, discussing hobbies, mak-ing excuses, and a whole lot in between.For those who don’t see themselvesmastering the language, I’m also teach-ing a course through English called IrishCulture, where we will discuss vari-ous aspects of Irish history, culture,and society.One of the topics covered in that courseis Irish islands.We’ll look at the isolated strongholdsof Gaelic culture from Toraigh off thecoast of Donegal (the last place in Ire-land to have a king, who recentlypassed away – RIP Patsaí Dan), to themajestic Blascaoidí in West Kerry,evacuated in 1953 and home to legen-dary storytellers like Peig Sayers.I’ve been surprised at how prominentthe Irish community is here in Alberta.As far as I knew, all my Irish peerswere going to Toronto and Vancouver,but what I’ve found here is a strongclose-knit community of Irish ex-pats,and even a few Irish speakers!For updates on Irish cultural events inEdmonton and to see how my studentsare getting on, follow@EdmontonGaeilge on Twitter.You might learn a cúpla focal if noth-ing else!

•Are you interested in learning Gaeilge(the Irish language) in Vancouver?Maybe it’s time to start an Irish lan-guage immersion weekend out in thewest, like Gleann na Gaeilge in NovaScotia. [Deireadh seachtaine Gaeilgein Vancouver, Deireadh Fómhair2019]. If that sounds like your cupántae, contact by e-mail:[email protected].

IRISH LANGUAGE instructorBarra Ó Scannláin at OideasGael in Gleann Cholm Cille withthen Minister of State forGaeilge, Gaeltacht and the Is-lands Joe McHugh (funding forthe Irish language programmecomes from that department).

THE TEAM at Crosscare Migrant Projert is working to help Irish citizens returning home. A govern-ment committee recently heard of the difficulties faced by many citizens returning home from abroadand which are plunging some returning emigrants into crisis situations.


Irish hospital stafftold to stop calling

patients ‘love’ or ‘dear’

IRISH health service says pet names should no longer be used byhospital staff so care is more ‘person-centred’.

DUBLIN – Nurses and doc-tors at Irish hospitals should nolonger call patients by petnames such as ‘love’, ‘dear’,‘girls’, ‘lads’ or ‘boys’, undernew recommendations.Staff should instead refer to patientsby their first name in an effort to maketreatment more “person-centred,” Ire-land’s state health services provider hassaid.The Health Service Executive (HSE)also instructed staff to avoid referringto patients by their bed number, diag-nosis or affected body area.The advice, issued in a report respond-ing to a national patient experiencesurvey, prompted some to lament thepassing of “how are you feeling, love?”and other informal expressions.Michael O’Keefe, a consultant oph-thalmologist at Mater hospital in Dub-lin, said the recommendations werepolitical correctness “gone mad” in themidst of an acute hospital bed short-age and soaring waiting lists for opera-tions.The report said hospital staff’s com-munication skills could have a profound

impact on healthcare outcomes and theexperience of patients and their fami-lies.Working in healthcare could lead toburnout and less compassion and em-pathy for patients, so it was impor-tant that staff used “person-centred”language, it said.“Are collective names used where theperson’s name would be more appro-priate, do they use pet names such as‘dear’ or ‘love’, ‘girls’, ‘boys’, ‘lads’,etc. instead of the patients/colleaguesnames?“Do we talk about ‘feeding people’instead of assisting with meals or referto someone coming back from theatreas ‘the hip’/the hernia/knee etc. Thisis a powerful exercise to help raiseawareness of how depersonalisingsome commonly used language can be.”The Irish Patients’ Association toldBreakingNews.ie that hospitals shouldstrike a balance and not come acrossas completely clinical and cold.“Sometimes the relationship of a nurseor a doctor or other allied professions– by the way they interact with a pa-tient in an empathetic way – can actu-ally make their journey a little biteasier,” it said.

Canada has 10,700 workingholiday visas for young Irish

under the IEC programOTTAWA – The Interna-tional Experience Canada2019 program is nowopen for 18 to 35 year oldIrish citizens.The program offers 10,700 work per-mits for young Irish people and theapplication system for next year hasjust opened. It allows people aged 18to 35 to work in Canada for up to twoyears.Similar to this year, 10,700 IEC visasare available for Irish applicants in2019, but the breakdown of the differ-ent visa types has changed slightly.Ireland is one of approximately 30countries worldwide that has a recip-rocal agreement with Canada to allowyoung people to live and work here.The application rules changed in 2016,to prevent the prior annual crush forvisas among Irish applicants.Under the old system, a quota of visasfor Irish citizens was released in oneor two rounds each year, on a first-come, first-served basis.Quotas were filled within minutes forseveral years in a row, leaving disap-pointed candidates waiting anotheryear before they could apply again.Now, applicants for visas can beginthe process now by creating an onlineprofile on the Citizenship and Immi-gration Canada website (cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/index.asp), which willthen be submitted to a “pool” of can-didates if it meets requirements.Applicants are drawn randomly fromthese pools at “regular intervals,” andsent an Invitation to apply for a workpermit. Draws continue until all placesare filled for the year.

You will need a scanned copy of theidentification page of your passportand an electronic version of your up-to-date curriculum vitae, which mustfollow the format provided in a tem-plate on the IEC website, along with afee of C$150.Participants in the working holiday-makers category must also pay an openwork permit holder fee of C$100 whensubmitting an online work permit ap-plication through MyCIC.International Co-op (Internship) par-ticipants, including those applyingthrough an employer-specific recog-nised organisation, do not have to payany other fees, but your Canadianemployer will need to pay the em-ployer compliance fee of C$230, andcomplete and submit an offer of em-ployment directly to Citizenship andImmigration Canada.Visas are processed on a first-come,first-served basis. Successful candi-dates have a year from the date of is-sue to enter Canada. On arrival in

Canada, you must have health insur-ance, a return flight or enough moneyto buy one, and proof of C$2,500 inyour bank account.For the first time this year, applicantswill also have to complete a biometrictest (photograph and fingerprints) aspart of the application process. Thiscan be done at the Canadian Embassyin Dublin, which offers the service twodays per month.In 2018, demand for Working Holidaywork permits was higher among Irishpeople than for any of the other coun-tries that have a similar agreement withCanada.Visa agents cannot guarantee a workpermit, or speed up the applicationprocess; the onus is still on the appli-cant to fill out the paperwork them-selves, and an agent is not required.For more information, visit the Immi-gration and Citizenship Canadawebsite at: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/serv-ices/work-canada/iec.html.

The International Experience Canada program offer 10,700 workpermits for young Irish people and the application system for 2019has just opened. It allows people aged 18 to 35 to work in Canadafor up to two years.

Republican senators put hold onE3 Irish visa bill in major surprise

DUBLIN – There is a possi-bility that thousands of Irish citi-zens may be able to avail of anew visa to work in the UnitedStates under proposed legisla-tion passed by the LowerHouse in the U.S. Congress.The E3 work visa, a two-year renew-able visa currently reserved for Aus-tralian nationals, would under the billwhich passed through the House ofRepresentatives become available toIrish applicants.It is for workers in “special occupa-tions” – there is no prescribed list ofjobs but the requirement mandates aspecialized knowledge.Only unused visas, not taken up byAustralians, would be issued to Irishcitizens under the proposed changes.If the law is passed, there will be amaximum of 5,000 visas awarded toIrish citizens. It will not be accessibleto undocumented Irish in the U.S.The bill must now be cleared by the

JOHN DEASY, Ireland’s specialenvoy to the U.S. works to as-sist the Irish undocumented. Itis understood that Deasy is qui-etly confident that an agreementcan be reached on this issue.He has been the the driving forcebehind the E3 strategy, and saysthat nothing is taken for grantedat this stage.

NOVENASNovena to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary (never known to fail). O mostbeautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven,Blessed Mother of the Son of God. Immaculate Virgin, assist me inthis my necessity. There are none that can withstand your power.O show me herein you are my Mother, Mary, conceived without sin,pray for us who have recourse to thee (three times). Sweet Mother,I place this cause in your hands (three times). Holy Spirit, you whosolve all problems, light all roads so that I can attain my goal. Yougave me the Divine gift to forgive and forget all evil against me.This prayer must be said for three days, even after the request isgranted and the favour received, it must be published.

– PJMK, MJK, CB, CLF, KLSLK, BC

Senate where it needs unanimous con-sent however there are reports that ithas stalled in the Senate as a numberof Republicans have put a hold on theprogram.The GOP holds on the bill came as amajor surprise as fears had been ex-pressed that Democrats in the Senatewould be the problem and despite Sen-ate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellannouncing his backing for it.Work has been ongoing, spearheadedby the Department of Foreign Affairs,to gain access for Irish people to thecoveted scheme over the past numberof months.Ireland’s special envoy to the U.S.,John Deasy, initially welcomed thebill’s progress but said he was underno illusions over the difficulty the billmay face in getting through the Sen-ate.Tanáiste Simon Coveney also wel-comed the passage of the bill in theHouse, describing it as a “positive de-velopment for future generations totravel to [the] USA.” However, he ac-knowledged there was “still work todo.”

Prayer for our First RespondersLord, may you watch over all of the men and women who work protectingothers. We pray for police officers, firefighters, and paramedics, that theymay have safe shifts and come home to their families each and everynight.

