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September 23, 2006

Numbers Limited For Drumcree Parade

News About Ireland & The Irish


Parades at Drumcree have been peaceful for the past three years

BB 09/23/06 Number Limit For Drumcree Parade
BT 09/23/06 Commissioner's 'Orange Links' Challenged In Drumcree Case
IN 09/23/06 Nationalists Told To ‘Throw Off Shackles’
BB 09/23/06 St Andrews Talks May Prove Vital
IN 09/23/06 Can Scottish Summit Seal Deal For North?
BT 09/22/06 Hain Under Fire After Outlining Plans To Dissolve Assembly
BT 09/22/06 Orde's Offer To Speak To Republicans Is Rejected
BN 09/22/06 2 Families Refused Compensation Following Arson Attacks
BT 09/22/06 Catholic Church Denies Integration Move
TO 09/23/06 How Do You Say Wine Lake, Butter Mountain & … In Irish?
IN 09/23/06 Hurricane Gordon Leaves Path Of Destruction In Wake
PL 09/23/06 Edward Patrick McManus, RIP
GU 09/23/06 West Side Stories: Quiet Man & The Field

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-1/hi/northern_ireland/5372634.stm

Number Limit For Drumcree Parade

No more than 1,000 people may take part in a march at
Drumcree, the Parades Commission has ruled.

Its meeting came after the High Court told it to reconsider
its decision not to restrict the parade on Saturday.

The march was arranged to mark 3,000 days since Orangemen
were barred from marching along the mainly nationalist
Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

The number of 1,000 was originally stated by the Orange
Order in their application.

Mr Justice Weatherup told the High Court on Friday that
Portadown District Lodge on its website had called for
Orange Order members throughout Northern Ireland to join
the march.

But he said the Parades Commission had been told there was
no general appeal for support when it made its decision.

He said the commission had been "given an ill-founded
assurance".

Contentious

The High Court ruling came after the Garvaghy Road
Residents Coalition challenged the commission's ruling on
the parade at Drumcree Hill.

Each July, the Portadown Orange Lodge attends a service at
Drumcree church to commemorate the anniversary of the
Battle of the Somme.

Since 1998, their homeward route has been blocked by the
security forces, following a determination by the Parades
Commission.

The parade has been marked by serious violence in the past,
but it has passed off peacefully in the last three years.

The march has been one of Northern Ireland's most
contentious. The route was last used by Orangemen in 1997.

The Parades Commission was set up in 1997 to make decisions
on whether controversial parades should be restricted.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/09/23 12:33:06 GMT
© BBC MMVI

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=707274

Commissioner's 'Orange Links' Challenged In Drumcree Case

By Chris Thornton
22 September 2006

Orange links helped land the Parades Commission back in
court today for a challenge its latest Drumcree stance.

A judicial review concerning Saturday's march to mark the
3,000th day of the Portadown Orange protest will also delve
into the purported Orange ties of Commissioner Alison
Scott-McKinley.

Earlier this year, the NIO was drawn into a prolonged court
battle with the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition about
the appointment of two Portadown Orangemen to serve on the
Commission.

The Court of Appeal eventually upheld the appointments, but
the battle ended with one Orangeman off the Commission and
the other resigned from the Order.

But according to the Commission, Mrs Scott-McKinley also
has relatives in the Order.

Those connections will come under scrutiny in today's court
battle, which is looking at the Commission's decision to
put no restrictions on Saturday's parade.

Portadown Orangemen have applied to march on the Drumcree
Road - which continues all the way to the nationalist
section of the Garvaghy Road - but the Commission has not
specified that they should stop at Drumcree church.

A lawyer for Joe Duffy, a member of the Garvaghy Road
Residents' Coalition, argued in a preliminary hearing
yesterday that the lack of a ruling was totally at odds
with the Commission's consistent refusal to allow Orange
marchers onto the Garvaghy Road on an almost weekly basis.

Barry McDonnell, QC, argued that it might prove difficult
for police to enforce the agreed route as the organisers
had called on Orangemen throughout Northern Ireland to
support their Portadown brethren in scenes reminiscent of
the protests in the late 1990s.

The lawyer also claimed that the Commission's decision not
to impose restrictions was flawed because Mrs Scott-
McKinley did not declare a conflict of interest at the
meeting at which the decision was made.

"She has close family members who are in the loyal orders,"
he said. Bernard McCloskey, QC, for the Commission,
responded: "On the evidence she has no connection with the
Orange Order. Someone in her family may have, she has not."

