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 >

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.

Saint Francis School, in Southgate Avenue, became the first school in Crawley to provide Hurling coaching to its primary school pupils last Monday 3rd December. The training day, provided by London GAA coach Grainne O’Sullivan, was the first of its kind provided to pupils in Crawley.

The training day was funded by the Celtic & Irish Cultural Society and follows an introduction to Gaelic Football that took place during the 2007 Crawley Fleadh.

The coaching lesson was a primary introduction to the sport and focused on the skills also relevant to the sport of Hockey - a descendant of Ireland’s Hurling and Scotland’s Shinty.

Chairman of the CICS, John Nolan commented:

The Irish are rightly proud of their sporting tradition and Gaelic Games remains the most popular sports in Ireland. We wish to extend the reach of the sport, in association with the London Gaelic Athletic Association, by helping local schools to deliver team sports that all the community can enjoy.

Back in 2006, the CICS also funded Gaelic Football coaching at Saint Wilfred’s School and the society is keen to expand coaching into other schools.

Interested schools around Crawley can contact the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society for more information:

“The Irish Experience” radio show returns to our wireless sets in the run-up to Christmas on RTÉ Radio Europe and RTÉ Radio One.

Paschal Mooney from Radio Telefis Eireann, and well known to the Irish Community in Britain, will be visiting various Irish Centres/Communitiee to record a series of programmes for RTE.

In the run up to Christmas ‘The Irish Experience’ team will be visiting the UK ; between entertainment items provided by the Irish Diaspora in the area visited, Paschal will also interview local Irish activists in welfare, sport, business, entertainment etc and give people the opportunity to send Christmas wishes to families back in Ireland.

The first programme will be transmitted on Friday November 30th at 9pm on RTE Radio 1 from the Kathleen Connolly Hall in Luton. The second from the Irish centre in Camden Town on December 7th, the third programme from St.Michael’s Centre in Liverpool on the 14th of December . The final programme in the series will be recorded at The Beaches Hotel, Prestatyn on Thursday December 6th.

Full schedule can be found on the RTE website page - http://www.rte.ie/radio1/theirishexperience

Crawley hosted a radio programme as part of the series last November (more information) which included live music, interviews and the famous “Irish Dancing on the Radio”.

RTÉ can be listened on line www.rte.ie or on LW 252 and via SKY TV (radio channel 0169). RTÉ are planning future programmes in the new year on a proposed new programme for the Irish Abroad worldwide.

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

Former Crawley Irishperson of the Year, Lenny Nugent, is planning a mammoth trek from Big Ben to Brighton Pier to support the Kasisi Children’s Home in Zambia. The walkers hope to raise around £15,000 to make a real difference to children living with HIV/AIDS.

Staff and friends of the Sussex based contractors and developers, Nugent Group, will spend the Easter weekend in a bid to help fund new projects at the Kasisi Children’s Home. The orphanage deals with a large number of children affected with HIV/AIDS in the African country.

The orphanage was established by a group of Irish Dominican Nuns in 1926 and became staffed by the Little Sisters of the Mary Immaculate, a Polish order, two years later. Polish and Zambian nuns continue to run the home 37 km from Lusaka.

The Home provides its children with basic needs such as care, love and protection. All the children go to school and the Home supports them in finding further education and employment as they reach adulthood.

In 2006, Nugent Group paid for the development of new toilet and shower blocks to be constructed. It was around the same time that BBC News visited the orphanage to see the impact of the G8 Summit. One year on from the Gleneagles meeting, there had been little change - the support of individuals is needed more than ever.

In 2007, with the aid of the public they want to directly impact the lives of the children. Lenny Nugent commented:

“The sisters are a great group of people but they need lots of help. They have priorities about feeding and clothing and you can see that that are shy to ask for any help.”

HIV/AIDS has had a marked impact on the Kasisi Children’s Home. Many of the children are infected with the disease and in many cases the very worst happens.

Lenny continues:

“The sisters want to build a Chapel of Rest and mortuary. It will make a real difference to the children living with the disease as they will know that their friends are being looked after. At the moment, the children see their former friends in open sheds before burial. It’s just not right. We need to look after the children in this life and on to the next.”

Lenny is apprehensive about talking about the project because it is not a subject that is openly spoken of but he feels that it is important to be very active and involved.

“I’m prepared to send a group of workers out to Zambia if they need to. When I was there last year, I could see so much needed to be done and we take so much for granted here. The sponsored walk will be big test. I would encourage anyone willing to take part to do so.”

