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News about the Irish & Irish American culture, music, news, sports. This is hosted by the Irish Aires radio show on KPFT-FM 90.1 in Houston, Texas (a Pacifica community radio station)
March 27, 2005
Adams Brands Killers As Cowards
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Table of Contents - Overall
Table of Contents – Mar 2005
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News about Ireland & the Irish
IT 03/28/05 Adams Brands Killers As Cowardly Individuals –V
IT 03/28/05 McGuinness: 'Pandering' To Unionists Criticised
IC 03/27/05 How Are Cops Going To Investigate 31-Year-Old Murder?
IC 03/27/05 SF Hartley Speaks Of His Decision To Quit Board
SM 03/27/05 SDLP: IRA 'Main Obstacle To United Ireland'
SM 03/27/05 SDLP Urged To Support Sinn Fein-Free Coalition
IT 03/28/05 O'Connor Stripped Of Gold Medal At Hearing In Zurich
IT 03/28/05 Irish-American Family Reunited In Tipperary After Holiday Mix-Up
IT 03/28/05 31 People Taken To Hospital After Bus Overturns In Laois
IT 03/28/05 Ken Loach Looking For Irish Actors
IT 03/28/05 Road Signs Go Irish In Gaeltacht
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Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams addresses the crowd at the Republican Plot in the city cemetary in Derry yesterday. Photograph : Cathal McNaughton/PA
Adams calls McCartney killers 'cowards' - Declan McBennett reports on the Easter Rising commemorations held today in Derry
http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2034412.smil
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/2353367609HM6SFBELFAST.html
SF Leader Brands Killers As Cowardly Individuals -V
Many republicans and nationalists are "outraged" at how Robert McCartney's murder is being "cynically exploited to undermine republicanism", Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said yesterday. Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor, reports.
Mr Adams was speaking in Derry at one of the more than 100 Easter Rising commemorations held throughout Ireland yesterday.
"What annoys me the most is not the criticism from the two governments, our political opponents, or those sections of the media who are clearly delighted to have a go at us. We are used to that and we can take it.
"What annoys me the most is that a small group of individuals are not prepared to face up to their responsibilities.
"Instead these cowardly individuals will allow an avalanche of propaganda aimed at criminalising republicanism. So, let me be clear, I am not letting this issue go," he said.
"Whatever way people feel about how the McCartneys are running their campaign, this family have the right to truth and justice. And we as a party have a duty not to allow republicanism to be diminished in any way," he added.
He said that Sinn Féin in its commitment to the peace process and to achieving a united Ireland faced "more hard choices" and "more hard decisions".
"The fact is that those who want the greatest change have to take the greatest risks. Time and time again we have demonstrated our willingness to do this. Are we ready to do that again? Are we ready to take more risks, to step up to the plate and demonstrate again the courage and tenacity, which is the hallmark of Irish republicanism?
"I believe we are. I believe we must. I intend to return to this issue in the short period ahead." Mr Adams said he would be holding talks with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern after Easter.
He blamed the Government for many of the difficulties in the peace process.
He accused it of "partitionism, self-interest and incompetence" and of its policies being driven by fear of Sinn Féin's electoral growth in the South.
He said its approach to the process was "shallow and short sighted".
Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness insisted yesterday that the IRA was wrong in offering to "shoot" Mr McCartney's killers but refused to say it would have been a crime if it had carried out its threat.
Mr McGuinness also said it was a "probability" that after the British general election, expected in early May, that the deal that collapsed in December would be achieved.
He said he was working towards a situation where the IRA would cease to be a paramilitary organisation but that also involved a contribution from the Northern parties and the governments.
"My sense of it is from listening to the comments of Ian Paisley, the comments of Tony Blair, the comments of others within the process, given all that we have been through over the course of the last 10 years, is that there is still - not a possibility - in my opinion a probability that we can crack the deal in the immediate aftermath of the Westminster election," Mr McGuinness told The Jonathan Dimbleby Programme on ITV yesterday.
In that interview and in many of the keynote commemoration speeches it was clear that the issue of Mr McCartney's murder and the McCartney family's campaign to bring the killers to book is still causing major difficulties for Sinn Féin and the IRA.
Of the IRA offer to shoot the killers Mr McGuinness told Dimbleby, "It would have been a terrible mistake, which would have impacted very badly on the overall process, and I am glad that it didn't happen."
Mr McGuinness said Dimbleby was engaging in a current journalistic "let's play what is a crime game with Sinn Féin" when the interviewer pressed him to publicly acknowledge that the IRA was offering to commit a major crime in saying it would shoot the killers.
Mr McGuinness said it would not assist the peace process were he "to line up with everybody else against the IRA".
"In terms of our management of the process people have to allow us the flexibility to deal with these issues and to use the type of language that we choose to use as opposed to the type of language you would want me to use," said Mr McGuinness.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/2454446991HM6SFDUBLIN.html
'Pandering' To Unionists Criticised
Michael O'Regan
Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness has urged the Government to stop pandering to unionists.
Mr McGuinness said all too often at critical junctures in the peace process, the Government had allowed itself to be treated as junior partner and had failed to act with the same determination as the British government.
"Their approach has been clouded by a belief that unionists must be pandered to, even when this short-sighted approach has seen talks collapse in the last two years," he added.
Mr McGuinness renewed his appeal to the killers of Robert McCartney to "do the honourable thing", adding that those with information should do the same.
"There can be no place within Irish republicanism for those who perpetrated this terrible deed," he said. "Nor can there be any place within Irish republicanism for anyone who by his or her silence would attempt to cover it up."
He said those responsible should come forward primarily because the murder of Robert McCartney was a crime.
"But not to do so is not only cowardly but also equally despicable as they are allowing their own community to be vilified and demonised," he added.
Speaking yesterday at the party's Easter commemoration at the GPO, in Dublin, Mr McGuinness predicted that after the May elections, the party would be engaged in "some of the most difficult negotiations" it had ever faced.
"If these are to be successful, republicans must be honest in our analysis of the crisis in the peace process. But we also have to look to the future and set out clearly our solutions and our vision.
"As we look across a century of struggle, we see that each phase of the journey has been different. Each has required different strategies and tactics. Republicans required courage to survive, resourcefulness to find new ways forward and determination to persist with their course of action."