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=535993

Nationalists Told To ‘Throw Off Shackles’

By Bimpe Fatogun

DUP Upper Bann MP David Simpson is today expected to call
for a fundamental review of parading legislation during an
address at an Orange rally at Drumcree in Portadown, Co
Armagh.

Portadown LOL No 9 are marching from the town centre to
Drumcree Hill to mark 3,000 days of protest against the
banning of Orangemen from parading on the Garvaghy Road.

No restrictions have been placed on the controversial march
– to the consternation of nationalist residents.

Mr Simpson will tell Orangemen that the Parades Commission
“is part of the problem and not part

of the solution’’ and demand its

dismantling by Secretary of State Peter Hain.

He is also expected to tell Portadown lodge members that
they deserve to complete their parade home “and to do so
with dignity’’.

His demand will centre on “British rights and equality for
British citizens’’ no more “than people have the right to
expect in a free and open society’’.

There will also be reference to “Sinn Fein personnel’’
involved in the protest “poisoning community relations and
demonising their Protestant neighbours’’.

Mr Simpson will make reference to the recent influx of
migrant workers to the town and welcome “anyone who comes
to this area to try to contribute to it, to work hard and
build up our economy regardless of their colour, creed or
culture’’.

He will draw a parallel with racism and sectarianism,
saying it is “extraordinary that in such a place as this
there are still those who

cannot tolerate their neighbours giving expression to their
culture and identity’’.

Mr Simpson is also expected to call on nationalist
residents of the Garvaghy Road – the route Orangemen have
sought to use to return from church despite protests for
the last number of years – to “throw off the shackles of
those who have used and abused them in order

to advance a narrow sectarian agenda’’.

He will also pay tribute to former district master of the
Order in Portadown Harold Gracey who died in March 2004
after 18 years leading the lodge.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/5372636.stm

St Andrews Talks May Prove Vital

By Mark Devenport
Political editor, BBC Northern Ireland

As they prepare for next month's intensive talks in
Scotland, government officials might be tempted to let the
negotiations run longer than the current deadline.

They know that the sabbatarian DUP will not negotiate on a
Sunday.

But do they really want the St Andrews discussions to
conclude on Friday 13, October 2006?

Sure, we have witnessed the Good Friday Agreement.

Some of us can even remember the Pancake Tuesday
procrastination (when Northern Ireland Assembly elections
were delayed in the hope of a deal).

But what are the omens going to be for a Friday 13 deal?

The parties are being allowed to send teams equivalent to
half the number of their assembly group plus two.

Some of the more superstitious participants have pointed
out to me that Friday 13 October isn't just any old Friday
13.

It is in fact the 699th anniversary of the terrible Friday
on which King Philip the Fair of France tortured and
subsequently massacred hundreds of Knights Templar to take
their riches for his treasury.

If any of the talks participants wishes to ponder on this,
they could always stop off on their way to St Andrews at
the Masonic Rosslyn chapel near Edinburgh, which featured
in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.

The omens might not be great for a deal, but St Andrews is
shaping up to have all the ingredients for an unlikely
bestseller.

Still trying to crank up the pressure, Peter Hain has
signalled that he will form a positive or negative
assessment after St Andrews.

If the governments don't believe a deal is on, the
secretary of state is promising not just to pull the plug
on his recently-created temporary assembly but also to push
through legislation dissolving the assembly set up back in
1998.

That's intended to take away the safety net which many
politicians believed they would enjoy during the spring.

What's not clear at this stage will be whether the
dissolution of the 1998 assembly will take effect in the
immediate aftermath of 24 November.

Presuming that dedicated assembly staff are due some notice
of redundancy, even if an order is pushed through quickly
it might have to include a later date for the actual
dissolution.

Could this provide a second deadline in, say, December or
January?

Dissolving the 1998 assembly is now in the mix alongside
cutting MLAs' wages and allowances, scrapping the eleven-
plus, and showing flexibility on the new rates system.

In addition, Peter Hain argues that no future prime
minister will bring the same level of focus as Tony Blair
to the Northern Ireland brief.

However, some local politicians aren't impressed.

The DUP's Jim Allister made another hardline speech during
the week, describing the Blair administration as a dying
government, fading into oblivion.