We pray that through all the evil they see on a daily basis, that they remaincompassionate and caring towards all. Lord I ask that you hear theseprayers through St. Michael the Archangel. Amen


Irish construction bosses warnedto prepare for hard Brexit

DUBLIN – Irish constructionbosses have been warned to pre-pare for a hard Brexit and a possi-ble restriction in the supply ofbuilding materials from the UK.Officials from Ireland’s housing de-partment told a parliamentary commit-tee that it was making contingencyplans for the UK to be treated as a“third country” in the event of Britainleaving the EU without an agreementbeing reached.Concerns were raised about the sup-ply of construction materials from theUK during the meeting examining theeffect of Brexit on the housing sectorin Ireland.Sarah Neary confirmed that in a no-deal scenario, every single construc-tion product imported from the UK toIreland would have to be re-certifiedto ensure they comply with EU regu-lations.Neary said, “Post Brexit, UK manu-facturers, distributors and importersof construction products placing prod-ucts on the Irish market will need tocontinue to comply with the Con-struction Products Regulation [CPR].“As we do not yet know what theeventual outcomes of the Brexit nego-tiations will be, we are nonethelessplanning on the basis that the UK be-comes a third country as of 30th March2019.”She added: “For our particular area ofresponsibility in the notification proc-ess and that underlying certification ofconstruction products, we are sayingprepare for a hard Brexit which meansyou have to use a notified body that’sestablished in a member state – be thatin Ireland or in Europe has to be used.”At present, the regulation of productsacross Europe is harmonised by theEU.Neary said the department had soughtclarity from the European Commissionabout whether a transition agreementseparate from the withdrawal agree-ment would be put in place in the caseof the UK left without a deal.Without a transition arrangement, themovement of goods may be delayed.Asked whether there was a danger thatthe cost of construction materials mayrise once the UK exited the EU, Nearysaid she could not comment.The committee also heard that the de-partment had concerns that higher netmigration was going to lead to morepeople becoming homeless.Neary said Brexit clearly had the po-tential to create further sharp swingsin migration patterns.“It is the strong view that significantincreases in net migration wouldpresent a concern in relation to in-creased numbers of households havingdifficulty in accessing affordable ac-commodation,” she said.Neary said programmes aimed at in-creasing delivery of all types of homes– social, affordable and private – andstrengthening the regulation of the pri-vate rental market and the delivery ofadditional emergency accommodationbeds for the homeless were of “criticalimportance.”“Naturally, it is the department’s am-bition that increased housing outputwill be sufficient to meet demand, butwe are also cognisant of the potentialrisk in this area and will be monitoringthe situation very closely,” she said.

THERE ARE concerns that Brexit will contribute to problems ac-cessing affordable accommodation in Ireland due to a significantincrease in net migration. At the moment it is estimated that 9,500are homeless in Ireland, including more than 3,600 children.

More than 9,500 people were recordedas being homeless in Ireland at the endof September, according to the latestofficial figures, including more than3,600 children.

CARDIFF – Welsh ports have beenmade to sign gagging clauses aspart of Brexit discussions with theUK Government.In a letter to the assembly’s Brexitcommittee, UK minister Robin Walkersaid it was standard practice for “someconversations on confidential terms.”He said non-disclosure agreementsmade it easier for ports to share com-mercially sensitive information duringBrexit preparations.Plaid Cymru said the claim was “be-yond laughable.” The party’s Brexitspokesman in the assembly, SteffanLewis, added, “Why would any portneed to sign an NDA in order to stopitself releasing information that couldharm its own interests?”But in the letter to the Senedd com-mittee, the UK minister said the ap-proach “allows a more free exchangeof views about options and potentialimpacts in advance of there being set-tled policy.”He added, “It is anticipated thatNDAs will be a diminishing feature ofthese steering groups as an increasingamount of information is made avail-able generally.”A member of the UK Government’s‘Welsh Ports and Airports SteeringGroup’ confirmed they were “re-quested” to sign an NDA.The source added that it prevented“speculation because some of what isdiscussed will be discounted” and that“nothing that I’ve heard suggests Ar-mageddon.”The Welsh Government said it had not

“subjected any individual or organisa-tion to an NDA.”The assembly’s Brexit Committee hasalso released a report saying that a “no-deal” Brexit would pose a “seriousthreat” to the ports sector in Wales.The committee’s chair David Rees AMsaid, “What we found is that thereneeds to be a step-change in WelshGovernment activity to support thesector prepare for a no-deal Brexit.“If our worst fears of new delays andchecks at Welsh ports like Holyheadand Fishguard are realised, Wales willneed detailed plans to manage the fall-out.“That is why we were calling on theWelsh Government to publish detailsof any traffic management contingencyplans it has, including outlining whatnew infrastructure spending may berequired.”Welsh Government officials said itsposition was clear and no-deal “shouldbe unthinkable.”“The UK Government must ensurethat the UK as a whole participates inthe single market and a customs un-ion,” said a spokesman.“That would mean no new barriers totrade and no new customs infrastruc-ture at our ports. These matters re-main entirely the responsibility of theUK Government.”EU leaders signed off on the primeminister’s Brexit deal in Brussels onNovember 25, but the potential of leav-ing the EU without a deal remains be-cause there is no guarantee that TheresaMay will be able to get support forthe deal in the House of Commons.

Welsh ports sign Brexit‘gagging orders’

The Dublin Regional Homeless Execu-tive, which co-ordinates services acrossthe capital’s four local authorities, hasset up a team to prepare for Brexit.

IRISH FERRIES setting sail from Pembroke Dock – but what hap-pens next for Welsh ports? Over 400,000 lorries use the port ofHolyhead every year – just one of several major routes to Irelandfrom Wales.


IRISH WOMEN’SNETWORK OF BC

The Irish Women’s Network of BC:marking 20 years of community service

ANCOUVER – Looking back at the first20 years of the Irish Women’s Networkof B.C., what strikes me is that IWN hasalways been about responding to needs in

By MARYHATCH

Vour community. Take, for instance, the reason theNetwork was formed in the first place.The fact that women who hadno connection to business werejoining the Ireland-CanadaChamber of Commerce so asto attend social functionspointed to a gap in the offer-ings of Irish groups in the LowerMainland.The hope that the proposed networkmight fill this gap was realised in thealacrity and enthusiasm with whichwomen joined it.A notice in The Celtic Connection(where else!) brought 29 women toBurnaby Public Library on that Aprilevening in 1998.Although many were meeting for thefirst time, it wasn’t long before theroom was filled with chatter, warmth,and laughter, as women basked in theoasis-like relief of being among peopleto whom you didn’t have to explainyourself; that, for instance, when yousaid “I’m after having my lunch” youwere referring to an action taken, andnot an intention or, indeed, if you said“she’s out to lunch” you weren’t im-plying that she wasn’t the full shil-ling.In groups, they talked excitedly abouthome, common interests, and possibleactivities.The agreed aims were modest: to pro-vide Irish women with opportunitiesfor companionship, conversation, andmutual support and to be a resourcefor new immigrants. (This latter aimwas initially vague and unambitious:where to find this, how to do that, andso on. It wasn’t realised in any mean-ingful way for quite a few years.)Like cream in the milk bottles of yore,leaders have a way of rising in anygroup.And so it wasn’t long before we hadgolf outings (organised by Marie Mor-ris and her sister Noeleen Corr), liter-ary gatherings, a book club, an anni-versary lunch, and (my favourite) cel-ebrations of that uniquely Irish event,Nollaig na mBan.One woman who was notable for herinnovation and endeavours from thebeginning, and for many years, wasDeirdre O’Ruairc, first as vice presi-dent and then as president.She was the one who saw the need torecognise the contributions to the com-munity, whether Irish or Canadian,made by Irish women. So she initiatedthe Woman of the Year award, spring-ing the first one on my unsuspectingand astonished self in 1999.As well as organising lunches, dinners,etc. and our participation each Marchin the CelticFest parade, Deirdre spot-ted another need: Ireland’s represen-tation among our fellow Europeans atan annual festival in Burnaby.This she (supported by the ever-reli-

able and capable Geraldine Megannety)spearheaded for a number of years. Shealso represented Ireland’s proud liter-ary tradition at an exhibition mountedby Vancouver Public Library.To this day, it is a mystery to me howDeirdre managed to get a special greet-ing to us at our Nollaig na mBan cel-ebration from President MaryMcAleese, and how she then followedthat with the even more impressiveachievements of IWN having a speciallunch with President McAleese and her

husband, and later a breakfast withformer Irish President and UN Com-missioner for Human Rights MaryRobinson.The demise of the Celtic Tiger in 2008was a shock to the Irish diaspora eve-rywhere, but alarm bells rang when westarted hearing Irish accents amongyoung people here, for we realised thatthe haemorrhage of Ireland’s lost gen-

eration had brought so many latelygraduated and jobless young people toVancouver.Many of us, especially those workingin education, knew the Irish way oflooking for employment does not workin this part of the world.Enter IWN’s President Eilis Courtneywho quickly established links with theIrish Government representatives.She applied for, and received, fundingto provide free information events forthe newcomers, assisted by Geraldinewho had valuable contacts among job-search gurus.They rounded up members of the Irishcommunity to advise and help withinsider knowledge and contacts.In the process, they not only enabledpeople to find jobs, but became the

go-to people for new arrivals helpingthem, among other things, with adviceand passport applications.At a recent lunch celebrating IWN’s20th anniversary, newly appointedConsul General Frank Flood, thankedEilis for her hard work, saying she had“put the Irish Women’s Network in asignificant relationship with the Con-sulate and the Embassy.”NB: In contemplating our activitiesover two decades, many faces andnames come to mind, faces and namesof people whose efforts and enthusi-asm have been so important in build-ing IWN. Unfortunately I do not haveenough space to mention them all, butI cannot finish without recognising thevital role played by Maura De Freitasand Catholine Butler of The CelticConnection. We will always be grate-ful for their support and goodwill.

