The Illiam Dhone speeches are now on-line at the Mec Vannin web site here.
(Item submitted by Bernard Moffatt)
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
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ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
03/01/12
The Secretary of the Manx branch of the Celtic League, Mark Kermode, has said that he hopes that the police put as much effort into tracking down vandals who daubed obscene graffiti near to the Hango Hill site where Illiam Dhone was executed as they deployed to track down those anti-colonial slogans two years ago.
Speaking to the Manx media Mr Kermode said:
`Kids are doing this sort of stuff all the time. It’s a generally mindless act of vandalism but it’s hardly unusual. I hope the police give it as much effort as they did for the innocuous slogan writers on the road two years ago, which were not offensive. It’s typical of what teenage kids get up to.’
Mr Kermode said he was also considering approaching Manx National Heritage, which maintains the site, to see if it can be cleaned in time for the National Illiam Dhone commemoration on 2nd January.
The ceremony on 2nd of January has been a focus for nationalist comment for over thirty years although in recent years topics covered have been more wide ranging.
The Illiam Dhone commemoration is organised jointly by Mec Vannin, the Manx Nationalist Party and the Manx branch of the Celtic League.
Media reports here:
http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/obscene_graffiti_on_historic_monument_1_4099735
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-16352329
http://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/iconic-manx-site-targeted-by-vandals-4699/
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
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M: 0044 (0)7787318666
gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
29/12/11
The Celtic League has warned the Finnish authorities that it has been alleged in the past that munitions carried on Manx registered vessels have been transhipped before reaching their alleged destination.
The move comes after the Finns detained a Manx vessel carrying Patriot missiles from Germany to South Korea.
The League says that whilst it has no reason to believe the cargo on the detained vessel is other than legitimate it has been made aware in the past of alleged transhipment of arms.
In a letter to the Finnish Interior Ministry the League cite information received from the Israeli Embassy in London in 2010 (see below):
“Päivi Räsänen
Minister of the Interior
Government of Finland
Dear Minister,
I note comments ascribed to your Department following the detention of the MV Thor Liberty following concerns surrounding the documentation relating to its cargo of Patriot Missiles.
Your government needs to be aware that arms (including missiles) previously carried on Manx registered vessels (or vessels managed by ship agents based in the Isle of Man) has been transhipped before reaching its destination.
The Celtic League, which monitors these matters, was advised by the Israeli Embassy in London that in September 2010:
“in November 2009 a Douglas-registered ship (`Visea’), owned by Douglas-based `Byfleet Shipping’ transferred 320 tons worth of arms shipments, including 9,000 mortar shells, thousands of 107-mm Katyusha rockets, 600 122-mm rockets, and hundreds of thousands of rounds of Iranian ammunition, onto another ship, `Francop’, destined for Hezbollah, it seems that the Isle of Man government may indeed have acted in breach of UN Security Council Resolution 1747.”
Obviously at this time we have no reason to believe that the arms being carried on the vessel detained by your country are not in legitimate transit. However it may be prudent if you advise Finnish Customs about these previous allegations in relation to Manx vessels so that necessary assurances can be obtained.
Bernard Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League”
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
Tel: 0044 (0)1209 319912
M: 0044 (0)7787318666
gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
29/12/11
There has been an act of vandalism near the execution site of Manx martyr Illiam Dhone just outside Castletown, Isle of Man.
A ruined structure which post-dates the Dhone execution at the site at Hango Hill has been daubed with obscene graffiti. In addition walls and a roadway nearby have also been targeted.
It is unclear if the vandalism is anti-nationalist but given that the actions occurred just days before Manx nationalist gather at the site to commemorate the execution of Illiam Dhone it seems deliberately timed.
Unlike when anti-colonial slogans were daubed around the Isle of Man two years ago the police and media have been very low-key over the event. The vandalism was reported on internet web forums for days before any acknowledgement from the police or any report in the media.
Police are reported to have a presence at the Hill to deter any further attacks but it seems highly unlikely that the perpetrators will strike again so it’s a case of `locked stable doors’.
The Isle of Mans English Police Chief who was very vocal in the past, threatening dire consequence, when pro-independence slogans were daubed around the Island has been strangely silent about the matter.