Why should the DUP hurry, he asked, when the next general
election held out the tempting possibility of a hung
parliament, which could provide rich opportunities for the
DUP as fourth biggest party?

But given the urgent pressures of water charges and rates,
is the next general election too long for the DUP to wait?

'Committed devolutionist'

Peter Robinson came under some pressure on this score from
people attending a public meeting in east Belfast.

He told the audience that he was a committed devolutionist,
adding tellingly that he was perhaps too much of a
devolutionist for some in his own party.

Come 24 November the chances remain that the DUP will still
be consulting their grassroots about power sharing, whilst
Sinn Fein are consulting their members about policing.

Two years after the Knights Templar met their Friday 13
fate, the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, held his first
parliament at St Andrews in 1309.

Bruce is most famous for learning the value of patience
from watching a spider "try, try and try again" to weave
its web.

But, it's claimed, he was hiding in a cave on Rathlin
Island off the Antrim coast when he learned his lesson.

Patience may still be a commodity the British and Irish
governments will need as they try to draw together the last
threads of the Stormont web.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/09/23 09:07:00 GMT
© BBC MMVI

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=536012

Can Scottish Summit Seal Deal For North?

By William Graham

The last day of the political talks in Scotland next month
falls on Friday 13 but hopefully it will not turn out to be
an unfortunate date on the historical calendar of the
Northern Ireland peace process.

Superstitions apart, certainly on this particular day in
October the runes will be there for all to read as to
whether a power-sharing devolution deal is possible
involving Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn
Fein.

The negotiations are scheduled for October 11, 12 and 13 in
the five-star Fairmont Hotel which sits on a beautiful
cliff top overlooking the river Tay estuary, the north sea
and of course the medieval town of St Andrews.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie
Ahern will arrive at St Andrews to host these talks which
are seen as the last throw of the political dice on getting
a political deal before the November 24 deadline.

The pressure is now on to get that deal even though most
observers believe it will not be possible for the DUP to
sign up by that deadline and that more time will be needed
perhaps taking the process over into next year.

The Northern Ireland Office is tightening the screws by
making it clear that in the event of failure to reach a
deal by that deadline there will be no more time; that the
salaries and allowances of MLAs will stop on November 25;
and the assembly will be officially dissolved by order of
parliament one week later.

And Secretary of State Peter Hain has bluntly stated that
“once you dissolve the assembly, that is a very final step
and it takes years and years to get it back again”.

Tough talking from the northern secretary and you can
expect more of it in the run-up to the Scotland summit in
creating a sort of hothouse negotiating atmosphere.

This approach might not work on the DUP which will not be
shoehorned into a deal before it thinks the time is right.

Yet the DUP could also find it might be in danger of
overplaying its hand and ending up being blamed for
failure.

It might also prove to be a mistake for the DUP to wait for
the arrival of the Scottish son of the manse Gordon Brown
as prime minister, or even to tarry longer in anticipation
of the coming of David Cameron and perhaps holding the
balance of power in a hung parliament.

Strategising too long into the future could prove
unsettling for a peace process which has so far proved to
be remarkably robust despite all that has happened.

Delaying tactics can also feed into a vacuum of a
democratic deficit in Northern Ireland not to mention the
possibility always of unpredictable events upsetting the
political apple cart.

A deal that is going to last is what is needed and at this
stage there appears to be just a few issues on the table to
be settled.

The SDLP wonder, in the words of Mark Durkan, if the DUP is
not now on a pub crawl of preconditions.

The DUP has in the assembly this past week been setting out
its demands ahead of the Scottish summit including that
there must be full acceptance and support of the police by
Sinn Fein.

Interestingly also just a few days ago Sinn Fein’s Gerry
Kelly said it needed to separate out what was needed to get
policing right.

Mr Kelly said that “we could be very, very close to it if
the DUP were to engage and stop being obstructive”.

Clearly a pathway is being prepared for the calling of a
special Sinn Fein ard fheis to consider the whole issue of
policing.

Sinn Fein’s internal consultation on policing may now be
coming to a conclusion.

The DUP has also been doing their own internal consulting.

DUP sources told The Irish News yesterday that they were
continually consulting with their internal membership on
all of these political issues.

“We have set out in fairly stark and clear terms the areas
that work needs to be done in... what we feel needs to be
done to bring a successful conclusion. The ball is in
others courts at this stage.

“The situation is complex at the minute – given that we are
going into negotiations.’’