Mr McGuinness claimed that in every generation of struggle against British occupation, the "policy of criminalisation" had been introduced in an attempt to break the spirit and sap the energy of Irish republicans.
"Character assassination was used by the British against those Irish patriots who chose peaceful means of resistance, just as effectively as physical assassination was used against those who used armed struggle," he said.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.irelandclick.com/comment/details.cfm?id=16572&CFID=63124&CFTOKEN=31738474
How Are Cops Going To Investigate 31-Year-Old Murder?
Grieving brother
“And I want to ask Hugh Orde that face-to-face”
A West Belfast man whose brother was murdered by loyalists in 1974 has called on the PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde to detail how the police are planning to solve the murder which has been “lying cold for over 30 years”.
The request comes after the British government announced earlier this month that a squad of 100 investigators – the Serious Crime Review Team – is to be assigned to work on the unsolved cases of 1,800 victims of the Troubles in an initiative costing £32 million.
Gerry Armstrong's brother Paul was tortured before being shot dead by the UVF under the guise of the Protestant Action Force on November 8, 1974. He was just 18 years old.
At the time RUC detectives assured the Armstrong family that the killers would be brought to book for the horrific murder. However, 31 years on nobody has been caught or tried for the killing.
Now Gerry says he wants a “face-to-face” meeting with Chief Constable Hugh Orde to discuss the investigation into his brother’s murder.
“At the time my mother was offered £300 compensation for Paul’s 18 years on this earth. Of course, we refused. But now almost 31 years later this vast amount of money is going to be spent on 1,800-plus unsolved murders. I would like to know how,” said the Whiterock man.
Gerry went on to say that he finds it difficult to see how the PSNI are going to solve the murder now when the detectives in charge of the case at the time were incapable of doing so.
“When Paul was murdered, a team of detectives assured my late father, James, that no stone would be left unturned in the investigation. All these years later it seems quite obvious that not too many stones were overturned.”
Whilst it has been reported that new forensic techniques would be made available in the hope of achieving breakthroughs in the cases, Mr Armstrong is sceptical. “I would love to have hope in this but I honestly can't see how these detectives are going to be able to trace forensic evidence in the case of my brother. He was killed and left lying in a derelict bakery in Byron Street.
How they would begin to search for forensics here after 31 years is beyond me.
“Perhaps they still have Paul’s clothes, I know we never got them back. But how could they find forensic evidence now when the police force at the time obviously couldn’t, or didn’t want to?”
Mr Armstrong said he is apprehensive about the move and is hoping that it is not a smokescreen for the PSNI to look as though they are doing something about unsolved murders.
“I've heard Hugh Orde talking on the radio about this, I’ve seen him talking on the TV and I hope it isn't just talk. Thirty one years ago my family heard enough talking about how the killers would be caught, it didn't lead to anything and I hope this doesn't go the same way.”
Frustrated at the amount of time that has passed without any breakthrough, Mr Armstrong questioned the name of the new investigative team.
“They are calling themselves the Serious Crime Review Team but I don't see why my brother's murder wasn't serious enough to be tackled thoroughly at the time, yet now all of a sudden it is. It seems strange and myself and my family are not sure what way we should welcome the news.”
Gerry Armstrong said he accepted that there were many similar cases to Paul's over the years.
He says he just wants justice for his family who have since lost both parents – they died without ever really knowing what happened to their son.
The West Belfast man says that he would exhaust all options open to him. His first option is that face-to-face meeting with Hugh Orde.
“What we want are answers and while it would be nice to have American senators and people in high places to profile Paul's case, I really just want to speak to the Chief Constable because at the end of the day, he is the only one that can give the answers that my family have been waiting 31 years for.”
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http://www.irelandclick.com/news/news.cfm?id=16566&CFID=63124&CFTOKEN=31738474
Hartley Speaks Of His Decision To Quit Board
Sinn Féin Lower Falls councillor Tom Hartley has been speaking to the Andersonstown News of his decision to resign from the Belfast Education and Library Board in the wake of sweeping cutbacks amounting to £7 million.
The cuts are being made in an attempt to stem funding leakages, it’s claimed.
They will see major reductions in services to special needs children as well as cuts in transport, classroom assistants and support for teachers.
A total of five councillors on the board said that they could not stand by what they saw as a severe blow to education.
The board overwhelmingly also passed a vote of no confidence in Education Minister Barry Gardiner.
Councillor Hartley cited the "the impossible financial cuts imposed on the education system and the Minister's belligerent manner toward the board" as the reason for his resignation.
“Education has been cut to the bone,” he continued.
“Over the next few years there will be further cuts and school closures affecting the most vulnerable. Cuts to special needs education, which is already under-funded, will be devastating for many families in the community.”
Mairead McCaffery, head teacher at Newstart school in the Blackstaff complex, says it is only a matter of time before parents begin taking action against the education boards for their children’s right to an education.
“They haven’t thought about the long-term impact of all this,” said Mairead. “The imminent legal costs of defending their decision will cast a huge shadow over any savings made. Parents should and will learn that their children have a right to an education.
“The pupils we have here have disengaged from mainstream schools because of bullying, personal problems, learning difficulties or other reasons. If they don’t come here, where are they going to go? They’ll be at home all day learning nothing, or worse still, out on the streets where they could get into trouble. The reason we are here is because there is such an overwhelming demand for us to exist, and because experience has proven that we work.
We have children coming to us five days a week who spent months or even years out of the education system. This is a very short-sighted decision that’s making children pay for the incompetence of those who mismanaged the administration.”
Cllr Hartley also spoke of the “great pressure” which will be placed on education over the coming years. “This time last year, education boards were told they were fine. Then in June they were told there was a deficit. The atmosphere is quite negative amongst schools and their boards at the minute.”
The Sinn Féin councillor suggested that the current cutbacks are “only the beginning” and added that he believes they are part of a broader strategy by the British government to cut back generally on spending in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, party colleague Paul Butler, who resigned from the South Eastern Education and Library Board on Tuesday, said it was a sad week for education. “What the SEELB have done is carry out the dirty work of Barry Gardiner in decimating our education service and that is totally wrong,” he said. “I will be asking Lisburn Council to reject these proposals and to write to the SEELB showing its total opposition.
“What this decision means is that school crossing patrols like the one on the Stewartstown Road which was axed recently, will be withdrawn, endangering children’s lives.”
