Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP has written to the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern urging him to seek and secure official status for the Irish language during the Irish Presidency of the European Union.
Bank may act as euro rise puts jobs at risk.
When my wife and I visited Ireland two summers ago, the exchange rate for the Euro was about $0.87. We paid about $0.95 per Euro at banks across the country, discovering the hard way that the official exchange rate and the actual exchange rates are quite a bit different. Now the exchange rate is about $1.30 per Euro, making Irish products, and Irish trips, much more expensive for Americans. I hope that it does come down again and make a return visit more feasible. At the current rate, forget about it.
Coincidentally, Hawai’i Island is also implementing a smoking ban, effective February 1.
The original version of the measure would have banned smoking in nearly all public places, though the final bill exempts bars and nightclubs. Ireland’s ban, praised by the tourist industry, seems to be more restrictive. Personally I would have loved to see Hawai’i Island’s ban to include bars and nightclubs.
There has been a lot of discussion regarding the smoking ban in Ireland, and its affect on the tourism industry.
My wife and I did not have a single drink in any pub in Dublin’s famed Temple Bar district, simply because we could not find one that had breathable air. We didn’t fare much better in Glenn Colm Cille, though we lasted about a half a few nights at Biddy’s (pic at right). Unfortunately the stench of cigarette smoke on our clothes lingered for the walk back the our rooms. As enjoyable as our trip was, it would have been infinitely more enjoyable had we been able to find a smoke-free pub.
Some iTMS releases not $9.99 an album anymore.
I remember when iTunes Music Store first came online, I read a statement that it was going to be .99 cents per song and $9.99 per album, and that Apple was not going to do any different agreements with different labels. Labels were being told (supposedly) “take it or leave it.” However, I’m seeing more and more releases coming online with “By Song Only,” at .99 cents per song, and no album price. A number of releases from the Mountain Apple Company, Hawai’i largest music label and distributor, have come out, and they are all listed as “By Song Only”…
Dave finds it interesting that no candidate weblogs show up on the Share Your OPML Top 100.
I don’t find it suprising. To me subscribing one of those would be like tuning into a cable channel that broadcasts nothing but political advertising generated by the candidates and their parties. I’m not subscribed to any political weblogs. Why? I need balance. I don’t need to hear any more Bush-bashing, Dean-trashing crap, or pie-in-the-sky “I can cure all of the world’s ills” baloney. I’d like to read someone’s fair coverage of their policies and plans and how it affects Joe Average Citizen without the spin. Does such a beast exist? Is it possible?
Building A Better Ireland.
Bernie Goldbach points to what sounds like a disturbing set of papers on the social fabric of Ireland. I wonder how many descendents of the Irish diaspora, such as myself, hold an overly romantic and idyllic image of Ireland, in much the same way many people also view Hawai’i. While my wife and I were in Ireland during the summer of 2002, I let myself dream about what it would be like to move to Ireland, maybe retire there. The dreams were short-lived, for sure, but not because of stories like these.
‘Irish Language Champions Fail the Talk Test’ is a poorly worded headline for this story from scotsman.com.
Can you fault these Irish language advocates for their inability to speak the language? Better to fault the education in the language provided to them and the political environment they grew up in. Same here in Hawai’i. A generation of native speakers here decided not to pass the language to their children, mostly to the atmosphere and politics of their era. The EU should still recognize the language. If they can accept new countries and their languages, they need to accept Irish. A opinion from the middle of the Pacific.
I’ll agree with most of Russ Beattie’s observations on Job’s Apple Keynote.
I was pretty disappointed with the iPod Mini, too. There’s only $60 difference between the iPod Mini and the smallest (HD space-wise) iPod, but the former has only 25% of the HD space. But GarageBand sounds way cool. I have Soundtrack and it is pretty slick as well, but adding audio recording and editing at that price is incredible. I’ll definitely be picking it up. If Apple would only do this kind of pricing on their hardware.
I never realized that Irish was not one of the EU’s recognized languages.
There a bunch of new countries joining the EU this year, along with their languages. Since the EU Presidency is in Ireland for the next six months, maybe this will get fixed. Did you know that Hawai’i is the only state in the US that officially recognizes two languages, English and Hawaiian?