For example a lot of work has been done on the political
structures issue and the DUP believe this addresses
accountability and the relationship between ministers in a
future power-sharing executive and assembly.

The DUP said the government needs to bring forward
proposals on this.

“We have had the template that was the comprehensive
agreement and we had further discussions last year around
strand one [internal NI issues] and relating to strand two
[north-south]. Largely it is now for the government to
bring this forward and we believe that will happen,’’ DUP
sources said.

On law and order the DUP state that what it is looking for
from Sinn Fein is “practical support for the police”.

In terms of tactics it is clear now that the DUP has put
the policing issue “front and centre’’and work is needed
around this subject.

It may be that the Scottish summit will in fact clear the
air in terms of commitments from both the British
government and from Sinn Fein on the policing issue which
would indeed be a huge historic step forward.

Even so, no-one can yet see inside the mind of Ian Paisley
as to whether he will ever sign up to power-sharing
devolution with Sinn Fein.

That is the big question.

These are strange times and anything is possible in
Northern Irish politics.

For example, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was said to
have told an audience in New York this week that Ian
Paisley would do a far better job as leader of Northern
Ireland than any direct rule minister.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=707311

Hain Under Fire Again After Outlining Plans To Dissolve Assembly

By Noel McAdam
22 September 2006

Secretary of State Peter Hain was again under fire today
after once more trying to increase pressure on the
political parties to achieve a devolution deal.

He confirmed he would formally dissolve the assembly, which
was suspended almost four years ago by his predecessor John
Reid, if November 24 passed without agreement.

Mr Hain plans an official order in Parliament to end the
last assembly, just days after the current so-called Hain
assembly would have been shut down.

Some party sources had argued that, even if Mr Hain closed
the present assembly and axed members' salaries and
allowances, the former assembly would still exist at least
in legal terms and could be revived if a deal proved
possible before May next year.

Speaking on BBC Northern Ireland's Hearts And Minds
programme last night, Mr Hain firmly ruled out that
possibility.

The Secretary of State could therefore pull the plug on the
current assembly on November 24 and then rule the former
assembly null and void around a week later.

"Once you dissolve the assembly, that is a very final step
and it takes years and years and years to get it back
again," he warned.

Mr Hain also hinted that the two Governments would remove
themselves from any involvement in negotiations after
November 24, leaving it to the parties to arrange contact
between themselves in future.

"Does anyone seriously think the DUP and Sinn Fein can sort
this out between themselves without the Governments?? It
would mean Sinn Fein and the DUP doing the deal on their
own. I think that's pretty unlikely," he said.

The Secretary of State also said Prime Minister Tony Blair
and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern would assess the prospects for
success during the three days of intensive talks in St
Andrews, Scotland, next month.

Mr Hain argued that, if there was no prospect of a deal,
the Governments would have to say so.

"If they don't make up their minds by November 24, they are
probably not going to make their minds up for years to
come. We are saying the time has come to put up or shut
up," he said.

Mr Hain had earlier held out the carrot of a restored
assembly being able to look again at rates, water charges,
academic selection and industrial derating.

In a speech to business leaders, he suggested a power-
sharing executive would have a reasonable chance of
persuading the Government on issues such as the
harmonisation of corporation tax.

Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson accused Mr Hain of
"political blackmail", particularly in relation to the
future of the 11-plus.

Democratic Unionist MEP Jim Allister said there was no
basis for optimism until the IRA and "criminality" had
gone.

Sinn Fein's Mitchel McLaughlin said it was clear that local
accountable ministers could take a different approach, and
people were beginning to ask if they could afford further
direct rule.

The SDLP's Sean Farren accused Sinn Fein and the DUP of
almost conspiring together to create obstacles.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=707277

Orde's Offer To Speak To Republicans Is Rejected

By Lesley-Anne Henry
22 September 2006

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams last night rejected the PSNI
Chief Constable Hugh Orde's offer to speak at any Sinn Fein
Ard Fheis set up to discuss policing.

Speaking on Downtown Radio yesterday Sir Hugh Orde said if
the republican leadership invited him to a special Ard
Fheis to spell out his views on the future of policing he
would be willing and ready to do so.

The Chief Constable said that the move would be consistent
with his availability to engage and move policing forward.

A spokesman for the PSNI confirmed: "The Chief Constable
has consistently said that he will speak with anyone who
has a constructive contribution to make to policing.

"Any decision by the Sinn Fein leadership to support
policing can only be a good but more for the community in
particular.

