Tag Archives: Defiant Tricolour

Minister for the Office of Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan (left) with Brian Crowley, Curator of Collections, Kilmainham Gaol Museum inspect the ‘Banner of the Patriots’ carried into Portobello Barracks in 1922 (top)

This afternoon.

Inchicore Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8.

Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan visited Kilmainham Gaol Museum to view the `Banner of the Patriots’ as it went on public display in the Museum for the first time.

The exhibition will also feature a number of objects and letters connected with the men whose names appear on the banner, carried by troops of the new National Army/Free state Army, as they marched into Portobello Barracks  on May 17, 1922.

Exhibition honouring War of Independence dead opens in Dublin (RTE)

Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland

Um.

Also: Hmmm.

Yesterday.

Name that Irish Army jammer, anyone?

This afternoon.

Take that, keyboard warriors.

Also: please don’t join the Azovs.

FIGHT!

Thanks Stephen Moran

Meanwhile…

The Ukraine or simply Ukraine?

Anne Marie Devlin, of University College Cork, writes:

The word Ukraine may be understood in a particular way which can have a profound impact on how the country itself is viewed. For many Russian speakers, the word Ukraine is transparently broken down into two main parts or morphemes.

They are ‘u’ and ‘krai’. ‘U’ can roughly be translated as ‘at’ in English. ‘Krai’ means ‘edge’. As a result, the word ‘Ukraine’ may conjure up an image, not of an independent nation, but of a region at the edge of a sovereign country, which presumably is Russia.

This mental image of a region on the edge of a country was further solidified in Russian and Ukrainian by the preposition which traditionally accompanied the country’s name; and in English by the use of the definite article (The Ukraine).

The word Ukraine had been collocated with the preposition ‘na’ (on) instead of the more common ‘v’ (in) in both Russian and Ukrainian despite the fact that ‘na’ (on) is more commonly used for regions and ‘v’ for countries.

This may seem superficial. After all, it’s only a preposition, but feelings around it run extremely high. In 1993, the Ukrainian government formally requested that the Russian government change the preposition from ‘na’ to ‘v’ in official documentation with the aim of receiving ‘linguistic confirmation of its status as a sovereign state’. While the Russian state reacted nonchalantly, over time, the new linguistic form was adopted by many people.

However, in a 2016 study I conducted into the weaponization of the use of prepositions in Russian social media during the Crimean crisis, results strongly suggest that the use of ‘na’ vs ‘v’ was deliberately used by many people as a political football to demarcate political and ethnic faultlines.

In short people intentionally used ‘na’ to position themselves as pro-Kremlin, thus denying the sovereignty of Ukraine; and ‘v’ to position themselves as anti-Kremlin and to acknowledge Ukraine as an independent nation.

‘na’?

Or ‘V’?

You must decide.

Kyiv vs Kiev: why the right names matter in Ukraine (RTE)

This afternoon.

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

A strategic withdrawal from tricolour-clad, freedom-loving Paddy as police move in to dismantle the truck blockade.

Some drive home.

Earlier: They Always get Their Man

Thanks Fearganim

This afternoon.

Swimming around for Irish sporting success?

Read on.

Ann Power writes:

Waterford City native Kathleen Macdonald (all pic) has amassed an impressive 10 Irish national records in just 18 months in freediving and she now celebrates a number 1 ranking in Ireland for both pool and depth and can hold her breath for 6 minutes and 12 seconds.

Freediving is a method of underwater diving in which the diver does not use breathing apparatus meaning the athletes must hold their breath until returning to the surface.

Kathy discovered her talent for freediving in the middle of the pandemic and since then she has been training and competing at an international level. In the middle of lockdown 1, Kathy’s mum, who lives in Greece had a relapse of cancer and Kathy flew there to support her.

Having previously done a one day course in the Philippines in 2015 Kathy reached out to ‘One Breath Freediving’ in Athens to see if she could join an outdoor covid-friendly sport to help her cope with all that was happening around her. It became apparent very quickly that this sport was everything that she needed.

…Despite having to return to Ireland due to work commitments where she works as a lawyer in a bank she continues to train in Dublin in the Markeveizc gym and pool when it was open amid lockdowns…

…She will be entering ‘The Big Blue’ competition in September in Greece where some of the top freedivers of the world will be competing. She is also planning to compete in ‘Vertical Blue’ which is held in July every year in the Bahamas and is the mecca of freediving competitions.

Six minutes and 12 seconds.

In fairness.

You can follow Kathy’s Freediving journey @huntertravel.

A prototype armband warning those around people with weakened immune systems to socially distance

Via BBC:

A man with a weakened immune system is calling for recognised, wearable symbols that indicate the need to observe social distance around individuals with the condition.

Neil Collingwood, 64, from Leek, Staffordshire, said the ending of England’s lockdown rules on 19 July was not good news for people less able to fight off Covid-19.

Even people with two vaccine jabs were not completely without risk, he said.

He has made a prototype arm band. It “is bright orange and uses the universal symbol for first aid,” Mr Collingwood explained.

Covid: Arm band calls for those with weak immune systems (BBC)

Pic via Neil Collingwood

Um.

Barry LFC asks:

Is the Irish flag the only flag in the world that can be openly burned with any uproar from the media?

Anyone?

Bonfire tradition continues amid post-Brexit tensions (CNN)