EuropeanIrish.com News Stories

A recent topic posed the question of Irish identity. I don’t recall the precise wording so for fear of annoying The Mammiban I won’t use an exact quotation but it was something like ‘What does it mean to be Irish?’ It’s not something I think about much. I have regular almost daily contact with old pals in Dublin & neither do they. None of us ever thought of ourselves as football shirts. Lately though it’s become a matter of some urgency. Lately I find I’m the subject of the Hurling Test. The Hurling Test? Norman Tebbit, a non-descript Goebbals lookalike who paraded thuggery like a pet poodle, came up with the concept ‘The Cricket Test’. This was an on-the-spot identity test; who you cheered for in cricket in England determined your identity. It was of course a cheap shot, worthy of Rule 26 at it’s best but when the muck flies some of it always sticks. Lately I’m under scrutiny as to how Irish I am.Mostly it’s about music. Maybe it should be called the Christy Moore Test; if you love Christy you’re Irish & if you don’t you’re a .. a .. a what? I was trying to colour some music & pipes & whistles were the only option. Hi-tec promises much & delivers little .. a case of anything gores & nothing works. Biz as usual. The pipes, the uilleann pipes are not a unique concept in structure but they are a one-off miracle in tone & dynamics. You can’t sample the pipes. Well you can but it sounds like someone set fire to the petshop. So I took a look at ITM in Nederland. For those of you who don’t know ITM is Irish Traditional Music. No ‘Inc.’ Not yet.

The results were startling. It seems ITM is very popular in Nederland. Besides the usual theme pubs, Scarcity O’Pahtayties & such like, many people actually play Irish music. Sorry .. I meant many play ITM. So what, I asked myself, is ITM. There are of course language & cultural anomalies. Or at least you’d think there would be but there is’nt. ITM is a kind of full-blast O’Disneyland version of Darby O’Gill & Deh Littil Peepil. Enter Christy Moore & Co.

I did have some really great recording sessions with a Dutchman who played whistles, accordian & bodhran. His bodhran playing was nothing short of astonishing. I started calling him Ginger Baker. For those of you who don’t know, Ginger Baker was known way back in the 1960’s to bang the odd drum with an ensemble called The Cream. My Dutch bodhran player quickly got over the shock of being likened to a ‘pop group’. Most bodhran players would improve their sound no end if they played the bodhran with a knife. Or a hammer-action drill. Or a bottle of nitric acid. Or suspend disbelief a while, pretend it’s a pittza & eat the bodhran. Anything but play it. This guy was something else entirely. He played with fierce drive & impeccable rhythm. This guys playing was the dogs ballocks. His whistle playing was every bit as good only he did’nt always think so. I wondered why this could be. I found out soon enough. We had a few goofy takes but I just sampled & dropped it back in again. It works. Simple? No. After 10 beers all playing had to stop. This was not because we were unable to play any more. Au contraire, the kitchen was just warming up. The crockery was just starting to rattle but it all stopped dead on it’s arse. I may have heard some mutterings about protestant work-ethos but in all god’s teeth I was too busy looking for the bottle-opener.

It seems the ITM is now an off-shoot of The Legion of Mary. Remember them? The forerunners of The Mammiban .. If you’re not old enough to remember them just think Joni Mitchell. Who? Joni Mitchell [nee Anderson] wrote & continues to write incredibly great songs & music but in the 70’s she was the icon of the Irish Professional Virgins, all sensitive winsome souls who had all had encounters with their very own Uncle Ernie. Maybe this is where Irish Identity begins to make some sense of a sort. Irish women were all had by Uncle Ernie [or Seamas or Conor] whereas Irish men were the exclusive-abuse franchise of our educators, Brothers & Fathers alike. It’s only fair to say all this was before the rise of The Kerry Babies, Ireland’s first go at post-natal contraception. You never heard of The Kerry Babies either?? It’s very simple [again]; you are a sexually active teenage girl in Iteland with no rights to control your own fertility so you get pregnabt, give birth & then throw your new-born off the nearest cliff. See? Simple! Never mind; let’s get on with the gig. Where were we? Oh yeah, pipes & whistles …

I looked about for a piper. I took a name on good advice. The name even had a website!! I looked. It looked good too. They even have c.d. sales. Annaman scian! It looked good ’til I looked at the c.d. samples. It was all Mudder Reilly’s Drainpipes, Johnsons Motorcar, Finnigans Elephant & McBrides Railins .. same old same old ..

All well & good. It takes all sorts. The website had all the usual awful personae pics of people who feel the need to wear hats to play. They should change their heads! But needs must & the divil drives so I drove on. I sent a mail. I got a mail back, a glowing positive mail. I thought. So I sent some mp3 of work-in-progress. In return I got nothing. Cuiness [pro: kew-ness]. Nothing. So I wrote more. You get the ‘come on’, what do you do? Join the Legion of Mary. Alas I am a dozy jackeen for I persisted. Finally I got a vitriolic reply, a nasty piece of pidgin-intelligentia drivil, objecting to my inference of plastic paddy syndrome. Plastic Paddy Syndrome. Never heard of that either? Well now … sez he ….

