Artefacts work better as ambassadors?

About a month ago, I wrote a piece on Slugger about the Celtic League's attempt to "repatriate" certain artefacts, described as "Celtic Treasures", back to their "home" countries or regions.

One of those artefacts is the Mold Cape and this is the reply of the Welsh Minister of Heritage to the Celtic League's campaign:

The Mold Cape is a highly significant artefact which places Wales in a worldwide context. It is prominently displayed and promoted by the British Museum and is seen by millions of visitors. The Cape is an important `ambassador' for Wales in its current location and we therefore have no plans to seek its permanent return to Wales.

In 2005, the Welsh Assembly Government was pleased to support a temporary exhibition, through its Sharing Treasures grant scheme, which enabled the Cape to go on display in Wrexham Museum. Through this scheme, we will continue to support museums in Wales to display important artefacts and to develop partnerships with other museums which make such opportunities possible.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me on this matter.

Alun Ffred Jones AC/AM
Y Gweinidog dros Dreftadaeth/Minister for Heritage"

A practical and sensible (as opposed to the narrow, ideological alternative) approach to the question.
It is also probably worthwhile pointing out Alun Ffred Jones is, in fact, a member of Plaid Cymru.

SNP to dictate students' their national identity?

I was fortunate enough to attend one of Northern Ireland's more liberal grammar schools, which meant (in those comparitively less liberal times) I got a pretty good grounding in both Irish literature and history. I've been told that it's just a question of time before Irish gaelic will be taught there as an optional subject.

I think studying the likes of O'Casey and Behan and having to put ourselves in the shoes of Pearse and Connolly in 1916 helped us attain a more rounded view of both the island and our own place in it. But context was also taught. Irish literature and history, after all, don't exist independent to the rest of the world. Pushing "national" history, literature and language into one narrowly defined category of "Irish studies" would have for that and other reasons been a retrograde step:

A new subject of ‘Scottish studies’ would be introduced in the country’s schools under a plan to increase youngsters’ awareness of their national identity, the education minister has said.

Speaking at the SNP’s pre-election conference, Mike Russell said children would learn about Scottish history, geography and literature, as well as the Scots and Gaelic languages, under a single banner.

Confession time

I remember reading one of Chekov's posts where he admitted to his shameful fondness for U2 and thinking: "Ha! That's nothing, nothing at all, I've seen Suzanne Vega Live"

One of the current Ms O'Neill's favourites, I put on my best black poloneck, grabbed the gitanes and went along... just to keep her company...

The intro was quite funny (for a Man Utd fan anyway). She told us the sad story about a teenage boyfriend from Liverpool who not only broke her heart but also nicked her favourite neckscarf. Couldn't keep the smirk off my face;)

Quote of the day

Oh dear, Kevin....

St Patrick's Day, for all the "sophistication" of the Dublin parade, has thus become the one-day distillation of a ghastly year-long caricature. If the BBC were to offer comparable stereotypes of such paddy-whackery, our embassy in London would be howling about the racist portrayals of the Irish. Indeed, when the mayor of New York made some perfectly accurate observations about Irish behaviour there on St Patrick's Day, the 'Irish Voice' predictably shrieked: "Mayor Bloomberg outrages Irish Americans with 'people that are totally inebriated hanging out windows' comments."


I'm sure lots of people were outraged, indignation/anger/ offendedness being the default mode of the Irish. The point is: was Bloomberg right? If he was, what's the problem? Do Italians or Swedes or Spanish hang drunkenly out of windows on their national days?

Maggie ain't gonna work on Pete and Marty's farm no more?

That seemed to be the threat in the Belfast Telegraph earlier on in the week,

we've got a head full of ideas
driving us insane
It's a shame the way they makes us scrub the floor
well, we ain't gonna work on Pete and Marty's farm no more

Go for it and drag the UUP with you, the electorate will appreciate the gesture.
Rage against the Machine version.

Plastic patriots costing 80k a year

My initial thought is that any true red-blooded patriot wouldn't be seen dead waving a plastic flag anyway:

THE Scottish government have spent £300,000 on plastic flags since coming to office, it was revealed yesterday.

The SNP administration ordered almost 150,000 Saltires to be handed out at national events.

But last night there was anger over the "profligate" spending - equal to three junior nurses' wages during the time the Nats have been in charge.The flags have been given out to councils for use on St Andrew's Day, Scotland Week and Burns Night.