Cllr Butler also expressed dismay at the decision to target school meals. “Increasing the cost of meals and cutting staff will, I fear, have an impact on the health of children,” he said.
Cllr Butler strongly criticised the SEELB for voting through the proposals. “These cuts are nothing short of savage and they will have a devastating effect on children’s education in the Lisburn area. I am totally opposed to the proposals and refused to support them. The reality is that they will impact on children’s education, health and well-being and I will not be part of any proposals which prejudice the education and safety of our children. This is a truly sad day for education here.”
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4316394
IRA 'Main Obstacle To United Ireland'
By Dan McGinn, PA Ireland Political Editor
The existence of the IRA remains the main obstacle to nationalist dreams of achieving a united Ireland, it was claimed tonight.
In an Easter message, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan, whose party is facing a fierce battle against Sinn Fein to hold onto its three Westminster seats, said the key to securing Irish unity was through persuasion and not coercion.
“The existence of the IRA is only making the task of persuasion more difficult,” said the Foyle Assembly member.
“It is holding up the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It is holding back getting people working together, building trust and encouraging unionists to see their position on this island in a new light.
“Of course there are other things holding up progress on this island – like the DUP’s intransigence.
“But despite this, it remains in the best interest of Irish nationalism that the IRA goes away so that democratic nationalism across this island can better persuade unionists that there is no threat to them in a united Ireland in which the Good Friday Agreement continues and everyone’s rights are protected.”
Last Monday the SDLP launched its proposals for a united Ireland.
Among the proposals were:
Keeping the Stormont Assembly and executive, with all its cross community protections, as a regional parliament.
Allowing different communities to define themselves as British or Irish in their passports.
Places for Irish peers in the House of Lords.
Mr Durkan said the only way nationalism would progress in Northern Ireland would be for all of its advocates to fully embrace democracy and guarantee the Good Friday Agreement would endure.
The Foyle MLA concluded: “The Provisional Movement needs to wake up to changed times and join the SDLP and other democratic parties on this island for what is the only viable path to unity – through peaceful, democratic persuasion.”
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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4316192
SDLP Urged To Support Sinn Fein-Free Coalition
By Dan McGinn, PA Ireland Political Editor
Northern Ireland’s nationalist SDLP was today warned it must sign up to a coalition government at Stormont which freezes out Sinn Fein if it is to secure tactical unionist votes in the General Election.
Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside said unionists could only consider giving Mark Durkan’s party support in May’s local government and Westminster elections if the SDLP publicly declared support for a voluntary coalition.
The South Antrim MP said: “The only circumstances where unionists could consider voting tactically for SDLP would be where the SDLP leadership publicly declares before the elections it will form a voluntary coalition without Sinn Fein.
“If they fail to do so, unionists should not give any support to SDLP candidates because they would only be supporting a pan nationalist front agenda and an SDLP policy which maintains Sinn Fein should be part of any executive at Stormont.
“The SDLP is blocking Stormont from becoming operational because of its refusal to separate itself from Sinn Fein.
“In my view the only way the SDLP can recover electorally is for it to publicly declare before the election it is ready to go into a voluntary coalition.”
Inclusive power sharing involving the DUP, Sinn Fein, UUP and SDLP has been on hold in Northern Ireland since October 2002 until the IRA ends all involvement in paramilitary and criminal activity.
Power sharing collapsed over allegations that republicans operated a spy ring at Stormont.
But they have faced even more accusations of criminality in recent months following the failure of talks last year.
The IRA has been blamed for December’s £26.5 million Northern Bank heist in Belfast and members of the organisation accused of the murder in January of father-of-two Robert McCartney outside a bar in the city.
While the SDLP have been vigorous in their condemnation of republicans, the party has been accused by unionists of failing to follow through on the logic of their argument by excluding Sinn Fein from government.
The SDLP and Irish Government insist the only way forward in Northern Ireland is inclusive government involving Sinn Fein and an end to all criminal and paramilitary activity by the IRA.
Northern Ireland’s two main unionist parties, the Rev Ian Paisley’s DUP and David Trimble’s UUP have in recent days been holding discussions about a possible electoral pact which have made little headway.
With the SDLP facing a difficult battle with Sinn Fein to hold onto two of its three seats, there have been reports that the talks have considered the possibility of unionists standing aside and urging their community to back Mark Durkan’s party to prevent the constituencies falling into republican hands.
Mr Burnside said if the SDLP were to get tactical backing, unionist voters would be asked in the local government elections, which use a PR-style voting system as opposed to Westminster’s first past the post system, to back unionist candidates first before giving Mark Durkan’s party any support.
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2005/0328/928432394HM1CIAN.html
O'Connor Stripped Of Gold Medal At Hearing In Zurich
Showjumper Cian O'Connor has been stripped of his Olympic gold medal by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) judicial committee. Grania Willis, Equestrian Correspondent, reports.
After a 12-hour hearing in Zurich yesterday, which was followed by another two hours of deliberation, the committee announced the 25-year-old would be banned from showjumping for three months and stripped of his gold medal.
O'Connor, who did not rule out an appeal against the sanctions, declared himself happy that the FEI judicial committee had accepted that he had not deliberately attempted to enhance the performance of his horse Waterford Crystal.
"I'm pleased that I have been vindicated of any deliberate wrongdoing, both myself and my vet James Sheeran," O'Connor said last night.
"Obviously it's a disappointment, a huge disappointment, not alone to me, but to my friends, staff, colleagues and sponsors and indeed to the country at the loss of the gold medal, but the medal has to go under the rules."
The possibility of an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne was not entirely ruled out by either O'Connor or his legal team, however. "It's been a long day here today, one step at a time," he said.
O'Connor's solicitor Andrew Coonan said: "It's something we now have to go back and think about," he said. "Everything must be considered. Nothing is ruled in, nothing is ruled out."
The Co Kildare rider has been asked to pay 5,000 Swiss francs towards the cost of the hearing.
He will have 30 days from the completion of the judicial committee's full written decision to lodge any appeal with CAS but, if he decides to accept the sanctions imposed yesterday, the three-month suspension comes into force at the end of the 30-day period.
Two human drugs, fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol, were found in a urine sample taken from his horse, Waterford Crystal, after his win in Athens.
After the Waterford Crystal test result O'Connor announced that another of his horses, ABC Landliebe, had tested positive for sedatives in Rome at the end of May last year.
