 Scéal Dún-na-nGall ar an Idirlíon / County Donegal on the Net News Vol.9 No.11, November Holiday In Donegal! |
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Centenary of Donegal Association of Boston The Donegal Association of Boston celebrates its centenary this year. The Centennial Reunion and Banquet will take place on November 1st, 2008 at the Boston Quincy Marriott with honoured guests from Donegal including, Taniste Mary Coughlan and the Rev. Bishop Seamus Hegarty. Famous Donegal singer Margo will be entertaining the guests and the Donegal Association, Dublin will be represented as well as many Donegal groups from the USA, Canada and London. The Association has decided to chronicle the Chicago County Donegal Association’s history from 1908 to the present day, featuring the memories and memorabilia of its members. Author, Peter Stevens, has compiled the centennial book. If you would like to buy the book please contact Michael McCarron at #617-696-1702, John Craig at #781-326-8239 or any committee member. The Annual Dinner of the Donegal Association of London will be held in the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, November 22nd, 2008. The Donegal Association of Dublin will hold its A.G.M. in the Regency Hotel, Whitehall on November 26th at 8.00pm. They are now seeking nominations for Donegal Person of the Year 2008. Application Forms available from the Secretary. The closing date for nominations is November 30th, 2008. The formal announcement will be held in the Regency Hotel on January 20th, 2009.  The Donegal Woman by John Throne A 'Must Read' for everyone with an interest in Donegal and it's History Exhibitions Ian Gordon is currently exhibiting at the Square Space Gallery, Belfast. Ian has fast gained a reputation as a fine traditional painter and has exhibited widely in Donegal and throughout Ireland. As a landscape artist he feels an emotional response to any environment he gives visual expression to. See his work at Ash Lemon. The Lamha Inspoíraide group of artists are inviting submissions for an exhibition at an Chuirt Hotel. Tel. 074 9560091 for details. Green Home Design Centre for Buncrana Buncrana is set to get Ireland’s first-ever Home Design Centre at Flanaghan's premises at Ballymacarry. The new venture will see 20 new retailing locate in Buncrana where they will sit side-by-side with Flanagan’s as the anchor tenant. Promoting renewable energy, the new centre will be 'a mecca of leading expertise in one space,' according to Christopher Flanagan, director of Flanagan’s of Buncrana. The Home Design Centre will provide windmills, solar panels, geothermal heating, insulation, double-glazing windows, woodchip stoves, water filtration, flooring, etc. The Home Design Centre is expected to open early next year.  Recreational Diving, Dive Training and Angling throughout the year in Donegal 50,000 Irish are 'prisoners' in US Dinny McGinley, Fine Gael's TD for Donegal South West, has said the Government has failed the Undocumented Irish, after the Minister for Foreign Affairs confirmed in the Dáil that their case will not be pursued until after the US Presidential Election. 'It is obvious from the Minister's reply that the visa agreement between Ireland and the United States will be of no benefit to the Undocumented Irish. The Government must carry much of the blame for being so lukewarm in its efforts on behalf of the undocumented these last number of years, particularly since the situation in the United States got so strict after 9/11. Today, upwards of 50,000 are effectively prisoners in their adopted country'. The Donegal TD said he is asking the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Government to take up their case on a continuous and serious basis immediately after the US Presidential Election. 'There are many Irish parents and relations who have not seen members of their family for years and this cannot and should not be allowed to continue', he said. Philadelphia Ceili Group The Philadelphia Ceili Group will continue the celebration of their 50th anniversary by presenting the very popular show 'Irish Christmas in America' to be held December 9th at 8pm at the Commodore Barry Club, Carpenter Lane and Emlen Street in West Mount Airy. Philadelphia. Marking its fourth consecutive year of holiday performances 'Irish Christmas in America' will grace the stage of the Irish Center of Philadelphia on for a heartwarming and entertaining presentation of seasonal cultural traditions from the Emerald Isle. Produced by