I did some emailing recently regarding the software patent issue and have just received the following response from the Irish Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Anyone with a good understanding of the issue want to critique their response?

June 16 approaches. The annual celebration of Leopold Bloom’s epic journey around Dublin. The 24 hours known as Bloomsday, “the world’s biggest simultaneous celebration of a single piece of art”. Although Bloomsday is only a single day celebrations normally last the whole week and this year they are planning a five-month festival lasting from 1 [...]

Here’s how some deal with the issue of multiculturalism. The Universtiy of Texas is considering making the study of another culture for a semester mandatory. “PC gone amok” some are calling it.

Arís ón Nuachtlitir Ghaelport: Clár ar fáil ar líne http://www.earagailartsfestival.ie/ nó in Ionad Eolais Gaelport. The 16th annual Earagail arts festival will take place from the 8th to the 16th of July. Information available from http://www.earagailartsfestival.ie/ The man to watch out for here is the ventriloquist David Strassman, this guy is amazing and not to [...]

Tá Cairt um Chraolachán Seirbhíse Poiblí nua foilsithe ag RTÉ agus áit lárnach don Ghaeilge ann. Is féidir an cairt iomlán a léamh ag: http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie/display.asp/pg=1574

Tá Microsoft ag féachaint le leagan Gaeilge de Windows XP agus Office 2003 a tháirgeadh. Beidh na leaganacha Gaeilge le fáil saor in aisce ach iad a íoslódáil ón Idirlíon. Tá ionchur phobal na Gaeilge de dhíth. Tuilleadh eolais: http://members.microsoft.com/wincg/home.aspx?langid=2108

Got an email from reader Ciaran O’Riordan about the software patent issue. Ciaran is working for the Irish Free Software Organisation and offers the following voting recommendation for the June 11 vote: Area: Vote #1, and #2 East: Avril Doyle, Eoin Dubsky South: Brian Crowley, Gerard Collins North West: Sean O’Neactain Dublin: Patrica McKenna, Ivana [...]

Finally, in Hong Kong they captured the croc which had been evading capture for seven months in HK’s New Territories waterways. The croc managed to avoid being caught despite the best efforts of many hunters including Aussie John Lever. Eventually the croc was snagged in a trap. They are now deciding what to do with [...]

There was a ceremony to install the new Presbyterian Moderator in Northern Ireland yesterday, and guess who turned up to protest? Ian “Bigot” Paisley and his cronies. They were “denouncing ecumenism”, protesting the fact that the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland was invited to the ceremony.