Yesterday's hearing at the Unique Conference Centre at Zurich airport started at 9.40am, with Cian O'Connor arriving by taxi shortly before 10. He was escorted up to the eighth-floor hearing by his public relations adviser Wally Young.
The committee, took evidence from three FEI witnesses, Dr Frits Sluyter, head of the federation's veterinary department, Dr Yves Bonnaire, director of the Paris laboratory where Waterford Crystal's A urine sample was tested positive for the two banned substances, and Dr Marianne Sloet, a professor in the department of equine sciences at the University of Utrecht.
O'Connor's legal team, made up of solicitors Mr Coonan and James Cawley, senior counsel Michael Collins and Swiss lawyer Pierre-Yves Tschanz, called in Prof Tom Tobin, toxicologist and pharmacologist at the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Centre, Cian O'Connor's groom Jane Doyle and vet James Sheeran.
But although the defence team managed to persuade the judicial committee that the two substances, fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol, had not been administered in an attempt to enhance performance, the federation has a zero tolerance of these banned substances.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/493501019HM2REUNITED.html
Irish-American Family Reunited In Tipperary After Holiday Mix-Up
Pat Flynn
An Irish-American family, which became separated while travelling to Ireland for a holiday last week, was reunited on Saturday in Co Tipperary after two days of searching for each other.
A series of interrupted voicemail messages to a family member's mobile phone, which was not set up to operate on the Irish mobile network, resulted in the Reillys from St Paul in Minnesota eventually finding each other after 48 hours without contact. Ms Betsy Reilly had appealed on radio and in newspapers for information about her husband, Mr Dan Reilly, and three daughters who had arrived in Ireland but who could not be contacted by her when she landed the next day.
Their ordeal began when one of the couple's four daughters was not allowed to board her flight in the US after officials noticed her passport had expired. Ms Reilly stayed behind with her daughter, Molly, to resolve the issue, while her husband and their three other girls, Claire, Casey and Brenna, travelled ahead to Ireland to begin their short Easter break.
Ms Reilly added: "All the time I was trying to leave messages on my daughter's mobile phone but I kept getting cut off after about three seconds. Eventually she put all the little bits together and realised we were in Bunratty and began ringing bed-and-breakfasts here."
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/1290411976HM2MINIBUS.html
31 People Taken To Hospital After Bus Overturns In Laois
Liam Horan
A night out almost ended in tragedy for over 30 young people when their bus overturned.
No other vehicle was involved in the accident outside the village of Errill, Co Laois, just before 2am on Sunday.
Thirty-one people were taken to hospital, but 25 were released within hours of the accident.
The bus was full of young people out celebrating the bank holiday weekend.
"It had the potential to be a very serious incident," said a Garda spokesperson. Six people, including some with broken bones, were still in hospital in Portlaoise last night.
A major emergency plan was implemented when the 32-seater bus overturned. Gardaí are still trying to establish the cause of the accident.
"The ambulance service put a major accident emergency plan into place straightaway, but fortunately there were no major injuries," said a Garda spokesperson.
"They [the injured] were mainly walking wounded, with scratches, scrapes and shock."
The accident happened on a straight stretch of road on the Rathdowney side of Errill.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/4081448497HM2LOACH.html
Ken Loach Looking For Irish Actors
Olivia Kelleher
Director Ken Loach is currently searching for Irish actors, professional and amateur, for a film about the War of Independence, to be filmed in Co Cork.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley will be filmed this summer in various locations including Macroom, Cul Aodh, Bandon, Buttevant and Mallow.
Loach, who is know for his socially conscious films, was in Cork on Wednesday and Thursday looking to cast young men to make up the ranks of Tom Barry's flying column.
A final call back session is planned for the first week in April. However, Sixteen Films is still accepting CV's and headshots from people wanting to take part in the film.
Loach's company is moving to a new office, details of which will be available in a week to 10 days.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley focuses on the lives of a young group of Irish men and women involved in the war.
The screenplay has been written by Paul Laverty and the movie will be produced by Dublin based Element Films.
Lavery previously collaborated with Loach on Sweet Sixteen, which was released in 2002.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/150625556HM2SIGNS.html
Road Signs Go Irish In Gaeltacht
Anne Lucey
Only the Irish-language versions of placenames may be used on road and street signs in the State's Gaeltacht districts from today.
The definitive large-scale Ordnance Survey maps for these areas will give only the authoritative version of the Irish name.
Some 2,319 townlands from all the Gaeltacht areas in the State are covered by the legislation under the Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004, which comes into effect today.
It means that the English versions of such placenames as Dunquinn and Ventry in the west Kerry Gaeltacht on the Dingle peninsula no longer have legal standing. Although the order does not affect private use of the English versions, the Irish-language Dun Chaoin and Ceann Trá will have to be used in statutory instruments and on road and street signs.
Large-scale OS maps produced from now on will only have Irish names and the provision will be extended to cover other maps "over a period of time", according to a statement from Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Eamon Ó Cuív.
A second order coming into effect today confirms for the first time the Irish-language versions of names of postal towns outside Gaeltacht districts. This order - the Placenames (Centres of Population and Districts) Order 2005, signed into law in February - means that an Irish-language name is now official alongside the English-language version in non-Gaeltacht areas.
For example, the Irish-language name for Mountcharles in Co Donegal is no longer Moin Séarlas, but Tamhnach an tSalainn, as this was the Irish-language version most commonly used locally and its historic name.
Irish-language names were given official recognition for the first time in the Official Languages Act of 2003. Irish placenames are being put on an equal footing on a county-by-county basis. So far, nine placename orders confirming the official Irish-language versions of placenames have been signed by Mr Ó Cúiv. These are for counties Kilkenny, Louth, Limerick, Monaghan, Waterford and Offaly as well as the Gaeltacht districts. The orders covering counties Dublin, Galway and Tipperary are almost complete.
Brendan Mac Gearailt, author and member of Údarás na Gaeltachta for Kerry, said that this was something which should have been done 100 years ago.
Mr Mac Gearailt, who has written books on Irish blessings and curses, and is currently compiling a book on placenames, commented: "The main annoyance for me is that the maps quite regularly did not coincide with signs. I don't want to see local tourists and anglers being led astray any longer."
