CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

ALMOST FIFTY YEARS ON MIXED FORTUNES FOR CELTIC COUNTRIES

The Celtic League Director of Information (DoI) has said that the
League faces difficult decisions in the years ahead if it is to adapt
its role to meet the needs of the Celtic countries today.

Speaking on the 'Talking Heads' programme on Manx Radio this week
Bernard Moffatt said the political and cultural landscape in the Celtic
countries today is markedly changed from that almost fifty years ago
when the Celtic League was founded.

Politically there has been major change in several Celtic countries
with a parliament in Scotland an Assembly in Wales and new political
movement in the North of Ireland. However, he said that the objectives
of the Celtic League, to promote a formal association between (at
least two of) the Celtic countries, are still far from being achieved.
Ireland is still only partially independent and despite the devolution
moves in Wales and Scotland full independence was still an aspiration.
Speaking as a life long Manx nationalist he said it was sad that Scotland
would probably eclipse Mannin in achieving full independence and criticised
the Manx governments satisfaction with its dependency status.

Culturally moves, particularly in relation to the Celtic languages,
had also been more positive in recent years. However, he singled out
the French governments negative attitude towards the Breton language
saying it was part of a generally hostile stance by the centralised
French State to any minorities in its borders.

One of the key features of the Celtic League contribution over the
years has been the continued production of the journal Carn with its
regular article in each Celtic language. The DoI said that advances
in communication not least via the Internet and the wide range of
available material on both cultural and political life in the Celtic
countries had led the League to seriously consider the future of Carn.
The journal is continuing in the short term but its future is under
review.

Reviewing the campaigns the League have engaged in over the years
the DoI said that some people in Mannin often assumed it was a 'Manx
based organisation' and this misconception was not helped by the significant
numbers of senior positions in the League held by Manx people in times
past. However he said that in recent years the 'officers' of the League
are drawn more widely from the Celtic countries and our campaigning
record, particularly as recorded on the Internet news groups (see below),
shows a broad range of issues being pursued involving all the Celtic
countries.

Looking ahead the DoI said that the future in many of the Celtic countries
was brighter than at any time in the recent past. However he singled
out Kernow and Breizh as being two countries where the picture was
not so positive. He said Kernow deserved the same devolved status
as other Celtic countries in the United Kingdom. He also criticised
recent police harassment of Celtic League members their.

In respect of Breizh the Director of Information reiterated that the
main stumbling block was the stifling attitude of the centralised
French State to Breton linguistic and political aspirations. He said
that French hostility to Breton nationalism was from another era
that most other Celtic countries had now left behind. He said the
French were also hostile to the inter-celtic solidarity demonstrated
by groups such as the Celtic League towards Brittany, an illustration of
this was surreptitious police harassment at the Leagues last AGM in
Brittany.

Finally, the DoI said the Celtic League was coordinated and directed
by its Annual General (and Council) Meetings and had achieved an ambitious
programme of work over fifty years. It had accomplished this solely
from membership contributions and unlike many organisations received
no stipend of financial support from any other source.

The Celtic League Newsgroup sites:

http://celticleague.net/archive/news.html (Old site)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/


J B Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League

05/06/08


The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works
to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a
broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights
human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on
socio-economic issues.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at:

http://celticleague.net
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/





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