You think you’re Irish? No you’re not. You are a value-added-acquisition [Celtic]. I found this out by the slow road. My bodhran player brought along a dvd on one session. For those of you who think you know; a session is where/when everyone gets drunk & sings about having no pahtayties. For those of you who do know; a session is where you play & record music. After the obligatory Legion of Mary no-music-after-10-pints edict was reached we watched the dvd. It was The Best Celtic Music From Ireland. ?? It was produced under the moniker Gael Force. Unless my memory fails me Gael Force was the music of Jack MacAuley, except of course Jack played in a ‘pop group’, called Them, whose ranks also included another grumpy Irishman named George Ivan Morrison. This Gael Force was another parcel of spuds. No sign of Sean O’Riada. Of course Sean O’Riada is dead but his music is also dead now, except for when it’s ponced off by the chancers & culture vultures. Still think you’re Irish? This abomination of a dvd featured Mary Black doing her best Shirley Bassey & Christy [praise & blessings be upon him] Moore doing his gold-plated-shovel bits. Still think you’re Irish? Tick the right boxes & you are. The only thing that shone on the entire presentation was Sharon Shannon. Her band rocked & rolled & defied gravity in places. Stunning stuff. That’s Irish; break the rules, push the limits, make wonderstuff straight from the kitchen. Do miracles with a little. I believe the Dutch is ‘We row with the spoons we have’.

I thought the English were the New Irish. Essentially stupid. They, the English, qualify in all the right catagories .. liars as leaders, export the poor, feed the rich, the De Valera Constitution [round up the usual suspects][& shoot them], the Cosgrave dynasty, Garret FitzBallocks, the small farmers & the eternal no pahtayties mentality. The English show no signs of improvement; Soviet Britain is as it does, Blairznev foxtrot-oscars only to be replaced by Broondropov. Plus ca merde plus ca meme merde. Just look at the football team [though on recent shows there maybe Ireland is the New England]. Same old same old. But Dutch ITM [patent pending] shows all the signs of overtaking all possible forecasts. You want to be Irish? Go Dutch. Get a whistle or a bodhran or a fiddle & play Flahertys Jax or Me Mudder Have No Boat It Have Sunk & you’ll do fine. Play your cards right & they’ll give you honorary wooded shoes. If you want to be really rilly rilly good grab a set of pipes & a stupid hat, spend 8 hours a day meditating on your analysis of the infinite .. blaziz jayziz you’re Irish!!!

I’m not. I was only born there. I only lived there. I realise that does’nt qualify me as Irish. I don’t like Christy Moore? .. c’mon! I’m just a weirdo from Finglas. Finglas used to be in Dublin. Dublin Ireland not Idaho. Same difference. Phil Lynott was a nigger in Dublin. Me too. Just a nigger of a different colour.

You be Irish. I’ve had enough of the disease.

Just get your pipes & your hippy hat & blow rasberries. No-one will notice.

Austin Coll

Zwolle

Dec 21

The first ever survey about Irish people in Europe is being conducted.

If You are Irish and are based in or moving to Continental Europe -

This short survey is for you!

Please forward this email to every Irish person you know living in Europe. 
It is really important for the Irish in Europe.
Please answer just a few short questions in 90 seconds or less Click the Link and answer the questions, thanks.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=c_2bbUKK6N36zUdjY5Fx1FKA_3d_3d

What are the best and hardest things about living in Europe ?
Why might you stay, why might you return?

This survey is specifically about you - Irish people living in Continental Europe.

If you know of any Irish person living anywhere in Continental Europe , please send this survey to him or her today.
If you know many Irish People living in Europe, please send this to them all. This very important survey about you and for you,  and is finishing this week. If you are Irish in Europe - now you can get your say. Click Here to take survey - Have You taken the survey yet? 

Thanks in Advance
Siasy Collins

The Hague, Netherlands, 8th December 2007

Killurin 3-13   1-10 County Europe
“Killurin, winners of the Leinster Special Junior Club Hurling Championship defeated a brave ‘County Europe’  in the Historic Away Leinster Final  held in The Hague, The Netherlands on Saturday December 8th” reports Siasy Collins, Editor of EuropeanIrish.com.

There was no shortage of skill and clash of the ash on display, as Killurin and Europe played out a keenly contested close first half. Just a single point separated the sides at half time.
Played over the full hour, Europe team which although fit, had not played together as a competitive team before, and is used to playing the European Championship over shorter 2 20-minute halves.
The more experience of the Killurin club side from Offaly began to tell late in the second half. Having whipped to a 3 point lead 1-13 to 1-10 with a few minutes left in the match, they finished the stronger with 2 dynamite late goals, to an overall win 3-13 to Europe’s 1-10. Maastricht based Hurling referee was Tony Bass.

 “As the winners of the 2007 European Hurling Championship, Den Haag GAA Club of The Netherlands, one of the longest established and most successful GAA clubs on mainland Europe, were awarded the honour of hosting Killurin and Europe in this first ever match by a mainland Europe Hurling team in the Leinster Championship series.”, says Marie Sheehan, Den Haag GAA Club PRO. “County Europe team comprised hurlers from clubs in Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, Zurich and host club Den Haag.”

“European County Board (ECB) currently encompasses 27 clubs in 13 countries speaking 11 different languages with over 600 male and 170 female adult players, which is an increase of 28% on two years ago! The largest clubs in Europe being Paris, Luxembourg, Munich & The Hague but all still have less than 100 members each. “ stated Eileen Jennings, Chairperson of the ECB.