If the slogan-daubing is anti-nationalist it marks a new twist in political agitation in Mann. It also shows a degree of ignorance over Manx history and the death of the Martyr as the ruined structure targeted was constructed over a 100 years after the death of Illiam Dhone.
(Article compiled by Bernard Moffatt, DOI, for Celtic News).
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
Tel: 0044 (0)1209 319912
M: 0044 (0)7787318666
gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
29/12/11
Manx authorities moved swiftly this week to downplay the news story about a Manx registered vessel being held by authorities in Finland after being found to be carrying arms and explosives.
However the story will not `go away’ and yesterday Baltic news sources were still citing difficulties over the ships cargo and destination.
A BBC report on Wednesday 21st December claimed the missiles were bound for China. This has since been disputed with the destination now cited as South Korea. In all other regards however the BBC report appears to have been accurate (see link):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16292244
Finnish news source HELSINGIN SANOMAT subsequently said that:
“Finnish Customs and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are investigating a case of suspected illegal transit shipping of weaponry on a ship apparently bound for South Korea.
The cargo vessel, the M/S Thor Liberty, was found to be carrying 69 Patriot ground-to-air missiles as well as 159 tonnes of the explosive nitroguanidine. The missiles were armed with propelling charges.
The Ministry of Defence says that no application for permission for transit had been made for the missiles. An application had been filed for the explosives, but they were not properly packed.”
The paper also said:
“Detective superintendent Timo Virtanen of the NBI told Helsingin Sanomat that cargo documents for both the explosive and the missiles had been seized.
If the documents prove to be genuine, the shipment would seem to involve ordinary arms trading, and that getting the proper transit authorisation had simply been neglected.
Räsänen says that Finland has been in touch with German police on the matter.
The ship is registered in the Isle of Man, and its captain and navigating officer are to be questioned on Thursday on suspicion of failing to obtain a transit licence, and illegal export of defence materiel. They could also be charged with inadequate packaging of explosives.
Illegal export of defence materiel is punishable by a fine or up to four years imprisonment.
The Ukrainian crew of more than ten are to be questioned primarily as witnesses.
“Export licence cases have been investigated in previous years, but the large amount of explosives makes this case exceptional”, says Petri Lounatmaa of the anti-crime unit of Finnish Customs.
Lounatmaa says that he does not yet know if the cargo has some connection with previous missile deals between South Korea and Germany. “I cannot confirm this”, he said.”
It is not the first time the Isle of Man has become involved either directly in arms trading or in the transit of arms.
Arms trading into Africa using front companies in the Isle of Man was rife in the 1980s and 1990s and culminated in the infamous involvement of a Manx registered company in fuelling the Rwanda genocide.
More recently, in 2010, Iranian-owned vessels using companies registered in the Isle of Man were alleged to have been involved in the illicit transport of missiles destined for Middle East flashpoints. The Manx government on that occasion also downplayed the issue – however the Israeli government were emphatic that the events alleged had occurred.
Leaving aside the legitimacy or otherwise of the present arms shipments, for the Isle of Man to be involved (in however minor a role) in fuelling an arms race on the Korean peninsula (one of the most dangerously unstable areas on earth) is crass to say the least.
With the latest revelations coming so soon after the Iranian arms shipments scandal its past time the Isle of Man government came clean on just what weaponry has been shipped on Manx flagged vessels (or vessels managed by Manx registered companies) over the past five years.
Finnish news link here (several reports at this site):
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Missiles+and+explosives+found+in+ship+in+Kotka/1135270081361
Related links to Iranian arms trading issue on Celtic News here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/3605
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/3549
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/3484
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/3479
(This article compiled for Celtic News by Bernard Moffatt)
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
Tel: 0044 (0)1209 319912
M: 0044 (0)7787318666
gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
24/12/11
It has been announced that Manx-flagged vessels will, in line with their UK counterparts, start to carry armed guards to counter piracy.