In most cases, English placenames had come into use because the English did not pronounce the names properly and "came up with a load of garbage" which was then put on signs, Mr Mac Gearailt added. Under this confusion, Cill Airne became Killarney.
© The Irish Times
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Table of Contents - Overall
Table of Contents – Mar 2005
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Table of Contents - Overall
Table of Contents – Mar 2005
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News about Ireland & the Irish
IT 03/28/05 Adams Brands Killers As Cowardly Individuals –V
IT 03/28/05 McGuinness: 'Pandering' To Unionists Criticised
IC 03/27/05 How Are Cops Going To Investigate 31-Year-Old Murder?
IC 03/27/05 SF Hartley Speaks Of His Decision To Quit Board
SM 03/27/05 SDLP: IRA 'Main Obstacle To United Ireland'
SM 03/27/05 SDLP Urged To Support Sinn Fein-Free Coalition
IT 03/28/05 O'Connor Stripped Of Gold Medal At Hearing In Zurich
IT 03/28/05 Irish-American Family Reunited In Tipperary After Holiday Mix-Up
IT 03/28/05 31 People Taken To Hospital After Bus Overturns In Laois
IT 03/28/05 Ken Loach Looking For Irish Actors
IT 03/28/05 Road Signs Go Irish In Gaeltacht
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Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams addresses the crowd at the Republican Plot in the city cemetary in Derry yesterday. Photograph : Cathal McNaughton/PA
Adams calls McCartney killers 'cowards' - Declan McBennett reports on the Easter Rising commemorations held today in Derry
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/2353367609HM6SFBELFAST.html
SF Leader Brands Killers As Cowardly Individuals -V
Many republicans and nationalists are "outraged" at how Robert McCartney's murder is being "cynically exploited to undermine republicanism", Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said yesterday. Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor, reports.
Mr Adams was speaking in Derry at one of the more than 100 Easter Rising commemorations held throughout Ireland yesterday.
"What annoys me the most is not the criticism from the two governments, our political opponents, or those sections of the media who are clearly delighted to have a go at us. We are used to that and we can take it.
"What annoys me the most is that a small group of individuals are not prepared to face up to their responsibilities.
"Instead these cowardly individuals will allow an avalanche of propaganda aimed at criminalising republicanism. So, let me be clear, I am not letting this issue go," he said.
"Whatever way people feel about how the McCartneys are running their campaign, this family have the right to truth and justice. And we as a party have a duty not to allow republicanism to be diminished in any way," he added.
He said that Sinn Féin in its commitment to the peace process and to achieving a united Ireland faced "more hard choices" and "more hard decisions".
"The fact is that those who want the greatest change have to take the greatest risks. Time and time again we have demonstrated our willingness to do this. Are we ready to do that again? Are we ready to take more risks, to step up to the plate and demonstrate again the courage and tenacity, which is the hallmark of Irish republicanism?
"I believe we are. I believe we must. I intend to return to this issue in the short period ahead." Mr Adams said he would be holding talks with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern after Easter.
He blamed the Government for many of the difficulties in the peace process.
He accused it of "partitionism, self-interest and incompetence" and of its policies being driven by fear of Sinn Féin's electoral growth in the South.
He said its approach to the process was "shallow and short sighted".
Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness insisted yesterday that the IRA was wrong in offering to "shoot" Mr McCartney's killers but refused to say it would have been a crime if it had carried out its threat.
Mr McGuinness also said it was a "probability" that after the British general election, expected in early May, that the deal that collapsed in December would be achieved.
He said he was working towards a situation where the IRA would cease to be a paramilitary organisation but that also involved a contribution from the Northern parties and the governments.
"My sense of it is from listening to the comments of Ian Paisley, the comments of Tony Blair, the comments of others within the process, given all that we have been through over the course of the last 10 years, is that there is still - not a possibility - in my opinion a probability that we can crack the deal in the immediate aftermath of the Westminster election," Mr McGuinness told The Jonathan Dimbleby Programme on ITV yesterday.
In that interview and in many of the keynote commemoration speeches it was clear that the issue of Mr McCartney's murder and the McCartney family's campaign to bring the killers to book is still causing major difficulties for Sinn Féin and the IRA.
Of the IRA offer to shoot the killers Mr McGuinness told Dimbleby, "It would have been a terrible mistake, which would have impacted very badly on the overall process, and I am glad that it didn't happen."
Mr McGuinness said Dimbleby was engaging in a current journalistic "let's play what is a crime game with Sinn Féin" when the interviewer pressed him to publicly acknowledge that the IRA was offering to commit a major crime in saying it would shoot the killers.
Mr McGuinness said it would not assist the peace process were he "to line up with everybody else against the IRA".
"In terms of our management of the process people have to allow us the flexibility to deal with these issues and to use the type of language that we choose to use as opposed to the type of language you would want me to use," said Mr McGuinness.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/2454446991HM6SFDUBLIN.html
'Pandering' To Unionists Criticised
Michael O'Regan
Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness has urged the Government to stop pandering to unionists.
Mr McGuinness said all too often at critical junctures in the peace process, the Government had allowed itself to be treated as junior partner and had failed to act with the same determination as the British government.
"Their approach has been clouded by a belief that unionists must be pandered to, even when this short-sighted approach has seen talks collapse in the last two years," he added.
Mr McGuinness renewed his appeal to the killers of Robert McCartney to "do the honourable thing", adding that those with information should do the same.
"There can be no place within Irish republicanism for those who perpetrated this terrible deed," he said. "Nor can there be any place within Irish republicanism for anyone who by his or her silence would attempt to cover it up."
He said those responsible should come forward primarily because the murder of Robert McCartney was a crime.
"But not to do so is not only cowardly but also equally despicable as they are allowing their own community to be vilified and demonised," he added.
Speaking yesterday at the party's Easter commemoration at the GPO, in Dublin, Mr McGuinness predicted that after the May elections, the party would be engaged in "some of the most difficult negotiations" it had ever faced.
"If these are to be successful, republicans must be honest in our analysis of the crisis in the peace process. But we also have to look to the future and set out clearly our solutions and our vision.
"As we look across a century of struggle, we see that each phase of the journey has been different. Each has required different strategies and tactics. Republicans required courage to survive, resourcefulness to find new ways forward and determination to persist with their course of action."
Mr McGuinness claimed that in every generation of struggle against British occupation, the "policy of criminalisation" had been introduced in an attempt to break the spirit and sap the energy of Irish republicans.
