Bertie, as the head of Ireland’s biggest party, will need to form a coalition in order to retake office as Premier for a further term.

This morning’s RTÉ exit poll by Lansdowne Market Research suggest a good day for both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and early tallies suggest this will be the case. Early indications suggest that Fianna Fáil will win the election but not maintain an overall majority but may still lead the new administration.

Bertie Ahern has had an historically important career so far including:

• 1988: Helped negotiate the Good Friday peace accord for Northern Ireland.
• 2004: Led successful Irish presidency of European Union, 2004, brokering agreement on EU constitution and overseeing admission of 10 new member states.
• 2007: Brought power-sharing to Northern Ireland

…and it looks like it’s not over yet!

It seems as if the Irish people are not yet ready to let go of Ahern, who has been in power for over a decade.

To quote former Taoiseach Charles Haughey (and mentor of Ahern):

He’s the most clever,
The most cunning,
The most devious of them all…

In recent years, issues relating to Mr Ahern’s financial dealings have impacted upon his public reputation in Ireland which may account for the slip in support for Fianna Fáil. But has there ever been a Taoiseach that hasn’t been a little bit naughty?

More:

• RTÉ News
• Herald Tribune – Biography of Bertie Ahern

Irish voters are going to the polls in one of the tightest general election contests that Ireland has ever seen. Outgoing Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is hoping for a third term in office while the opposition`s “Alliance for Change” hopes to end a decade of Fianna Fail rule.

A total electorate of 3,066,517 is entitled to vote today for the 466 candidates running in 43 constituencies but some experts believe the turnout could be the lowest ever due to a declining trend and the numbers of college students sitting exams.

If Bertie Ahern is re-elected as Taoiseach he will become the second-longest serving European Union premier currently in office but the last time a Fine Gael/Labour alliance put Fianna Fail out of power was in 1982.

Fianna Fail is fielding 106 candidates, followed by Fine Gael with 91, Labour with 50 and the Progressive Democrats with 30.

The Greens and Sinn Fein are also represented by candidates in most of the constituencies.

Some 104 candidates are also running for other groupings such as the Christian Solidarity Party, the People Before Profit Alliance, the Fathers` Rights Responsibilities Group and the Immigration Control Platform.

More Sources:

• RTÉ News
• BBC NI News
• Irish Post
• The Irish World

A Celebration of Literature – Words – Wit – Wisdom – Where?

James Joyces book ‘Ulysses’ depicts the events of one day when Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom took their epic journey through Dublin.

For millions of people, June 16 is an extraordinary day. On that day in 1904, Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom each took their epic journeys through Dublin in James Joyce’s Ulysses, the world’s most highly acclaimed modern novel. “Bloomsday”, as it is now known, has become a tradition for Joyce enthusiasts all over the world.

From Tokyo to Sydney, San Francisco to Paris, Trieste to Northampton, dozens of
cities around the globe hold their own Bloomsday festivities.

The celebrations usually include readings as well as staged e-enactments and street-side improvisations of scenes from the story.

To celebrate that special day, known as Bloomsday, the Irish Community Arts Project will present a reading by invited literary figures at the graveside of Lucia Anna Joyce who died in Northampton in 1982.

An Irish nurse, who nursed Lucia Joyce, will lay the flowers.

4th Bloomsday 2007: The event will take place at 3pm on Saturday 16th June 2007 at Kingsthorpe Cemetery and The Masque Theatre Company will perform in period costume.

Further details from:

Peter Mulligan
Project Co-ordinator
The Irish Community Arts Project
Northampton Connolly Association
5 Woodland Avenue
Abington Park
Northampton NN3 2BY

Tel. 01604-715793
e-mail: pmcelt@aol.com

Sussex host Ireland in a fantastic Junior Chess Tournament taking place at the Clarion Hotel, Crawley, from 16th to 17th June 2007.

The weekend will feature a battle of minds featuring some of the best young chess players in England and Ireland.

Sussex have an extremely strong junior side with 25 members of the England Team. Sussex are so dominant in in the England national side it will be very much like an international fixture in many of the rounds.

Sussex have a strong reputation for organising impressive events and would like to make this international fixture, just as special.

One of the organisers, Isabel Keen, comments:

There are a few things that I would like to do to make this event special. I would very much like to find a sponsor [or sponsors] to cover the cost of medals, trophies, commemorative score books and the like.

I am also in discussion with some ‘dignitaries’ with regards to opening and closing ceremonies and I intend to get some TV & press coverage of the event as well.

Local and regional businesses wishing to make contact with the Sussex Junior Chess can pass on their details through the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society. Alternatively, you can visit their website at www.sussexjuniorchess.org

Additional changes have been added to the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society website that updates both the functions and the usability of the site.

Users of the Celtic-Irish.co.uk portal can now search the web direct from their toolbar in Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox (wherever they are on the internet).

The internet search is powered by Google, the worlds leading search engine. The search results are identical to those found within Google themselves but with one major difference… when you visit the Sponsored Links, the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society will receive commission.

To add CICS Google Search in Internet Explorer 7:

• Click on the arrow in the top-right corner of the browser window
• Hover your mouse over the “Add Search Providers”
• Click “CICS Google Search”
• Select “Make this my default search provider” and click “Add Provider”

You will now be able to do all your online searches with the CICS Google Search – helping to raise money for local community projects. Just type in the term into the search box and click on the magnifying glass!

