RTE and Ireland remembers Big Tom, but the Irish in Britain will cherish what he brought to them.

Tom in Galtymore

https://www.rte.ie/player/gb/show/the-late-late-show-extras-30003017/10868072/

 

https://www.rte.ie/player/gb/show/the-late-late-show-extras-30003017/10868080/

~~~~~~~~~~~

Take a look inside the  rundown former Irish Centre (Wellington Rooms) on Mount Pleasant. Photos  by Colin Lane

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/incoming/gallery/inside-liverpools-irish-centre-8796782#ICID=sharebar_twitter

Stop The Rot: Former Irish Centre the focus of new £8m development plan

Liverpool’s universities want to create a business and innovation hub to keep graduates in the city

 

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/stop-rot-former-irish-centre-10320068

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irish teacher from Derby is heading off  this summer to South Africa , to teach in one of the schools built by the team lead  by Niall Mellon ; an  Irish based African Humanitarian Charity. Fiona is asking for your support .

 

 

    

Dear all,

” As many of you are aware I have spent the last few summers volunteering at various sporting events around the world, this year I have opted to volunteer teach in South Africa with  the Irish charity Mellon Educate.

On July 21 I will arrive in Capetown to work for a fortnight on the townships in a secondary school,built by Mellon , where many pupils walk more than an hour to reach a building that has fewer facilities that we are used to on this side of the world.  Below  is a link to a video to show you what it is all about”

 

 

 

 

Every year, Mellon Educate organises their now renowned “building blitz” trip to Africa for volunteers from all over the world to travel and lend a helping hand building better infrastructure in poor African communities.

In conjunction with the South African government, they have  housed 125,000 local people in high grade permanent homes, replacing dilapidated shack living conditions. Since 2013, Mellon Educate has set about improving access to better standards of education in African townships.

To date, the charity has built 16 new schools and renovated many more, providing over 10,000 young children with a better chance at life. They are  building towards educational programmes throughout Africa that will benefit over 100,000 primary school kids.

“Now I come to the bit where I ask for your help . This all  costs money £3200 to be precise, the Irish business community have been generous in their support and many cheques have been received and banked. I have a fundraising page

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fiona-molumby

“I ask you to consider donating to this worthy cause where many children will benefit and teachers will be offered skills for the future.. I will be truly appreciative of any offering.

I am hoping to take an extra suitcase packed with football shirts as during the learning breaks I plan to organise football matches so if you have any spare shirts forward them to me “

 

I thank you in advance and look out for further fundraising activities .

Fiona Molumby

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 30th  1851 a census showed the population of Ireland to be 6,552,385, a decline of 20% since 1845 ,number of Irish in England & Wales increased by 79% in the past decade. 25% of Liverpool is now ‘Irish’, 18% of the people of Glasgow & Dundee are Irish-born or 6.7% of Scotland

Their St.Patrick’s Day Parade 2018

 

 

 

opposite or below…depending if you are on smart phone or computer !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

University of Liverpool hosting Ambassador O’Neill to speak on The Good Friday Agreement Twenty Years On.

 

Dorothy Lynch from the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool, has been in touch to tell me that ; Adrian O’Neill, Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom, will be speaking at a public lecture hosted by The Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool. Ambassador O’Neill will give an address entitled “Believe A Further Shore Is Reachable From Here”: The Good Friday Agreement Twenty Years On.

Ambassador O’Neill’s public lecture is part of a series of events we are hosting to mark the 20th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement that includes the unique physical and digital exhibition Agreement: A People’s Process presently showing in the University of Liverpool’s Victoria Gallery & Museum. We have arranged for the exhibition to be open to view until 5:30 pm on 18 April and are delighted that some of the contributors to the exhibition will be present in the VG&M between 4.00pm and 5.30pm to discuss the creative processes that led to the exhibition.
For more information about Agreement: A People’s Process, please go to www.liverpool.ac.uk/peoplesprocess .

 

Date:

Wednesday 18 April 2018

 

Time:

4.00pm – 5.30pm            

Meet the Artist, Curators and view Agreement: A People’s Process

6.00 pm

Lecture by HE Adrian O’Neill

Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom

Venue:

Victoria Gallery & Museum
Ashton Street
University of Liverpool
Liverpool
L69 3DR

Registration:

To register your space(s) please go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/public-lecture-by-he-adrian-oneill-irish-ambassador-to-the-uk-tickets-44456375215

 

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION on Agreement: A People’s Process:

 

Agreement: A People’s Process combines photography, painting, sculpture, installations, animation, and textiles. It explores conflict and the capacity of people to build the values of parity of esteem and mutual respect. In recognising both victimhood and peace-building it examines the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and violent conflict in Columbia, Iraq and Argentina.  In each of these global contexts of harm and conflict there are evident signs of the people’s commitment to reconciliation and the desire to create a legacy of mutual consent. In none of these societies is there a settlement. Instead, there is a structure or desire upon which people alter and adapt their constitutional and other ideological preferences to respond to the need to embed and build upon democracy.

 