"The PSNI has met its responsibilities and the Chief
Constable takes every opportunity to articulate that
success."

But speaking before he addressed the Council on Foreign

Relations in New York last night, Mr Adams said: "I would
not even respond to that.

"Anyone who comes to speak to us would have to be a
decision by the party but it is certainly not an issue."

The offer came a day after Sinn Fein's justice spokesman
Gerry Kelly revealed that a historic decision on his
party's line on policing could be just weeks away.

While stressing that the full package of police reforms had
yet to be met, the MLA acknowledged that there had been
"massive changes" in policing since the days of the old
RUC. He said that in the event of republicans endorsing
policing, their involvement would not be "half- hearted"
but "full-bodied".

Working institutions at Stormont, including agreement on a
new Policing and Justice Department, the transfer of powers
and a time frame for achieving this, are all crucial for
republican participation. If these are realised, Sinn Fein
would call a special Ard Fheis with a leadership proposal.

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http://www.unison.ie/breakingnews/index.php3?ca=9&si=98782

Two Belfast Families Refused Compensation Following Arson Attacks

15:07 Friday September 22nd 2006

Two north Belfast families whose homes were set on fire by
loyalist mobs have been refused compensation.

The Northern Ireland Office refused compensation because
the police say they cannot prove the attacks were carried
out by any specific paramilitary organisation.

In June last year a gang set two central heating tanks on
fire and the flames spread to the houses, causing the seven
adults and four children inside to flee for their lives.

They have said they heard the arsonists shouting sectarian
slogans as they left.

They were in temporary housing for six months during repair
work but have now been told they are not entitled to
compensation because they don't fall within the strict
criteria.

One woman's business collapsed after she appeared on the
television news and another was medically retired.

The families say they're disgusted and have taken a
complaint to the Police Ombudsman.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=707311

Catholic Church Denies Integration Move

By Kathryn Torney
22 September 2006

The Catholic church today played down the possibility of
any of its schools transforming to integrated status in the
near future.

Bishop Donal McKeown, chair of the Northern Ireland
Commission for Catholic Education, spoke of the importance
of Catholic education at the launch of a new vision for the
church's schools.

The commission is launching a training and development
initiative in a bid to provide a clear vision and direction
for every Catholic school.

'Catholic Education ? the Vision' was due to be launched by
Archbishop Sean Brady at a seminar and training day for
Catholic educators at the Glenavon House Hotel in
Cookstown.

To support the initiative, a DVD and resource manual has
been produced for every Catholic school, and every parish
and school will also take part in indepth training
workshops.

Bishop McKeown, a former teacher and principal, said: "We
have to make sure that we are offering Catholic education
rather than education for Catholics. If we are only that,
then we are purely divisive.

"There is a huge demand for Catholic education in other
countries."

No school within the Catholic maintained sector has ever
transformed to integrated status.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Peter Hain repeated
his argument that Northern Ireland could no longer afford
segregated schools, claiming it was a contributory factor,
along with falling enrolments, to there being 50,000 empty
school desks.

"We must embrace collaboration and sharing across and
between school sectors, allowing children and young people
to share experiences and ensuring education spending is
going to children in classrooms, not on maintaining empty
desks," he said.

Bishop McKeown said that there were Catholic schools in
Northern Ireland with a mixed religion intake.

"We would encourage the Government to do two things. To
praise those schools that are providing integrated
education, with a title or not, as well as support the
areas where an integrated school is impossible," he said.

"We know that we cannot afford a plethora of schools and we
would support schools collaborating together as much as
possible.

"However, just to think that a shared future agenda will
solve all our problems is a blinkered approach."

Bishop McKeown added that changes planned as part of the
post-primary review should ensure that there is a network
of schools with a range of options for pupils.

"Together we have to find a system that supports all
children in Northern Ireland - Catholic, Protestant and
non-Christian, successful and non-successful, the poor and
those who are better off," he said.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2370731,00.html

How Do You Say Wine Lake, Butter Mountain And Gravy Train In Irish?

By David Charter, Europe Correspondent

Loch fíona, sliabh ime and sruth na meala (as the EU's
translators will now have to learn)

EUROPE may be expanding to the East, but Brussels is
desperately searching for interpreters from the West after
Irish became the European Parliament’s latest official
language.

Although a full translation service requires a team of 80,
there is one native Irish speaker among the MEPs: Seán Ó
Neachtain, of Fianna Fail.