By DEIRDRE O’RUAIRCThe Irish Club of White Rock hada very successful year and wewould like to extend a big welcometo all our new members this year.Many new families have moved to thearea, and it has been wonderful to havethem join our various events through-out the year.Please let your friends, family and new-comers know that there is a very ac-tive Irish club out here in White Rock,including Surrey and Langley, and allare welcome.Our big events this year included ourannual St. Patrick’s Day dinner danceat the Hazelmere Golf and TennisClub; our annual summer picnic atRedwood Park, Surrey; the children’sHalloween party; and several pub so-cials.In August, several club membershelped out the Fraser Valley GaelsFootball Club with the Western CanadaGAA Championships held this yearin Burnaby.Our club works closely with the FraserValley Gaels, it is a lovely mutual part-

‘Changed Utterly’: A verbatim play basedon the words of Constance Markievicz

VANCOUVER – Coming tothe Jericho Arts Centre thisFebruary.....Changed Utterlycreated and directed by JoanBryans.Changed Utterly is a verbatim playbased on the words of ConstanceMarkievicz and some of the principleparticipants of the 1916 Easter Risingin Ireland, together with the songs andpoetry of the day.The play explores this founding mem-ber of the Citizen Army, gun in handfighting for Ireland in the Easter Re-bellion.

Who is this woman stirring the pot tofeed the strikers of the great 1913 lock-out? A poet, actress, suffragette, whobecomes the first female British mem-ber of parliament, the first woman cabi-net minister anywhere? ConstanceMarkievicz was indeed a woman to bereckoned with.A press update from the director saysthe actors of Changed Utterly are busyrehearsing their first drill as membersof the Irish Citizen Army.Don’t miss this play based on one ofthe leaders of the 1916 Rising – Feb-ruary 22 to March 16. More details atwww.vitalsparktheatre.com.

Constance Georgine Markievicz, known as Countess Markievicz(née Gore-Booth) [February 4, 1868 – July 15, 1927) was an Irishpolitician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragette and socialist whoserved as Ireland’s Minister for Labour from 1919 to 1922. A foundermember of Fianna Éireann, Cumann na mBan and the Irish Citi-zen Army, she took part in the Easter Rising in 1916, when Irishrepublicans attempted to end British rule and establish an IrishRepublic.

nership and one we greatly appreci-ate.Our next big event is the annual Christ-mas dinner party, and this year it is beheld on Friday, December 7 at Cos-mos Greek Restaurant on MarineDrive in White Rock.In the new year, the annual St. Patrick’sDay dinner dance will be held on Sat-urday, March 16 at the HazelmereLawn and Tennis Club.Tickets are $60 and details for reser-vations will be announced in the newyear. Tickets sell out fast for this eventas we have limited seating.Don’t forget, White Rock is only a 45-minute drive from Vancouver and thereis always a welcome here for you, sobe sure to share with family andfriends.The Irish Club of White Rock wouldlike to wish each and every one of youand your families a very happy andpeaceful Christmas and the very bestof Irish luck in 2019.Be sure to check our Facebook pagefor all upcoming events.Sona Nollag agus an bhliain nua sásta.

IRISH CLUB OF WHITE ROCK

A warm céad míle fáiltefrom White Rock

REHEARSING asmembers of theIrish Citizen Army,actors prepare foropening night of‘Changed Utterly’,a new play basedon the words ofIrish revolutionaryConstanceMarkievicz


FRANK FLOOD (centre), the new Irish Consul General in Vancouver, and his wife Orla Ní Bhroíthe(third from left) with Eilis Courtney, Mary Hatch, Marie Morris, and Deirdre O’Ruairc at the 20th

anniversary celebrations of the Irish Women’s Network.

OPENING CEREMONIES ofthe European Festival at theScandinavian CommunityCentre with members of theIrish Women’s Network rep-resenting Ireland. Pictured onthe dias centre front: DeirdreO’Ruairc, 2006 president ofthe IWN, and 2006 IrishWoman of the Year, CatholineButler of The Celtic Connec-tion. MEMBERS of the Irish Women’s Network book club in Surrey in

2009.

FIRST PLACE at the IWN golf tournament in 2009 – Ann Innis,Marie Morris, Ann Carr and Noeleen Corr.

DEIRDRE O’RUAIRC with Presi-dent Mary McAleese who was aguest of the IWN in 2005.

MARY HATCH with former President of Ireland Mary Robinsonwho was a special guest of the Irish Women’s Network during herterm as UN Commissioner for Human Rights in 2006.

EILIS COURTNEY, Geraldine Megannety, Mary Hatch and SiobhanAirey at a free information event to assist new Irish arrivals in 2011.

IRISH WOMEN’S NETWORK volunteers at the 2008 St. Patrick’sDay Parade in Vancouver.

CEILI DANCING at an Irish Women’s Network celebration of Nollaig na mBan.


Michael D. Higgins' messagefor the homeless as he lights

Áras Christmas tree

PRESIDENT Michael D. Higgins has issued his Christmas and New Year message to the people ofIreland and all the Irish family.

DUBLIN – President Michael D.Higgins has lit the Áras Christmas treeand said his thoughts are with thehomeless and the bereaved this year.Speaking alongside his wife Sabina,President Higgins urged people to beaware of those less fortunate than themand those who have been recently be-reaved.Addressing an assembled crowd at theÁras, Higgins said, “As we enjoy thewarm glow of Christmas that lights upthe darkness of mid-winter it is im-portant that we remember that Christ-mas can also be a very sad time of year;a time when people can feel especiallylonely or sad or under pressure.“Some people may be mourning theloss of a loved one, some people arefar away from home and are probablymissing their family. Others are with-out the security of a home and will

wake up on Christmas morning in shel-ters, in cramped rooms or even out onthe bitterly cold streets.”Higgins then used his speech to send amessage to all those who are homelessin Ireland, especially the children andthose caught in the direct provisionsystem.He added, “We call to mind in a spe-cial way all the children in temporaryshelter or in hotel rooms for whom wemust care at this time.“And so this evening, as we light theChristmas tree in Áras an Uachtaráin,let us remember all of the people forwhom it is being lit – we will remem-ber the lonely, the ill and the home-less, the bereaved for whom thisChristmas will be a particularly sadand difficult time, our emigrants, par-ticularly those who cannot make ithome for Christmas this year but will

be with us in spirit ; and those whohave come to Ireland in recent times tomake a new home here, including allthose in direct provision, and who willbe bringing their own special memo-ries to their Christmas celebrations.“We also remember all those who willbe working this Christmas to keep ussafe and well – members of the IrishDefence Forces who will be absentfrom home this Christmas due topeace-keeping duties abroad; and weremember – the Gardaí, the fire serv-ice and all the medical staff who willensure that the sick and the elderlycontinue to be cared for while the restof us are enjoying our family celebra-tions.”The pesident said that despite the dif-ficult economic times Ireland is expe-riencing there is much to be proud ofas we prepare for the New Year.

Majority of people thinkSinn Féin should take its

Westminster seatsfor crucial Brexit vote

BELFAST – A majority of people be-lieve that Sinn Féin should break itslong-standing policy of not taking itsseats in Westminster, so it can backthe Brexit deal that guarantees no hardborder in Northern IrelandThe deal agreed between TheresaMay’s government and the EU hasbeen hailed a good one for Ireland, of-fering crucial guarantees on a backstopthat would prevent such hard borderon the island.However, the numbers currently don’tlook good for the deal to be ratified byparliament as the crucial House ofCommons vote looms on December 11.According to a poll for RTÉ’s ClaireByrne Live by Amarách Research, 57percent of people said they think SinnFéin MPs should take their seats inWestminster so they can vote forMay’s Brexit deal.Of the over 1,000 Irish adults surveyedfor the poll, 20 percent said the MPsshouldn’t, while 23 percent said theydidn’t know either way.As it stands right now, Theresa Mayneeds all the help she can get.The House of Commons has 650 seats,with four of its members abstainingfrom voting – the speaker and his threedeputies.The Conservative party as it standsdoes not have a majority in the parlia-ment in Westminster.It has been backed up by the DUPsince last year’s general election, as its10 seats have supplemented the To-ries’ 315.It is highly unlikely that the DUP willback the deal.So, on that alone, if all opposition par-ties voted against the deal – May wouldlose even if all her party membersvoted for it.And, again, there’s likely to be a size-able number of Conservatives votingagainst the deal.

