ISSUE 24 VOLUME 7 Proudly Serving Celts in North America Since 1991 SEPTEMBER 2015 HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of migrants and refugees have traveled to Europe this year, but the EU is struggling to form a cohesive strategy for handling the influx. The crisis has rapidly developed into a humanitarian emergency with thousands of people stranded at vari- ous transit points and borders from Greece to Hungary. On September 9, European Com- mission President Jean-Claude Juncker used his first State of the Union address to the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France, to urge leaders to undertake a comprehensive response to the crisis by increasing aid and imposing quotas for the bloc’s 28 members. Juncker said the bloc immediately needs to distribute 160,000 refugees across the EU, and participation by member nations should be mandatory. [Read more on pages 2, 9, 15, and 20] [COVER ARTWORK: by John Emanuel Shannon] FROM LIGHT INTO DARKNESS – On Wednesday, September INSIDE THIS ISSUE 23 at 1:22 AM, PDT, the autumnal equinox momentarily pauses the sway of Time in our world. The great wheel of the Celtic year is bound – is created – in human time. For those who President Higgins perceive the world through a Celtic lens, life begins in the dark. to visit Seattle [Read more by Cynthia Wallentine on page 19] • NORTH A MERICAN GAA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN CHICAGO SEE PAGES 17 - 18 - 19 • WESTERN CANADA GAA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN EDMONTON ELEVEN people were killed and 16 others injured in the worst SEE PAGE 19 MICHAEL D. HIGGINS, the President of Ireland, with his air show disaster in the UK since 1952. Victims of the Shoreham • ALL-IRELAND wife Sabina on his election in air disaster on August 22 – (L-R) [Top]: Matt Jones (24), Mat- thew Grimstone (23), Jacob Schilt (23), Daniele Polito (23), HURLING FINAL November 2011. President Mark Trussler (49), James Mallinson (72). [Bottom] Maurice SEE PAGES 10 & 11 Higgins is expected to make his Abrahams (76), Mark Reeves (53), Richard Smith (26), Dylan first visit to Seattle next month. Archer (42), Tony Brightwell (52). [See page 7] [Read more on page 17] • WIN A FREE CD CRISIS AT STORMONT: Win Blackthorn’s new CD, Open Skies, (See page 5 for more CD in- Northern Ireland coalition formation). Entry by September 25. Mark your entry: Blackthorn. Entries on brink of collapse by e-mail only. Mark the name of the event on your entry, including your 40009398 Publication name and daytime telephone number. (Only one entry per person.) Send Mail Agreement: Mail over IRA claims to: [email protected]. [See page 15] PAGE 2 www.celtic-connection.com SEPTEMBER 2015 New book by LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER Irish-Canadian author The Refugee Crisis in Europe: VANCOUVER – Anakana Noble Discover Great New Writers Echoes of our own not-so-distant past Schofield, author of the award- Pick. winning Malarky, will launch her HILE the situation scene of one of the most horrific events The Globe & Mail has listed Martin By MAURA DE FREITAS of human suffering on Canadian soil. new book in Vancouver at Book John as one of the 20 Most Anticipated has been develop- Warehouse on October 6. Books you’ll be reading and talking ing for some time, Up to 5,000 men, women and children about for the rest of the year. – mostly enfeebled Irish – are buried Her new novel Martin John (A foot- in recent days it has on the island, many in mass graves. note to Malarky) is published in North Schofield is an Irish-Canadian writer Wbecome increas- America by Biblioasis. who was born in England. She lived in We must never forget our past. Rather London and in Dublin, Ireland until mov- ingly impossible to deny the we must forget about what this coun- In 2013, Malarky won the Amazon.ca ing to Vancouver, British Columbia in refugee crisis unfolding in try or that country, or this neighbour or First Novel Award and the Debut-Litzer 1999. that neighbour is doing today....we must Prize for Fiction in the United States and Europe and beyond. ask ourselves “what are we doing?” was a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fic- Everyone is invited to attend the launch tion Prize. of Martin John at 7 PM at Book Ware- For many it took a photograph To turn our head away is to be complicit house located at 4118 Main Street in in the problem....sometimes it is as sim- It was named on 16 Best Books of 2012 of one small boy lying dead on a Vancouver. beach to bring the scale of the PRESSURE to take political ple as a cup of tea and a warm blanket lists and was selected as a Barnes & action over the crisis rose as many civilians across Europe have tragedy into focus. sharply after pictures flashed taken it upon themselves to offer. This is just one child in a sea of human- around the world of a drowned Whatever human kindness we can of- ity on the move – many seeking asylum three-year-old Syrian-Kurdish fer matters – financial or otherwise – MP for West Tyrone in Europe and beyond – with countless boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on because this crisis is not going away others dying in the process. the beach of a Turkish resort. any time soon. speaker at Vancouver The world is facing the worst humani- His death personalized the col- According to figures from the United tarian crisis since the Second World War lective tragedy of the refugees Nations High Commissioner for Refu- and it didn’t start yesterday....on a glo- fleeing war and persecution. gees, about 49 percent of the 320,000 1916 Centenary prelude bal scale the number of displaced peo- or so migrants who have reached Eu- ture on the shores of America. VANCOUVER – The Vancouver He served as Sinn Féin vice-president ple just continues to escalate. rope this year are from Syria and only three percent from Iraq. About 12 per- from 1988 to 2009 and headed the Sinn The strength and determination of these Upon arrival, they travelled far and wide Easter Rising committee will cent are from Afghanistan and eight present a prelude to Vancouver’s Féin delegation to the Forum for Peace people to find a place of refuge – to across this continent, they raised fami- and Reconciliation, organized by the percent from Eritrea. 1916 Centenary event on Saturday, escape the chaos in their own country, lies and built new communities. Dublin government following the IRA and find a better life for themselves and It was a very powerful and moving ex- But Europe is not alone in taking them September 26 at 7 PM at Cedar cessation of August 1994. their children – just takes my breath perience to view the treasured posses- all in. There are two million in Turkey, Cottage Neighbourhood Pub lo- away. He is a leading member of the Sinn Féin sions they carried with them and to learn a million in Lebanon, a million in Jor- cated at 3728 Clark Drive in Van- dan, 250,000 in Iraq. That means that negotiations team and has been cen- The Irish are no strangers to these how so many went on to become suc- one in four people in Lebanon is a refu- couver. trally involved in the party’s dialogue scenes....it wasn’t that long ago they cess stories in their new homeland. gee. with the Dublin government and British faced hatred, fear, and discrimination The guest speaker Pat Doherty is the Engraved on a bronze plaque and government. with signs in the new world reading “no MP for West Tyrone and his address mounted inside the lower level of the Chancellor Angela Merkel has an- dogs or Irish.” will be followed with live music. Pat has travelled extensively for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is a nounced that Germany is willing to take up to 800,000 this year and has opened party in relation to conflict resolution and Hundreds of thousands died of hunger sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus Pat Doherty was born in Glasgow of its borders to accept hundreds of thou- has met with senior politicians in both and undertook perilous journeys across (1849–1887), written in 1883. Irish emigrant parents, both originally sands of those fleeing conflict and de- Washington DC and Brussels, seeking oceans to survive. from Donegal. support for the Irish peace process. A quote from The New Colossus reads: struction. Here in North America – Canada and “Give me your tired, your poor, your He moved back to live in Donegal in On Sunday, September 6, Pope Francis Pat has two offices in the West Tyrone the United States – the very fabric of huddled masses yearning to breathe April 1968 and is married to Mary. They announced that he will give temporary constituency, one in Strabane and one our society is built on immigration. free, the wretched refuse of your teem- have five children. in Omagh, and travels throughout the ing shore. Send these, the homeless, housing in the Vatican to at least two In the past we have been global leaders refugee families and asked that every Pat was elected as Assembly member constituency on a daily basis. tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp be- reaching out to those in need of refuge. European parish, monastery, and shrine for West Tyrone in the 1998 elections side the golden door!” He also travels to London on a weekly It is hard to understand how closed we do the same.