The sponsored walk will take place over the Easter Weekend starting on Good Friday and will finish when the participants conclude the 50-mile trek.

The Kasisi Children’s Home is a registered charity (1114313). People wishing to support the walk can donate direct, download the sponsorship forms or send cheques payable to the charity. Tax relief (through Gift Aid) is available for UK tax payers.

Cheques, payable to “Kasisi Children’s Home”, can be sent to:

Kasisi Appeal
Nugent Group
Antrim House,
High Street,
Handcross,
West Sussex.
RH17 6BN

Attached documents:

• Route Map
• Kasisi Sponsorship Form

Crawley hosted the 4th Annual Saint Patrick’s Parade on Sunday 18 March 2007, celebrating the multicultural makeup of the town, its Irish population and commemorating Crawley’s 60th birthday as a new town.

The Parade was the focal point of Crawley’s Saint Patrick’s Festivities and concluded with live music and dance displays at the High Street.

Music was provided by Blackthorne, TS Glorious and the Gatwick Caledonian Pipers. The dance shows were presented by the Andromeda, Mullins and O’Brien dance schools.

Hundreds lined the street and took part in the parade making it by far the best event yet. The post-parade entertainment did come to a premature end due to the onset of snow, but this didn’t dampen the spirits of the Irish community.

John Nolan, CICS Chairman, commented:

We were delighted with the day, it was a fantastic day and we would like to invite many more people to take part next year. Wherever your roots lie, come celebrate them with the Irish in Crawley.

Everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day, it’s a national day of celebration worldwide and a chance for everyone to come together and have a bit of fun.

Photos from the event will be available shortly from www.celtic-irish.co.uk/photos

The Parade was organised by the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society, sponsored by Paslode Spit and Plumbase.

As Crawley New Town celebrates its 60^th birthday, the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society (CICS) are hoping with the help of St Patrick, and sponsorship from local based businesses Plumbase and Paslode Spit, to make it a year to remember.

The 4th Annual Saint Patrick’s Parade organised by the CICS, in association with Crawley Borough Council and Sussex Police, will be held on Sunday 18 March 2007 and will be the focal point for Crawley’s Saint Patrick’s Festivities. It’s not just an Irish only St Patrick’s Parade, it’s a parade for Crawley - something for everyone to enjoy in Crawley’s special birthday year. As Chairman, John Nolan explains:

Part of the aims of the parade, apart from having fun or having the ‘craic’, is to encourage Crawley’s diverse and vibrant community to participate in a greater understanding of Celtic and Irish traditions.

In celebrating it’s 60^th birthday Crawley has welcomed people from across the globe and the event is intended to encourage increased cultural awareness and help generate the party atmosphere of the worldwide St. Patrick’s celebration here at Crawley. The idea of the weekend is to bring cultures and communities together through participation that can only be good for the town and its inhabitants. And with all the communities working together the town can be better for it. The parade committee hope that the St. Patrick’s event can attract large numbers to the town and make Crawley the heart of the southeast’s festivities.

The parade will start at approximately 1.00pm from Crawley Bus Station (assembling from 12 noon onwards) and will be led by the Mayor and local dignitaries, followed by community floats, marching bands, Irish dancers, children in fancy dress and many more. Irish dancers and traditional live music will bring the day to an exciting climax when the parade ends in the High Street giving it that mini – ‘fleadh ceoil’ atmosphere around town. Mr Nolan went on to say:

We would like to thank our joint sponsors Plumbase and Pasload Spit for their financial support this year, for without it the Celtic & Irish Cultural Society would find it impossible to stage this free event for the residents of Crawley.

Please feel free to bring flags of your native Irish county, your Celtic nation, or such flags as represent your cultural background. Everyone is welcome as the whole of Crawley is invited to celebrate Ireland’s national celebration. If you wish to organise a float, or represent an organisation that would like to take part in the event, please contact John Nolan - Telephone: 01293 513189, or email him on john.nolan@celtic-irish.co.uk

Young Irish Dancers from the Mullins’ School of Irish Dancing, based in Crawley, will take part in an exciting world record attempt this Saturday, live on BBC1.

The BBC show, “Dancing in the Street”, will feature dance groups from throughout the UK taking part in one the world’s largest outdoor events ever to celebrate different dance traditions. Mullins’ dancers will join others from throughout the UK as they attempt to break the world record for the longest ever Riverdance line.

The show can be seen on BBC1, this Saturday at 6.25-7.30pm and 9.05-9.35pm.

[BBC/Dancing in the Street]