Nollaig Shona Duit 🎅🎄

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back this pre-Holiday Friday, bringing news from home and tales of the Irish abroad. If you’ve been enjoying this wee newsletter, pass it on to friends and family by asking them to sign up here.

News from Home

Christmas Canceled? Storm Darragh has caused the closure of Holyhead Port in Wales, a key transport route for getting freight and people to Ireland. It’s caused havoc with Christmas gift deliveries and is making life difficult for all those folks, especially students, trying to get home for the Holidays. Airlines, sympathetic as ever we note, seem to have jacked up prices to capitalize on the rush to book alternative flights.

Christmas Saved! There is some good news this week. A deal has been put in place to save the iconic Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast. The site is, of course, important historically, having built the Titanic. Yet, the deal also secures around 1,000 jobs.

Kneecap Goes to Hollywood. Yes, we know we sound a bit repetitive by constantly telling you which awards the Kneecap movie has been nominated for, but this is a big one – the Oscars. Two of them! For us at The Craic, the big question is not whether they’ll win Best International Feature or Best Original Song but whether a tuxedoed DJ Provai will wear that Ireland flag balaclava on the Red Carpet.

It Actually Happened. You’ll remember a few weeks back that we were a bit skeptical about Britain running out of Guinness, but it seems to have happened. Pubs are rationing pints of the Black Stuff, with the Daily Mail – a British newspaper that seems permanently stuck in the year 1945 – comparing the shortage to the Blitz. That's a bit fecking dramatic, lads.

The Irish Influence

Last week, Olympic rower Paul O’Donovan won the RTE Sportsperson of the Year award for 2024. It arguably wasn’t in doubt, as O’Donovan became the first Irish Olympian to secure medals at three consecutive games (remember, we’re a wee country) in Paris in the summer. O’Donovan shot to fame during the Rio Olympics in 2016, not just for his success alongside brother Gary but for the pair’s hilarious and sometimes indescribable interviews. You can check out the brothers chatting absolute bollocks out in Rio in the video below. We guarantee you’ll never have seen a sports interview quite like it.

Cúpla Focal

Most of us in Ireland will be spending time with family on Lá na Nollaig (”Christmas Day”), but our Cúpla Focal could only be the Big Lad himself – Dadaí na Nollaig. Yep, it’s Santa Claus, or literally, Father of Christmas. If you’ve been good, and we know you have, Dadaí Na Nollaig will leave you a Bronntanas (gift) under the Crann na Nollaig (Christmas tree). Oh and finally, as the title of our newsletter says, Nollaig Shona Duit – Happy Christmas!🎄🎅

Blast from the Past

The Craic spends a bit too much time on Irish social media, so we have seen a fair few of our lads and lassies belting out Christmassy songs in Irish over the last few weeks. But for this week’s Blast from the Past, we’ve gone for a rendition of Silent Night as Gaelige from the absolute G.O.A.T of Celtic music, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin. You folks might know her better as Enya. There’s simply no denying that voice was heaven-sent.

And One Last Thing….

We are big fans of the US-Ireland Alliance, a non-partisan & non-profit organization that exists to further the historical ties between the United States and Ireland. Led by the tireless efforts of Trina Vargo, who founded the organization in 1998 (and remains President), it often hits the news at home due to its annual Oscar Wilde Award, which recognizes contributions from Irish and Irish Americans (and some British) to the arts. This year, it has recognized actor John C. Reilly, a committed Hibernophile and owner of the most Irish-looking head in Hollywood (we love ya, John). But while the Oscar Wilde Award gets all the media attention, the Alliance also does crucial work through the George J. Mitchell Scholarship Program, which has a mission of educating future American leaders about Ireland. The program is essential for the future of Irish-American partnerships, so big props to Trina and her team who determinedly fight for the continuation of a very special relationship.

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