May has been seeking to canvass sup-port throughout the past few weeks,but her position is looking increasinglyprecarious as the vote looms.Given the current state of the num-bers, it is not clear that Sinn Féin couldsway the vote with its 7 MPs.Republican abstentionism from electedoffice stretches back over 100 years.It is just over 30 years ago that SinnFéin agreed to end its abstentionistpolicy from the Dáil by 429 votes to161.The long-standing practice of refusingto take up seats in Westminster con-tinues to this day, with the party run-ning candidates on the clear policy ofabstentionism.Voters are made aware that a vote forSinn Féin in the House of Commonsmeans they’re voting for a candidatewho will not take up a seat if elected.All MPs must take an oath to theQueen when taking their seats in West-minster, swearing true allegiance to themonarch. Sinn Féin opts not to do this.Writing in the Guardian in March, SinnFéin MP Paul Maskey said that sit-ting in the British parliament is “notwhat I was elected for”.“We are not British MPs,” he said.“We are Irish MPs and we believe theinterests of the Irish people can onlybe served by democratic institutionson the island of Ireland.Sinn Féin goes to the electorate seek-ing a mandate for that position. We areelected as MPs who vote for Sinn Féinnot to take seats at Westminster.Maskey went on to say that the “peo-ple of Ireland will not find a solutionto Brexit in the parliament that is im-posing it”.In a poll conducted by the same poll-sters earlier this year, 67 percent ofpeople said they thought Sinn FéinMPs should take their seats to voteon Brexit issues.‘Families need a Christmas miracle’:

Irish-funded doctors to helpChernobyl babies in war-torn Ukraine

DUBLIN – A TEAM OF Irish-fundeddoctors have travelled to Kharkiv ineastern Ukraine to perform life-savingsurgeries for children affected by theChernobyl disaster.But the group, who are travelling withthe charity Chernobyl Children Inter-national, did not have an easy passagebecause of an ongoing conflict involv-ing Russian separatists in the region.The area, which is under martial law,has seen daily exchanges betweenUkrainian Government troops andpro-Russian militias who have de factocontrol of border areas.“History has a habit of repeating it-self, but I didn’t expect the repetitionso quickly,” Dr. William Novick, oneof those travelling.“But we’re not deterred, because weknow how valuable our help is and howanxious families are looking for theirChristmas miracles.”In 1986, a catastrophic nuclear acci-dent occurred at a power station in

Chernobyl, releasing huge amounts ofradioactive material into the environ-ment.The disaster led to the creation of a 30kilometre exclusion zone around thestation, as well as long-term health ef-fects on those who lived in the region,including fatal cancers.One of these conditions ‘ChernobylHeart’, affects children born in the re-gion whose bodies absorb radioactivematerial as they develop.Over 6,000 babies are born with heartdefects in the country every year, andthey suffer from a range of health ef-fects, including high blood pressureand holes in their hearts.To assist them, the Irish-funded doc-tors have travelled to perform life-sav-ing operations on babies as young asone day old who live in towns and vil-lages affected by the accident.For Novick, however, their journeyhas recalled previous missions by thegroup.

“It was not too long ago when politicsand egos tried to disrupt our missionto help the children with heart defects,”he recalls.In 2014, violence in the area forced thecharity to suspend surgeries forChernobyl’s youngest victims.However, the group’s founder AdiRoche said despite the risks involved,the team has assessed the situation andfeels that their role is too importantnot to travel.“The reality is that one in every fourchildren diagnosed with the heart de-fect known as ‘Chernobyl Heart’ willdie before they reach the age of six,”she said.“So the programmes we organise andfund each year are really a race againsttime.”She added that while the atmospherein Ukraine is still volatile, the teamwill continue the work it has been do-ing in the country for the past 14 yearswhile it can.

How should Sceilg Mhichílbe protected? People urged

to have their sayThe Irish Government has launched apublic consultation on a new 10-yearmanagement plan for the World Herit-age Site off the coast of Kerry – SceligMhichíl.The towering rocky island has becomea huge tourist draw in recent years, asit has served as the home of LukeSkywalker in the latest installments ofthe Star Wars saga.Its history dates back centuries, whenmonks founded a monastery on therock. While the monastic communityhad largely moved back to the main-land by the 13th Century, it continuedto be venerated as a place of pilgrim-age.However, as it is a UNESCO protectedsite, visitors are strictly limited bynumber and to certain times of the year.The new consultation is around “pro-tecting and preserving the outstandinguniversal value of the site, while al-lowing it to be accessible to local com-

munities and visitors to experience andenjoy its cultural and spiritual rich-ness,” a statement from the Depart-ment of Culture, Heritage and theGaeltacht said.Those with an interest in the manage-ment of the site are urged to make theirviews known so they can be consid-ered before the department sends itsfull plan to UNESCO in the New Year.Minister Josepha Madigan said SceilgMhichíl stood above all of Ireland’swonderful archaeological monumentsin terms of its visibility and promi-nence.She added, “It is the remit of my De-partment and of the OPW to preserve,conserve and manage this great site notonly for the people of Ireland, but forthe whole world.Anyone seeking to participate in theconsultation can send a submission [email protected].


EMEMBRANCE Sunday, November 11, 2018,passed off as it always does in the United King-dom with an efflorescence throughout the disu-nited polity of red artificial flowers worn on la-

The association of the poppywith the First World War deadderives from a poem by a Ca-nadian Lieutenant-Colonel, JohnMcCrae:

Take up our quarrel with the foe!To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high!

If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep,

though poppies growIn Flanders fields.

The poppy, according to this verse,represents an incitement to war andthe rallying cry in a recruitment cam-paign.Given that the poem was published in1915, it played its part in thickeningthe supply of young volunteers forWWI.Not enough though: By January 1916,men were being conscripted in Brit-ain. Ultimately conscripted soldiersoutnumbered volunteers, which givesthe lie to the myth of the gallant pa-triot leaping to sacrifice himself for hiscountry.It is also to write out of history themass protests against WWI conscrip-tion, something that suits the BritishGovernment eminently well.The soldiers made their sacrifice forKing and country – so the rhetoric goes– yet it is more plausible to assert thatBritain sacrificed the soldiers.Unfortunately, the explosive devicewithin the poppy’s delicate bud israrely perceived in Britain today; andpublic figures who do not wear apoppy in the run up to RemembranceSunday are systematically hectored.In 2015, for example, actress SiennaMiller was pilloried for not wearing apoppy when she was interviewed onthe Graham Norton Show.She later explained: “Of course, I don’tthink there’s anyone in this countrywho isn’t grateful and respectful andnever would want to cause offence andwear a poppy all the time.”

candidate Liadh Ní Riada about herattitude towards wearing a poppy,which put Ní Riada in a double-bind.If she were elected head of state, herduties would involve laying wreathsat cenotaphs, raising the expectationfrom a British and unionist perspec-tive that she might wear a poppy. Tomany Sinn Féin supporters, that wouldbe anathema.On the occasion, Ní Riada replied: “Ithink it is a sign of maturity that ifyou wear a symbol, such as the poppy,that you are saying we have come thisfar in extending the hand of peace andfriendship, and so, yes, I would.”A poster of Liadh Ní Riada outsideLetterkenny in Donegal was promptlysmeared in red: “Wear your bloodstained poppy.”Sinn Féin Senator Padraig MacLochlainn (who also featured on thedefaced poster) swiftly stated that hewould never wear a poppy since it“represents all British soldiers in allconflicts.” Mac Lochlainn’s assertionis factually correct.As Gulf war veteran Charles Plumridgeargued: “Any questioning of the poppycan only cause anguish to the peoplethat have worn it with pride over theyears, the families of those who gavetheir lives and those people who arestill doing so [italics mine].”This reveals the nub of the matter. Ifpeople are free at all, they must befree to question, and they are right toquestion what the poppy means.In part, it means and Plumridge – asgood as admits this – refusing to ques-tion the justifications given by theBritish Government for deploying itsarmy to kill and be killed, and in recentdecades even breaking international lawin the process.It means refusing to confront WilfredOwen’s exhortation to cease tellingchildren “the old lie.” And, by refus-ing to question and to form a judge-ment of one’s own on the matter, itmeans falling well short of the matu-rity that defenders of the poppy areso apt to invoke.There is nothing so unnerving to peo-ple who insist on the universal accept-ance of the poppy than self-definition.The message is clear: piety is in; prob-ing is out. Remembrance Sunday in-vites soft-spoken patriotism, delimit-ing the commemorative act to feelingthe WWI loss, but not thinking itthrough.The objective of this deceit is to debarhistorical enquiry and debate aboutwhy 6,000 soldiers a day died, andwhere responsibility for their deathlies. That is the pup being sold byBritish officialdom.The public pressure to wear a poppytoday mirrors the distribution duringWWI of white feathers to “cowards”,conscientious objectors who did notsign up to fight. Plus ça change....It is a pathetic sight to now watchpeople who presume to advocate re-publicanism buying into the samefraud in the name of “maturity.”That is another lie. In one version ofWaltzing Matilda, a survivor of WWI,having returned from the Gallipoli pe-ninsula without his legs, is forced towitness commemorations of WWIback in Australia.He ruefully observes: “And the youngpeople ask, ‘What are they marchingfor?’ and I ask myself the same ques-tion.”

Poppies, Protest and the Past

THE VIEWFROM IRELAND

ByMAURICEFITZPATRICK

Rpels to commemorate “the fallen” in the Great War, 1914-18. The only problem is that that is not all the poppy sym-bolises.