Oisín Mac Diarmada of the award-winning traditional group Téada, the cast also includes one of Ireland’s leading female vocalists, Karan Casey formally of the Irish super group Solas and Téada’s Sean McElwain and Tristan Rosenstock on guitar and bodhran respectively. Acclaimed harpist Gráinne Hambly and uilleann piper Tommy Martin, along with dancers Abbey Magill and Sienna Hickey, round out the ensemble, which also features evocative images and an engaging narrative. Mingling ancient traditions with the contemporary artistry of some of Ireland’s finest performers, this enchanting show brings the spirit of Christmas on a distinctively Irish journey throughout America. Tickets are $25 and $23 for Group members at the door on the night of the concert. Advance tickets are available at the Commodore Barry Club. For more information see Irish Chrishmas in America. MRSA in Maternity Ward of LGH Three babies tested positive for MRSA infection at Letterkenny General Hospital in October, according to the Health Service Executive. 'The hospital has informed the families and GPs of the babies concerned, and the infection control nurses and public health nurses are in contact with them and will provide any advice and information they need, it said in a statement. MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, is an antibiotic-resistant superbug which can be fatal if it gets into the bloodstream. The HSE refused to say whether the babies in Letterkenny hospital had MRSA on their skin or in their bloodstream. It said 'we cannot comment on individual cases'. Rosemary Cassidy, of the MRSA and Families support group in Donegal, said that the measures now being put in place to prevent the infection from spreading should be in place all the time. She said that the mother of one of the three babies had gone home with no information on how to stop the infection from spreading to her other three children. This was now being addressed.  Click Pride.ie for Vintage Style Gaelic Football & Hurling T-Shirts Delivered World Wide DonegalCounty.com News on Air and Online DonegalCounty.com & Dún na nGall.com is online for eleven years, making it the longest established website about Donegal. The site receives over a million hits a year. You can hear the Donegal news from Patricia Sharkey, editor of this website, live in Pennslyvannia on 'Echoes of Erin' radio show on Sundays from 1.00-2.00pm and online at Echoes of Erin. Listeners in Brisbane, Australia can catch Sharkey's 'View from the Hills' on Saturdays between 12.30 and 1.30pm on Caomhín O'Seoige's Irish show on 4EB 98.1 FM. If you are in Sydney you can listen to Sydney Irish Radio on 107.3FM on Sundays from 7.30 to 9.00am local time (see Sydney Irish Radio). If you would like to advertise your product or service to a worldwide audience of people with an interest in Donegal email info@Dún na nGall.com. |
 Enya's new album Cd ‘And Winter Came...’ will be released on November 7th, 2008 Enya Twenty years after leaving Clannad and bringing out her first solo album ‘Watermark’, the Donegal born singer is set to release her seventh studio album titled ‘And Winter Came...’ on November 7th. This album is the latest instalment in Enya’s highly successful career that has seen her reach 70 million album sales and receive four Grammy awards. Local Opposition to the 2008 Budget Fianna Fail and the Green Party will be punished at the polls in the next election, according to Donegal Senator Pearse Doherty. The Sinn Fein Education spokesperson has said cuts will have a devastating effect on teachers and pupils and that the government will pay for their attack on education at future elections. A local Fianna Fáil councillor, Patrick McGowan, has said he’s not surprised by his party’s position in the polls which reflects public anger over the 2008 budget. The Ballybofey and Stranorlar councillor was responding to a RedC opinion poll which saw political support for Fianna Fáil slump to an historic low of 26% per cent with Fine Gael now leading Fianna Fáil by 7% per cent. Only 20% per cent of voters now trust the government to manage public finances. Fianna Fáil has lost support in every county in the Republic, including Donegal, most particularly among older voters, farmers, teachers and parents, outraged at the threatened removal of free health care for the over 70's and proposed cuts in the education and farming budgets. With local Council and European elections taking place in 2009 the voters will be able to voice their opinion at the polling booth. An