Second thought is that if a true red-blooded patriot is forced to accept a free plastic flag, then they should be expected to keep it in pristine shape for the next hooley...and that, to be fair, is kind of borne out by the decreasing figures:

In 2007/08, the incoming SNP administration ordered 79,800 flags at a cost of £173,750. This was a jump of more than £41,000 on Labour's spending the previous year.

Since then, they have ordered a further 40,000 Saltires for £89,600 in 2008/09. The following year they bought 30,000 more for £52,200.

In all, they have spent £315,850 on 149,800 polyester flags in the past four years.

The funniest bit in the whole piece?

The current order was placed with a Canadian company, RR Donnelley.

The UK expects that every man will do the skive his duty.

From the BBC:

Plans to scrap the May Day bank holiday in favour of either a St George's Day in April or Trafalgar Day in October have been outlined by the government.

Ministers argue the former strategy would start the tourist season earlier, while the latter would elongate it.

The Trades Union Congress rejected a May Day change, saying firms have built schedules around established holidays.
Meanwhile, widely discussed plans to bring UK clocks into line with Europe's were not included in the strategy.

It's not clear whether the St George's Day holiday would apply throughout the United Kingdom; since it would be replacing May 1st which is a day off UK-wide, then I guess the answer is yes.

Leaving patron saints aside for the moment, the more sensible option would be a Trafalgar Day break I think- springtime with both Easter and the later May bank holiday is top-heavy and one extra day at that time isn't going to affect the tourist season one way or the other. October fitting in between the summer and the start of the Christmas slog would fit in nicely.

Celebrating Trafalgar would also fit much more nicely with grassroots Conservative euro-scepticism than the present International Lefty Day...

Happy St David's Day!

BBC:

One item has been almost forever a part of Wales and can be found in the kitchen.


Welsh Rarebit, or caws pobi (Welsh for toasted cheese), was known to be wholly our delicacy as early as 1542; and no-one else dared - or maybe cared - to say otherwise...

And following after last week's good news on the Cornish pastie, it's St David's Day, so there you go, have some of that:

New Order: Crystal

It's a sign of your own impending middle-age when the rock-gods of your youth start sporting derbys and receding locks...Hookie, however, looks pretty much the same now as he did two decades ago:


Pity he's apparently limiting himself to performing in an Ian Curtis Tribute band now, criminal waste of talent.

And what's wrong with celebrating insanity and hangovers?

No further comment really needed:

THE SNP have moved the St Andrew's Day holiday to give staff a long weekend - but it now clashes with a feast for the patron saint of INSANITY and HANGOVERS.

Scots will celebrate our national day on November 30 - a Wednesday this year. So the government is giving staff the time off two days later on Friday December 2 instead.

That day is also the feast day of Saint Bibiana, the patron saint of the mentally ill and boozed-up

Cornish pasty saved by Eurocrats!

Not so much "saved", more "protected" but following in the footsteps of the Lough Neagh Eel, Rutland Bitter and the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie:

The Cornish pasty has become a protected food following a long campaign to prevent it being copied by imitators.

Only pasties prepared in Cornwall and following the traditional recipe can now be described as Cornish after the European commission awarded the dish "protected geographical indication" (PGI) status. Authentic pasties can still be finally baked elsewhere in Britain.

Campaigners celebrated the decision, saying it was important for the local economy – thousands of jobs are involved in the pasty industry – as well as for consumers.

Alan Adler, chairman of the Cornish Pasty Association, said: "By guaranteeing the quality of the Cornish pasty, we are helping to protect our British food legacy.

The association said a genuine Cornish pasty had a distinctive "D" shape and was crimped on one side, never on top.

Like this?

I'll have some of that (with a bottle of Rutland, if I can find it):

The texture of the filling is chunky, made up of uncooked minced or roughly cut chunks of beef (not less than 12.5%), swede, potato, and onion with a light seasoning. The pastry casing is golden in colour, savoury, glazed with milk or egg and robust enough to retain its shape throughout the cooking and cooling process without splitting or cracking. The pasty is slow-baked and no artificial flavourings or additives must be used."