"Character assassination was used by the British against those Irish patriots who chose peaceful means of resistance, just as effectively as physical assassination was used against those who used armed struggle," he said.
© The Irish Times
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How Are Cops Going To Investigate 31-Year-Old Murder?
Grieving brother
“And I want to ask Hugh Orde that face-to-face”
A West Belfast man whose brother was murdered by loyalists in 1974 has called on the PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde to detail how the police are planning to solve the murder which has been “lying cold for over 30 years”.
The request comes after the British government announced earlier this month that a squad of 100 investigators – the Serious Crime Review Team – is to be assigned to work on the unsolved cases of 1,800 victims of the Troubles in an initiative costing £32 million.
Gerry Armstrong's brother Paul was tortured before being shot dead by the UVF under the guise of the Protestant Action Force on November 8, 1974. He was just 18 years old.
At the time RUC detectives assured the Armstrong family that the killers would be brought to book for the horrific murder. However, 31 years on nobody has been caught or tried for the killing.
Now Gerry says he wants a “face-to-face” meeting with Chief Constable Hugh Orde to discuss the investigation into his brother’s murder.
“At the time my mother was offered £300 compensation for Paul’s 18 years on this earth. Of course, we refused. But now almost 31 years later this vast amount of money is going to be spent on 1,800-plus unsolved murders. I would like to know how,” said the Whiterock man.
Gerry went on to say that he finds it difficult to see how the PSNI are going to solve the murder now when the detectives in charge of the case at the time were incapable of doing so.
“When Paul was murdered, a team of detectives assured my late father, James, that no stone would be left unturned in the investigation. All these years later it seems quite obvious that not too many stones were overturned.”
Whilst it has been reported that new forensic techniques would be made available in the hope of achieving breakthroughs in the cases, Mr Armstrong is sceptical. “I would love to have hope in this but I honestly can't see how these detectives are going to be able to trace forensic evidence in the case of my brother. He was killed and left lying in a derelict bakery in Byron Street.
How they would begin to search for forensics here after 31 years is beyond me.
“Perhaps they still have Paul’s clothes, I know we never got them back. But how could they find forensic evidence now when the police force at the time obviously couldn’t, or didn’t want to?”
Mr Armstrong said he is apprehensive about the move and is hoping that it is not a smokescreen for the PSNI to look as though they are doing something about unsolved murders.
“I've heard Hugh Orde talking on the radio about this, I’ve seen him talking on the TV and I hope it isn't just talk. Thirty one years ago my family heard enough talking about how the killers would be caught, it didn't lead to anything and I hope this doesn't go the same way.”
Frustrated at the amount of time that has passed without any breakthrough, Mr Armstrong questioned the name of the new investigative team.
“They are calling themselves the Serious Crime Review Team but I don't see why my brother's murder wasn't serious enough to be tackled thoroughly at the time, yet now all of a sudden it is. It seems strange and myself and my family are not sure what way we should welcome the news.”
Gerry Armstrong said he accepted that there were many similar cases to Paul's over the years.
He says he just wants justice for his family who have since lost both parents – they died without ever really knowing what happened to their son.
The West Belfast man says that he would exhaust all options open to him. His first option is that face-to-face meeting with Hugh Orde.
“What we want are answers and while it would be nice to have American senators and people in high places to profile Paul's case, I really just want to speak to the Chief Constable because at the end of the day, he is the only one that can give the answers that my family have been waiting 31 years for.”
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http://www.irelandclick.com/news/news.cfm?id=16566&CFID=63124&CFTOKEN=31738474
Hartley Speaks Of His Decision To Quit Board
Sinn Féin Lower Falls councillor Tom Hartley has been speaking to the Andersonstown News of his decision to resign from the Belfast Education and Library Board in the wake of sweeping cutbacks amounting to £7 million.
The cuts are being made in an attempt to stem funding leakages, it’s claimed.
They will see major reductions in services to special needs children as well as cuts in transport, classroom assistants and support for teachers.
A total of five councillors on the board said that they could not stand by what they saw as a severe blow to education.
The board overwhelmingly also passed a vote of no confidence in Education Minister Barry Gardiner.
Councillor Hartley cited the "the impossible financial cuts imposed on the education system and the Minister's belligerent manner toward the board" as the reason for his resignation.
“Education has been cut to the bone,” he continued.
“Over the next few years there will be further cuts and school closures affecting the most vulnerable. Cuts to special needs education, which is already under-funded, will be devastating for many families in the community.”
Mairead McCaffery, head teacher at Newstart school in the Blackstaff complex, says it is only a matter of time before parents begin taking action against the education boards for their children’s right to an education.
“They haven’t thought about the long-term impact of all this,” said Mairead. “The imminent legal costs of defending their decision will cast a huge shadow over any savings made. Parents should and will learn that their children have a right to an education.
“The pupils we have here have disengaged from mainstream schools because of bullying, personal problems, learning difficulties or other reasons. If they don’t come here, where are they going to go? They’ll be at home all day learning nothing, or worse still, out on the streets where they could get into trouble. The reason we are here is because there is such an overwhelming demand for us to exist, and because experience has proven that we work.
We have children coming to us five days a week who spent months or even years out of the education system. This is a very short-sighted decision that’s making children pay for the incompetence of those who mismanaged the administration.”
Cllr Hartley also spoke of the “great pressure” which will be placed on education over the coming years. “This time last year, education boards were told they were fine. Then in June they were told there was a deficit. The atmosphere is quite negative amongst schools and their boards at the minute.”
The Sinn Féin councillor suggested that the current cutbacks are “only the beginning” and added that he believes they are part of a broader strategy by the British government to cut back generally on spending in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, party colleague Paul Butler, who resigned from the South Eastern Education and Library Board on Tuesday, said it was a sad week for education. “What the SEELB have done is carry out the dirty work of Barry Gardiner in decimating our education service and that is totally wrong,” he said. “I will be asking Lisburn Council to reject these proposals and to write to the SEELB showing its total opposition.
“What this decision means is that school crossing patrols like the one on the Stewartstown Road which was axed recently, will be withdrawn, endangering children’s lives.”
Cllr Butler also expressed dismay at the decision to target school meals. “Increasing the cost of meals and cutting staff will, I fear, have an impact on the health of children,” he said.
