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		IN THIS ISSUE
~~~ Foreword
~~~ Keep us Free!
~~~ News Snaps from Ireland
~~~ New Free Resources at the Site
~~~ Free 5% Discount Voucher 
~~~ Sound Memories 	   by Geraldine Flanagan
~~~ Irish Draw Begrudgers!
~~~ Cara Irish Penpals News
~~~ Urban Cowboys 		  by Sarah Tracy
~~~ Famous Irish Songs: Danny Boy
~~~ Gaelic Phrases of the Month
~~~ Monthly free competition result

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FOREWORD
~~~~~~~~

Hi again from Ireland where the talk is of 
cutbacks in public services and the apparent 
collapse of the project to build a National 
Stadium. What a shame.

Many thanks to Geraldine Flanagan and Sarah Tracy 
for their contributions this month. Why don't 
you write an article about some aspect of Ireland!


We are pleased to be able to offer you a 5% 
discount voucher on any purchase made at 
irishnation.com

Until next month, keep well!

Michael


WE NEED YOUR HELP!

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or relatives who you think are interested in 
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KEEP THIS NEWSLETTER ALIVE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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NEWS SNAPS FROM IRELAND
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NATIONAL STADIUM PLAN THWARTED

The plans for the national sports stadium at 
Abbotstown on the outskirts off Dublin city have 
received a major blow with the withdrawal of state 
funding by the Bertie Ahearn lead coalition 
Government. The worsening state of the public 
finances are to blame for this latest development 
which has seen major problems in the provision of 
public services, particularly healthcare.

In what is being seen as a huge climbdown by 
Bertie Ahearn the Government has now advertised 
in national newspapers for private investors to 
continue the project in which over 200 Million 
Euro has already been invested.

Part of the funding for the project involved huge 
allocations of grants to the Gaelic Athletic 
Association (GAA), the Football Association of 
Ireland (FAI) and the Irish Rugby Football Union 
(IRFU). These grants are now in jeopardy although 
the various sporting organisations are 
threatening to sue if the Government does not 
agree to meet the verbal commitments it has given.

This issue is complicated by the bid by the FAI to 
co-host the 2008 European Soccer Championships, the 
third largest sporting event in the world after the 
World Cup and the Olympic Games. Ireland is obliged 
to offer 2 stadia for the event but currently only 
has Landsdowne Road available. Pressure is being 
brought to bear on the GAA to make Croke Park 
available on a once-off basis for this huge event 
even though the GAA rules do not allow 'foreign' 
games to be played in its stadia.

The FAI has not recently enamored itself to the 
Government either after it sold the television 
broadcast rights to Irish soccer games to SKY 
Television.

Whether the Government intends to use the 
proposed funding it promised as a carrot to the 
two associations to get them in line remains to 
be seen.

NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE PROCESS IN CRISIS AGAIN

The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, David 
Trimble, has survived another leadership challenge 
from Unionist hardliners within his own ranks, 
but at the cost of setting a deadline for the 
dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly. 
The UUP leader has given the IRA three months to 
completely disband or else the parliament will 
be dissolved and new elections held.

Despite recent decommissioning of IRA weapons 
it seems unlikely that the IRA will allow 
itself to be dictated to by the larger of the 
two main Unionist parties.

CHURCH MAY BAN NON-PRACTICING SCHOOL CHILDREN

In what is being seen as a highly controversial 
attempt by the Catholic Church in Ireland to raise 
funds the hierarchy have declared that they may 
ban children of families who do not fully practice 
the Catholic religion from attending their schools. 

The parish priest of Stamullen in County Meath 
warned that his 170 pupil school would only admit 
practising, believing, and contributing Catholics.

MOX FUEL ARRIVES AT SELLAFIELD

Despite the very public protest by Greenpeace 
the controversial Mox fuel shipments that were 
rejected by Japan have finally arrived at 
Sellafield under tight security. The British 
Government has accused Greenpeace of 
scaremongering.

The Irish and Norwegian Governments are among 
those who are talking legal action against the 
British Government because of the threat posed 
by the nuclear facility in Cumbria, only a short 
distance away across the Irish sea. Sellafield 
is regarded as one of the primary terrorist 
targets in these islands.

RYANAIR PASSENGER ATTEMPTED TO SMUGGLE GUN

A passenger who attempted to smuggle a handgun on 
board a Ryanair flight from Sweden to England had 
previously received aircraft flight training in 
South Carolina in America.

Kerim Chatty, a Muslim, was among a group who were 
removed from the aircraft which was then searched. 
He is being held in Sweden on a preliminary charge 
of planning to hijack a plane.

Speculation has mounted that he intended to crash 
the plane into a British embassy either in London 
or in Europe. He is denying all charges.

HOUSE PRICES ON THE UP AND UP AGAIN

After a slow Summer, house prices in Ireland have 
again picked up with a 1.3% surge during August 
leading to an increase of 7.4% in 2002 so far. Low 
interest rates and the continuing volatility in 
the Stock Markets are at least partially 
responsible for the continuing upward trend. The 
average price for a Dublin house is over 
EURO 252,000 (approx US$257,000) and for a 
house outside Dublin the average price is over 
EURO 172,000 (approx US$175,000).

PART OF CARRICKMINES HISTORICAL SITE TO BE LOST

The completion of the M50 motorway which stretches 
from the North Dublin coast, past the Airport and 
out around the city towards Dun Laoghaire is to 
result in the loss of 40% of a historical site.

Carrickmines Castle has been under excavation for 
some years but it is smack bang in the middle of 
the single largest engineering project in the 
history of the State. Re-routing the motorway 
would have cost over 20 Million EURO and possibly 
delayed the project by up to five years.

The remains of the Castle itself will be preserved.

SPORT: TIGER WOODS WINS AT MOUNT JULIET

The world's leading golfer, Tiger Woods, won the 
prestigious American Express World Championship 
which was held in Ireland. With a near perfect 
bogey-free tournament at his mercy an eager 
photographer disturbed his concentration on his 
approach to the final green of the 72-hole 
marathon. He bogeyed the very last hole and was 
not at all happy about it!

He won the Championship at 22 under par by a single 
stroke from South African Retief Goosen.


Voice your opinion at these news issues here:

 https://www.ireland-information.com/cgi-bin/newsletterboardindex.cgi

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NEW FREE RESOURCES AT THE SITE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEW COATS OF ARMS ADDED TO THE GALLERY:

The following 9 coats of arms images and family
history details have been added to the Gallery:

C: Clyne, Corbin, Cossart
D: Dudley
G: McGing, McGinnis
