1,250+ signatures!
A big thank you to all who signed. Last week, the signatures were sent by email to Pádraig Ó Ceidigh, owner of Foinse, Brian Cowen, Éamon Ó Cúiv and Foras na Gaeilge, followed by hard copies in the post. I decided to leave the petition open for another while, so that the aforementioned can see the 1,250+ signatures, as well as the continuous support coming in. Apparently, Pádraig Ó Ceidigh himself wanted to bring the paper to an end at the Friday meeting and that the money from Foras na Gaeilge wasn’t enough, even though they wanted to give him more. I still don’t know what’s going with Foinse’s future. It appears that help is coming from Údarás na Gaeilge, says Concubhar Ó Liatháin iGaeilge and according to TG4, (Thursday evening news) Youtube but it’s not clear yet. We will have to wait.

1,250+ síniú!

Go raibh mile maith agaibh as bhur sínithe. An tseachtain seo caite, seoladh ceithre ríomhphost leis na sínithe go dtí  úinéar Foinse, Pádraig Ó Ceidigh, Brian Cowen, Éamon Ó Cúiv agus Foras na Gaeilge, agus cópieanan crua ina dhiadh sa phost. Bheartaigh mé an t-iarratas a fhágáil oscailte ar fheadh tamaill eile, go dtí go mbeidh na daoine réamhráite ábalta iad a fheiceáil mar aon leis an tacaíocht leanúnach a bhfuil ag teacht isteach. De réir dealraimh ba é Pádraig Ó Ceidigh féin a bhí ag iarraidh an nuachtán a chur chun deireadh ag an crinniú dé hAoine agus nach raibh an t-airgead ó Fhoras na Gaeilge go leor, cé go raibh siad ag iarraidh níos mó a thabhairt dó. Mar sin, níl a fhios agam cad atá ar siúl fós maidir le todhchaí Foinse. Is amhlaidh go bhfuil cabhair ag teacht ó Údarás na Gaeilge, a deir Concubhar Ó Liatháin iGaeilge agus de réir a TG4 (nuacht trathnóna Déaradaoin)Youtube ach níl sé go soiléar fós. Caithfimidh fanacht.

Click the link to SIGN ONLINE PETITION

To Try and help the continuance of Fionse – Ireland’s Last Irish Language Newspaper.

Closing Date for Submission 26th June 09

I think every summer there are one or two songs that become iconic and symbollic of that particular year and just possibly one of the songs could very well be “Got A Lot On My Mind”  by Mugger Dave – The single from the Galwegian trio is splendid.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of the single and uploaded it onto the iPhone – I got into the car this morning for the drive to work and plugged into the car’s sound system and hit play… It wasn’t long till the song had a hold and I was hitting repeat!

The energy of this band is the first thing that hits you, with superlative lyrics, vocals and a hard hitting base-line and a powerful drumbeat which reflects the band’s ability to remain true to their intention from the start, to play pop songs as loud and as forcibly as possible. Pop/Rock trio ‘Mugger Dave’ comprise of Simon Noble (Lead Vocals / Guitar), Seán Herriott (Bass / Backing Vocals) & Níall Curran (Drums). Mugger Dave are currently currently preparing for the release of their debut album, “What’s She Doing Here?” They currently embarking on a nationwide tour playing such venues as The Roisin Dubh in Galway, and Cyprus Avenue in Cork and other venues Nationwide (Listed Below).

‘Listen hard and listen well’- is their request to you.

‘Mugger Dave have Immediately distinctive, powerfully tight and forceful music- Custom Made for Radio, expect to hear a lot more from Mugger Dave’- HOTPRESS

Mugger Dave – Mugger Dave – The Women music video on MUZU.

Upcoming Gigs:

25th June- Róisín Dubh, Galway,

4 July Bar Ritz Castlebar, Mayo,

11 Jul The Stables in Mullingar, Westmeath.

15 Jul The Cellar Galway Galway,

15 Aug ’The Cellar Bar’, Derry, Northern Ireland

You can pick up the single “Got a Lot On My Mind” on download for €0.99 by texting:

Txt ‘music 3023′ to 57501 | PC download
Txt ‘music 3023 m’ to 57501 | Mobile download

Band management: John Crowley (Manager) 0857701743
Band email: muggerdave {at} gmail(.)com
Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/muggerdave

It has come to my attention today that the Irish language weekly newspaper Foinse may only be in publication for two more editions – on the 21^st and the 28^th of this month, due to a lack of funding. Some of you may remember my post last year on the future of Lá Nua, the daily Irish language newspaper from Belfast, which sadly has since ceased to exist, again due to a lack of funding. Slowly and little by little, the support for Irish language is being destroyed by this incompetent government, but the problem is that while we hear about the “popular” news items regarding their destructive touch, issues such as the Irish language are sidelined and fail to make front news headlines.

While many of us have mixed feelings about the Irish language, we need to put aside our negative associations and realise that the termination of Ireland’s ONLY remaining Irish language newspaper has a knock-on effect for all of us, whether we speak the language or not. It affects our culture, out national pride and our identity and we should not allow that to be destroyed at the hands of an incompetent bunch of idiots – it is not theirs to ransack and destroy, no more than they have the right to build a major road practically next to the Hill of Tara. We have to ask – if this present government thinks nothing of destroying milestones of our culture, be it national newspapers or heritage sites – WHAT IS NEXT? Clearly, absolutely nothing is sacred to them – except their pensions, perhaps!

Our culture was around long before these imbeciles were and will exist long after they cease. Hopefully our language will do so too, but I don’t share the optimism of others out there in this regard. Without support our language will dwindle into oblivion forever!

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE FOINSE

The free iPhone OS 3.0 Software update includes some great new features and really good stuff, including “Cut & Paste” and “Internet tethering” (modem) so that you don’t need a Wi-Fi hotspot to surf the web from your computer – But it has one fatal flaw that O2 customers need to be aware of… If anyone is thinking of the iPhone OS 3.0 Software update… I recommend Unlocking your O2 SIM card and leaving it PIN free before attempting the update! Download works ok but if the PIN is active it will prevent phone from activating after upgrade ! I know… I learned the hard way!!!
To deactivated PIN, go to Settings > Phone > SIM PIN > Switc to OFF. Upgrade should work ok then…

We are still a little rough around the edges… And without any CSS work done… Patrick James Blog has moved and adopted the .ie domain address! Timing was a little bit lucky too, because it coincides with the release of Wordpress 2.8. There are a couple of people I have to say thank you to for much needed help with a few bits and pieces lately, in particular, the folks at Eamonn Kavanagh and James Larkin over at Forbairt… Much appreciated guys!