Agreement: A People’s Process shows us that peace-building does not belong to a political elite and reminds us that it is the courage and creativity of peoples’ commitment to transforming conflict that we find creative and inspired leadership.

 

Agreement: A People’s Process celebrates that commitment to engage and think imaginatively, resourcefully and inspirationally about victims, societal reconstruction and the recognition of harm endured. The exhibition stimulates how we think about the people’s process and the ways in which we stretch beyond the political and into an inspired space defined by OUR obligation to interdependence, mutual respect and relational change.

This exhibition includes:

Hands of History +20	sculptures, paintings, collage, installations
Invitation to Observe	photographic exhibition
Lyrical Agreement	animated film online now at  www.liverpool.ac.uk/peoplesprocess
Your Legacy Lives On	textiles
View Digital Exhibition of Agreement: A People’s Process	www.liverpool.ac.uk/peoplesprocess

Please note that the exhibition is free. For directions to and opening times of the Victoria Gallery & Museum please go to: http://vgm.liverpool.ac.uk/your-visit/.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

President and Sabina mark Earth Hour 2018

 

Coventry goes right to the heart of being Irish Abroad.

 

Irish Heart, Coventry Home is an exhibition taking place from 9th March until 10th April 2018 at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry. It has been created by the Coventry Irish Society who have interviewed 65 people and made a film about Irish migration to Coventry.

I met Simon McCarthy and Ciaran Davis at the Global Irish Civic Forum in Dublin Castle last May and  we talked on progress ” My impression on this wonderful exhibition , archive and film is that it  did not happen over night but with lots of research and ensuring inclusivity to produce a multi media project for generations to come . Watch the film, share it worldwide as a model of good practice.  My good friend Seán Cannon (from the Dubliners) features, well done Coventry” Gerry Molumby.

Here is a link to the documentary

The launch event, which was held on Friday 9th March, was one of the biggest nights in the Museum’s history. Coventry Irish Society  welcomed around 700 attendees, including Councillor Kieran McCarthy, who travelled from Coventry’s twin city of Cork. The night was a fine showcase of Coventry-Irish culture, with music from Joe O’Donnell and extracts from the plays of Kathi Leahy, which were acted by a stellar cast including Coventry-born actor Tamla Kari. A true  true celebration of  one of the most established Irish  communities in Britain .

Ciaran

Simon

 

Launch Night with compliments from  Photographer Alan Van Wijgerden

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dubliner  Evie Hone designed the chapel window of Eton College. Watch the film story made prior to when colour photography was readily available 

 

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade , also known as the Department of External Affairs, was one of the many state bodies in Ireland to commission films to be produced on its behalf. Often partnering with the National Film institute (now the IFI) they generally made films on subjects considered to be culturally worthy and educationally important. The Cultural Relations Committee, a group within the department responsible for promoting Irish arts & culture abroad, commissioned much of the output, and films such as ‘A Nation Once Again’ (1946) ‘W.B. Yeats: A Tribute’ (1950) and Liam O’Leary’s ‘Portrait of Dublin’ (1952) are representative of the type of historical and informative topics generally featured. A noteworthy example of more controversial and political subject matter is ‘Fintona – A study of Housing Discrimination’ which looks at anti-Catholic housing discrimination in Northern Ireland.

 

 

http://ifiplayer.ie/hallowed-fire-the-art-of-evie-hone/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What have Roger Casement and an Irish nun in India got in common ?

not so easy to pronounce better just get on with it !

 “I have known no one who was so stirred at the thought of injustice and wrong, whether it was in Africa, America or Ireland.” – Bulmer Hobson on his friend, Roger Casement

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/celebrating-the-irish-nun-educating-children-in-india-for-70-years-1.3417090

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Jesuits give Mary McAleese a platform to speak with hearing aid distance from the Vatican and Jesuit Pope !

 

On the theme of equality I am reminded of the old joke where the religious orders of the world gather to decide which was the best in the eyes of God. Unresolved they went to bed. Next morning burned into the wood of the main altar were the words ” All religious orders are equal in the eyes of God ” . Singned God SJ.!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Never mind the moving statues…Dublin’s statues now speak to you.

~ all you need to do is have your smart phone and the the statue will call you back ~ Now that’s what I call a promise !

 

 Dublin . Gerry Molumby Photographer 

https://www.rte.ie/player/gb/show/nationwide-21/10847595/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHY IRISH PEOPLE SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE COMPLETION OF THE LEVESON INQUIRY INTO  PRESS HACKING?

Jane Winter founder and Director of British Irish RIGHTS WATCH has been in touch with me on a campaign to achieve better press accountability .

 

 

Former  Irish president Mary McAleese  and Jane Winter shared a platform at Troubles, Tragedy and Trauma: Northern Ireland’s Historic Legacy, organised by St Mary’s University Twickenham , Michael O’Hare and the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith. January 2016. Gerry Molumby Photographer. 

Jane told me ……. 1^st March 2018 was a good day to bury bad news, with much of the country brought to a standstill by arctic weather and President Putin claiming a world-wide nuclear arsenal.  So the government chose to announce that it was not going to establish the second half of the Leveson Inquiry into press hacking.

 

