Irish Christmas Drinks....

Hej Alla

Myself, Eoin, Vincent and Catherine (M) are meeting for a bite to eat and a few Xmas drinks next Friday, the 20th Dec at 7 in Pustervik, Järntorget. It will also be a farewell for me as I am finishing up in Gothenburg University after 4 years, and moving back to Ireland. 

So hopefully we'll see some of you there!! If not, Happy Christmas!!

Catherine (H)

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Hi Cat!
Sorry to here your leaving us here in Gothenburg. Even if we didn't meet so often it was nice bumping into you now and again and also to hear your wondeful music.
Clement

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Hi all!
Thanks for the invite. We shall be down in Skåne on the 20th but would loved to have joined you!
Anyhow, a very Happy Christmas and New Year to you all!
Michael

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Howya now,
I'll be out for a bite to eat with work beforehand, but I'll catch up with ye during the evening. I'll text Eoin when I've gotten rid of the work crew.
See you then,
//P.

An Irishmans account of life in Sweden...

written, wait for it... 51 years ago!
It's astounding but a good fun read... He does not like what he sees...
http://archive.spectator.co.uk/page/9th-february-1962/7
You have to use the zoom panel and "zoom" around the page to read it...
One of the claims made is that the welfare state is funded a lot by revenues from the state off licences and bars. Now theres is a model for
Ireland. Why didn't anyone there think of that before ;-)
Here is a letter in responce wanting to hear more about Des' experiences with promoscuity:
http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/16th-february-1962/12/letters
Thanks to VC for putting me on this author!

Eoin

Quizmaster needed

Hello all
Last year , Billy was the quizmaster every wed night during the winter at the American SportsBar in Viktoriagatan. This year he can not due it and he is looking for someone to replace him.
The questions are in English: general knowledge but a few Swedish ones as well (30 questions). Billy has loads of questions on backlog so no issues there or you can create your own. You need to be able to handle a crowd of stubborn swedes in a pub setting !!!!! It is good fun though !!!
If you yourself are interested or you know someone who is , let Billy know by mail or text so you can discuss terms ..
tks
Billy Finn.

RE: St Patrick's Day 2014 (fwd)

Hej all!

The embassy has confirmed the day of the meeting to discuss ideas for SPD 2014. See below. Anyone who is interested to attend or to discuss with them get in direct contact with Marianne.

Btw the Samhain Celtic Concert worked out beyond our wildest expectations. There were 150 paying guests and a further 20 musicians there. Great photos here if ya can get someone to log you in to fb:

https://www.facebook.com/stefan.norgren/media_set?set=a.10151766553363568.1073741825.570883567

Slán,
Eoin

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Hi everyone,

Thanks to those who have already responded.  I think Wednesday, 27 November is the date that suits most people so let's go with that. The meeting will take place at 17:30 at the Embassy, Hovslagargatan 5,  Floor 4, Stockholm. Please invite anyone else along who would be interested in attending this meeting. Grateful if you could confirm your attendance to me by Friday, 22 November. I am looking forward to hearing your views on how we can celebrate SPD 2014 in Sweden.

Best regards,
Marianne

Marianne Bolger | Second Secretary | Embassy of Ireland 

ad in GP and other news

Hej!

GIG has been making plenty of appearances in the media today. Check out the links below!

Ad in Göteborgs Posten
Many thanks to everyone who kindly contributed money for the advertisement in the GP. In the end we managed to get together the 3750:- that we needed!. The advertisement was printed in the GP today in the evenemang section, around page 71. So keep your eyes peeled for that if you have a copy.
For anyone who made a donation: I'll be in touch soon about payment, and thanks again for your help :)

P4
Eoin O'Broin and a few others were on P4 radio this morning at 8:30am. They talked about the Samhain concert, played some tunes and explained the Celtic origins of Samhain and Halloween. See here:

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=104&artikel=5690633

Göteborgs-Tidningen
Catherine MacHale was in GT yesterday and did a great interview. Be sure to check it out here:

http://www.expressen.se/gt/kultur/jag-alskar-svenska-kakor-och-bakverk/


Hope to see you tonight in Musikenshus at 7pm!


Slán,
Elaine

Message from the embassy

Hej all,

Marianne Bolger the new second secretary of the Irish embassy in Stockholm has sent me the message below. She has recenlty replaced Ragnar Almqvist whom some of us used to meet on the football pitch. I told Marianne that we are busy preparing for the samhain concert this Thursday
and had not thought about St. Patricks day yet. I said that in the last two years that the GAA club has organised a St. Patricks day party here.
Marianne said to forward her email to anyone who might be interested to
attend the meeting in Stockholm in November or to just email their thoughts
and ideas to her. So I think it is fritt fram as they say here to make contact.
Marianne's email address is:

Marianne . Bolger @ dfa . ie

Apart from that it's just three days to go to Samhain :) Looks like Catherine MacHale will be interviewed in Göteborg Tidningen (GT) on Wednesday and a few or us will be on P4 morgon radio at 8:30am on Thursday talking about Samhain and trad music.

Slán,
Eoin

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Hello there,

I know that I haven't yet met everyone on the list and look forward to doing so in the very near future. Now that November is fast approaching, I thought that it would be prudent to give some attention to events in March 2014.  This year the Embassy , in collaboration with all the Irish organisations, artists and institutions based in Sweden, put together a very comprehensive programme of events in 2013 (attached for reference), which were very well received.

At this stage, it would be very useful to have your thoughts on what elements you thought worked best in 2013 as well as any ideas for next year so that we can develop a template of activities in 2014.  I would be also grateful if you could let me know if you or the Society/Group that you represent have any plans for St. Patrick's Day. The plans do not have to be set in stone as this stage. Once received,   I can compile a draft  list of events that will feed into the planning process so it would be great to have a response by 4 November 2013.  Many of you will already be aware that 2014 will the millennium of the Battle of Clontarf so this may  possibly help to inform the theme of the celebrations in Sweden.

I would like to hold a meeting at the Embassy in mid to late November to further develop the planning process.  Therefore, grateful if you could indicate your availability on the following dates at 17:30 at the Irish Embassy for a short meeting: Tuesday/Wednesday 19/20 or 26/27 November.

Please feel free to forward this email on to anyone else who I may have omitted.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Marianne

Marianne Bolger | Second Secretary | Embassy of Ireland 

GIG ad in Göteborgs-Posten (GP)

Hej alla!

In the run up to the Samhain concert we have discussed the possibility of having an advertisement in Göteborgs-Posten (GP) next weekend. The concert will happen on the 31st October in in Musikenshus in Göteborg (Eoin has already sent out an email about this).

There are two reasons for the ad, firstly to advertise both the Samhain event and GIG. Secondly, in the hopes of making contact with elderly Irish people in Gothenburg. In some of the GIG meetings we've discussed that the best way to do this is an advertisement in the GP, that provides a telephone number and advertises some of our events.

We have 2000 crowns from other funding for this, but need the balance of around 1400 to afford the ad. We are wondering if people would like to donate a few krona towards this, from 100 up to 500. We would be really grateful for any donations,as the ad would hopefully be of benefit GIG. If you would like to do this, email both me personally (elaine . mchugh3 @ gmail . com) and Eoin Ó Broin (eoin @ skynet . ie) in the next day or so. Hopefully we can get enough to put in the ad.

The ad is attached to this mail (some more details to be added, but this is roughly what it would look like. It would also most likely be in black and white rather than colour). Any feedback/input about the ad itself is also welcome!

Many thanks!

Elaine

GIG ad in Göteborgs-Posten (GP)