Well, not quite. Negative reaction tothe poppy is reasonably prevalent andit is, at a minimum, worthwhile con-sidering why some people resent thepressure to wear it.During WWI, an average of 6,000 sol-diers were killed per day over a fouryear period.It is hardly surprising that a govern-ment substantially culpable for thislevel of carnage should try to focuspeople’s attention on the victims ratherthan the victimisers – lest uncomfort-able questions arise about its machi-nations, past and present.As poet Wilfred Owen put it, elderswho encourage the young to die fortheir country spread the “old lie” thatit is “sweet and proper” to do so.Before the Troubles, it was much morecommon for nationalists and unionistsalike to remember the WWI dead intown squares throughout the North inNovember, and to wear the poppy.After 1969, many Republicans con-sciously repudiated those affinities;and attacked those, typically from aunionist background, who retainedthem. Hence the IRA’s horrific bomb-ing of Protestant civilians in Enniskillenon Remembrance Sunday 1987.The massacre at Enniskillen is alwaysin the backdrop when a new crop ofSinn Féin politicians, who are seekingdistance from the IRA’s violent cam-paign, comment on the poppy.For example, in an RTÉ television de-bate in October, interviewer ClaireByrne pushed Sinn Féin presidential

Light in the Dark –How Science and theSolstice Illuminate aLandscape of Hatred

By CYNTHIA WALLENTINEFrom our archaic past, the fun-damental message of the Sol-stice season lights our way to-ward a greater day of reason aday that is seemingly beyond hu-manity at present.A recent opinion piece in The New YorkTimes discusses the neuroscience ofhate speech.Barbarism, deceit, misogyny, igno-rance, racism, and select transactionaltruth are routinely fed into the worldby the American president, ostensiblyto “fire up” his voter base in the UnitedStates.Yet governments and fascist groupsaround the world are using his vitriolto their advantage, willing even tomurder to ensure their path to poweris clear.As most of us know, propaganda haslong been used to vilify the “other,”whether it is an individual of a differ-ent gender, religion, background, or ap-pearance.The author of the Times piece, Dr. Ri-chard Friedman, cites several studiesthat remind us that when threatened,we humans can behave pretty poorly.By terrorizing people into a chronicstate of fear, confusion and uncertainty,bogies like Trump groom their audi-ence to despise those whom he sug-gests are waiting to take jobs, money,or physical security.Gifted only at name-calling, Trumpworks hard to dehumanize anyone andanything that protests his sick agenda.Citing a study at Princeton, Friedmannotes, “distrust of an out-group islinked to anger and impulses towardviolence.“This is particularly true when a soci-ety faces economic hardship and peo-ple are led to see outsiders as com-petitors for their jobs.”From the standpoint of neuroscience,we are hard-wired to react quickly tothreat.If an out-group, such as immigrants,or just those who are different thanus, are constantly portrayed as athreat, it becomes easier to forget higherlevel behavior, and drop into the gut-ter with threats and even violence.Of the overall population, the major-ity of people living in North Americaare immigrants, or descended from im-migrants. We were, or are, all membersof an “out-group” at some point.It is shocking and disturbing that weforget our empathy, our intelligence,and our manners, just because thesandbox bully in the American WhiteHouse can form words on an electronicdevice.

Science tells us negativity is catchy.The primal base of our brain, the amy-gdala, doesn’t understand we no longerlive in caves. It responds to threat, withaction if need be.That kind of stress shortens lives, con-stricts arteries, and makes enemies outof neighbors.Trump agitates his base at ongoingcampaign rallies to feed himself fromthe fires of hate that he stokes in theaudience. Are you among them?In a world so polarized, it is not hardto turn friends into enemies, makestrangers threatening, or justify vio-lence against women, children, or men.It is wrong.All humans are capable of dark twistedviolence under the right conditions.Hate is easy, it takes no strength. Ithas always been so.Humans are also capable of inestima-ble grace, joy, and compassion.But finding the light in someone else,or something else, now, that takeswork. It takes empathy.Have you ever sought to be under-stood? Lived in a desperate condition?Known or loved someone who has?Our genetic inheritance is riven withtides of lives whose struggles left theirmark in our cells.The winter solstice is on Friday, De-cember 21 this year. It occurs whenthe sun appears to finally turn back toa darkened world.The new growing season is born fromthe darkest moment of the solar year.The world has always awaited the lightof the solstice, our kind has createdfestivals, customs, and religions to ex-plain and to nurture the newborn sun.Tyrants and heroes populate the his-tory and mythology of humankind.Folklore offers a steady word on howthe rest of us might live our lives fac-ing challenges that repeat over and overagain through the ages.This day, and this tyrant, are not spe-cial.Just as light can never vanquish dark-ness, darkness can never conquer light.Solstice gives us unswerving knowl-edge that light will return to the world,and that light can return to the heartthat is open to showing compassionand empathy to others.Remember the stories of your fore-bears, remember your children, or yourfriends and family. Remember the light.When you can illuminate the night foranother, instead of adding to the dark-ness, you return balance to a world inneed, or maybe just offer warmth to apassing soul.

Blessed Be.

Progress on peace wallsin NI stalled over politics

The lack of devolved government inNorthern Ireland is hampering effortsto transform the region's peace walls,according to the chairman of the Inter-national Fund for Ireland.There are an estimated 116 barriersseparating unionist and nationalistcommunities across Northern Ireland.They are mostly located in Belfast butare also present in Derry as well asCo. Armagh towns Lurgan andPortadown.A small number have been removed ortransformed, including one at a formerflashpoint in Ardoyne in north Bel-fast in 2016.

It was transformed to lower heightblack metal railings following agree-ment between the local communities.Dr. Adrian Johnston, chairman of theInternational Fund for Ireland (IFI)said progress on other barriers hasslowed significantly in the absence ofpower-sharing government.He told the Press Association that atthe start of 2018, there were 12 barri-ers they hoped to see progress on.In 2011, the peace wall gate inAlexandra Park in north Belfast startedto be opened regularly.Johnston said those residents are nowready to make further progress but thishas stalled due to the political stasis.


SEATTLE – Daniel Mulhall, Ireland’s 18th Ambas-sador to the United States, was in Seattle from Thurs-day, December 6, to Saturday, December 8.

DANIEL MULHALLIreland’s Ambassador to the U.S. Visits Seattle, WA

By JOHN KEANE

DAN MULHALL the Ambassador of Ireland to the United States speaking to members of the IrishNetwork Seattle at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle on December 7, 2018.

The purpose of his visit was toextend business links betweenthe Pacific Northwest and Ire-land, especially following thestart of a direct Seattle-Dublinflight last May, and to supportthe possibility of a Seattle-areabusiness mission to Ireland in2019.While in Seattle, he had various meet-ings with local businesses and busi-ness groups.He also met with Washington StateGovernor Jay Inslee and WashingtonState Attorney General Bob Ferguson.His public events included a speech atSeattle University hosted by the Uni-versity’s Institute of Public Service; atalk at a business breakfast hosted byIrish Network Seattle; and he attendedan Irish seniors’ luncheon where he wasgreeted by about 180 attendees.Ambassador Mulhall took up his du-ties as Ambassador of Ireland to theU.S. in August 2017.He was born and brought up in Water-ford and after studying at UniversityCollege Cork joined the Departmentof Foreign Affairs in 1978.His early diplomatic assignments werein New Delhi, Vienna (OSCE), Brus-

sels (European Union) and Edinburghwhere he was Ireland’s first ConsulGeneral, 1998-2001.He served as Ireland’s Ambassador toMalaysia from 2001-05, as Ireland’sAmbassador to Germany from 2009-13, and as Ireland’s Ambassador inLondon from 2013-17.During his diplomatic career, Ambas-sador Mulhall also served as a memberof the Secretariat of the Forum forPeace and Reconciliation (1994-95)which was set up in 1994 in order topromote political dialogue between dif-ferent political traditions in Ireland.From 1994-98, he was the Depart-ment’s Press Counsellor and in thatcapacity was part of the Irish Gov-ernment’s delegation at the time of theGood Friday Agreement in 1998.A keen advocate of public diplomacy,Ambassador Mulhall makes regular useof social media in order to provide in-formation on the work of the Embassy,to highlight Ireland’s achievements andto engage with Irish communities andthose with an interest in Ireland.During his time in Washington, he pro-vides daily updates on Twitter@DanMulhall and through regularblogs posted on the Embassy’swebsite.Daniel Mulhall is married to Greta andthey have a daughter and a son.

(L-R) ROBERT O’DRISCOLL, Consul General of Ireland to the Western United States; MatthewO’Toole, Irish Network Seattle board member; Caroline Lee, president of the Irish Network Seattle;Dan Mulhall, Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States; with Irish Network Seattle board members:Padraic Jordan, Fionnuala O’Sullivan, and Aine Richards, following the Irish Network Seattle break-fast at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle on December 7, 2018.

LOUISE MARTELL, president of the All-Ireland Cultural Society ofOregon, Dan Mulhall, Ireland’s Ambassador to the U.S., and JohnKeane, Honorary Consul of Ireland in Seattle at the Irish NetworkSeattle breakfast at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle.

(L-R) IRISH NETWORK SEATTLE president Caroline Lee, the Consul General of Ireland to theWestern United States Robert O’Driscoll, Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States Dan Mulhall,Port of Seattle Commission president Courtney Gregoire, Amazon director for user experience andpeople technology Elaine O’Toole, and Ivar’s restaurants president Bob Donegan pose for a pictureafter Mulhall spoke at an Irish Network Seattle breakfast at the Washington Athletic Club December7, 2018 in Seattle.