The Isle of Man has a substantial shipping register with vessels plying their trade globally and Manx registered vessels have faced the same problems as those faced by other nations, particularly in the Horn of Africa/Indian Ocean area (audio clip from the Department of Economic Development (DED) on Manx Radio):
http://www.manxradio.com/newsread.aspx?id=56102
Details of the extent of the Manx shipping register can be found on the DED (link):
http://www.gov.im/ded/shipregistry/
Of course there is nothing new about armed Manx vessels taking to the seas as anyone familiar with the Manx Song `The Cruise of the Tiger’ will be aware. On that occasion the merchants of the Island armed a merchant vessel to support England in its war with the French.
Let us hope that these new military `adventures’ by Manx vessels will be attended by greater success than that which befell `The Tiger’ (see link):
http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/ms1896/p004.htm
(The report compiled for Celtic News by Bernard Moffatt Celtic League Director
of Information)
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
Tel: 0044 (0)1209 319912
M: 0044 (0)7787318666
gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
14/11/11
A report on events in Mannin by the General Secretary (GS) of the Celtic League, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, to the AGM covered a diversity of topics including the language, politics, the judiciary, police, the Manx election and the BBC licence `rip-off’.
The colonial anachronism of the appointment of a new `Governor’ also got a mention.
During the course of the year the General Secretary spent some time in both Cymru and Mannin as part of a Celtic language project (sponsored by Plymouth University) he was undertaking on preschool education (see link).
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/3611
The Mannin section of the GS dossier is set out below:
“Mannin
Nationalism
Following an apparent surge in nationalism on the Island that found expression in street graffiti in 2009/10 there came a subsequent lull over several months. In September 2010 though graffiti started to appear again and this time in Douglas, which was avoided previously. The new message was less sophisticated and indeed perhaps even less political than the mix of Manx language and anti-colonial slogans which appeared at the beginning of 2010 and said bluntly “Manx not English‟. Coincidentally this new bluntness parallels a similar outburst of expressionism on the Internet which coincided but is clearly not coordinated with the graffiti campaigns. New web-sites calling for Independence have been complemented by less political but equally succinct calls for Manx identity to be respected, including a Facebook group calling for more ‘Manx accents on Manx Radio’. It is clear that a generation of younger people feel frustrated that their identity is being suppressed and the ability to express discontent over this is also via the main stream media being stifled. What this latent surge of nationalism, which manifests itself periodically and seems uncoordinated, will achieve is anyone‟s guess.
Isle of Man Governor
A retired British diplomat was appointed as the 29th Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man in April 2011. It was reported in the news that Adam Wood was the first Governor to be appointed by the people of the Island, but as the Celtic League pointed out, “this much trumpeted change scarcely conceals the continuing influence of the UK government in the process‟ and has continued its call for full independence.
Manx Judiciary
A `code of conduct’ was brought out in August 2011 by the Manx Judiciary, which is identical to one already in place in another Crown dependency and, according to the DoI, seems to have been adopted in some haste – a recognition perhaps of the unsatisfactory deficiency that the League highlighted in 2010. 22
Economy
The Celtic League registered its concern in February after the Isle of Man treasury revealed it had concluded a tax exchange agreement with the dictatorial monarchy of Bahrain. Just days after Manx government ministers `trumpeted’ the deal pro-democracy demonstrators were being gunned down in the streets of the Gulf State and members of the majority Shia community were the target of violence and intimidation.
General Elections 2011
A general election was held on the Isle of Man on 29th September 2011, which saw several changes.
Three ministers were ousted from office. Anne Craine from the Treasury, Martyn Quayle from Social Care and Adrian Earnshaw from Home Affairs all lost their seats in Ramsey, Middle and Onchan respectively, but the status quo was maintained in the majority of constituencies. Interestingly three Liberal Vannin party candidates were successful in the polls, where Kate Beecroft won a seat in Douglas South and Zac Hall was elected in Onchan alongside established MHK and party leader, Peter Karran. The result increases the party’s presence in the House of Keys from about 4% to 12.5%. The remaining seven Liberal Vannin candidates failed to secure seats. Successful candidates were sworn in on 4 October 2011.
Every five years the House of Keys is dissolved by the Lieutenant Governor and a General Election is held to elect members of the House of Keys. 24 members of the House of Keys are elected and 16 year olds are eligible to vote.