K: Kenyon
R: Robertson
T: Trant

View the Gallery here:

 http://www.irishsurnames.com/coatsofarms/gm.htm

We now have over 20,000 worldwide names available.
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This voucher is valid for 5 days only and can be 
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SOUND MEMORIES		BY GERALDINE FLANAGAN

In woodlands, where I now live, it is surprising 
how accustomed I have become to country sounds. 
At night, during the hot, humid days of August, 
the all encompassing mating sound of the crickets 
fill the house through the open windows much like 
the locust do during the day with their relentless 
buzzing. Sometimes the faraway noise of a whining 
motorcycle or a groaning truck compete with the 
natural sounds of night but once the hushed 
hooting of two owls keeping each other company 
begins it's easy to ignore the rest. The next 
early morning sound, together with the myriad 
songs of the birds, is the yellow school bus 
screeching down the road, at an ungodly hour, 
searching for clusters of silent, half-asleep 
children. Upon hearing its intermittent brakes 
my mind affectionately goes back to other sounds 
that were equally as pleasing to me when I was a 
child living in Dublin city.

Back then, not as now, the local roads in my 
neighborhood were almost emptied of drivers after, 
as the adults would say, the decent hours of 
evening were over. If I were not tired enough to 
sleep my ears would hone in on the click clicking 
on pavement of rushed high-heels passing by the 
window. Their steady, officious pace telling all 
who would hear that the wearer intends to arrive 
home safely. There were no crickets or owls but 
the crows had their caustic sessions much to the 
annoyance of my father, who one day got up at 
sunrise and, uncharacteristically, threw some 
water at one sitting on a hedgerow beneath his 
bedroom window.

The milkman had no sound of his own at all. I knew 
of his presence by the accompanying tingling of 
glass bottles and the soft intermittent 
clop-clopping of his mare. We received five pint 
bottles of milk every morning, so you can imagine 
how careful and considerate this man was to place 
them safely, and in alignment, to the right of our 
red-polished doorstep. Gently, so gently he would 
repeat this thoughtfulness in the dark, in winter, 
all the way down the road. The fading tingling 
sound was magical and always reminded me of 
Tinkerbell. When the calm and comforting sound of 
the clopping diminished the sublime feeling that 
all is right with the world would go with it.

Morning came for me with the first church bell and 
being a child I never thought to put a time on it. 
All I knew was that I could get up without 
suffering any wrath. It seemed to me the 
neighbourhood did everything together. I heard 
humanity and it was right outside. In cheerful 
voices passers-by commiserated with each other on 
the way to church, to school or to the bus stop. 
Loud, imperative knocks landed on hall doors, 
sometimes by surprisingly small hands. The din 
outperformed engines, sadly, not as now. There was 
no point in staying in bed, even if you were ill, 
because the ears would take in the urgency of life 
outside and force you to get up and start the day.  

In those days, the sixties, very few people 
changed jobs or moved house and so the 
neighbourhood stayed constant, at least, that's 
the way it seemed in the slow beat of childhood. 
In many ways they were hard times and in many 
ways a delight.	

Geraldine Flanagan, 
Pennsylvania, USA

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CARA IRISH PENPALS NEWS

We have added a new feature that enables you to 
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The following CARA Irish Penpals are among those 
who upgraded their membership this month:

Name: Gerry (full name available at the website)
City, Country: Ireland
Age: 25
Interests:  The usual for a 26 year old male, 
music, cinema, sports, social life and helping 
others. 
Message: I would like to get a female pen-pal 
for intelligent conversation to make life a 
little less boring from Monday to Friday!

Name: Helen (full name available at the website)
City, Country: Newcastle, England
Age: 29
Interests:  computer, gardening, shopping, 
cooking & eating!
Message: would like to write to females only 30-40

Name: George (full name available at the website)
City, Country: Monterey, CA, USA
Age: 46
Interests: Fitness, Culinary Arts, and computers, 
listening to music, and eating pizza. 
Message: I am from Monterey, California and have 
always had a fascination for Ireland and the Irish 
people. I would love to correspond with an 
interesting Irish woman between the ages of 40 
and 47.

Name: Stacey (full name available at the website)
City, Country: Corvallis, OR, USA
Age: 36
Interests: ferrets, books, music, nursing, 
shortwave radio, genealogy, history
Message: I love writing to penpals by snail 
mail - email me first! =)

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first thing you need to do is to sign up for 
our FREE penpal service at:

 http://www.irishpenpals.com

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THE URBAN COWBOYS		BY SARAH TRACY

Let Dublin rejoice in their young people's choice
To ride bareback through pastures of stone
It's a beauteous thing, to see horsehair and skin
So close to nature and to home

Should only the rich enjoy the ride
With stallion and beauty at their side
Let the wild shaggy horse proclaim his fame
In the marvelous race across Dublin's plain

They're not racing for gold, 
 like their rich counterparts
They just want to follow the love in their hearts
For the wind in their hair and the rush they glean
From galloping bareback through fields of green

It's a joy to see children 
 ride God's wondrous creature
Through streets so long 
 plagued by the car's human nature
Maiming, polluting a city so fair
Taking the lives of children so rare

So lock up your cars and open the streets
To children who ride their God-given treats
Be glad in your hearts for the glint in their eyes
They're the children of Ireland, the Urban Cowboys.

Sarah Tracy

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FAMOUS IRISH SONGS: DANNY BOY

Dannny Boy is one of over 100 songs composed to 
the same tune. The author was the English lawyer, 
songwriter and entertainer, Frederic Edward 
Weatherly (1848-1929). He wrote the lyrics to 
Danny Boy in 1910 but only used the traditional 
tune when he was sent the 'Londonderry Air' by his 
sister-in-law in 1912. The song was republished in 
1913. Alfred Perceval Graves was a friend of 
Weatherly but the two fell out when Graves claimed 
that his friend had stolen some of the lyrics that 
Graves himself had written for the song. The tune 
was also known as the 'Air from County Derry'.

The earliest appearance of the tune in print was 
in 1855 in 'Ancient Music of Ireland' by George 
Petrie (1789-1866) when it was given to Petrie by 
Jane Ross of Limavady in County Derry, who claimed 
to have copied the tune from an itinerant piper.

The song became very popular in America where it 
was recorded by Bing Crosby. It has been used by 
many Irish traditional and even rock musicians 
ever since. The famous Irish rock band, Thin Lizzy, 
used the music on their 1979 album, 'Black Rose'. 

It remains one of the most popular and well known 
Irish love songs of all time.