AMBASSADOR Mulhall speaking at the podium at a breakfastmeeting hosted by Irish Network Seattle on December 7, 2018.


ByJOHN

KEANE

SEATTLE IRISH NEWSPASSINGS

• Ed Harkin (86), who grew up mostlyin Donegal and Westmeath, and livedin Seattle for 52 years during whichtime he coached the Seattle Gaels, diedon November 26 in Thailand;

• Sister Rose Donohoe, CSJP (103), anative of Co. Leitrim who joined theSisters of St. Joseph of Peace inBellingham in 1936, died November 12in Bellevue;

• Colm McGlynn, husband of Monicaand a Seattle resident since the 1950s,died in his native Co. Donegal Novem-ber 10;

• Ann Harvey Lynch (91), whose par-ents were from Armagh and Donegal,and who was a sister of the late JackHarvey and mother of Judge BrianLynch, died November 6 in Seattle;

• Vera Carlston (93), a native of Co.Kildare who lived in Everett for over50 years, died in Dublin November 2,two years after she returned to live inIreland following her husband’s death;

• Máirtín Dirrane (54), a native of InisMór (Inishmore), Aran Islands, Co.Galway, a fisherman who worked inSeattle for over 20 years, drowned inSeattle October 24;

• Helen Tannahill (60), daughter of Irishimmigrants the late John and KathleenDuggan, died October 19 in Tacoma;

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

•IRISH WEEK 2019 – For those plan-ning ahead, the main events of IrishWeek 2019 in Seattle will be the May-

or’s Irish Week Proclamation Lunch-eon on Friday, March 15; the St.Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday,March 16; while the Irish Festival atthe Seattle Center will be held Satur-day and Sunday, March 16 and 17.

The Irish Heritage Club website is cur-rently being updated but when com-plete all the details for the upcomingSeattle Irish Week can be found atwww.irishweek.org.

IHC AGM – At the recent annual gen-eral meeting and election of officersfor the Irish Heritage Club, Betty Egan,Candace Dunne, Heather Murphy, andJane Sepede were re-elected to three-year terms on the board of directorswhile officers for the coming year

were elected as follows: DavidJacobsen, president; Ari Hausler, vice-president; Jane Sepede, secretary;John Keane, treasurer; and CaronMcMahon, membership secretary.More information atwww.irishclub.org.

•MISCELLANEOUS

• Contact Seattle’s Irish Book Club [email protected] (note newemail address)

• The 40th Annual Magical Strings CelticYuletide Concerts throughout theNorthwest, through December 21 withSeattle’s concert on December 15 –visit www.magicalstrings.com.

• Mark your calendar for Nollaig namBan, the Irish Women’s Christmascelebration on Sunday, January 6,2019 – call 253-237-2811

• Also mark your calendar for 2019Irish Night at the Seattle Mariners onThursday, July 25, vs. the Detroit Ti-gers

Go raibh síochán na Nollag agusBliain Nua faoi shéan ‘s

faoi shonas ort ‘s ar do mhuintir!

May the peace of Christmasand a happy and prosperous

New Year be with you and yours!

PHOTO: Brendan Shriane(L-R) GRETA MULHALL, Rozarii Lynch, Ireland’s Ambassador tothe United States Dan Mulhall, Eidin Dolan, and Don Brady at theIrish Network Seattle breakfast at the Washington Athletic Club inSeattle on December 7, 2018.

IRISH CONSUL GENERAL to the Western United States RobertO’Driscoll; Irish Development Authority’s Turlough McCormack;Greta Mulhall; Ambassador Dan Mulhall; and Starbucks SeniorVP John Kelly at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle.

PIANIST John Tobin, uilleann piper Rod Margason, choir directorMiriam Doyle, and harpist Molly Bauckham, with Nancy Ingle inthe background (rear left), at the social hour following Seattle’sMass in Gaelic on November 9.

FR. MARTIN BOURKE and Fr. John Madigan chatting withPhilomena Kenna, Cecilia Richards and Elizabeth Belton at thesocial hour following Seattle’s Mass in Gaelic on November 9.

Special thanksto Brendan Shriane

for the photo round-up

MARY SHRIANE and TaraBarnes at the social hour follow-ing Seattle’s Mass in Gaelic onNovember 9.

OLIVIA BERMINGHAM-MCDONAGH and CaronMcMahon at the social hour fol-lowing Seattle’s Mass in Gaelicon November 9.


Best in the world: Ireland defeatAll Blacks with epic display

Ireland 16New Zealand 9

DUBLIN – Raise the arm, salutethe winner, the undisputed heavy-weight champions wearing em-erald green.It didn’t need a hyped-up promoter toover-sell an occasion that lived up toits top-of-the-card billing from firstwhistle to last with punch and coun-ter-punch, a match for the ages, con-firmed only at the death with NewZealand striving right to the end.The All Blacks didn’t score a try. Nowthere’s a sentence that has rarely beenpenned over the last decade and en-capsulates just how stirring Ireland’sdefence was, built on the credo thatthey shall not pass. And they didn’t.So now Ireland duly lay claim to beingthe best in the world in 2018 after re-cording their first ever win over theAll Blacks in Dublin thanks to JacobStockdale’s 48th-minute try.It was a moment of affirmation, a sig-nificant staging post en route to nextyear’s Rugby World Cup, a statementof intent for that tournament and a tan-talising re-ordering of the leading con-tenders.New Zealand, particularly in the firsthalf, were well beaten, more than thescoreboard suggests.Ireland have been a gathering force forthe last two years, a team on the risewith a Grand Slam to their name butwithout that final notch on the beltthat would confirm their improving sta-tus. This was it.This was the result that Ireland craved,proof that they belonged among thereal elite of the game.If they had fluffed this audition, theirself-belief would have splintered andthey would have travelled to Japanwith hope rather than expectation tofortify them.To judge by the roars of acclaim thatrang out far across the Dublin dockside,such thoughts lay within the hearts andminds of their supporters, too.

JOEY CARBERY and Jacob Stockdale pump their fists at the finalwhistle for the Rugby World Cup.

JACOB STOCKDALE scores a sensational try for Ireland.Ireland are on their way. Championsof Europe is one thing. This is quiteanother. As New Zealand themselvesrecognised.“As of now they are the number oneteam in the world so I guess that doesmake them favourites for the WorldCup,” said All Blacks head coach SteveHansen.“But there is a lot of water to go underthe bridge before the World Cup starts.“When you get beaten it hurts. Thedressing room is quiet, sombre. Theplayers are gutted and that is how youshould feel when you get beaten.”And even if Ireland were under the

pump as the clock went into the redand waves of black shirts bore downon them again, there was simply a feel-ing that this was their time.They would not give way, that deep-rooted desire and punishing defenceeventually causing Brodie Retallick, aman who can probably count the er-rors in his entire career on the fingersof one hand, to knock on.That was a measure of Irish defianceand sense of certainty.Flanker Peter O’Mahony was a giant– resolute, implacable, persistent. TheMunsterman gave his very being to thecause.Johnny Sexton, forever probing, for-ever challenging, had to be dragged fromthe field with cramp a few minutesfrom time, fighting to the last for everyinch.Josh van der Flier on the other flank, alate call-up on Friday, played with thedevil and assurance of a regular.Kieran Marmion didn’t miss a beat atscrum-half, Jacob Stockdale on thewing was a force field of activity, get-ting the vital touchdown that sent Ire-land clear.It was the sort of classy finish that isthe hallmark of an All Black. Thoseterms of reference will have to be rede-fined.It was the collective identity of Ire-land’s play that left an inedible mark.There was not a single second in thefrenetic action when anyone in greenwas not on-message.They had been brilliantly schooled byJoe Schmidt, whose stock in his NewZealand homeland will have risen con-siderably after this triumph, cement-ing his own claims to be the next AllBlacks head coach, and imbued, too,with the zeal of defence coach AndyFarrell.This was the fourth victory over NewZealand in which he has been involvedin the last six years.

WORLD RUGBY MEN’S 15s Player of the Year award winnerJohnny Sexton (L) and Irish national team captain Rory Best posewith their trophies during the World Rugby Awards on November25, 2018 at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club in Monaco.

Johnny Sexton becomesthe first Irishman to becrowned World Playerof the Year in 17 years

DUBLIN – Johnny Sexton has becomethe first Irishman since Keith Wood in2001 to be crowned World RugbyPlayer of the Year.The announcement was made at a lav-ish ceremony in Monte Carlo on theevening of November 25.Ireland captain Rory Best had to readout Sexton’s acceptance speech be-cause he had lost his voice due to athroat infection.The Ireland and Leinster outhalf beatoff competition from Beauden Barrett,who was trying to win the award forthe third year in succession, RiekoIoane and South Africa duo Faf DeKlerk and Malcolm Marx.Joe Schmidt, who has announced hisdecision to leave his position as Ire-land head coach after next year’s RugbyWorld Cup in Japan, was crownedWorld Rugby Coach of the Year.The 53-year-old Kiwi has guided Ire-land to number two in the world

rankings after a stellar 2018 which in-cluded a third ever Grand Slam, a se-ries victory in Australia and a first winover the All Blacks on home soil, butwill not extend his contract beyondnext year’s tournament.Ireland were also named World RugbyTeam of the Year after losing just onegame in 2018.Sports Minister Shane Ross congratu-lated the IRFU on a “remarkableachievement.”“What we saw against the All Blackswas an unbelievable team performanceto do something that hadn’t been donebefore, this group of players are veryspecial and continue to raise our ex-pectations, Joe has brought the teamto a new level and these are indeed ex-citing times as we look forward to nextyear.“Johnny Sexton has been that generalon the field, and is a role model off itas well so it is fitting that he is crownedplayer of the year.”

