The staff and volunteers at Inishowen Women’s Outreach, Co. Donegal, have organised a bucket collection throughout the area today, day 4 of the 16 Days Campaign.  Good luck with the collection and we hope they are wrapped up warm. 

In Kilkenny, a all day Non Violence Seminar is taking place at the Bishop Birch Learning Centre. 

Other events continuing today are:

• The Women’s Aid 16 Facts for 16 Days Email Awareness Campaign
• The Women’s Aid 16 Books for 16 Days Campaign in conjunction with Chapters Books, Dublin 2
• The Aoibhneas Email Awareness Campaign
• 16 Rights for 16 Days in Sligo

Today is the third day of the 16 Days Campaign and there are a number of interesting events taking place around the country;

• Tearmann Domestic Violence Service awareness raising initiative
• YANA (You are not alone), Johnny Cash tribute night in Mallow
• Wellness workshop in Kildare
• Vista Community Development Project, Dublin 8 Commemoration Servivce
• Pamper Day in Donegal
• Galway Rape Crisis Centre Conference

Today is Day 1 of the 16 Days Campaign, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and there is a huge variety of things happening around the country:

• “In Her Shoes” exhibition in Longford
• 16 Rights for 16 Days exhibition in Sligo
• Poster display and lily campaign in Mayo
• Aoibhneas Refuge’s “Step Out of the Shadows” campaign
• Galway Rape Crisis Centre’s social media campaign
• Art and Poetry is on display in Donegal
• Pavee Point is running a pampering session for staff, and various invited guests
• “Break the Silence” ceremony and solidarity campaign in Leitrim and Sligo
• Panel discussion and film screening in Wexford
• “In Her Shoes” exhibition in Clare, Limerick and Tipperary
• NUIG Femicide Awareness Campaign in Galway
• Dundalk Women’s Aid asks “What are you doing about it?”
• Annual Big Breakfast and Pampering Day in Limerick
• Pamper morning for women in Blanchardstown
• Women’s Aid’s campaign begins with a Public Action outside the Dáil Éireann, and the first of the 16 Facts for 16 Days emails

Show your support and get involved in something in your area!

The Donegal Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre are holding a Coffee Morning and Pamper Day in their centre on Friday 27th November 2009 from 11 am.

All are welcome to come and enjoy a bit of much deserved pampering. Please book your appointment in advance on 074-9128211.

Culdaff Signpost

Signpost in the picturesque village of Culdaff, Inishowen, County Donegal.

This logo was a collaboration between Open Coffee Sligo members Justin Knecht and Eddie Johnston

We’re getting really excited about the Northwest Connects event… in TWO WEEKS!

28 November 2009; 9.30-5pm at the Innovation Centre at IT Sligo

The event is free attend, but registration is required. Register: http://nwc09.eventbrite.com/

What is Northwest Connects?

A day long conference with talks, presentations, discussion and workshops to share expertise about starting up and running a business. Hopefully lots of business to business opportunities will arise from the event.

A collaborative effort

The schedule has 20 minute speaker slots, two discussion panels, a networking activity and special 5x5 sessions to allow people to sign up to give a brief talk on the day, BarCamp style.

This event is being organised by Open Coffee Sligo members. Many people have made a contribution to planning and coordinating this event.

Denise Rushe & Aoife Porter are taking care of marketing and PR, getting this event into the papers, and getting the word out. Denise even started a NW Connects LinkedIn group & event listing, a facebook group: Northwest Connects, and Twitter @nwconnects! She’s been busy!

Eddie Johnston did the website, Justin Knecht designed the logo (Eddie added the cool dots map in the back). I’m (Heather James) working on the layout of print materials & volunteer wrangling. Kevin Peyton has organised the group panel discussion, and he’s going to chair it. Anne Louise O’Donovan, Aidan McKenna and Feargus Callagy are helping coordinate streams, and communicating with speakers. Anne Louise has also stepped in since last week to crack the coordination whip and keep us on our toes as we enter this home stretch.

Thanks to the sponsors

The reason we can offer this event for free is because of the sponsorship by WDC/Lookwest.ie, Sligo County Enterprise Board, AIB, Infacta and our hosts, The Innovation Centre at IT Sligo.

We’re really looking forward to the event. Please tell anyone you think who might be interested.