Killurin from Offaly were crowned Leinster Special Junior Club Hurling Champions when they defeated Park Ratheniska from Laois on November 18th. On December 8th they added the first Away Leinster Special Junior Club Title to their honours.

www.EuropeanIrish.com

The Hague, Netherlands, 8th December 2007

Killurin 3-13   1-10 County Europe
“Killurin, winners of the Home Leinster Special Junior Club Hurling Championship defeated a brave  “County Europe”  in the Historic Away Leinster Final held in The Hague, The Netherlands on Saturday December 8th” reports Siasy Collins, Editor of EuropeanIrish.com - the resource for Irish people living in Contiental Europe.

Hurling is one of Ireland’s two national sports, and is currently also played in Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) clubs across Continental Europe – in Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, Zurich, Den Haag, Maastricht, Amsterdam, Groningen,  Munich, Dusseldorf, Budapest, Vienna, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Knn Croatia and Llati Finland. Gaelic Football, Ireland’s other National Sport is also played in Sweden, Czech Republic and Portugal.

Played at lightening speed, hurling is similar to hockey, played on a sports field, and the players can pickup the ‘sliotar’ (ball) and strike it long distances with the hurley. With ‘H’ shaped goals, 3 points are awarded for a Goal under the crossbar, and 1 point for a score over the crossbar and between the posts. The match is played with 15 players per side, a standard club match lasting 60 minutes, played in 2 halves.

“As the winners of the 2007 European Hurling Championship, Den Haag GAA Club of The Netherlands, one of the longest established and most successful GAA clubs on mainland Europe, were awarded the honour of hosting Killurin and Europe in this first ever match by a mainland Europe Hurling team in the Leinster Championship series (Leinster is an Irish Province)”, says Marie Sheehan, Den Haag GAA Club PRO. “County Europe team comprised hurlers from clubs in Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, Zurich and host club Den Haag.”

There was no shortage of skill and clash of the ash on display, as Killurin and Europe played out a keenly contested close first half.
Just a single point separated the sides at half time.
Played over the full hour, Europe team which although fit, had not played together as a competitive team before, and is used to playing the European Championship over shorter 2 20-minute halves.
The more experience of the Killurin club side from Offaly began to tell late in the second half. Having whipped to a 3 point lead 1-13 to 1-10 with a few minutes left in the match, they finished the stronger with 2 dynamite late goals, to an overall win 3-13 to Europe’s 1-10. Maastricht based Hurling referee was Tony Bass.

“European County Board (ECB) currently encompasses 27 clubs in 13 countries speaking 11 different languages with over 600 male and 170 female adult players, which is an increase of 28% on two years ago! The largest clubs in Europe being Paris, Luxembourg, Munich & The Hague but all still have less than 100 members each.”  stated Eileen Jennings, Chairperson of the ECB.

Killurin from Offaly were crowned Leinster Special Junior Club Hurling Champions when they defeated Park Ratheniska from Laois on November 18th. On December 8th they added the first Away Leinster Special Junior Club Title to their honours.

www.EuropeanIrish.com

It was early November & I was barely a week in Nederland when I saw something that gave me a fright. Passing a window in downtown Zwolle I saw a poster of St. Patrick. It had to be him; long white hair & beard & a little smile. It could have been Karl Marx were it not for the pointy hat. Or was it? I wondered. It’s a sight no Irish exile can not notice but when you reach what insurance companies call ‘a certain age’ things take on deeper meanings. Maybe it was Brian Boru. Near my childhood home, in the Phibsboro area of Dublin, there was a pub called The Brian Boru. On the front of this pub there was a very large painting of Brain Boru. It looked just like the poster in Zwolle, except in the Dublin version he was surrounded by a forest of up-raised swords & pikes & other implements of destruction. Even as a child this fascinated me. We were told Brian Boru was some kind of holy warrior who drove the Danes out of Ireland & was slain by a dirty low-down Dane as he prayed in his tent. What he was doing in a tent was also a subject of curiosity, as tents were the domain of tinkers, beatniks & communists. What Brian Boru was doing on the front of a pub was even more mysterious, because we were all on the pledge, sworn to forsake the demon drink though none of us were old enough to know the taste of it, except when Ma wanted to smoke out the measles. We discovered the gargle many years later, around the time we discovered that Ireland did’nt exist in the times of Brian Boru, if Brian Boru existed that is. It was the same time we discovered St. Patrick was probably a Scouser though this enlightenment arrived too late to be included in the continual rows between the Liverpool & Manchester United contingents. They were quare times then. This sighting of St Patrick/Brian Boru was like a flashback. What was whichever of them it was doing in Nederland? Was this the much-vaunted mid-life crisis I kept hearing about?

The Missus sorted it, as is oft-times the case. It was not St. Patrick I saw nor Brian Boru either. It was Sinterklaas. Who? Sinterklaas. Now follows a little bit of Dutch culture .. there is no Santa Clause in Nederland. Lefty-commie intellectuals & unemployed actors had been saying there’s no Santa Clause since no-one knows when but it’s not like that. The Dutch have nothing against Santa Clause per see; it’s just they have their own variation, yer man Sinterklaas. I’m still sorting it out meself in case you think I’m making this up. You could’nt make this up but it would help if you suspend belief a while so’s I can try explaining it. It’s not unlike St. Patrick, if that’s any help. Sinterklaas has roots in recent history, recent being sometime/anytime in the last 500 years. Sinterklaas has at varios times, been from Turkey-but-lived-in-Spain or was a Spainish farmer whose gig was turkeys. Now it gets worse .. he is traditionally accompanied by another character called Piet. This Piet is a black bloke who wears a rig that looks like he’s in the Pope’s bodyguard, or one of them beefeaters from London. Imagine Phil Lynott dressed like a flowerpot & you got it. Wherever Sinterklaas came from or whatever Piet looks like, this is the gig; Sinterklaas & Piet go flying over the rooftops giving things away. Presents like… Now before you say ‘ Them Dutch & their waccy baccy will believe anything ‘ consider this: the innocence of kids & the need of parents to show them a brighter side of a cruel world. Culture arises from such simple necessity. Culture is not so much brass bands & flags waving in the wind as people trying to make the best of what they have, which in most cases is sweet foxtrot alpha. If you would see culture avoid museums. If you would see culture try looking in memory.

