Scéal Dún-na-nGall ar an Idirlíon / County Donegal on the Net News    Vol.9 No.8, August/Lúnasa        Holiday In Donegal!

Donegal's Olympians Finn Valley AC Club founder, Patsy McGonagle, will manage the Irish Olympic Squad in Beijing where he will be joined by fellow Donegal atheletes - Raphoe badminton player, Chloe Magee and Letterkenny cyclist, Philip Deignan. The Irish team has been in Beijing since July 27th and medal hopes are high for Chloe, the Irish national badminton champion since 2006. Festivals & Fleadhs There will be live traditional music in an Tsean Bheairic, Falcarragh every wednesday night in August and refreshments will be served. A Festival of Traditional Music will take place in Kilcar from August 9th to 11th while the 41st Annual Clonmany Festival continues until August 10th. See Clonmany Festival 2008. Will the Border Return? Travellers between Britain and the Republic of Ireland face passport checks for the first time since the 1920’s as tighter air and sea controls are introduced. The so called 'common travel area' between the two jurisdictions was introduced in 1925 but the Irish and British governments have announced that border controls will be introduced on air and sea routes. Full immigration controls will be brought in for foreign travellers while British and Irish travellers will have to produce their passports or driving licenses. While there are no plans to reintroduce the border checkpoints on roads between Northern Ireland and the Republic spot checks will be brought in on roads along the border and there are fears that Donegal people may be questioned at checkpoints and have to show their passports every time they enter or leave Derry. People wanting to travel into Donegal from across the border would face similar problems. Nearly 16 million people travel between the republic and the UK by air and sea each year. Crackdown on Boy Racers on Donegal's Roads Inspector Pat O'Donnell, head of the Garda Traffic Corps in Donegal, has warned boy racers that they face going to gaol in a crackdown on the antics of dangerous boy racers and he called on parents who were concerned about their children's driving habits to ring their local Garda Station. According to the National Roads Authority, young male drivers between 18 and 24 years old are 10 times more likely to die in a road accident than a female driver. Over a third of all fatal incidents on Irish roads are classified as Young Driver Accidents. Comedy at the Balor The new Balor Theatre will play host to comedian Joe Rooney on August 11th - see Balor Theatre or tel. 074 91 31840 to book. The Donegal Woman by John Throne A 'Must Read' for everyone with an interest in Donegal Arranmore LifeBoat Tragedy The cermony celebrating 125 years of the Arranmore Island LifeBoat was cancelled because of the tragic death in a road traffic accident in Co. Mayo of Seamus Boyle, a 37-year-old native of Arranmore. Seamus' wife is due to give birth to the couple’s second baby in September. Arranmore lifeboat spokesperson Nora Flanagan said there wasn’t the will among islanders to go ahead with the celebrations. Seamus is the fifth young person from the island to die tragically in the last ten years. Since the establishment of the lifeboat station on Arranmore, the island has become Ireland’s busiest rescue stations. Computer Classes Free one to one computer lessons will take place during the last three weeks of August in the DergFinn Centre, Ballybofey, contact Paul on 074 91 32438. Computer, Internet & email Classes are also on offer in the Wesley Hall, Carndonagh on a One to One basis with ECDL is commencing in September, for further information tel 9329680 between 10am – 5pm Monday – Thursday. Inishowen Sisters in Derry Festival Joleen, Lorna and Karen Henry are three of six sisters from Inishowen. Their music has been described as traditional, folk, bluesy, roots, world and contemporary, an eclectic mix of their individual and collective musical experiences. The Henry Girls released their first album 'Between Us' in 2002 to widespread critical acclaim and giving the group access to a wider audience. To launch their second album the Henry Sisters will perform at Derry's Verbal Arts Centre on Thursday, August 7th from 1pm – 2pm. Recreational Diving, Dive Training and Angling throughout the year in Donegal County Museum Events Currently on display in the Donegal County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny is 'Whitewash and Thatch' - Architectural Drawings from the 1930s & 1940s. This exhibition, on loan from the National Museum of Ireland–Country Life Museum, explores the materials, craftsmanship and forms of traditional Irish houses. It includes a range of 38 framed ground plans, elevations and watercolours of houses which were surveyed in the 1930s and 1940s as well as four pastel studies by the Irish artist Seán Keating, RHA (1889-1977). The exhibition also includes the work of Åke Campbell (1891-1957) and Albert Nilsson [Eskeröd] (1904-1987). They were the principals of a group of scholars known as the Swedish Folk Culture Mission, which was invited to Ireland at the request of the Irish Folklore Institute. Their mission was to record the houses in which people lived in rural Ireland at the time. Their work laid the foundation for the study of the Irish house - its evolution and characteristics. The work by architectural students from the School of Architecture, University College Dublin is also displayed. In the early 1940s they surveyed more than two hundred thatched houses from five villages around Ireland. The exhibition runs until the beginning of September. Admission is free. Donegal County Museum is also hosting a lecture by Prof. Mike Cronin, Academic Director, Boston College, Dublin on Gaelic Games- Irelands Passion, The Past, Present and Future on Tuesday 5th August at 8pm. Prof. Cronin is the author of many publications including "Sport and Nationalism in Ireland: Gaelic Games, Soccer and Identity Since 1884" and is historical advisor to radio and television productions as well as to organisations including the GAA. Admission is free. Cuil A new search engine said to rival Google has been launched this week called Cuil. The company, whose name is pronounced 'cool' and derives from a Gaelic word for knowledge, counts am