The Crawley Irish Festival has been awarded National Lottery Funding for the 2008 Crawley Irish Festival.

This year’s festival is the first time the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society has received funding from the National Lottery’s community fund and will allow additional entertainment and progress on the professionalisation of our events.

AWARDS FOR ALL now joins a number of other funding partners that began funding the event this year including the Crawley Town Centre Partnership, the Gatwick Airport Community Trust, West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Borough.

To find out more details on our funding partners, corporate and stage sponsors can be found at http://www.celtic-irish.co.uk/festival/sponsors.

The Celtic and Irish Cultural Society are looking for stallholders selling Irish goods to take part in the Crawley Irish Festival on Sunday 24^th August on Southgate playing fields in Crawley.

If you specialise in Irish cuisine or Celtic crafts, this is a great opportunity to promote your business and sell your wares in a lively and fun family atmosphere.  So whether you’re a butcher, baker, candlestick maker or something altogether more unusual, come and join us and enjoy the craic!

The Festival, now in its thirteenth year attracts around 6000 people and features live performances of popular and traditional music on two stages, a number of creative workshops and a variety of sporting activities including demonstrations and games. Craft stalls and shops selling traditional Irish produce and arts and crafts goods are also an important part of the programme.

Organisers are keen to develop the Festival and would like to expand the range of stalls at this year’s event and are keen to hear from anyone interested in taking part.

The cost of a 10 foot x 20 foot stall costs just £40 for the whole day. There are also concessions available for hot food sales.

If you would like to know more, please contact Shannon Mackey-Witton on 07815 055281 or email: crawleyirishadmin@googlemail.com.

You can also find further details on our website: http://www.celtic-irish.co.uk/crawley-irish-festival-2008

A new channel aimed at Irish people living in Britain has been named RTÉ International.

Public service broadcaster RTÉ is recruiting for positions including channel manager, according to the Irish Post.

The service may now launch before the previous target date of St Patrick’s Day next year. The newspaper said RTÉ International would be a combination of RTÉ One and RTÉ Two with some programmes from TG4.

Several RTÉ news bulletins will be carried live. The channel, previously known as Diaspora TV, is expected to be broadcast free-to-air on digital satellite.

RTE International will be a hybrid of RTÉ One and RTÉ Two with selected programming being drawn from the Gaelic-language channel TG4. The main One, Six-One and Nine O’clock news bulletins will be screened live. The broadcaster is currently advertising for senior staff.

The launch of such a channel was mandated in the Irish Communications Act of 2007.

Ireland’s communications minister Eamon Ryan said it would “provide the Irish abroad with a valuable link to home”.

From Digital Spy >

On 29th May the Republic of Ireland will look to build on their first game under Giovanni Trapattoni. They play Colombia in an international friendly in London, at Craven Cottage (home of Fulham Football Club), and hoards of Irish fans are expected to pack the stands and sing their hearts out for the occasion.

There promises to be plenty of Premier League stars on show and notably John O’Shea (Man Utd), Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Stephen Ireland (Man City) and Damien Duff (Newcastle) who have all been named in the squad.

The game will also be the first time that Colombia have visited London since their eccentric goal keeper René Higuita saved Jamie Redknapp’s shot with a spectacular scorpion kick, in a friendly against England.

The South Americans are likely to be tricky opponents for the Republic of Ireland, so it could be a scintillating game of football, and a great live appetiser for the Euro 2008 tournament in June.

Craven Cottage is located in SW6 close to Hammersmith and Putney, the game kicks off at 8.05pm. If you want to be a part of it tickets are available at fulhamfc.com, or through the Fulham ticket office on 0870 442 1234 (option 1) or call 020 8336 7555 for a range of hospitality options.

Speaking at the recent AGM of the Celtic & Irish Cultural Society, Chairman, John Nolan, explained that it had been a very challenging year for the Society. He said:

“2007 was certainly an eventful if not testing year, but at the same time it has been very rewarding.  I think that Crawley is a much nicer place to live and work thanks in part to the CICS working for the good of the community and providing a great cultural experience for us all”

The CICS, which is responsible for the Crawley Irish Festival, the St Patrick’s Day Parade and the Crawley Fleadh, has undergone a number of important changes during the last 12 months including:

1. Becoming a Company Limited by Guarantee – a move which offers protection against personal liability to the committee members/trustees and thus offers them protection when employing people and forming contracts with suppliers and service providers
2. Appointing a new Board of Directors – The new Board is comprised of John Nolan (Chairman), Norah Green (Company Secretary), John Lyons (Treasurer) and Mary Allen
3. Employing its first paid member of staff – something which the Society feels demonstrates a strong commitment to improving its work, both in terms of cultural activities and the events it provides, as well as its ambitions to raise the profile of the Irish community which are an important part of Crawley’s multi-cultural mix
4. Starting the process of registering as a Charity – this will help with accessing additional benefits and funding for the organisation

All the changes the CICS has undergone will leave the society in a stronger position to handle the major events they have planned for the year ahead, including the fast approaching 13th Annual Crawley Irish Festival, which is planned for Sunday 24th August.