As a child in Finglas I was well hip to Santa Clause. I knew he existed. He had to exist. He had his own radio program so he must exist. On Christmas Eve I’d sit with my brother & listen to it. Santa sounded like a nice sort. He sounded like all the teachers we never had at school. He sounded like Eamonn De Valera with an English accent, or Garret Fitzgerald with asthma. We sat & listened as he read letters from Una in Dalkey & Conor in Booterstown. We never thought to ask why he never got letters from any kids in Finglas or Ballyfermot. We just believed. When the broadcast was done we’d go out in the yard & look up in the sky to see if he’d fly over, pulled in his sleigh by Donner & Blitzen who sounded like German cars so they had to be o.k. too. No sign of anything but we believed & that was enough. Then we’d go back inside, just as Da turned off Michal O’Ghoolich announcing the price of heifers in Lisdoonvarna. Then we were all off to bed. We’d hung our socks by the fireplace, with a spud left for the reindeers. Everything was safe. Pious XII & Padraig Pearse looked down on our innocence & life went on. Later Pious & Paddy were replaced by President Kennedy & Larry Cunningham but by then the innocence was gone. By then we had The Beatles & George Best, a new innocence, but the original is always the best, no sweat.

Memory is a strange one & maybe language is a link. Now we have CNN. Now we have a non-stop blitz of ‘news’ based on ‘could be’ & ‘rumour has it’, all from ‘a reliable source’ & we are none the wiser for any of it. Sometimes memory has more truth than the managed data of The Information Industry. Standing looking at St. Patrick/Sinterklaas in Sassenstraat I remembered more than I ever saw on telly. It can be overwhelming; you can stand transfixed until someone shoves you out of their way & your reverie but strange though it may seem, people don’t tend to shove much in Zwolle. It could be Dublin 1957. Again the memories .. wooden floors & gaslight in Woolies, Wollies Grafton Street no less, when Brown Thomas was something you stepped in & prayed whatever dropped was eaten from arse to breakfast by it’s own fleas. It’s not a yearning for some fabled era when we were poor but miserable. It is memory. What do you say or do? Best say nothing; you’ll only scare the natives. But try listening sometimes.

In Dutch I hear words now like ‘praten’ & I recall ‘would you ever stop praytin’ from 50 years distance. ‘Ken’ is ‘know’ & my Da’s Ulsterisms echo to shocking effect, Da who we all knew ‘did’nt understand’ .. but he knew what we did’nt so it’s a kindness that he just shook his head & smiled. Nothing changes. We find this out usually when we encounter the same old ehem .. ’shite’ to those of us from Finglas ..but ‘nothing changes’ takes in a big sweep. Innocence will always be poor as long as the innocent are content with gods on the wall & the football team wins. But Ireland is not a football shirt. Ireland is what you carry with you. You arrive anywhere & feel the same as yesterday. Then Ireland arrives in you & yesterday today & tomorrow become some kind of continuum. Yes I miss Dublin but which Dublin? Walking through the Friday Market in Zwolle is no different than Moore St. on a dirty Thursday. The nights by The Royal Canal above Phibsboro are not lost. There are too many canals here to have that. Exile is a state of mind. It reeks of old hippy talk but it’s true. Sinterklaas might as well be St. Patrick. Ireland is not Bono & The Wolftones Greatest Hits. Dublin is not Fun City Europe. Dublin is little steets full of rain & ghosts. Christmas is not a shopping experience. Ma would be 93 that day, were she still alive. She was by turns a bludgeon & a saint the kind she never knew about, the sort that gives without a contract, the sort who stays up all night making the house a paupers’ palace & stuffing a turkey, the sort who falls asleep at the end of the table by the time Gone With The Wind starts. She was taken from school, ‘taken’ like being kidnapped, by parents who believed ‘women don’t go to school’ & delivered into what can only be called slavery. She met a man with a motorbike & that was her get-out & my Da. Happy birthday Ma .. thanks for the kindness. There is no need to carry Ireland like some kind of public relations albatross. It’s just who we are.

Arriving at Schipol, the same week I encountered Sinterklaas, I saw some more things that connected without any reason I could fathom. When the wheels bumped down the whole plane erupted in applause & cheering. I thought ??? .. Then we taxied for 30 minutes. We passed over ships & jumbo jets & rolled on. I thought maybe we’d landed at the wrong airport & were driving the rest of the way. We pulled up at Arrivals & as we got off everyone thanked the cabin-crew. After so long in England it was amazing to witness manners. Passport control was a slow job. A part of English were holding up the show; shouting, spitting & generally being English. They were ahead of me in the line. I thought better of saying a word; I’d just left CheckPoint Charlie at Gatwick, the eye-scans & sock-searches .. you don’t forget that easy. Later through passport control they were up-rooting flowerpots & wrestling on the moving-path. Avoid. I no longer wondered was it as bad here as it was there. When the jam they made at passports was cleared I handed my passport to the man. He looked at ‘Irish’, did the obligatory open-&-look, which took half a second, handed it back to me & said ..