Advertisements will be published next week to find
linguists at an estimated annual cost of €677,000
(£456,000). A further five Irish MEPs might make use of the
new facility, however, bringing the cost down to €110,000 a
head.

The adoption of Irish as the EU’s 21st official language
takes effect on January 1, the day when Bulgaria and
Romania are expected to join and further expand the modern
Tower of Babel in Brussels.

But attempts to recruit interpreters after the Irish
Government’s successful campaign to have the country’s
language recognised formally are floundering badly.

An initial advertising campaign in Ireland over the summer,
which culminated in candidate tests in Dublin last month
found not one applicant capable of matching the EU’s tough
conference interpreting standards.

Despite the Irish campaign for language recognition, there
is not a single specialised conference-level interpreter’s
course in the Republic.

Six linguists, who were discovered in the summer
recruitment drive, will instead be given European
Parliament bursaries to train over the next year. The new
adverts, being published next week, will seek English-
speaking interpreters with a good working knowledge of
Irish because of the lack of Irish-speaking candidates.

One EU source said: “The problem is that, in most EU
countries, most people speak their own language. Irish is
one of the official languages of the Irish Republic but
maybe only 1 or 2 per cent of the population truly speak it
on an everyday basis.

“The Irish Official Languages Act of 2003, which came fully
into force in Ireland on July 14, is intended to redress
the balance in favour of the ‘first official language’: all
primary legislation and statutory instruments will need to
be enacted in both English and Irish, and all public
services are required to make provision for the use of the
Irish language.”

The source added: “Native speakers tend to live in the West
of Ireland and they do not seem particularly keen to come
to Brussels because they and their children cannot then
live in an Irish-speaking community.”

While interpreters are being sought, only set-piece
speeches are likely to be translated simultaneously from
texts prepared by the speaker. This does not satisfy
Bairbre de Brún, the Sinn Fein MEP, who said: “The EU must
be more ambitious in its pursuit of what is possible for
the Irish language. It has been a long and hard struggle
for Irish-language campaigners to ensure that Irish is on a
level-playing field with other languages.” The successful
campaign by the Irish has given heart to other linguistic
groups such as Catalán and Galician speakers, who are far
more numerous than the Maltese, who gained official status
in 2004. Pressure is also growing for extra services for
Welsh speakers.

With the accession of Bulgaria and Romania from January
2007 expected to be confirmed next week, and Croatian
accession talks gathering pace — as well as the possible
integration of Turkish-speaking Cyprus — another problem
looms for the European Parliament. Space is running out, as
there are only 26 booths for interpreters around the
chamber.

A union of sorts - but not languages

The European Union has 25 member states and 20 (soon to be
21) official languages. Each member state stipulates which
language or languages it wants to have declared official
languages of the EU

The languages are: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian,
Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian,
Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak,
Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish

With 21 languages soon to be in operation in the EU, there
will be 420 possible combinations of languages to interpret
and translate in Brussels

Current spending by the EU on translation services is close
to £110 million a year, with a one-day meeting in the
European Parliament, involving full interpretation, costing
more than £80,000

A recent report by a Finnish MEP shows that more than £17
million of taxpayers’ money is wasted every year on
interpretation that is simply cancelled at the last minute
or unused

If only English, French and German were to be used — common
practice in the majority of European Commission meetings —
the cost of translation would fall to less than £6,500 a
day

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=536001

Hurricane Gordon Leaves Path Of Destruction In Wake

By Valerie Robinson Southern Correspondent

A massive clean-up took place yesterday to repair the
damage caused by the high winds and heavy rain as the tail-
end of Hurricane Gordon lashed the Republic.

Up to 50,000 homes experienced power cuts as winds gusting
up to 120kph swept across the country until early yesterday
morning.

Winds left fallen trees and debris on many roads forcing
authority crews to work overnight to clear the damage.

The AA said Kildare was among the worst-affected counties,
with tree branches and telegraph poles blocking several
roads.

Motorists were advised to drive with caution and to report
any problems to the local authorities, AA or gardai.

There were also reports of flash floods on a number of
routes in Galway, Mayo, Wicklow and Cork city centre.

ESB workers managed to restore electricity to all but
around 6,000 homes in the Republic by early yesterday, with
counties Wexford, Limerick, Donegal, Meath and Louth
getting power back by mid-afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Ryder Cup got under way as scheduled
yesterday morning amid predictions by weather experts that
the country would experience a mix of sunny and showery
conditions over the next two days.