In conclusion to the AGM, the Chairman concluded by saying

“We should not forget our supporters, the big and the not so big. They provide funding and loan us equipment so we can organise our events.  We could not survive or get to where we are today without their help. In particular we would like to thank Crawley Borough Council, West Sussex County Council and the Town Centre Partnership for their support. Also, this busy year could not have been achieved without the assistance of the many volunteers and helpers”

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A new Irish TV channel should be available by Saint Patrick’s Day 2009 according to the Irish communications minister who made an announcement on Saint Patrick’s Day. Diaspora TV will be an RTÉ channel available on the new Freesat service in the UK.

In recent comments from Eamon Ryan, the minister spoke about time-frames and the need for the service:

The 2001 Census in Britain records a figure of 850,000 Irish born people living in Britain. There are many more of direct Irish descent. I know that many of these people have been looking for an RTÉ channel in the UK for some time. This new channel will be up and running by next St Patrick’s Day [and] will provide the Irish abroad with a valuable link to home.

The new service will be a hybrid of RTÉ One and RTÉ Two with additional programming from TG4. It will carry the One, Six-One and 9 o’clock news bulletins live and will aim to provide “home-grown Irish programming that will be of real interest to Irish communities abroad”.

Mr Ryan went on to say that

I will be working closely with Minister Dermot Ahern to ensure that vulnerable groups in the UK will be supported in receiving the service

Diaspora TV will be the first service for the Irish community in Britain since Tara TV closed back in 2002 for financial reasons.

Freesat is a new free-to-air satellite service that will be available throughout the UK and across the Astra satellite footprint, covering Ireland and some other parts of Europe.  It is led by the BBC and ITV.  Further information is available at www.freesat.co.uk

The service will also be available to users of the Sky Satellite System on a Free to Air basis.

This sunday marks the fifth annual Crawley Saint Patrick’s Parade and everyone is invited! After the parade, free entertainment in Queen’s Square which includes music and Irish dancing demonstrations. The parade starts at 1pm from Crawley Bus Station and concludes at Queen’s Square.

There has been some freak weather warnings from our friends at the Met Office so please remember, one and all, to bring appropriate clothing with you.

It’s also an exciting weekend otherwise as we approach Saint Patrick’s Day on Monday 17th March.

There’s live rugby on the box, or if you are lucky enough to get to Twickenham it would be much closer; lots of events in venues throughout the town and, on Saint Patrick’s Day itself, the GAA club championships at Croke Park. If Croke Park is too far to travel, it’s also live on Setanta.

Have a great weekend and the CICS invite you all to come down to celebrate your roots with the Irish in Crawley.

More information at http://www.celtic-irish.co.uk/stpats

Frank Kelly is currently undergoing a seven-month chemotherapy course after having a tumour removed last year.

Father Ted star Frank Kelly, who played Father Jack Hackett in the sitcom between 1995-98, had been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Frank told The Mirror:

“The tumour was the size of a bloody cabbage. I had discomforts and symptoms that I thought were just bowel problems.

“But when you’re told it’s cancer, it doesn’t come as such a massive shock.

“I’ve made a complete recovery. But I need chemo to reduce the chance of it returning.”

News of Frank Kelly’s illness comes at a time when the Federation of Irish Societies (FIS), of which the CICS is an affiliate member, has welcomed news of regular NHS screening for heart disease, stroke and illnesses.

The Irish community suffer from the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in men and women of all ethnic groups, and have a greatly increased risk of heart disease. Even more worryingly, the Irish have the highest rates of stroke amongst all ethnic minority communities, and far higher than the White British population.

It is more important than ever for the Irish community to be regularly screened for potentially fatal illness, according to Mary Tilki; chairperson of FIS.

The Celtic and Irish Cultural Society, together with the Federation of Irish Societies, encourage everyone to ensure they are in best health by ensuring regular screening takes place. You can keep up to date with the latest health advice by visiting NHS Direct or call 0845 4647.

As a special treat for all our visitors, take a look at this fantastic film called “My Name is Yu Ming” or “Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom” in Irish. I hope this short film, by Daniel O’Hara, is inspirational for 2008.

Enjoy the film:

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central