Raheem Sterling: Manchester Citystar accuses British newspapers ofhelping to 'fuel racism' in football

LONDON – Football starRaheem Sterling has accusedBritish newspapers of helping to“fuel racism” in their portrayalof young black players, the dayafter he was subjected to al-leged racist abuse in the Pre-mier League.Sterling said he “expects no better” fol-lowing the incident during Manches-ter City's 2-0 defeat by Chelsea atStamford Bridge on Saturday, Decem-ber 8.The incident, which showed support-ers allegedly shouting racial abuse atSterling, was captured on camera andwidely shared on social media, is beinginvestigated by police, Chelsea and theEnglish Football Association.In a heartfelt post written on Instagram,Sterling said he “just had to laugh” at

the events of Saturday before urgingnewspapers to treat both black andwhite players equally.“Regarding what was said at the Chel-sea game, as you can see by my reac-tion, I just had to laugh because I don'texpect no better,” he wrote.Next to his message, Sterling postedscreengrabs of two articles, both onthe MailOnline, about two Manches-ter City teammates Tosin Adarabioyo

and Phil Foden purchasing houses.“You have two young players start-ing out there [sic] careers both playfor the same team, both have done theright thing which is buy a new housefor there [sic] mothers who have putin a lot of time and love into helpingthem get where they are, but look howthe newspapers get there [sic] mes-sage across for the young black playerand the young white player," hewrote.“I think this is unacceptable both in-nocent have not done a thing wrongbut just by the way it has beenworded.“The young black kid is looked at in abad light. Which helps fuel racism andaggressive behavior, so for all the news-papers that don't understand why peo-ple are racist in this day and age all Ihave to say is have a second thoughtabout fair publicity and give all play-ers an equal chance.”

Sterling has often been featured onboth the front and back pages of anumber of British tabloid newspapers.Before last summer's World Cup hewas attacked for having a tattoo of anassault rifle on his leg, a tattoo thatSterling said was a tribute to his fatherwho was murdered when the footballerwas just two.The 24-year-old England star has alsobeen criticized for buying clothes at ahigh-street store and for buying hismother a house.His actions were praised by a numberof ex-professional players on Twitter,including former England striker GaryLineker. “He most certainly has apoint. It's brave and right that @ster-ling7 speaks out,” Lineker tweeted.Former France and Manchester Uniteddefender Patrice Evra also praised Ster-ling while hitting out at the alleged rac-ist abuse which took place Saturday.“I saw what happened with @ster-ling7 yesterday....How does this hap-pen still in 2018?!“It doesn't matter what colour yourskin is or your religion or what coun-try you are from we need to be kind toeach other. Love is so much more pow-erful than hate,” Evra tweeted.

RAHEEM STERLING


Martin O’Neill waves goodbyeto Republic of Ireland

DUBLIN – Martin O’Neill hassaid he left the job as Republicof Ireland football manager witha “heavy heart” after agreeingto part company with the FAI.O’Neill has occupied the manager’sseat since 2013. He was summoned toemergency talks with FAI CEO JohnDelaney late on November 20 wherethe decision was made for him and as-sistant Roy Keane to depart.O’Neill subsequently released a state-ment through the League Managers’Association.“I will not forget the night in Lille whenwe beat Italy to secure the nation’sbest ever achievement in the Euroscompetition, the terrific night we beatthe world champions Germany athome in Dublin, or James McClean’sgoal in that euphoric win against Walesin Cardiff that put us through to theplay-offs for this year’s World Cup,”he said.“The Irish fans have been a source ofmotivation to myself, the team and thewhole backroom staff, embodying thepassionate Irish spirit, and I thankthem for their fervent support of theteam.“I am also very proud of the relation-ships I have built with the players,who have carried that very same spirit,imbued by the fans, on to the field ofplay.”O’Neill added, “A special thanks toRoy Keane my assistant, an inspira-tional figure in the world of football,Seamus McDonagh, Steve Guppy andSteve Walford for their brilliant con-tributions and to those backroom staffat the FAI that were of enormous helpto me.”The Republic didn’t win a competi-tive game in 2018, and like their north-ern counterparts, were relegated fromtheir group in the newly-establishedNations League.

The Republic were also mired in con-troversy over claims of rows betweenplayers and O’Neill’s fiery assistantKeane.O’Neill stoutly defended the formerManchester United star, who was in-famously sent home from the Repub-lic’s World Cup squad in Japan in 2002after a furious bust-up with managerMick McCarthy.O’Neill’s own experiences of theWorld Cup were altogether happierones as he was one of the heroes, andcaptain, during Northern Ireland’s glorydays in Spain in 1982.A statement from the FAI has con-firmed O’Neill’s exit. The managementteam of Keane, Seamus McDonagh(goalkeeping coach), and Steve Guppy(assistant coach) have also parted com-pany with the FAI.FAI President Donal Conway said,“On behalf of the FAI Board, I wouldlike to thank Martin, Roy, and themanagement team for their work with

the Republic of Ireland team over thelast five years.“Martin ensured that we enjoyed somegreat nights in the Aviva Stadium andon the road in Lille, Vienna, and Car-diff, which were fantastic high pointsfor Irish football.”FAI Chief Executive John Delaneypaid tribute to O’Neill by saying, “Iwould like to thank Martin, Roy, andthe management team for the impactthat they had with the Ireland team.There have been many highlights dur-ing Martin’s reign – none more so thanEURO 2016 in France, which will livelong in the memory of all Irish sup-porters.“Martin did a great job guiding theteam out of a difficult qualifying group– where we beat World ChampionsGermany along the way – to reachEURO 2016 and advance to the Last-16 following a historic victory overItaly in Lille.“I wish Martin, and the managementteam, the very best for the future.”

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND football manager Martin O’Neill (R) andhis assistant Roy Keane (L) have been fired by the Football Asso-ciation of Ireland (FAI) after the team won just one out of their ninegames in 2018.

ACTOR Joe Whiteman previously played his ancestor at theEdinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016.

ANDREW CARNEGIE [Novem-ber 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919]was a Scottish-American indus-trialist, business magnate, andphilanthropist. He led the expan-sion of the American steel indus-try in the late 19th Century andis often identified as one of therichest Americans in history.During the last 18 years of hislife, he gave away about $350million to charities, foundations,and universities – almost 90 per-cent of his fortune.

Descendant to playAndrew Carnegiein his hometown

EDINBURGH – The great-great-great-grandson of Andrew Carnegie isto play the Scottish philanthropistwhen a musical about his life is stagedin his hometown.Joe Whiteman, is descended from theDunfermline-born business man on hismother’s side.The 28-year-old music teacher will re-prise the role in Carnegie – The StarSpangled Scotchman, after playing thepart at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016.The show will have a two-night run atCarnegie Theatre in Dunfermline, Scot-land from May 17 next year.Carnegie, who died in Massachusettsin 1919, is said to have given almost90 percent of his fortune to charities,foundations, and universities – about£273 million ($350 million).The musical tells the story of his lifefrom the perspective of a steelworkerkilled in the controversial homesteadsteel plant dispute of 1892.He has returned from the afterlife todecide on Carnegie’s eternal fate in thelast two hours of his life.“It’s always been my dream to per-form the show at the Carnegie Theatreand it’s particularly poignant in 2019as it’s the centenary year. Many thanksto Fife Cultural Trust for its support.”Fife Cultural Trust donated the hire ofthe theatre free of charge in tribute tothe legacy of Carnegie.Born in Dunfermline, Andrew Carnegieimmigrated to the United States withhis parents in 1848.His first job was as a bobbin boy in1848, changing spools of thread in aScottish owned mill – he worked 12hour days, six days a week.A series of successful investments andthe birth of Carnegie’s steel empire

saw him accumulate substantialwealth.In 1901, he sold the Carnegie SteelCompany to JP Morgan for more than$300 million (£233 million).The 1901 deal meant Carnegie sur-passed John D. Rockefeller as the rich-est American of the time and he de-voted the rest of his life to philan-thropy, with emphasis on libraries,world peace, education, and scientificresearch.

500-year-old skeleton, still wearingthigh-high boots, found in London

LONDON – British archaeologistshave unearthed a “mysterious”skeleton found lying face down inthe mud near the shore of the RiverThames in London, still wearingthigh-high boots and believed tobe from the 15th Century.A team of archaeologists was workingon a site for London’s new “supersewer” in Bermondsey earlier this yearwhen they found what is believed tobe a 500-year-old male skeleton witha pair of leather boots still intactaround his feet.“By studying the boots, we’ve beenable to gain a fascinating glimpse intothe daily life of a man who lived asmany as 500 years ago,” BethRichardson of the Museum of Lon-don Archaeology (MOLA) said in astatement.“They have helped us to better under-stand how he may have made his liv-ing in hazardous and difficult condi-tions but also how he may have died.”The museum believes the boots dateback to the late 15th or early 16thCentury and are thought to be waders.“Leather was expensive and often re-

used at this time, and experts believeit is unlikely that someone would havebeen buried wearing such a highlyprized item,” the museum noted.MOLA said based on its studying ofthe footwear, research suggests theman wasn’t buried deliberately due tohis “unusual” position. The skeletonwas found with “one arm above hishead with the other bent back on itselfto the side.”“These clues could suggest that he fellor drowned and was covered quickly

by the ground as it moved with thetide,” MOLA noted.The museum’s osteologists believe theman was no older than 35 before hemet his demise and possibly sufferedfrom osteoarthritis.“Possibly the biggest clues about hislife are deep grooves found on histeeth,” MOLA noted. “They werecaused by a repetitive action like pass-ing rope between his teeth as a fisher-man might, which may also suggestthat he made his living from the river.”