Mitchell Platts, the European director of corporate affairs
for the competition, said all the necessary checks had been
carried out at the K Club in Co Kildare before play began.

Gardai reported that a woman had been injured at the club
after a tree was damaged by winds at the club shortly
before 8pm on Thursday.

The woman’s injuries were not serious. Some hoarding also
blew over at a North bus terminal slightly injuring two
men.

*************************

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/s_471876.html

Edward Patrick McManus, RIP

Veteran Prized Family, Church, Community

By Jerry Vondas
Tribune-Review
Saturday, September 23, 2006

As the oldest of eight sons raised in a well-known Irish-
American family in Lawrenceville, Ed McManus was the "big
brother" his siblings looked to when they needed advice.

"My uncles respected Dad's judgment, and when it came time
for them to make an important decision, the word was 'check
it out with Ed,'" said his son, Edward McManus.

Edward Patrick McManus, of Stanton Heights, formerly of
Lawrenceville, a retired underwriter for USF&G Insurance
Co., died Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006, at his home. He was 80.

Like his father, Terry McManus, who spent years as the
boxing coach at the Boys Club of Western Pennsylvania in
Lawrenceville, Mr. McManus was devoted to his community and
church.

"Dad was a lector and extraordinary minister of Communion
at St. Kieran's (St. Matthew Parish)," said his son, a
teacher at Carrick High School.

"He was a devout Catholic whose response when questioned as
to what a right procedure would be when it came to the
church, said, 'Whatever the church permits.'

"As busy as Dad was with his work and his commitments to
St. Kieran's and the Lawrenceville community, he always
made time for us," Edward McManus said.

"My parents attended all of the activities that my brother,
Dennis, and I were involved with, even traveling to Butler
on a work night when I was attending St. Fidelis Seminary.

"When my sisters, Margaret and Karen, were taking dancing
lessons, he and Mom were there."

Following graduation from Central Catholic High School in
Oakland in 1941, Mr. McManus, who was 15 at the time,
worked at Freddie's Market in Lawrenceville until he was
old enough to be hired by an insurance firm.

He began his career as an insurance underwriter with the
Harris & Lawrence Insurance Co. prior to joining the staff
of USF&G, where he spent 35 years.

In 1953, following his discharge from the Army, where he
served as a supply sergeant in Okinawa during the Korean
War, Mr. McManus married Josephine Stierer, of
Lawrenceville.

"We first met in 1945," said Mrs. McManus. "We dated off
and on and I wrote to Ed when he was in Okinawa. Ed was
honest and caring, and throughout our married life I never
heard him use a foul word.

"We worked together at St. Kieran. We helped fund-raise for
the church's charities by operating an Irish booth at
church festivals. And we marched with the church's group at
the St. Patrick's Day parades."

Mr. McManus is survived by his wife, Josephine Stierer
McManus; two sons, Edward McManus, of Mt. Lebanon, and
Dennis McManus, of Squirrel Hill; two daughters, Margaret
McManus, of Penn Hills, and Karen Schramm, of Plum; five
grandchildren; and four brothers; William, of Penn Hills;
Lawrence, of Stanton Heights; Dennis, of Morningside, and
Patrick McManus, of Bloomfield.

He was preceded in death by three brothers, Terrence, David
and Charles McManus.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today
and Sunday at McCabe Bros. Inc. Funeral Home, 6214 Walnut
St., Shadyside.

A service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday in the funeral
home, followed by Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. at
St. Kieran Church of St. Matthew Parish, 5322 Carnegie St.,
Lawrenceville.

Jerry Vondas can be reached at jvondas@tribweb.com or (412)
320-7823.

*************************

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1878857,00.html

West Side Stories: Quiet Man & The Field

The stark beauty of Connemara is the backdrop for two
classic films - and home to some of Ireland's best walking

Tim Ecott
Saturday September 23, 2006
The Guardian

In Cong, they still talk about the day The Quiet Man came
to town. In 1951, electricity was specially installed in
the village to allow John Ford's production team to set up
camp at nearby Ashford Castle where John Wayne, Maureen
O'Hara and the other stars from Republic Pictures made
their home. Ridiculed by some as a Hollywood parody of
"Oirishness", the 1952 film was the most successful of all
of Ford's classics, and according to flame-haired O'Hara,
"the favourite filming experience of a lifetime".