Welcome ..

Home at last …

(1) December 8 - Hurling - A First - Leinster Club winners take on European All Star
 
(2) December 8 - Ceiliuradh Le Cheile - Celebrate Together 19:00 - 04:00
 
(3) Monthly Events
 
(4) December 16 - Childrens Christmas Party Shillelagh Den Haag
 
(5) Message from our Italian Irish music lover
 
(6) CONTRACTOR FOR THE NEW STADIUM AT LANSDOWNE ROAD
 
(7) Cairdeas - an bronntana Nollag is fearr
 
(1). 
December 8 - Hurling - A First - Leinster Club winners take on European All Star

December 8 we www.denhaaggaa. com will be hosting, at the WRC, Westlands Rugby Club, Beresteinlaan 52, Den Haag the hurling match between Europe and the Leinster Junior Champions Killurin, Co. Offaly.

This is a historic occasion as it is the first time the winners of any GAA competition in Ireland will earn the right to take on the best in European hurling.  It promises to be a great game, certainly the highest standard of hurling ever to be played in the Netherlands since the County teams of Clare and Wexford played a game in Hurling Hockey Club in Amsterdam nearly 3 2 decades ago..
 
We expect a large number of supporters to come over from Ireland , so, let’s do all we can to get out a big home support as well.  I know we won’t get Croke Park figures but please show support for the efforts being made by European GAA to promote the best sport in the WORLD.Tony Bass European County Secretary will be the referee and well deserved considering the efforts and hours he has given to European GAA all codes. 

Special thanks to the Liam O’Neill and Sheamus Howlin, Leinster Council for allowing this to happen www.gaa.ie/leinster  .

Bring your family, friends and colleagues along to enjoy this unique occasion.

Bain taitneamh as!!

If you have a contact for a TV channel, newspaper or website, Dutch or Irish, send the details to Marie please.   mariesheehan@ yahoo.ie

(in Dutch )

Killurin, winnaars van het Leinster Special Junior Club Hurling kampioenschap in de finale tegen “County Europe” in Den Haag

Den Haag GAA club zal gastheer zijn voor de wedstrijd op 8 december 2007.

Den Haag, Nederland – 20 november, 2007 – De Den Haag Gaelic Athletic Association, kortweg GAA, is een van de oudste en succesvolste GAA clubs op het vaste land van Europa. Wij als club zijn er trots op dat wij gastheer mogen zijn van de finale van het Leinster Special Junior Club hurling kampioenschap, gespeeld door Killurin uit County Offaly, Ierland tegen ‘County Europe’.
 

Killurin uit Offaly werd Leinster Special Junior Club hurling kampioen door Park Ratheniska uit Laois te verslaan op 18 september jongst leden. Zij zullen naar Nederland af reizen om de finale tegen ‘County Europe’ - een team samengesteld van hurlers uit Brussel, Parijs, Luxemburg, Zurich en de gastclub Den Haag te spelen.
“Als winnaars van het Europees Hurling Kampioenschap 2007 zijn wij erg blij met het feit dat wij deze wedstrijd mogen organiseren. En wij verwelkomen Killurin bij onze club,” zegt Marie Sheehan, Den Haag GAA Club promotor. “2007 Is een zeer succesvol jaar geweest voor onze dames en heren

Directions to Westlandse Rugby Club Haaglanden (WRC):

Westlandse Rugby Club Haaglanden (WRC)

Beresteinlaan 52a (beside GONA)

Den Haag

www.wrc-haaglanden. nl
####
Public transport: Tram 9 stop Beresteinlaan/ Melis Stokelaan & Bus 25 other end of Beresteinlaan by Lidl

By car:

From Amsterdam Direction (A4)

- Follow the A4 in the direction “Den Haag Zuid”

- Take exit number 12 “Den Haag Zuid (afrit 12)”

- Follow the road (it verves to the right) and continue straight

- When you come to the 4th set of traffic lights turn right onto Melis Stokelaan

- At the first ‘crossroads’ to left onto Beresteinlaan

- The rugby club, WRC-Haaglanden, is on your right hand side

From the Rotterdam Direction (A13)

- Follow the A13 in the direction Den Haag

- Take exit number 7 “Den Haag Zuid (afrit 7)”

- Go right in the direction “Den Haag Zuid A4 (E30)”

- Follow the direction A4 richting Den Haag Zuid (E30)

- Take exit number 12 “Den Haag Zuid (afrit 12)”

- Follow the road (it verves to the right) and continue straight

- When you come to the 4th set of traffic lights turn right onto Melis Stokelaan

- At the first ‘crossroads’ to left onto Beresteinlaan

- The rugby club, WRC-Haaglanden, is on your right hand side
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(2).
 
December 8 - Ceiliuradh Le Cheile - Celebrate Together 19:00 - 04:00

A GREAT FORMAL DINNER PARTY
WITH INFORMAL ATMOSPHERE !
SOUTH AMERICA MEETS IRELAND - CHICOLEO PART II
Strandweg 155, 2586 JM Scheveningen
(between the Pier and Carlton Beach Hotel)
Phone 070-3588642
Semi-Formal Attire

This event is organized by the Irish Club~Netherlands, Den Haag GFHC and Holland Ladies team as a celebration dinner for the winners on the day and also for the winning Leinster Junior Hurling Club (Killuren, Co. Offaly, Ireland) and as an end of season and Christmas party celebration for all the organizers after a very successful year of culture and sport.