Holy Well:  OS Grid Reference – C 366 198

Folklore

To be found between the two outer embankments on the southern side of the legendary Grianan of Aileach, this — one of many St. Patrick’s Wells in Ireland — is typically attributed with healing properties.  It was described in Henry Morris’ (1938) survey (amongst others) as being the place where, in the 5th century when St. Patrick came here, Prince Eoghan was baptised and thereafter turned his back on the heathen gods of his ancestors for this new christian cult which was just growing at that time. (‘Eoghan,’ pronounced owen)  Thereafter other people were baptised by the waters from here, which in ancient days would have been the water supplies for those at the Grianan.

Henry Swan (1938) told that in previous times there once grew a legendary tree by this well, into which pilgrims inserted pins and other artefacts as offerings and to make wishes to the spirit of the waters. A similar thing (with the same underlying mythic structure) occurred at the tree and holy well of Loch Maree.

Up until quite recently, the well was very overgrown and in a condition that Rear Admiral Pascual o’ Dogherty called “disgusting.”  He called for renovation work and action to bring this ancient site back into good health, and thankfully, as a result of the man’s proclamations, St. Patrick’s Well here has been brought back into a good state of life.  Excellent stuff mate!

References:

Lacy, Brian, Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, DCC: Lifford 1983.
Morris, Henry, ‘The Holy Wells of Inishowen,’ in H.P. Swan’s Book of Inishowen, Buncrana 1938.
o’ Muirgheasa, Enri, ‘The Holy Wells of Donegal,’ in Béaloideas 6:2, 1936.
Swan, Harry Percival, The Book of Inishowen, William Doherty: Buncrana 1938.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

I met Caffe Banba’s Dominic McDermott outside Mullin’s Shop in Malin Head on a cold morning last year. I was buying a steaming hot cup of coffee from his three wheel mobile coffee shop! A great way to start off my working day! From my regular trips down to see him over the weeks that he was stationed there we got chatting about websites (he used to work in the tech industry) and design and that’s how I have ended up helping him and his wife, Andrea with their new corporate identity of Caffe Banba and photographing their home baking products.

I spent a day last week with them in their home at Ballyhillion, Malin Head and got to photograph some of the wonderful home baking that Andrea makes and which they are going to be selling in their coffee vans from here on in. They put so much care, energy and attention to detail in to their products and their ever expanding business and it has been a real pleasure to be involved with them in the development of their brand.

Their new website will be live at some stage this month so keep and eye out for it! Below is a selection of some of the photographs that I took on the day.

You read what I planned to wear on my wardrobe, and here’s the recap. Thanks to some torrential downpours, insane allergies and a less-than-enthusiastic photographer husband, I didn’t get the best outfit shots. I really liked all the outfits I wore, so I’ll probably wear them again and will get more detail shots later. (Day 4 was an obvious photo framing fail!)

Day 1: Shirt, Penneys ♥ Dress, Lux/Urban Outfitters ♥ Belt: Tesco // Day 2: Sweater, Penneys ♥ Jeans, Penneys ♥ Shoes, Rocket Dog // Day 3: Dress, Dublin Flea Market (€6) ♥ Sweater, Jacob ♥ Shoes, Aldo // Day 4: Shirt, Gap ♥ Skirt: H&M ♥ Boots: Justin ♥ Tights: Penneys

this weekend i’m looking forward to heading to one of my favourite places in this amazing island of ours. yes, the scenery is amazing, but more than that, its both the memories and the people that make it so special.

back when the ‘worship ireland’ movement was in full swing, we took several teams to letterkenny, donegal town and raphoe over a 2 year period. and along the way we built up some special friendships. sometimes you go to places like this with the expectation to minister to those present. but yet, every time i left with a deep sense of being blessed by the welcome we received, the hospitality given to us, and the conversations we enjoyed. the words ‘blessed to be a blessing’ came to mind.

but after being in the county over 20 times in 3 years for different teams, missions, events and gatherings, it’s been almost a year since i’ve been there. and so i’ve been invited back to the annual Donegal Youth Convention to speak at the 3 nights over this weekend.

it was a few years ago that i was involved in leading worship at this convention. and its cool to see some of the people who were young people at the time, beginning to step into leadership and influence of this event and ministry. it seems like God has been raising up a group of passionate people in the area over the past few years, and its been exciting to watch this from a far, and occasionally get to share in parts of that journey.

and so both sarah and i are looking forward to sharing and serving alongside old friends this weekend. to once again being involved in shaping young peoples spiritual journeys. and playing just a small part in a continual work of God in this area.

don’t normally ask this, but if any of you pray, i would appreciate that for us both this weekend. that the words i speak would land. for connection with those who are listening. that this would be more than another event. that this would be life changing for some young people.