Part 1, before which I appeared as a core participant, looked at standards and ethics in the print media.  Part 2, in which I was also called as a witness, was meant to look at all the actual wrongdoing, such as the hounding of the parents of Madaleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal, and the hacking of the murdered Millie Dowler’s mobile, giving her parents false hope that she was alive.

 

I got caught up in the hacking scandal in a much more minor way.  I was a founder member of British Irish rights watch (BIRW – now called Rights Watch UK), which was set up in 1990 to monitor the human rights dimension of the conflict in Northern Ireland.  Our services were free and available to anyone, on all sides, whose human rights had been affected by the conflict.

 

In 2006 – although I did not find out about it until 2011 – confidential emails I sent to a former member of the armed forces whom we were helping appeared on the computer of a person who had no right to see them.  It turned out that this hacking was commissioned by Rupert Murdoch’s News International newsgroup and Times Newspapers.  Although they denied liability, they paid me and BIRW compensation (I gave my share to BIRW), and said we were free to say that we felt “vindicated” by the out-of-court settlement.  Later, in the case of the person we were helping, they admitted liability.

 

When I found out I’d been hacked I was worried.  All our work at BIRW was highly confidential, and I didn’t know how far it had gone (luckily only two cases were affected, to the best of my knowledge).  I wanted support so I joined Hacked Off, whose Director at the time was an Irish Professor of Journalism, Brian Cathcart.

 

It was then I began to realise that the press in this country is run by a very few people, and that the likes of Murdoch have undue influence over our politicians, have corrupted police and prison officers, and have ruined people’s lives, often simply making up stories that were untrue.  It made me wonder who is really running the country.  I have met the McCanns and the Dowlers and many others, and I know that their lives will never be the same again, not only because of their personal tragedies, but because the dirty tactics used by the press have made things infinitely worse.

 

I am a journalist’s daughter and a supporter of human rights: I believe passionately in the freedom of the press.  But they don’t have the right to tell lies and wreck people’s lives.

 

Lord Justice Leveson was extremely condemnatory of the press at the end of Leveson 1.  He said they were “in the last chance saloon” and if they did not clean up their act they would have to be forced to do so.  He has said publicly that Leveson 2 must go ahead.

 

One might of thought that the press would have taken his advice, but they have gone on hacking and telling lies, and hounding people.  The only way they will ever stop is if they are named and shamed, and the only way to do that is to set up Levison 2 so that we victims can all tell the truth.  Hacked Off has set up a petition calling for just that.  You can find it here:

https://hackinginquiry.eaction.org.uk/petition/leveson2now

 

I you care about truth and stopping the abuse of the power of the press, please sign it today.  Thank you.

 

Jane Winter,

Former Director, British Irish RIGHTS WATCH

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking to reporters after an informal European Council meeting in Brussels (over weekend 23rd Feb) .. Taoiseach said he “anticipates” a referendum potentially “this autumn” to allow Irish citizens living abroad to vote in presidential elections.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cormac’s Chapel recently restored to the splendour of its Hiberno-Romanesque architecture.

 

On the southern side of the summit of the Rock of Cashel in Co. Tipperary is the church built as a Royal chapel by Cormac McCarthy, king of Munster between 1127 and 1134. The church has a number of Romanesque features such as paired towers, blind arcades and recessed arched doorways, rib-vaulting and decorative motifs such as chevrons, pellets and rosettes. The chapel is a cruciform nave and chancel church with two towers and a small rectangular recess running off the chancel to the east. A doorway of two orders gives access to the north tower from the nave, and a smaller round-headed doorway leads to the spiral staircase in the south tower. The nave has a barrel vault and above this there is a bee-hive vaulted chamber formerly of two-storeys, known as the croft.

The north and south walls of the church are decorated with blind arcades.  Frescos that cover the walls and ribs of the chancel have been restored to reveal two layers of painting. The frescos include geometric and floral motifs as well as figurative scenes including the baptism of Christ and possibly Solomon and the Queen of Sheba with the temple of Jerusalem. Externally the church has blind arcades and engaged half-columns. The smaller south tower has the belfry. The larger north tower has a pyramidal stone roof. In the thirteenth century the cathedral of Cashel was built against the north tower of the chapel and incorporates its west gable.

 

Cormac’s Chapel, Gerry Molumby Photographer February 21st 2018

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What does the Irish  Government do through  its overseas embassies. RTE profiles their role in advancing Irish culture, interests and values. 

https://www.rte.ie/player/gb/show/the-thin-green-line-30004800/10835930/

Drama @ 60th  Anniversary of the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain 2016

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fourteen year old Liverpool Irish boy adopted by the father of the Irish Nation ~ Michael Collins.

Below is the picture you have long known, now hear and see the extraordinary story :

https://www.rte.ie/player/gb/show/nationwide-21/10835921/

 

 

When they make the film of ‘the young Michael Collins Paul O’Donovan ‘is your man’ and I told him so.

Irish Post Awards London 2017

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

President Higgins affirms Mná na hÉireann at home and abroad at London’s  inaugural Lá Fhéile Bríde

 

 