New Chief Minister
MHK Alan Bell was voted in as new Chief Minister 11th October 2011 by members of the House of Keys with a large majority. In a radio interview that followed MHK Bell said that his attitude to the independence of the Island had not changed much since he was a member of Mec Vannin in the 1970. Another ex member of Mec Vannin is MHK Phil Gawne, who was re-elected as a MHK in September and is the (Ministerial) Agricultural portfolio holder.
Police Protest
A march in Douglas in against police alleged corruption, harassment and victimisation within the Island’s Police Force, took place in October 2010, where one of the main complaints centred on the absence of an independent Police Complaints Ombudsman, where people with grievances about the Police Force can go. Some people reported that even though they supported the protest they were afraid to make a stand in public.
BBC Licence Fee
The BBC announced in December that there will be a refund of monies to the Isle of Man to compensate for services it fails to provide the Manx community, amid a Tynwald committee review of the TV licence arrangements between the Island and the BBC. Some news reports put the refunded amount to be approximately one million pounds over several years.
Language
Several early years teachers started an intensive course in the Manx language at Braddan Playgroup on the Island from September 2011, which are being run by Adrian Cain. It is hoped that these teachers will go on to teach the Manx language and is the first time that such a course has been run. It is hoped that the new course will help to serve a gap that exists in the number of qualified preschool teachers that are able to teach through Manx.
National Illiam Dhone commemoration
At the National Illiam Dhone commemoration on the 2nd January, nationalists gathered at Hango Hill in Castletown. Mec Vannin Chairman Mark Kermode, who delivered the Manx speech at the commemoration, said:
“Tynwald was not a government working for Mannin and the Manx but a self preserving creature”.
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
Tel: 0044 (0)1209 319912
M: 0044 (0)7787318666
gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
31/10/11
The new Manx Chief Minister has said that he still `believes passionately in the preservation of Manx independence’ and still retains many of the core principles that he had when he was a member of the Nationalist Party Mec Vannin in the 1970s.
He was speaking to independent Manx radio station 3FM following his election (a report and audio clip can be found below):
http://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/bell-im-still-passionate-about-manx-independence-4330/
The Chief Minister’s new `Cabinet’ also contains one other former Mec Vannin member Phillip Gawne who has been given the Agriculture portfolio.
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
Tel: 0044 (0)1209 319912
M: 0044 (0)7787318666
gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
16/10/11
The International Maritime Organisation has said that it is active in relation to the siting of offshore wind farms in busy sea lanes.
In a response following a query from the Celtic League (see link)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/3746
the Maritime Safety Division says that whilst no specific guidance has been developed the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation has considered a proposal to establish an `Area to be Avoided’ in respect of a development of the English south coast.
The full text of the IMO response is set out below:
“11 October 2011
Dear Mr. Moffatt,
On behalf of the Secretary-General, I thank you for your letter of 1 October 2011 enquiring if IMO has developed any guidance notes in relation to the siting of offshore wind farms and the hazards to navigation which this might cause.
In this regard, I wish to advise you that as yet, no specific guidance has been developed by IMO in relation to the siting of offshore wind farms. However, there are existing guidelines and criteria for General Provisions on Ships’ Routeing (GPSR) (Resolution A.572(14), as amended). The purpose of ships’ routeing is to improve the safety of navigation in converging areas and in areas where the density of traffic is great or where freedom of movement of shipping is inhibited by restricted sea-room, the existence of obstructions to navigation, limited depths or unfavourable meteorological conditions. The GPSR outlines procedures and functions of IMO including responsibilities of Governments and recommended and compulsory practices.
You may also wish to note that the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation in June this year considered a proposal for the establishment of a new Area To Be Avoided to allow the development of adjoining wind farms in the vicinity of the Thornton and Bligh Banks in the English Channel. Subsequently, the Sub-Committee was informed that the original proposal should be revised by changing the proposed establishment of an Area To Be Avoided to a proposed Precautionary Area. This would not hamper the flow of traffic during the construction phase of the wind farms. It was further clarified that a revised proposal may be submitted in 2013 depending on the experience gained and how the construction of the wind farms progressed.
I hope that the above information is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Hartmut Hesse
Senior Deputy Director
Maritime Safety Division”
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:
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gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
16/10/11