PHOTO: Museum of London ArchaeologyBRITISH archaeologists have unearthed a “mysterious” skeletonfound lying face down in the mud near the shore of the River Thamesin London.


From Baby It’s Cold Outside toFairytale of New York, should

old classics be censored?A debate has been ongoing recently overwhat old Christmas songs are accept-able to play.With the advent of social media andthe changing times we live in, old arte-facts of pop culture are seen in a newlight and talked about in terms of themodern cultural context, separate fromthe one in which they were originallycreated.Today, in this more hyper-aware era,movies and pop songs from bygonedays are seen in a different light, withaspects that were once fine or seen asacceptable not regarded as suchanymore.In recent weeks this debate zeroed inon beloved and not-so-beloved Christ-mas classics and whether radios shouldcensor parts of songs or not play themat all.The flashpoint of this has been the oldsong Baby, It’s Cold Outside – a duetwritten in 1944 and performed overthe years by scores of artists, includ-ing Dean Martin, Dolly Parton, RayCharles and Lady Gaga.The song is seen by many commenta-tors as problematic, with its depictionof a man seemingly pressuring a womaninto staying the night with him, whenshe appears reluctant to do so.Lyrics include: “I’ve gotta get home(but baby, you’d freeze out there); Saylend me a coat (it’s up to your kneesout there).”“Say what’s in this drink? (No cabs tobe had out there),” sung by the woman,is arguably the song’s most controver-sial lyric.A radio station in the state of Ohiowas first to announce it was pullingthe song from its playlist last week-end after receiving complaints.Several other stations across the U.S.and Canada duly followed suit.Across the Atlantic in Ireland, belovedseasonal station Christmas FM con-firmed that the song had been pulledfrom its own playlists last year, as itdidn’t “resonate” with listeners.Cue cries of “PC gone mad”, and “cen-sorship” and offended “snowflakes”.The debate has been raging, amplifiedof course by Twitter and other socialmedia, where every argument is putforth and regarded and cast aside.Inputs and opinions have come frommusic critics, celebrities, radio hosts,songwriters and everyday punters onthe matter.Arguments have ranged from differinginterpretations of the song, to whetherany song should be banned for its con-tent, to the inevitable anger that peo-ple feel when they believe someone istrying to ban or censor something be-loved from the past.Following the initial story about oneradio station pulling the song going vi-ral, a huge amount has been written onthe subject with lots of different opin-ions expressed.Comedian Jen Kirkman put forwardan argument in a series of tweets stat-ing that the song was being wronglyinterpreted.“The song seems odd now not cuz it’sabout coercing sex but about a womanwho knows her reputation is ruined if

A SCREENGRAB from The Pogues’ iconic Fairytale of New Yorkvideo featuring Shane MacGowan and Kristy MacColl.

she stays. ‘Say what’s in this drink’ isan old movie line from the 30’s thatmeans ‘I’m telling the truth.’ Shewanted to get down and stay over,”she said.A reading in the pop culture magazinePersephone builds on this, stating thatthe song is about the woman wantingto stay the night in the man’s house,but society frowning on this.Others take a less favourable view onthe song, calling it “rapey” and offen-sive and saying it shouldn’t be played.In the song, the woman gives someversion of “No” several times, whilethe man apparently wears her down.Moving on from this particular con-troversy, the debate then focused onother classic Christmas songs, andwhether they, too, should be censoredor stopped being played altogether.In Ireland, it stopped on The Pogues’classic Christmas song Fairytale ofNew York.Debate around the use of the word “fag-got” in the iconic song has rumbled onfor several years and it returned to theheadlines this week following the con-troversy around “Baby”.Two RTÉ 2FM DJs raised objectionsto the festive hit.Eoghan McDermott said he asked twogay members of his team how theyfelt about it and one favoured censor-ing the song while the other didn’twant to play it at all.Fellow presenter Stephen Byrne alsotalked about he felt when he heard thesong played in a club:“I stood in a room as over 200 peoplescreamed a word that’s been used tomake me feel like an outsider, with suchjoy and cheer.”Both of these statements were metwith vitriol and criticism, promptingMcDermott to tweet this in response.

“My basic point is it just doesn’t seemat all radical to me beep one word,when we – all of us, beep a thousandothers in songs all the time. Tis just aconversation. Play away! Namaste.”After this, songwriter ShaneMacGowan himself weighed in, say-ing that the word was “used by thecharacter because it fitted with the wayshe would speak and with her charac-ter.“She is not supposed to be a nice per-son, or even a wholesome person. Sheis a woman of a certain generation at acertain time in history and she is downon her luck and desperate.”He said he had no problem with peo-ple bleeping the word if they chose to,but that he didn’t want to get into anargument over it.RTÉ followed this up by saying thatit wouldn’t be bleeping the word whenit played the song.Debates like these around old songsand what they mean in a modern con-text have been ongoing for years andwill continue to crop up as long associety keeps having conversationswith its past (or playing old Christ-mas songs).With that said, you don’t need to lookto the past to find hugely offensiveterms or imagery in pop music, withmodern music arguably pushing theboundaries in terms of what is accept-able on the airwaves (Kanye and LilPump anyone?).But old classics will be brought upagain and again and looked at andtalked about and considered as long asthe pop culture machine keeps churn-ing. Opposing sides should try to setout their stall in a measured, consid-ered way and listen openly to thosewho oppose them.And what better platform than socialmedia to have respectful debates, right?

New Mary Queenof Scots film to be

released this monthA new film to be released thismonth Mary Queen of Scotsexplores the turbulent life of thecharismatic Mary Stuart.Focus Features has released the offi-cial second trailer for the upcoming his-torical drama starring Academy Award-nominated actresses Saoirse Ronan(Lady Bird, Little Women) as MaryStuart and Margot Robbie (I, Tonya,Birds of Prey) as Queen Elizabeth I.Queen of France at 16 and widowed at18, Mary defies pressure to remarry.Instead, she returns to her native Scot-land to reclaim her rightful throne.But Scotland and England fall underthe rule of the compelling Elizabeth I.Each young Queen beholds her “sis-ter” in fear and fascination.Rivals in power and in love, and fe-male regents in a masculine world, thetwo must decide how to play the gameof marriage versus independence.Determined to rule as much more thana figurehead, Mary asserts her claimto the English throne, threatening Eliza-beth’s sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion,and conspiracies within each courtimperil both thrones – and change thecourse of history.The cast also includes Jack Lowden(Dunkirk, England is Mine), JoeAlwyn (The Sense of an Ending, BillyLynn’s Long Halftime Walk), MartinCompston (Sweet Sixteen, Line ofDuty), Gemma Chan (Captain Marvel),Ismael Cordova (The Catch), Ian Hart(The Terror), Adrian Lester (Riviera),James McArdle (Star Wars: The ForceAwakens), and Brendan Coyle(Downton Abbey, Me Before You).Also featuring in the cast are David

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS which opens on December 21, starsMargot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth and Saoirse Ronan as MaryStuart.

Tennant (Doctor Who, Broadchurch)and Guy Pearce (Memento, LA Confi-dential, The Adventures of Priscilla,Queen of the Desert).Josie Rourke, artistic director of TheDonmar Warehouse, makes her fea-ture directorial debut with this movie.The producers of Mary, Queen of Scotsare Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevanand Eric Fellner, and Debra Hayward,all Academy Award nominees as pro-ducers of Best Picture Oscar nomineeLes Misérables.Beau Willimon, an Academy Awardnominee for The Ides of March andEmmy Award nominee for House ofCards, has written the screenplay ad-aptation. Mary, Queen of Scots is basedon John Guy’s acclaimed biographyMy Heart is My Own: The Life of MaryQueen of Scots.In a review published in Rolling Stone,Peter Travis writes, “Saoirse Ronanand Margot Robbie earn all the bowsand curtsies coming their way forbreathing feminist fire into MaryQueen of Scots, a 16th Ccentury dramathat messes just enough with recordedfact to avoid being dismissed as text-book-stuffy.”In summary, he says, “The film suc-ceeds best when it shows how in timesmore conducive to the friendship ofwomen in power the two queens couldhave been sisters under the skin.“Ronan and Robbie were both nomi-nated for a Best Actress Oscar lastaward season, and even when the paceof the film falters, these two perform-ers hold you in thrall. That’s royalty.”Mary, Queen of Scots is set for a lim-ited release on December 7 in New Yorkand Los Angeles and will open every-where on December 21.

This is the Solstice“...This is the solstice, the still pointof the sun, its cusp and midnight,

the year’s thresholdand unlocking, where the past

lets go of and becomes the future;the place of caught breath, the door

of a vanished house left ajar...” — Margaret Atwood,

Eating Fire: Selected Poetry 1965-1995

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