Join in the ceol agus craic - An Oiche “Ceiliuradh Le Cheile”.

PROGRAM Saturday 8th of December 2007

19.00 hrs – RECEPTION
Welcome Cocktail (with or without alcohol).
On the tables you’ll find nachos and dips
Music:
Katie & Conor 
19.30 hrs BUFFET AI CARAMBA!
***
Presentations
***
Sean Kilkenny Irish Dancers
***
22.00 – 01.00 hrs Live Music with Band “Big Deal” a five piece cover band that have promised to get us all dancing. 

01.00 – 04.00 hrs DJ - Kutzai will help us make sawdust out of the dancefloor and keep us going until the wee wee hours of the morning. There will be a raffle and lots of spot prizes you’ll be delighted to know that all of this is included in the ticket price!

Contact: 06-20573678 to book your ticket NOW limited space 

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(3).
Monthly Events
(a). Contact Helen 070-3923273 if you would like to join this group.
Also, if you fancy going for a nice long walk any weekend please call Helen.

(b).  Ceadaoin 19/12/07
Beidh Teacht le Chéile le  caint agus craic as Gaeilge i ‘Murphy’s Law’ ó 8 i.n. go dtí 10 i.n.  Is cuma faoi do chumas teanga…tar chun do chúpla focail a úsáid agus b’fhéidir cúpla ceann eile a fhoghlam!!!!

Wednesday 19/12/07
There will be a Teacht le Chéile with chat and craic through Irish in ‘Murphy’s Law’ from 8pm until 10 pm.  Don’t worry about your language ability….come to use your few words and maybe learn a few more….

(Teacht le Chéile is the official name of the informal drink occasion, as Gaeilge, of the Irish Club~ Netherlands )
Maire Ni Shlatara (an muinteoir) mnishlatara@hotmail.com
Ait: Murphy’s Law, Dr. Kuyperstraat 11, Den Haag
(in aici le an Ambasáid na hÉireann chun Ríocht na hÍsiltíre)
irishclub_nederland@yahoo.co.uk

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(4)
December 16 - Childrens Christmas Party Shillelagh Den Haag
Irish Club Netherlands
Children’s Christmas Party
14.00-17.00 hour’s
Sunday, 16th December

The Shillelaigh (Upstairs Functions Room), Javastraat 94, The Hague
Lots of fun and games
Entertainment: by the famous Zassie (clown) of course
Santa will be arriving as usual with bags full of presents
He needs to know your childs age, sex & name by  December 12th.
Please contact  Caroline macafici@planet. nl
070-4277123/ 06-24417780
or Eithne: 070-3657425

Members:   € 5.00                     Non-members: € 7.50

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Message from our Italian Irish music lover

Dear friends,

One of these days there will be a new Website where you can read more about the Irish, Italian and Dutch musicians and about the Irish dancers, who will play, sing and dance at our Music night on Saturday January 26, 2008, I will let you know when the Website is on line.

The tickets for this night will be available next week, starting on Tuesday November 27,in the Murphy’s Law, Dr. Kuyperstraat 7, 2514 BA  Den Haag, located between the Denneweg and the Koninginnegracht, right next to the Irish Embassy.

This nice Pub is closed on Sundays, but on all other days you can enjoy the cosy and relaxed atmosphere and all the good wines, beers, single malt whisky and much more, and every Monday night starting around 2100H,they have very nice jazz-jam sessions.

So if you would like to join our next Music night in January, this is the place where you can find your tickets, for those of you who live out of town, please send over 30 Euro p.p. to; A.J.G. Bruti  Gondelstraat 53     2586 ER  Den Haag  ING banknr. 67 53 16 928, with your name and address, and please mention; Contribution Music night. And I will send over your tickets by post.

In order to create a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere for all of us that night, there will be a limited number of tickets available, so please get your tickets in time, and join us in the Church, where we will have many hours of pure music, pure food, and where good wine and beer will be available.
For those of you who didn’t receive my first email, for whatever reason, please let me know and I will send it again, for now all the best.

Sandro
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CONTRACTOR FOR THE NEW STADIUM AT LANSDOWNE ROAD

22/11/2007

SISK APPOINTED MAIN CONTRACTOR FOR THE NEW STADIUM AT LANSDOWNE ROAD

Sisk, Ireland’s largest construction company, has been appointed main contractor on the New Stadium at Lansdowne Road .  Sisk, who won the contract following a public procurement tendering process, will have overall responsibility for the construction of the stadium, which is scheduled to see its first action in 2010.  Sisk is currently mobilising on site.

The contract with the Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company (LRSDC) was formally signed earlier today, 22 November, 2007, in the presence of Mr Seamus Brennan T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.  The New Stadium is a joint venture between the IRFU and the FAI with the Government providing €191 million towards the cost. 

Work on the construction of the new stadium began in May of this year with the awarding of both the demolition and sub structure contracts.  Demolition of the old stadium was  completed over the August bank holiday weekend with the demolition of the old West Stand. 

Work on the sub structure commenced in tandem with the demolition programme.  A key element in the new stadium, the construction of a podium over the DART line, was completed over the October bank holiday.  Along with the construction of the podium a major new underpass under the railway line was also completed over that weekend. 

