Burren Starparty 26th Sept 2009

SAC are proud to announce the final details and program for this Years Burren Starparty in County Clare. The event will be held in the beautiful town of Ballyvaughan on the coast of north County Clare overlooking Galway bay (Burren Coast Hotel).
Please see full details and speaker details in the link below.

www.shannonsideastronomyclub.com/the_whirlpool_starparty.htm

Well done at SAC and a lovely quiet venue

Will there be an evening dinner and talk as well before the observing?

Ronan Newman
Galway AC

Looking forward to the weekend down in the Burren. Well done to all there for organising the event and it will be great meet Charles Wood (Sky and Telescope have just re-instated his monthly column after an outcry from observers! It had gone bi-monthly.)

Just a small niggle, could you change "Eire" to "Ireland" after Kevin Nolan's name on the list of speakers? Cheers!

John

skynotes wrote:

could you change "Eire" to "Ireland" after Kevin Nolan's name on the list of speakers?

Yes I could John, do you mind me asking why?

Just a small niggle, could you change "Eire" to "Ireland" after Kevin Nolan's name on the list of speakers? Cheers!

I don't see anything wrong with Eire. After all it is in our constitution as the name of this land:
Article 4 of the Irish constitution adopted in 1937 provides that: "The name of the state is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland."

First, can I congratulate SAC on an interesting lineup for the Burren Star Party.
I for one hope to make it there.
I'd be particularly interested to hear Chuck Wood speak.

As for the Ireland Vs Éire issue:
The term Éire is rarely used in ordinary everyday language in this country even though it is referred to in the Irish constitution.

What "Éire" technically means and what some people regard it to mean can be slightly different things. Aside from state documents etc, the term Éire is mainly used in the UK to denote the Republic of Ireland or "Southern Ireland" as they often call it. For example, if you go into a post office in mainland UK and are looking to buy a stamp to post a letter to "Ireland", you will often be asked "North or South?". The fine details/politics of Republic vs 26 counties vs 32 counties are not something that the average person in mainland UK cares about. To differenciate the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland, the term Éire is often used on correspondence from UK companies to ensure it gets to the 26 counties as the postal rates are different.

Where the term Éire became to mean something else was when it was sometimes used by certain segments of the British media who perhaps took a dim view of the 26 counties breaking away from the rest of the UK.

Outside of the UK and Ireland, the term Éire would not be well known at all and "Ireland" or "Republic of Ireland" would generally be a more recognised name.

Just my 2cent.

Michael.