Cllr Butler strongly criticised the SEELB for voting through the proposals. “These cuts are nothing short of savage and they will have a devastating effect on children’s education in the Lisburn area. I am totally opposed to the proposals and refused to support them. The reality is that they will impact on children’s education, health and well-being and I will not be part of any proposals which prejudice the education and safety of our children. This is a truly sad day for education here.”
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4316394
IRA 'Main Obstacle To United Ireland'
By Dan McGinn, PA Ireland Political Editor
The existence of the IRA remains the main obstacle to nationalist dreams of achieving a united Ireland, it was claimed tonight.
In an Easter message, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan, whose party is facing a fierce battle against Sinn Fein to hold onto its three Westminster seats, said the key to securing Irish unity was through persuasion and not coercion.
“The existence of the IRA is only making the task of persuasion more difficult,” said the Foyle Assembly member.
“It is holding up the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It is holding back getting people working together, building trust and encouraging unionists to see their position on this island in a new light.
“Of course there are other things holding up progress on this island – like the DUP’s intransigence.
“But despite this, it remains in the best interest of Irish nationalism that the IRA goes away so that democratic nationalism across this island can better persuade unionists that there is no threat to them in a united Ireland in which the Good Friday Agreement continues and everyone’s rights are protected.”
Last Monday the SDLP launched its proposals for a united Ireland.
Among the proposals were:
Keeping the Stormont Assembly and executive, with all its cross community protections, as a regional parliament.
Allowing different communities to define themselves as British or Irish in their passports.
Places for Irish peers in the House of Lords.
Mr Durkan said the only way nationalism would progress in Northern Ireland would be for all of its advocates to fully embrace democracy and guarantee the Good Friday Agreement would endure.
The Foyle MLA concluded: “The Provisional Movement needs to wake up to changed times and join the SDLP and other democratic parties on this island for what is the only viable path to unity – through peaceful, democratic persuasion.”
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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4316192
SDLP Urged To Support Sinn Fein-Free Coalition
By Dan McGinn, PA Ireland Political Editor
Northern Ireland’s nationalist SDLP was today warned it must sign up to a coalition government at Stormont which freezes out Sinn Fein if it is to secure tactical unionist votes in the General Election.
Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside said unionists could only consider giving Mark Durkan’s party support in May’s local government and Westminster elections if the SDLP publicly declared support for a voluntary coalition.
The South Antrim MP said: “The only circumstances where unionists could consider voting tactically for SDLP would be where the SDLP leadership publicly declares before the elections it will form a voluntary coalition without Sinn Fein.
“If they fail to do so, unionists should not give any support to SDLP candidates because they would only be supporting a pan nationalist front agenda and an SDLP policy which maintains Sinn Fein should be part of any executive at Stormont.
“The SDLP is blocking Stormont from becoming operational because of its refusal to separate itself from Sinn Fein.
“In my view the only way the SDLP can recover electorally is for it to publicly declare before the election it is ready to go into a voluntary coalition.”
Inclusive power sharing involving the DUP, Sinn Fein, UUP and SDLP has been on hold in Northern Ireland since October 2002 until the IRA ends all involvement in paramilitary and criminal activity.
Power sharing collapsed over allegations that republicans operated a spy ring at Stormont.
But they have faced even more accusations of criminality in recent months following the failure of talks last year.
The IRA has been blamed for December’s £26.5 million Northern Bank heist in Belfast and members of the organisation accused of the murder in January of father-of-two Robert McCartney outside a bar in the city.
While the SDLP have been vigorous in their condemnation of republicans, the party has been accused by unionists of failing to follow through on the logic of their argument by excluding Sinn Fein from government.
The SDLP and Irish Government insist the only way forward in Northern Ireland is inclusive government involving Sinn Fein and an end to all criminal and paramilitary activity by the IRA.
Northern Ireland’s two main unionist parties, the Rev Ian Paisley’s DUP and David Trimble’s UUP have in recent days been holding discussions about a possible electoral pact which have made little headway.
With the SDLP facing a difficult battle with Sinn Fein to hold onto two of its three seats, there have been reports that the talks have considered the possibility of unionists standing aside and urging their community to back Mark Durkan’s party to prevent the constituencies falling into republican hands.
Mr Burnside said if the SDLP were to get tactical backing, unionist voters would be asked in the local government elections, which use a PR-style voting system as opposed to Westminster’s first past the post system, to back unionist candidates first before giving Mark Durkan’s party any support.
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2005/0328/928432394HM1CIAN.html
O'Connor Stripped Of Gold Medal At Hearing In Zurich
Showjumper Cian O'Connor has been stripped of his Olympic gold medal by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) judicial committee. Grania Willis, Equestrian Correspondent, reports.
After a 12-hour hearing in Zurich yesterday, which was followed by another two hours of deliberation, the committee announced the 25-year-old would be banned from showjumping for three months and stripped of his gold medal.
O'Connor, who did not rule out an appeal against the sanctions, declared himself happy that the FEI judicial committee had accepted that he had not deliberately attempted to enhance the performance of his horse Waterford Crystal.
"I'm pleased that I have been vindicated of any deliberate wrongdoing, both myself and my vet James Sheeran," O'Connor said last night.
"Obviously it's a disappointment, a huge disappointment, not alone to me, but to my friends, staff, colleagues and sponsors and indeed to the country at the loss of the gold medal, but the medal has to go under the rules."
The possibility of an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne was not entirely ruled out by either O'Connor or his legal team, however. "It's been a long day here today, one step at a time," he said.
O'Connor's solicitor Andrew Coonan said: "It's something we now have to go back and think about," he said. "Everything must be considered. Nothing is ruled in, nothing is ruled out."
The Co Kildare rider has been asked to pay 5,000 Swiss francs towards the cost of the hearing.
He will have 30 days from the completion of the judicial committee's full written decision to lodge any appeal with CAS but, if he decides to accept the sanctions imposed yesterday, the three-month suspension comes into force at the end of the 30-day period.
Two human drugs, fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol, were found in a urine sample taken from his horse, Waterford Crystal, after his win in Athens.
After the Waterford Crystal test result O'Connor announced that another of his horses, ABC Landliebe, had tested positive for sedatives in Rome at the end of May last year.
Yesterday's hearing at the Unique Conference Centre at Zurich airport started at 9.40am, with Cian O'Connor arriving by taxi shortly before 10. He was escorted up to the eighth-floor hearing by his public relations adviser Wally Young.