Currently the sub structure programme is well advanced.  This has included the construction of a basement under the East Stand and work on a new underground car park under the back pitch. 

Sisk will have complete control over all of the various construction contracts in relation to the stadium including the structural steel, the cladding, the installation of the pitch etc.  In order to meet the LRSDC deadline of matches being played in the new stadium in 2010 many of these contracts were initially awarded independently.

Speaking on behalf of Sisk Mr Tom Costello, the Sisk director in charge of the project, said that Sisk was delighted to have won the contract given the fact that it has already been responsible for the construction of Croke Park .  “We believe we have a unique insight into what is required in the construction of a major sporting venue such as this.  We fully realise that Lansdowne is quite a different stadium than Croke Park but many of the challenges are the same.  We are really excited to have the opportunity to deliver what is another essential piece of Ireland ’s sporting infrastructure”.

Speaking on behalf of LRSDC Mr Philip Browne, chairman of the company, said that he was “delighted with the progress on the stadium to date. The work continues to be on schedule and that is essential.  I think everyone connected with sport in Ireland admires Croke Park .  It really is a fantastic stadium and I think everyone acknowledges that Sisk did a wonderful job there.  We are looking forward to having them on board and to seeing the new stadium rise out of the ground”.

On completion the new stadium at Lansdowne Road will have an all seated capacity of 50,000.  The new stadium will consist of a continuous curvilinear shaped stand enclosing all four sides of the ground.  The South, East and West Stands will have four tiers of seating for spectators.  The second tier will provide facilities for premium ticket holders while the third tier will provide facilities for corporate boxes.  The North Stand will comprise of one low level seating tier to reflect its proximity to the residential properties at that end of the ground.

Note on Sisk:

Sisk are Ireland ’s largest and longest established construction firm having been established in 1859 and currently employing 1500. A private, family owned enterprise, the company will be celebrating its 150 years in business in 2009.  The company has been synonymous with construction in Ireland having delivered such well known landmarks down the years as Cavan and Galway Cathedrals, Cork City Hall, Irish Life Mall, and more recently Croke Park, Dundrum Town Centre, Cork School of Music and the recently opened Ritz Carlton Hotel at Powerscourt.  Sisk are also currently constructing the new Convention Centre, Grand Canal Square, and major pharmaceutical facilities for Johnson & Johnson at Centocor and Cordis.  Sisk have seven offices countrywide located in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Waterford and Dundalk and have built a reputation for delivering complex projects, utilising latest construction innovations and managing within predetermined ! budgets and schedules. Sisk are focused on the following construction sectors Commercial, Retail, Pharmaceutical, Residential, Civil Engineering, Healthcare, Hotels & Leisure, Industrial and Social Infrastructure.  Sisk were recent recipients of the NISO Overall Construction safety Award for 2007.

*SEE OUR MEDIA GALLERY AT WWW.LRSDC.IE FOR THE LATEST PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE NEW STADIUM*
Regards,
Claire Seale

LRSDC

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Cairdeas - an bronntana Nollag is fearr

Friendship - the best Christmas gift of all  Cairdeas - an bronntana Nollag is fearr

Sonas agus siochain faoi Nollaig

From Irish Club~ Netherlands Board

Why not? It’s only since last January Gaeilge was a recognised Euro language so why not G.A.A. as an Olympic sport. It would make an interesting proposition. It might make an interesting catagory too, Gaelic football alongside Sumo wrestling, Thai kick-boxing, Aussie Rules & Turkish mud wrestling. This could be a major contribution to understanding the Irish psyche. Anyone who ever ate a kebab knows this.

As a child of the 50’s I well recognise the dilemma posed by playing G.A.A. It was called a ’code’ & having played the various sports on the menu, ’code’ was about right, because the rules would baffle the breakers of the Da Vinci Code.

On Sunday I played for Ballymun Kickhams, kickhams by name & nature because we kicked everything & everyone that came within arms-length, legs-length to be more precise though the odd dig in the ear was allowed. The team did have Fran Ryder, a future captain of the Dublin team I believe, who had a deft left-foot & great vision of play, along with some sort of familial gig that stopped one of the great could-have-beens in what was then labelled a ‘foreign’ game. Rule 26 I think .. He could land a ball on your nose from 50 yards but Rule 26 did’nt recognise noses.

On Monday I was disbarred from playing because I had been ‘reported’ for playing a  ‘foreign’ game. Rule 26 if I remember rightly. I had been ’seen’ carrying a Rugby ball. I had just bought an Easter Egg for my Ma. Had my Easter Egg had an Easter Lilly I’d have been o.k. but I was into football. Gardening was not on my must-do list.

On Wednesday I was convened before a ‘panel’ who wanted to know if I was a communist. Along with the Rugby ball/Easter Egg I had also been ’seen’ carrying a Beatles L.P. I had failed to understand that such an action was also contrary to Rule 26 .. such behavior rendered me liable to accusations of being ’a fierce mad dog & a west brit’ tho all I knew was The Beatles were a lot better than John McCormack, singing about his dead mudder .. or words to that effect .. it was actually something O’Dwyer, one of whose sons later engineered the Rolling Stones. He had’nt heard about Rule 26 either by the sound of things .. more ‘foreign games’ ..