This week is a busy week in promoting the “Citizenscape” website and concept. Meeting with AnTaisce and schools involved in the “Green Flag” initiative. It was a very receptive audience and we agreed to follow up with promotional material which is being printed up commercially at the moment. I think we will be able to get some schools involved in some blogging about their recycling, composting, etc activities. Meeting with the same group (different schools) on wednesday and thursday night. So all in all Citizenscape will be promoted to yet another audience.

22 Main Street Restaurant, killybegs, www.22mainstreet.com has added a fabulous seafood platter to it’s ever increasing menu.

Finally I have got my second book finished and published.  It has been a lot of work researching these two branches of my family but oh the things I have learned and the people I have met along the way.  It’s been a great experience.

The Roads to E…

By Lilian McCallum S…

Book Preview

In 1985, the troubles and their impact were still very much part of life.
Compare Liam MacElinneys profile here which is in effect his CV as a Republican volunteer to the Sinn Fein of today and its very different.
It is of course of its time. At roughly the same time in Dublin, candidates were emphasising their work in the community as well as giving a brief mention to their Republican CV.
‘Section 31′ gets a mention. Also prominent is the fact that Sinn Fein Councillors “.. play a full and active part in the work of their councils…” a nod to let the public know that they took their council seats ?, especially given that Gerry Adams had been elected an MP two years previous and continued the party policy of abstentionism from Westminister.

Reading this its hard to believe that Labour were in government at the time. .. Yet Donegal Labour had a Socialist Agenda. They “oppose the right -wing Labour leaders who are doing Fine Gaels dirty work in Government”.
On the North the focus was on the Working Class rather than the Nationalist/Unionist divide.
The whole thing is a valuable read to illustrate how ‘diverse’ the Labour Party were at the time.

You’ll need to click on the below image to read it

We have just completed an outside broadcast (a 1st for us!), of a composting demonstration in Donegal Town. Was a bit worried this morning as I travelled over as it was raining heavily coming through the “Gap” (The Gap is a local valley that divides south and north Donegal). But luckily the weather cleared and the equipment was set up. Suzanne Tinney, our waste awareness officer gave a 1hour demonstration on composting: from setting up the bin, to what can be composted, why we should compost, to showing compost at various stages. The demonstration took place in Ashtree Garden Centre, Donegal town and was organised as part of a “healthy Gardening” course organised by the HSE and the Family Resource Centre.

We set up 2 cameras and a wireless mic. Prayed for the rain to stay at bay, but set up the webcaster R500 in the boot of the car just in case! All went well and the webcast will be on our site in the next day or so.

Standing Stones (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference:  G 915 605

Archaeology & History

Field-notes collected by Oliver Davies described there being “two standing stones, side by side,” at the coordinate given here.  In Lacy’s Archaeological Survey (1983), he told that the larger and southernmost of the monoliths stood 5′10″ high, with its companion being just 3 feet tall.  All remains of these stones have apparently vanished.

References:

Lacy, Brian, Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, DCC: Lifford 1983.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

An Interesting bunch here. Unusual to see a candidates name have two different spellings. Tadgh Colbert on the front, Tadgh Culbert on the back. He later joined Fianna Fail and stood for them in the 1994 UDC elections.
James Larkin was Neil T Blaneys director of elections. He had also been a member of the Seanad, nominated as part of the deal for Independent Fianna Fail TD Neil T Blaney to support the 1982 Haughey government. Whilst not quite the headline grabber the Gregory deal was, this was the one and only time the Independent Fianna Fail party had a seat in the Seanad.

Hopes are fading for a 22-year-old man who fell overboard from a fishing boat about 12 miles west of Orkney…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: boat marinas. For a different topic see fun cake recipes. The blog is also related to: boat horn.

Hopes are fading for a 22-year-old man who fell overboard from a fishing boat about 12 miles west of Orkney…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: fishing angler. For a different topic see bra type. The blog is also related to: bass fishing.

 The Donegal Domestic Violence Service will continue their long running and very successful 16 Days Art and Poetry exhibition during this year’s campaign.  This includes working with local school children to explore the theme of domestic violence. 