The committee, took evidence from three FEI witnesses, Dr Frits Sluyter, head of the federation's veterinary department, Dr Yves Bonnaire, director of the Paris laboratory where Waterford Crystal's A urine sample was tested positive for the two banned substances, and Dr Marianne Sloet, a professor in the department of equine sciences at the University of Utrecht.
O'Connor's legal team, made up of solicitors Mr Coonan and James Cawley, senior counsel Michael Collins and Swiss lawyer Pierre-Yves Tschanz, called in Prof Tom Tobin, toxicologist and pharmacologist at the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Centre, Cian O'Connor's groom Jane Doyle and vet James Sheeran.
But although the defence team managed to persuade the judicial committee that the two substances, fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol, had not been administered in an attempt to enhance performance, the federation has a zero tolerance of these banned substances.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/493501019HM2REUNITED.html
Irish-American Family Reunited In Tipperary After Holiday Mix-Up
Pat Flynn
An Irish-American family, which became separated while travelling to Ireland for a holiday last week, was reunited on Saturday in Co Tipperary after two days of searching for each other.
A series of interrupted voicemail messages to a family member's mobile phone, which was not set up to operate on the Irish mobile network, resulted in the Reillys from St Paul in Minnesota eventually finding each other after 48 hours without contact. Ms Betsy Reilly had appealed on radio and in newspapers for information about her husband, Mr Dan Reilly, and three daughters who had arrived in Ireland but who could not be contacted by her when she landed the next day.
Their ordeal began when one of the couple's four daughters was not allowed to board her flight in the US after officials noticed her passport had expired. Ms Reilly stayed behind with her daughter, Molly, to resolve the issue, while her husband and their three other girls, Claire, Casey and Brenna, travelled ahead to Ireland to begin their short Easter break.
Ms Reilly added: "All the time I was trying to leave messages on my daughter's mobile phone but I kept getting cut off after about three seconds. Eventually she put all the little bits together and realised we were in Bunratty and began ringing bed-and-breakfasts here."
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/1290411976HM2MINIBUS.html
31 People Taken To Hospital After Bus Overturns In Laois
Liam Horan
A night out almost ended in tragedy for over 30 young people when their bus overturned.
No other vehicle was involved in the accident outside the village of Errill, Co Laois, just before 2am on Sunday.
Thirty-one people were taken to hospital, but 25 were released within hours of the accident.
The bus was full of young people out celebrating the bank holiday weekend.
"It had the potential to be a very serious incident," said a Garda spokesperson. Six people, including some with broken bones, were still in hospital in Portlaoise last night.
A major emergency plan was implemented when the 32-seater bus overturned. Gardaí are still trying to establish the cause of the accident.
"The ambulance service put a major accident emergency plan into place straightaway, but fortunately there were no major injuries," said a Garda spokesperson.
"They [the injured] were mainly walking wounded, with scratches, scrapes and shock."
The accident happened on a straight stretch of road on the Rathdowney side of Errill.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/4081448497HM2LOACH.html
Ken Loach Looking For Irish Actors
Olivia Kelleher
Director Ken Loach is currently searching for Irish actors, professional and amateur, for a film about the War of Independence, to be filmed in Co Cork.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley will be filmed this summer in various locations including Macroom, Cul Aodh, Bandon, Buttevant and Mallow.
Loach, who is know for his socially conscious films, was in Cork on Wednesday and Thursday looking to cast young men to make up the ranks of Tom Barry's flying column.
A final call back session is planned for the first week in April. However, Sixteen Films is still accepting CV's and headshots from people wanting to take part in the film.
Loach's company is moving to a new office, details of which will be available in a week to 10 days.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley focuses on the lives of a young group of Irish men and women involved in the war.
The screenplay has been written by Paul Laverty and the movie will be produced by Dublin based Element Films.
Lavery previously collaborated with Loach on Sweet Sixteen, which was released in 2002.
© The Irish Times
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0328/150625556HM2SIGNS.html
Road Signs Go Irish In Gaeltacht
Anne Lucey
Only the Irish-language versions of placenames may be used on road and street signs in the State's Gaeltacht districts from today.
The definitive large-scale Ordnance Survey maps for these areas will give only the authoritative version of the Irish name.
Some 2,319 townlands from all the Gaeltacht areas in the State are covered by the legislation under the Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004, which comes into effect today.
It means that the English versions of such placenames as Dunquinn and Ventry in the west Kerry Gaeltacht on the Dingle peninsula no longer have legal standing. Although the order does not affect private use of the English versions, the Irish-language Dun Chaoin and Ceann Trá will have to be used in statutory instruments and on road and street signs.
Large-scale OS maps produced from now on will only have Irish names and the provision will be extended to cover other maps "over a period of time", according to a statement from Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Eamon Ó Cuív.
A second order coming into effect today confirms for the first time the Irish-language versions of names of postal towns outside Gaeltacht districts. This order - the Placenames (Centres of Population and Districts) Order 2005, signed into law in February - means that an Irish-language name is now official alongside the English-language version in non-Gaeltacht areas.
For example, the Irish-language name for Mountcharles in Co Donegal is no longer Moin Séarlas, but Tamhnach an tSalainn, as this was the Irish-language version most commonly used locally and its historic name.
Irish-language names were given official recognition for the first time in the Official Languages Act of 2003. Irish placenames are being put on an equal footing on a county-by-county basis. So far, nine placename orders confirming the official Irish-language versions of placenames have been signed by Mr Ó Cúiv. These are for counties Kilkenny, Louth, Limerick, Monaghan, Waterford and Offaly as well as the Gaeltacht districts. The orders covering counties Dublin, Galway and Tipperary are almost complete.
Brendan Mac Gearailt, author and member of Údarás na Gaeltachta for Kerry, said that this was something which should have been done 100 years ago.
Mr Mac Gearailt, who has written books on Irish blessings and curses, and is currently compiling a book on placenames, commented: "The main annoyance for me is that the maps quite regularly did not coincide with signs. I don't want to see local tourists and anglers being led astray any longer."
In most cases, English placenames had come into use because the English did not pronounce the names properly and "came up with a load of garbage" which was then put on signs, Mr Mac Gearailt added. Under this confusion, Cill Airne became Killarney.
© The Irish Times
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