To add the Search function within Firefox, Safari (or another advanced browser) the system works in much the same way. In fact in Mozilla Firefox, there are just two clicks involved.

• Click on the current search Provider logo (possibly a Google ‘G’)
• Click “Add CICS Google Search”

If you are not using Firefox already, it is well worth a try. It provides a number of useful functions and adheres to the strictest of internet design standards rendering each page in a manner that assists general and visually impaired users. You can download a copy from the CICS Shop for free.

Another advancement of Web 2.0 is the ability to distribute news globally via RSS (Really Simple Syndication). For users, it means that you can keep up with our news through a Newsreader or on your dynamic homepage (such as iGoogle – the personalised homepage). Information is automatically updated so you don’t even have to visit the site to know there is new news.

If News is important to to you, we’ve also added World and National News from RTÉ and BBC NI to the bottom of our news pages – so you can get all your news from one website should you wish.

A less significant addition is one of aesthetics: we’ve added our logo to the search bar. It’s a little prettier than the Internet Explorer logo, we hope you agree.

The Celtic and Irish Cultural Society is committed to developing new ways to reach out to the Irish community living in the southeast of England and have implemented a number of systems to make this possible.

Just watch this space for even more exciting new content. Or better still, subscribe to the RSS Feed!

Dispatches, Channel 4’s flagship current-affairs series, is making a programme about immigration and are looking for the “typical” Irish immigrant.

We’re keen to speak to people who were born in Ireland who can tell us about their experience of coming to Britain and the life they have made for themselves here.

The programme is based on statistical information and the person we’re after is intended as ‘typical’, someone to represent all Irish immigrants to the UK. They would be a family man or woman who came here decades ago and is now in their mid fifties to early sixties.

They’re a homeowner and have a couple of kids. This person is probably nearing retirement after a working life that began in their late teens.

If you’d like to find out more please call:

Nadia Arshad – 020 7864 9957 or Tamer Akeil – 020 7864 8853

County Brighton, the group representing the Irish community along the sussex coast, is helping to make Irish Cricket a big hit this Bank Holiday Monday – May 28th 2007. The Blarney Army are coming Sussex and you can be there too.

Following the fantastic performance of the Irish cricket team – and their fans – in the Caribbean you have a chance to repeat this – but in the more genteel surroundings of Hove, actually.

The County Brighton Irish Society, (CBIS) have booked an exclusive marquee for the Sussex v Ireland match on May 28^th, Bank Holiday Monday.

Tickets are £25 each – and for that you’ll get into the County Ground, access to the marquee, a two course buffet and our own private, cash bar. There’ll be barrels of Guinness, bottles of Magners, wines and whiskies of the best etc. – and opportunities for all kinds of shenanigans.

Plus: LIVE MUSIC from “An Poitin Stil”

Any questions, please contact Garvan on 07802 641315 – or another committee member – or call CBIS on 07949 949954. Booking forms can be downloaded from their webiste at http://www.countybrighton.co.uk

Bank Holiday Sunday 26 August 2007
12pm: Southgate Playing Fields, Southgate Avenue, Crawley, West Sussex – [map]

A great start to the weekend concludes with the 12th Crawley Irish Festival, on Sunday from Noon with live music, sport and more. The Festival, and the whole Crawley Celtic Weekend, is organised entirely by volunteers.

This year’s Celtic Weekend will feature the biggest Crawley Irish Festival ever held with two live music stages, an Irish Dance Stage, Set-Dancing and Ceili Marquee, GAA sports, free children’s entertainment and great craic for the family.

The FDL Dome Stage, sponsored by Foundation Developments Limited, features around seven hours of the finest folk, traditional, rock and country music. TV personality, Alan Ennis, will act as MC introducing each act with his unique and genuine Irish wit, observations and humour.

Guilfest favourites, The Twelve Sullivans, provide a spark of the folk traditional, plus a fusion courtesy of Guns and Horses, leading directly into the high energy Irish rock of The Emerald Dogs. Mustang and the ever-popular Mick Flavin will provide the country flavour as well as popular Irish tunes. The FDL Stage has something for all tastes but there’s more…

The Landmark Traditional Stage, sponsored by Landmark Groundworks and Civil Engineering, includes some of the best traditional Irish and Celtic music featuring Blackthorn, Brogue, Rocas and The Flying Toads will get the toes tapping and hands clapping.

Free Children’s Entertainment including magic shows, a circus workshop, balloon creations and children’s theatre will entertain the little ones throughout the day.

Irish dance shows from the local Andromeda, O’Brien and Mullins Irish Dance Schools taps off at 3pm, you’ll also have a chance to get involved at the Ceili and Set-Dancing Marquee.

Televised action from the GAA Gaelic Football championship live from Croke Park will be shown on the big screens at the Beer Tent while over at the Sports Arena, there is a busy lineup of Tug o’ War, Hurling and Gaelic Football action.

The Crawley Irish Festival is the most diverse event of its kind in the UK with content that will appeal to all. All proceeds will enhance future events in and promote culture. Entry just £5 for adults and children go free. Get set to paint the town green and enjoy the craic at Crawley.

Tickets – £5 adults / £2 Concessions / £free children available at the gate

[Crawley Celtic Weekend Website]