PJ Harvey- the Last Living Rose

PJ Harvey, in her latest album seems to be following the Billy Bragg Progressive Patriotism Path:

The lyrics are also worth a read:

Goddamn Europeans!
Take me back to beautiful England
And the grey damp filthiness of ages
And battered books

And fog rolling down behind the mountains
On the graveyards and dead sea-captains.
Let me walk through the stinking alleys
To the music of drunken beatings

Past the thames river glistening
Like gold hastily sold
For nothing... nothing.

Let me watch night fall on the river
The moon rise up and turn to silver
The sky move
The ocean shimmer
The hedge shake

The last living rose quiver.

This is how it feels to be City...

This is how it feels to be small,
This is how it feels when your team wins nothing at all.

This week's cultural offering is dedicated to the second (or third, if you count FC United) team in Manchester:

PJ Harvey- the Last Living Rose

PJ Harvey, in her latest album seems to be treading along the Billy Bragg Progressive Patriotism Path :

The lyrics are also well-worth a read:

Goddamn' Europeans!
Take me back to beautiful England
& the grey, damp filthiness of ages,
fog rolling down behind the mountains,
& on the graveyards, and dead sea-captains.

Let me walk through the stinking alleys
to the music of drunken beatings,
past the Thames River, glistening like gold
hastily sold for nothing.

Let me watch night fall on the river,
the moon rise up and turn to silver,
the sky move,
the ocean shimmer,
the hedge shake,
the last living rose quiver

Elliott and Foster, the Border outlaws!

So, the connection between:

1. Fermanagh’s Unionist luminaries, Tom Elliott and Arlene Foster
2. Legendary Workington ("Pride of all Cooombreia") 90s rugby league player, Buck Armstrong
3. King James 1?

Answer below the fold…

Gary Moore RIP

Two East Belfast guitarists, Eric Bell and Gary Moore, provide a brilliant tribute to Phil Lynott back in 2006:

Your starter for 10...

OK, I am going to give the politics a break with this post and its follow-up tomorrow.


So… trivia question.

What’s the connection between:

1. Fermanagh’s Unionist luminaries, Tom Elliott and Arlene Forster

2. Legendary Workington ("Pride of all Cooombreia") rugby league player, Buck Armstrong

3. King James 1

Answer tomorrow;)

"Commonality","difference"- two different sides of... but still co-existing on the same coin?

Tariq Modood’s recent Open Democracy article “Multiculturalism, Britishness and Muslims” appeared on my “Seen Elsewhere”. If you haven’t done so already, you should really give it a read.

We live in a multicultural (small ‘m”) society where the policy of Multiculturalism (big “M”) has too often dictated that individual ethnic, national and religious identity, in order to survive and then thrive, must exist outside the wider umbrella of (a? the?) British identity.But Mohood argues convinvingly in order for the “majority” and “minority” and the “whole” to prosper in our multi-cultural society “"where there is “difference” there must also be commonality””.

And that "commonality"?:

That commonality is citizenship, a citizenship seen in a plural and dispersed way. There is no contradiction here, for emphasising and cultivating what we have in common is not a denial of difference - it all depends upon what kind of commonality is arrived at, something that cannot be taken for granted. Difference and commonality are not either-or opposites but are complementary and have to be made - lived - together, giving to each its due.

More than that, commonality must be difference-friendly, and if it is not, it must be remade to be so. This does not mean as a corollary weak or indifferent national identities; on the contrary, multiculturalism requires a framework of dynamic national narratives and the ceremonies and rituals which give expression to a national identity. Minority identities are capable of generating a sense of attachment and belonging, even a sense of a “cause” for many people. If multicultural citizenship is to be equally attractive to those people, it needs a comparable (and counterbalancing) set of emotions; it cannot be merely about a legal status or a passport.

A sense of belonging to one’s country is necessary to make a success of a multicultural society. An inclusive national identity is respectful of and builds upon the identities that people value and does not trample upon them. So integration is not simply or even primarily a “minority problem”. For central to it is a citizenship and the right to make a claim on the national identity in the direction of positive difference.

Paul Weller - Sunflower

I've said a few times here Paul Weller is one the very few genuine poets the UK has produced in the last three decades; here he is, looking suitably Casual, playing "Sunflower":

And here he is (almost) three decades earlier, looking suitably Mod, with Jonathan Ross:

William Wallace, the 1916 Connection

I've posted on Slugger O'Toole today a piece detailing the campaign to have "Celtic treasures" sent back to their original countries and regions.