Ambassador Adrian O’Neill hosted his vision of the enormous contribution and talent of Irish women in such diverse fields as music, film, comedy, architecture, poetry, literature, fashion, art, theatre, craft, business and entrepreneurship, science and technology. The ‘surprise’ guests of honour  was  President Michael D. Higgins and Sabina Higgins .Pauline McGlynn went into ‘Mrs Doyle mode’ as she tried to contain her excitement ,which was picked up and added to by all who attended ,with a palpable joy of being with, for the afternoon and evening , Uachtarán na hÉireann.

 

 

 

Camille O’Sullivan entertained with her uniquely-talented voice ‘to tell a song’.

Sebina Higgins attends the workshop on Irish Women in Science and Technology

Fiona Mitchell chairs the workshop on Women in Political Journalism attended by President Higgins and Ambassador O’Neill

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Opportunity Knocks to be part of designing some brand new stamps to record the vast and varied contribution of the Irish Diaspora.

An Post, Ireland’s national postal service, is currently preparing a list of subjects from which the 2020 Programme of Special and Commemorative postage stamps will be chosen.

 

Each year An Post produces a programme of special and commemorative stamps on behalf of the Irish Government. The programme comprises of around 30 such stamps covering up to 13 different topics.

 

A proposal for the 2020 programme is the production of a set of stamps celebrating Ireland’s diaspora.

https://www.dfa.ie/global-irish/staying-in-touch/latest-news/newsarchive/diaspora-postage-stamp-appeal.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Gerry Molumby’s picture wins place in New York  photographic exhibition

 

Aptly titled Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses , the picture was taken in  August 2012  while Gerry  and family visited New York on route to stay with his brother John ,permanently living in California.

The exhibition will be hosted by Aisling Irish Community and Cultural Centre (990 McLean Ave, Yonkers, NY 1070). Out of nearly 1000 submissions , the exhibition will host 50, there will be a further 12 finalists to be included in their 2018 calendar. The only thing that ‘gives the picture away’ from being circa 1890 are the modern day cranes in the centre.

Gerry said ” having just seen some of the other exhibition pictures there is an obvious high standard. Like most people I take scenic pictures but that day in New York harbour this sailing tourist ship came into view and I was reminded of all the Irish Emigrants who entered USA via  Ellis Island. The narrative by Emma Lazarus came to mind ”

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

 

“Then I knew I did not just  have a picture ,but a story ”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your Irish Passport is a work of art, let’s look at it again.

 

~ and a Lancashire born Irish poet chosen to have her verse included …. ~

 

Story and pictures Gerry Molumby

 

At the Global Irish Civic Forum in  Dublin (May  2017) there was a wonderful presentation on the work that went in to the renewal of the Irish Passport , incorporating  the latest  security technology, but also making it  a piece of Irish art. So from notes and further research I have been on a voyage of discovery….come along with me. The first thing you will notice are the illustrations of Gaelic Sports and Music along with landmarks such as Croagh Patrick, Kylemore Abbey, Croke Park, the Cliffs of Moher and my native Rock of Cashel, which adorn the pages with the Brian Buru harp being the rightly expected watermark on each page.

 

Picture 1: Brian Buru harp being the rightly expected watermark on each page.

At the conference I was alerted to the inclusion, throughout the pages, to the full music score of Amhrán na bhFiann, the full text of Article 2 of the Irish Constitution, which appears alternately in Irish and in English.

It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish Nation. That is also the entitlement of all persons otherwise qualified in accordance with law to be citizens of Ireland. Furthermore, the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage.

The written and spoken word is fully included with verses by William Butler Yeats and James Orr and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaíll.   Born in Lancashire, England in 1952, of Irish parents, Nuala moved to Ireland at the age of five, and was brought up in the Dingle Gaeltacht and in Nenagh, County Tipperary. A couple of Ní Dhomhnaíll’s lines written in Irish on page six are  –  Labhrann gach cuinne den leathinis seo liom ina teanga feinig, teanga a thuigim  – loosely translated and with a nod towards the Irish abroad to mean –  every corner of the land speaks to us.

Dedicated to the Irish language Nuala writes poetry exclusively in Irish and is quoted as saying “Irish is a language of beauty, historical significance, ancient roots and an immense propensity for poetic expression through its everyday use”, she currently lives near Dublin with her husband and four children and is a regular broadcaster on Irish radio and television.

 

Picture 2:On left the  Verse by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaíll. Note the Bird Knot, (centre of left page) the intricate nature of these original designs makes replication very difficult. Note the seed in the bird’s beak to represent the ‘scattering’ of the Irish Abroad and part of the score from the national anthem on top left of each page in the passport.

 

Picture 3. The River Gods as seen under the Liffey Bridge are seen in all their glory when you bend two pages into each other.

Note also the Ogham characters (on lower left of the picture above) are printed in thermo-chromic ink, i.e. the colour of the character changes when heat is applied. The individual Ogham character and a hand drawn trace of a tree leaf, also lights up under ultra-violet inspection. Printed with shifting ink Spark technology, the image shimmers in the light. This is the first time this technology was used on an international travel document.

Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used to write the early Irish language. There are a number of surviving orthodox inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland, mostly in southern Munster.

 

 

Picture 5. Newgrange Entrance Stone image. Again this is printed with shifting ink Spark technology behind the front page and as  with the Ogham the image shimmers in the light.

 

“Be advised, my passport’s green” Seamus Heaney

 