That same year Mick O’Connell, the Man From Valencia, Valencia Island, as featured on global weather reports, not Valencia as in Spain, was also ’seen’ attending a game in Cork, Cork Hibernian to be accurate .. not only was he ’seen’ but a long-lens shot of him in the crowd was on the front page of all the national papers. The witch-burners had a field day. Phones were ringing at H.Q. It was akin to some sort of crisis of faith, that a man of such grace & power should be seen at a ‘foreign’ game, let alone even looking at it. Declarations from the pulpit were expected. We were suddenly aware, us 50’s kids, that we were living under a kind of Sharia Law, a mixum-gatherum of Fr. Reilly & a sports monopoly. Quare times .. 

The rest is history, or hysterics more like. Brush Shields released an album Paddy’s Dead & The Kids Know It  & life went on, sort of ..  Years later Heffo’s Army [ Army not Kids ] made some progress at retrieving the persona of the G.A.A. from that of a gang of culture thugs into some kind of Vox Populi but the damage was done. Our local heroes were Billy Whelan, John Giles & George Best .. not Finbar McChruiskeen & Joe Stafford, & Joe was a friend of my Da so don’t come the hound over that reference. Finbar McChruiskeen is a construct with no athletic validity, borrowed heavily from Flann O’Brien, another weirdo like Sean O’Riada & Brendan Behan & others too many to mention, who suffered under the Rule 26 mentality. You could do worse than include Mick O’Connell in the weirdo list.

G.A.A. sports as an Olympic sport? Why not? Along with the Jamaican bobsleigh team, the Iranian Women’s gymnasts, the Papua New Guinea dwarf-throwing team & the Sudanese teddybear-naming team. Why not? Is Micheal O’Murcharteagh still about? Imagine Coo coo agus cooleen amhain go tSomalia! [Connemeara dialect] resounding around the arena!! Shli amach a fear!

You know this makes sense. You can’t say you’re Irish & not know this. I live in The Netherlands now & the word here is Rowing With Spoons & Pushing The Elephant Up The Stairs as Olympic sports. Why not?

Don’t say you were’nt warned. 

Scott Evans has climbed the world of men’s singles badminton over the past number of years, qualifying for the Olympics next year in Beijing, if he maintains or improves this outstanding achievment.
Recently he has taken on the World Number 1 and defeated the former World Number three.

This guy is one Ireland should be proud of, and follow his tremedous climb in world badminton.

He is currently Training hard in Denmark. http://scottevansbadminton.blogspot.com/2007/11/training-hard.html

Watch Scott Evans on You Tube - on his website and blog.

RTE backed, Garage starring Pat Shortt is a story about a Petrol Station attendant in Ireland whose life changes over a summer.

Pat Shortt’s acting was recognised, with the award for Best Actor at the Monte Carlo Film Festival last weekend.

In Cannes it has won the CICAE award, and a Prix Coup de Coeur in Dinard France.

A Jury award was also won at the film festival de Chatenay Malabry, and the Grand Prix at the Film Festival de Cinessone.

Do you think that Gaelic Games should be an Olympic Sport.

Gaelic Football and Hurling are now played in  Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic,  Guernsey island, Jersey Island, Hungary, Croatia.

Add in the Asian Gaelic Games, Gaelic Games in Australia, Canada, UK, USA and you find gaelic football and hurling growing in global profile.

http://europeanirish.com

Gaelic Games as an Olympic Sport ?

30th November 2007
At the GAA European County Board Convention, being held in Budapest Hungary on 1st and 2nd December 2007, wording is being agreed to submit a motion to Ireland’s Annual GAA Congress to ‘pursue the recognition of Gaelic Games as an Olympic Sport’.

The motion being submitted by the European County Board looks to establish an International Gaelic Games Federation. This Federation would drive the development of Hurling, Gaelic Football and Camogie across the globe. It would look for recognition as a sport from official authorities in countries where Gaelic Games are played, and pursue the recognition of Gaelic Games as an Olympic Sport.

“This is just one of more than 75 Motions being discussed this weekend at the County convention of the European GAA County Board.” reports Siasy Collins editor of EuropeanIrish.com.

ECB Secretary Tony Bass of Maastricht Gaels explained that “Almost 30 clubs and one national federation …, over 600 men and 200 women played Gaelic Games on European soil during the year”

Chairperson of the ECB Eileen Jennings (Paris Gaels) is delighted “to welcome Helen O’Rourke (Ladies Football Association), Pat Toner (GAA Overseas Committee) and GAA club development personnel Con Hogan, Pat Fitzgerald and Kieran Leddy from Ireland and all European Club delegates to the 2007 ECB convention”
Delegates from every club arrive in Budapest Hungary for the weekend which comprises of a GAA Club Development Training Seminar, a Games Workshop, and the ECB Convention.

Follow a morning Training Seminar, the Convention opens at 16:30 on Saturday 1st December, with reports from the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. The election of 2008 officers and voting on ECB Motions continues on Sunday from 10:00.

European County Board (ECB) is an official Gaelic Athletics Association County, under Croke Park (Dublin, Ireland) and the Leinster Council, similar to Kilkenny County Board or Dublin County Board.
In fact, Killurin from Offaly ,  Leinster Special Junior Club Hurling Champions  travel to The Netherlands next weekend December 8th and will take on County Europe – a team comprising hurlers from Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, Zurich and host club Den Haag, in the away final of the Leinster Special Junior Club Hurling Championship.

Read More on European GAA at www.EuropeanIrish.com