Wales
53-0 in favour of referendum on legislative powers to the Welsh Assembly..
OK it’s not my prediction for Wales Scotland on Saturday (but won’t be far off…) but today the National Assembly have voted 53-0 in favour of a referendum to transfer legislative powers to Cardiff. Here’s Betsan on the vote. Probably the most ridiculous referendum in UK history in terms of the constitution – but in [...] more »
Rhodri E-Mails the Queen….and Mohammad crosses the floor.
Interesting day here. Rhodri Morgan has E-mailed the Queen to resign as First Minister – The front page of the Western Mail is a nice valedictory – Ta-ra RhodriNice quote: “The remarkably high popularity ratings enjoyed by Rhodri – always way ahead of his party – are testimony to the fact that people like his [...] more »
Slugger at the BIPA: Peter Hain…
My interview with Peter Hain who spoke this morning at British Irish Parliamentary Assembly. In which he claims the bringing in of free bus travel for pensioners in Northern Ireland, and claims that despite a dodgy, nearly didn’t happen start, devolution in Wales is now firm dug in… More in the pipeline from Bethan Jenkins, [...] more »
When the Wobblies met How Green was my Valley.
There’s a few links in this post but before you look at any of them my advice is to take care. The history of American socialism is one of the most addictive substances known to man… It’s got everything – heroics, lynchings, show trials, executions, great songs, exiles and imprisonment….and best of all total abject [...] more »
Come May 2010 – the most important Labour politician in Britain will be…
Ever heard of Carwyn Jones, Edwina Hart or Huw Lewis? I wouldn’t be too concerned if you haven’t. I asked in the office who was standing to suceed Rhodri Morgan as Labour Assembly leader and First Minister in the One Wales Labour coalition and the response was deafening. Strange really, as come the next General [...] more »
The Morgan Paradox
After nine and a half years at the helm Wales’s First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, decides it’s the time to go.Many fine things about the man. 1) He’s funny: Paxman: “Do you want to be First Minister?” Morgan axiomatically: “Does a one legged duck swim in cirles?” 2) He’s a man of the people, in Welsh [...] more »
Adam Price to leave Westminster
The political star of his generation, Adam Price MP, has announced that he will be leaving Westminster at the next election. The Western Mail reports that he’s been awarded a $40,000 Fullbright scholarship to study for a year in the US. He then intends to become an Assembly member at the 2011 elections. Betsan speculates [...] more »
Paramilitary Funeral – Machynlleth style
Glyn Rowlands of Corris, Machynlleth was buried last week. An ex member of the Free Wales Army, Mr Rowlands was one of the few FWA men to be prosecuted back in the day. Here’s Glyn ap Gruffudd’s tribute. Photos of the funeral parade by Sian Ifan (c) here and here. Thanks to Daithi more »
Plaid gather at Llandudno
Plaid’s conference this year is in the Conwy resort of Llandudno. Ron Davies thinks that the 21st century could be Plaid’s time – a potential recruit according to Simon. I wasn’t a great Ieuan Wyn fan when he replaced Dafydd Wigley as party leader – I didn’t think he listened well. However since becoming Deputy [...] more »
Cofiwch Dryweryn
You have wonderful murals and stuff – we have graffiti. Here’s the background to the slogan – Now we are preserving it -Cool. more »
Nest Ferch Rhys (3) – Gwenllian, Lord Rhys and Owen Tudor
We’ve mentioned Nest’s brother Gruffudd ap Rhys briefly before. As son and heir to Rhys ap Tewdwr he had a bad start when Rhys got killed in 1093 and his lands passed to the Normans. As was the style amongst penniless Welsh heroes of the day, Gruffudd spent the years following his Dad’s death in [...] more »
Nest ferch Rhys (2) – Gerallt Gymro
Where were we? Somewhere on this complex lineage… Giraldus Cambrensis, Gerallt Gymro, Gerald of Wales, or Giraldus de Barri was such an interesting bloke that, not only did he have 4 names, we’ve also just named a train service after him. Nest’s grandson via Angharad and William de Barri he was born c1146. in Manorbier [...] more »
Welsh speaking England
GGN asked about the use of Welsh in England in modern times. Of all the bilingual signs about the one above, just over the Severn Bridge, gives me the most pleasure. Anyway: 2 Major areas: 1)Archenfield, part of ancient Welsh kingdom of Erging but left in Herefordshire on the dark side after the Acts of [...] more »
Nest ferch Rhys
To understand contemporary Welsh and Irish politics it is important to understand context and to start in the abstract. In that spirit let’s go back to 1093. After defeating England in a day in 1066 William the Conqueror spared little time in trying to take on the rest of us. The Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth [...] more »
Slugger is looking for new (mostly Unionist) bloggers…
Slugger was a one man band until the summer of 2003. The first summer we had less than 100 readers, so I left for the wilds of Donegal with nary a backward glance. The second year, when we had acquired over a thousand readers on a daily basis, it seemed we had created a demand [...] more »
Would the Tories be better for the Union?
O’Neill thinks so (sorry O!)… Though I am not sure I buy all of his reasoning, not least that little bit of futuring about being the government of four parts of the Union (getting MPs elected is not being made any more likely by the continued lack of credible candidate matches for its three target [...] more »
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Books
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“It was a trivial problem that… occurs every year”
Just your average family gathering at Christmas, with a bit of an argument about the seating cleaning arrangements… Scuffles have broken out between rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics over a turf war in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity. Bemused tourists looked on as about 100 priests fought with brooms while cleaning the [...] read our review » -
Review: To Kill a Mockingbird
Somehow I escaped reading this essential school text, with its story of racism in 1930s American South. Living in Northern Ireland, I draw parallels with sectarianism, with its similar bigotry and prejudice. To Kill a Mockingbird was part of a Unite Against Hate campaign event at Parliament Buildings in Northern Ireland, which I’ve written [...] read our review »
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Turas, by Colin Neill – a story of strangers in a strange land
Colin Neill’s first novel Turas peeks into a world in which many Ulster Protestants feel uncomfortable. It’s 2020 and the Irish unification that unionists and loyalists confidently predicted would never happen has become a reality. President Adams is ensconced in Phoenix Park. The newsreader reported that … a short ceremony at Stormont had confirmed the [...] read our review »
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