As you can see from these images taken from last year’s event, the creative pieces  look at the nature of domestic violence and the impacts on women’s lives.

The exhibition will be launched by Marian Harkin MEP on 20th November 2009 at the Council Offices and will run throughout the campaign.

For more information on the exhibtion contact Mary McKenna on  or email 07491-29725 or email ddvs@eircom.net.

I climbed the below mo-fo last Sunday during a weekend in Donegal. I’d lie if I said the walk wasn’t tough. At times I was on all fours, crawling across loose scree. The highlight of the walk (for me) was Kevin falling into a bog hole. I laughed hard as I helped him out. The lowlight of the walk (and highlight for everyone else) was me falling into a bog hole not once, but twice. No one helped me. Everyone was too busy doubling over in laughter. I was immobile; stuck in bog muck up to my shins. The level of laughter increased when I tried to pull a leg out only to topple over onto my hands. I was not even out of the car ten minutes at this stage. I washed my hands in a stream and attempted my ascension with wet socks and squelchy boots.

Il paesino di Ardara, nel nord dell’Irlanda

                                                                                           di Aldo Ciummo

Un ” Sì ” sessantasette a trentatrè è la risposta dell’Irlanda al dibattito senza fine che negli ultimi mesi ha occupato le notizie sui problemi istituzionali dell’Unione Europea e che alla fine girava sempre intorno all’accusa di antieuropeismo. Probabilmente una risposta simile verrà data anche dall’azione di governo del paese vicino,  il Regno Unito, sia che a governarlo arrivi Cameron sia che resti Brown, perchè anche gli inglesi una risposta positiva all’Europa l’hanno già data negli anni settanta quando pagavano profumatamente aiuti agricoli di cui soltanto il continente aveva bisogno.

In Irlanda ci sono state zone come Kildare e Tipperary dove il sì ha sfondato il 70 per cento quando oggi pomeriggio ci si è avviati a considerare risultati certi, mentre perfino laddove il no ha prevalso ancora e laddove lo Sinn Fein (che ha sostenuto l’opposizione al Trattato) ha le sue roccaforti nella Repubblica, come nel Donegal, vicino all’Ulster, è stato massimo per due punti percentuali. 

E’ davvero corretta l’impostazione del sud Europa dove si continuano ad ascoltare storie sul timore delle conseguenze del voto negativo?        

Non sarebbe più giusto riconoscere che quelle che sono state definite tendenze euroscettiche in Irlanda come altrove rappresentano invece le istanze di fasce di popolazione forse anche più al corrente di cosa significa essere una comunità, rispetto ad altre società?                                  

 La cittadinanza di ognuno di questi paesi, se inclusa nello sforzo di costruire una Europa che consenta a tutti di partecipare, è la più entusiasta e solidale nel  sostenere un progetto, l’Unione Europea, che è il solo plausibilmente in grado di affrontare la concorrenza di molti stati tutti estremamente emergenti ma che al di là dell’ipocrisia non sono tutti democratici (ad esempio non lo è la Cina, e sulla Federazione Russa gravano fondati dubbi).

E’ stata la presidenza svedese della Ue, con il primo ministro, Fredrik Reinfeld a cogliere meglio un aspetto centrale della questione, dichiarando a margine del voto di Dublino che l’Unione Europea ha avuto successo nella sua azione di promozione del Trattato perchè ha ascoltato, dando assicurazioni laddove richiesto. “Questa è la cooperazione europea al suo massimo e l’adesione irlandese al trattato la renderà più trasparente”  ha affermato Reinfeld che guida una coalizione di Centrodestra in Svezia (lì anche le altre coalizioni nel paese hanno accesso ai mezzi di comunicazione).

Il primo ministro svedese e presidente di turno dell’Unione Europea invierà giovedì Cecilia Malmstrom, ministro per gli Affari Europei, in Repubblica Ceca, dove la posizione del capo dello stato ceco Waclav Klaus ostacola ancora il passo finale del Trattato.

Reinfeldt ha avuto notizia che il presidente polacco Lech Kaczynsky invece firmerà a breve. Un accordo senza riserve inespresse sulla forma che l’Unione prenderà è quello di cui la nostra Europa avrà bisogno per andare avanti ed accogliere stati che hanno appena fatto richiesta di prendere parte al progetto e il cui ruolo di completamento del suo spazio culturale storico è evidente, si pensi all’Islanda.