Whatever the critics say, American tourists still arrive by
the coachload to visit the setting of the film, and to take
tours with Gerry Collins, owner of the Quiet Man Museum.
"People tell me that after 55 years the film has run out of
steam, but it's not true!" he said as we walked around the
village. "There is a new generation of fans who bring their
parents here to see the locations, and we show the film
every night at our guest house. Everyone loves it."

The Quiet Man tells the story of Sean Thornton (John
Wayne), an Irish American boxer who returns to the village
of Innisfree (Cong) after killing an opponent in the ring.
Smitten with Mary Kate Danaher (O'Hara), he is thwarted by
her brother, the squire (Victor McLaglen), who resents
Thornton, with his "modern Yankee ways", for buying a
cottage that he had been trying to purchase for years.

The Quiet Man won Ford a record-setting fourth best
director Oscar, and he acknowledged that the film paid
homage to his own Irish roots. The grandeur of the
landscape is crucial to the atmosphere of the film, a green
swathe of soft glens, pasture and rainy hills. Ford's
production embodies the Ireland of the romantic
imagination, but the central story revolves around a
desperate truth at the heart of Irish history: ownership of
the land. This lush landscape is haunted by the ghosts of
the victims of the great famine that sprang from the potato
blight of 1845-1851.

Cong is still a pretty place, and many of the buildings,
churches and lanes can be easily recognised from the film.
Ashford Castle is now one of Ireland's most prestigious
hotels, and displays a gallery of photographs of famous
guests including American presidents Reagan, Bush Senior
and Clinton, as well as Tony Blair, Barbra Streisand, Tiger
Woods and Pierce Brosnan.

A half-hour drive from Cong takes you into a wilder, but
equally evocative Irish landscape as the Maumturk and
Mweelrea mountains face each other at the head of Ireland's
only fjord: Killary harbour. Sandwiched between the hills
is the tiny village of Leenane, location for another Irish
film epic. Here Jim Sheridan directed Richard Harris, John
Hurt, Sean Bean and Tom Berenger in The Field (1990), a
tale that is as dark as The Quiet Man is light. Based on
true events, The Field tells the story of Bull McCabe
(Harris), a tenant farmer who is driven to murder in order
to try to save the land he has painstakingly cleared of
stones in order to eke out a living.

There isn't much to Leenane, but there are two pubs side by
side: Gaynor's and Hamilton's, both displaying stills from
The Field, and autographed portraits of Harris (nominated
for an Oscar for best actor) and John Hurt. A little way
out of the village, Bull McCabe's cottage still sits
overlooking Killary Harbour, a spectacular nine-mile
stretch of sheltered water.

A walk along the southern shore leads along a "famine
road". Local men and women built it in return for soup and
a small allowance by the British authorities to relieve the
hardship of the potato blight. The road, and many others
like it, was an entirely useless creation, but Victorian
morals decreed that the Irish shouldn't be paid an
allowance simply out of charity. I followed the track along
the shores of the fjord, to the crumbling ruins of Foher, a
village decimated by the famine.

The population of Connemara fell by two-thirds in this
period. Hardship was exacerbated by the Irish custom of
hereditary land division, where farms were divided equally
among all the children. Inevitably, this meant that each
generation received smaller and smaller farms. And at the
heart of both The Field and The Quiet Man is the bitter
irony of Irish Americans returning home, and using their
cash to take property from those who stayed on the land.

The stark beauty of Connemara remains, with some of
Ireland's best walking in the wild folding hills and
valleys filled with yellow bladderwort and white-headed
sedge. At the seaward end of Killary is a tiny jetty, and a
small hostel where the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein
spent the summer of 1948, inspired by the solitude and
proximity of the steep heather-clad slopes. And around the
tip of the bay the beaches of Renvyle and Glassilaun are
swathes of white sand, as perfect as any in the Western
Isles. Places fit for thinking.
----

Aer Arann (0800 587 2324, http://www.aerarann.com/ ) flies to Galway
from Luton, Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester and Edinburgh from
£49 one-way. Lough Inagh Lodge, Recess, Connemara (00353 95
34706, http://www.loughinaghlodgehotel.ie/ ) from €96pp B&B. Gerry
Greensmyth (+9826090, http://www.walkingguideireland.com/ ) offers
walking tours. Further information http://www.discoverireland.com/
0800 0397000.

----
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