Grianán Theatre's 10th Anniversary An Grianán Theatre celebrates a decade of entertaining theatre goers in Donegal with a year-long festival of events commencing on NOvember 2nd, 2008 with a concert by Glen Hansard and Marketa Iglova who took the Oscar for Best Song with 'Falling Slowly'. The gig is just one in a series of special events to mark the theatre's 10th anniversary year, having first opened its doors in October, 1999. Confirmed acts for the next year include country music star Nancy Griffith, Belfast's Brian Kennedy and the Vienna Boys Choir. Brian Friel's critically acclaimed play 'The Homeplace' will be produced early next year. A spokesperson for the Theatre said it was an honour to stage 'The Homeplace', first produced at Dublin's Gate Theatre last year. The play is being co-produced by An Grianán Productions and the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. See An Grianan Theatre for more details of the Anniversary events. Malin Head Coastguard in Danger Fine Gael Deputy Joe McHugh has said that the Minister for Transport must clarify plans for the Malin Head coastguard immediately following remarks made by Fianna Fail TD Dick Roche who revealed that there are plans to downgrade the Malin station. Deputy Dick Roche made reference to the plans with Deputy McHugh claiming that Shannon was cited by the Junior Transport Minister as the new location for a coastguard HQ for the Western seaboard. The Department of Transport has issued a statement saying that no decision has yet been made on the location of the new West Coast Marine Co-ordination centre.  Find your Holiday Accommodation in Donegal Donegal Gaeltacht colleges under threat It's been claimed that Irish-language summer colleges in Donegal could face closure because of severe cutbacks imposed by the government to combat the economic recession. Plans were announced to cut the annual teaching grant to these colleges. Irish language organisation Conradh na Gaeilge are warning of a catastrophic effect if the cuts go through. The President of Conradh na Gaelige Padraig MacFhlannacha says some sort of financial dig out is needed. Unemployment Figures on Rise in Donegal The CSO's regional breakdown of September's live register figures show that in a year the number of people signing on in Donegal has increased by 50% in a year. The starkest increase is recorded in the Finn Valley area with 1,471 people now signing on, an increase of 95% in a single year. Inishowen also recorded a large jump - 68% from September 2007 to September 2008. In Letterkenny the increase was 48% making a total of 3,409 people and the increase in those signing in Dungloe was 29% up on last year. In the Donegal Town area there has been a 39% increase with the total now 792 people while in the Ballyshannon / Bundoran area there was an increase in excess of 50%. The increases in the numbers unemployed in Killybegs and Dunfanaghy is 20% and 33% respectively. Trad Music Classes There will be classes for traditional instruments including the fiddle, mandolin and accordian in the St. Johnston and Carrigans Resource Centre on Wednesday nights commencing on November 5th at 7.00pm. To Register telephone 074 91 48551. Class participants must have their own instruments! Donegal Teachers Condemn Education Cuts The regional representative of ASTI, one of the main teaching unions, which represent secondary schools in the country, has warned that government is playing Russian roulette with children’s education. Gerry Breslin, a teacher at Colaiste Cholmcille in Ballyshannon said that teachers were honour bound to defend the interest of students, which were now facing a series of cuts throughout the education system, because of the recent draconian budget. 'You cannot touch the vulnerable when it comes to cuts in education and the inevitable decision of government in the budget is that the teacher/pupil ratio will increase. Within OECD countries, we are second last in terms of the overall spend on education in terms of our GDP.' Disadvantaged schools will see the likes of their library grants cut and the deferring of the Epsen Act, will see the area of Special education needs curtailed. 'Government has mishandled the whole situation. They have gone on and on about the knowledge economy, yet they are now rowing back on their own commitments. It is clear that they have even forgotten their own message,' he said.  The Index of the Best Websites on Irish Stuff Online since 1997! |
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