~~~~~~~~~

A

 

What is the best piece of Irish Music ?

 

For me it is Eleanor Plunkett, by composer Turlough O’Carolan (1670–1738).

 

Here are my favourite versions ;

 

 

 

 

Car park acoustics!

 

 

The Master himself

 

fmolumby@aol.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Following on from the Global Irish Civic Forum held at Dublin Castle in May…the Global Irish Diaspora Directory ….is now available in furthering the links that bind us together. A good piece of work by and from the Irish Government Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretariat.

 

https://www.dfa.ie/global-irish/staying-in-touch/diaspora-directory/

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas Moore the bard of Ireland……….but , ” in a village of England your bones should have rest”

 

In a recent edition of the Irish World I read of the revived interest by Eleanor Mc Evoy on the works of Thomas Moore.

What readers may not know is that he joins the band of famous Irish people buried in the UK. His  wife wanted him buried with his two children in the  family vault in Bromham, Wiltshire.

 

The British Poet Laureate John Betjeman called him ” dear bard of my boyhood”, he was mine also as my dad used sing his songs and I became ‘ a ministral boy’.

 

” In the churchyard of Bromham the yews intertwine

O’er smooth granite cross of a Celtic design,

Looking quite our of place in surroundings like these

In a corner of Wilts’ twixt the chalk and the cheese.

 

I can but account you neglected and poor,

Dear bard of my boyhood, mellifluous Moore,

That far from the land which of all you loved best

In a village of England our bones should have rest .

Other famous Irish Abroad include George Bernard Shaw (Ayot St Lawrence, nr Welwyn), Percy French (Formby ‘across the mersey)  and Sean O’ Casey (Golders Green)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~