~~~

Danny Boy

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an 'Ave' there for me.

And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me. 


Listen to the tune to this and other famous Irish 
songs here:

 https://www.ireland-information.com/irishmusic/

The following CD collections of Irish songs are 
available from:

 https://www.irishnation.com/irishmusicds.htm

* All-Time Irish Favourites - 3 CD Set
* The Magic of Ireland - 4 CD Set 
* 101 Beautiful Irish Ballads - 4 CD Set 
* Essential Irish Pub Songs Collection - 3 CD Set 

.......and many more!

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GAELIC PHRASES OF THE MONTH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHRASE:		Ca as duit?  
PRONOUNCED:	caw oss dwit
MEANING:		Where are you from?

PHRASE:		Is as Meiricea/Sasana/Eire dom
PRONOUNCED:	iss oss mare-i-caw/sos-in-ah/air-ah dum
MEANING:		I am from America/England/Ireland

PHRASE:		Ta tu go h-aileann! 
PRONOUNCED:	taw two guh haul-inn!
MEANING:		You are beautiful!

View the archive of phrases here:

 https://www.ireland-information.com/irishphrases.htm

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SEPTEMBER COMPETITION RESULT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The winner was:  aburke78@yahoo.co.uk
who will receive the following: 

A Single Family Crest Print (decorative) 
(US$19.99 value)

Send us an email to claim your prize, and well 
done! Remember that all subscribers to this 
newsletter are automatically entered into the 
competition every time. 

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I hope that you have enjoyed this issue.
Please keep the feedback coming!

Until the next time,

Keep Well!

Michael Green,
Editor,
The Information about Ireland Site.

https://www.ireland-information.com
Click here to contact us