#welsh assembly

For Owain Glyndŵr Day, on the 16th of September, here’s ‘6.5.99 - Anweledig.’

Ar Ddiwrnod Owain Glyn Dŵr, dyma ‘6.5.99 - Anweledig.’

‘A rwan, ble mae Ron ‘o Fachen’ Davies? Wedi ei erlid yn rheibus gan gymdeithas, sgitsoffrenig, anwybodus, am ei fod yn ddyn o gig a gwaed. Meddyliwch chi am funud, pe bai Glyndŵr yn hoyw - ‘Na, fyddai hynny ddim yn iawn o gwbl.’’

‘And now, where is Ron ‘from Machen’ Davies? Persecuted by a schizophrenic, ignorant society, because he’s a man of flesh yn blood. Think for a moment, if Glyndŵr was gay - ‘No, that wouldn’t be right at all.’’ Geiriau o drac gan y band Anweledig, a ddechreuwyd ym Mlaenau Ffestiniog yn y ‘90au, ydy ‘6.5.99.’ Oedd ar yr albwm ‘Gweld y Llun’ yn 2001. Ar y 6ed o Fai, 1999, oedd etholiad 1af erioed Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru. Gwleidydd Cymraeg yw Ron Davies a ymddiswyddodd yn 1998 oherwydd sgandal ar ôl iddo cwrdd a ddyn at Clapham Common. Daeth e mas wedyn yn ddeurywiol. Gofynna’r trac yma, beth os oedd Owain Glyndŵr yn hoyw?

‘6.5.99′ is a track by the Welsh band Anweledig, who were a rock and ska band established in Blaenau Ffestiniog in the ‘90s. This track was on the album ‘Gweld y Llun’ (See the Picture) in 2001. The first election of the Welsh Assembly were held on the 6th of May, 1999. Ron Davies is a Welsh politician who resigned in 1998 after becoming embroiled in a scandal for meeting a man at Clapham Common. He later came out as bisexual. This track asks, what if Owain Glyndŵr was gay?

Super Friendly American uses Welsh to build confidence | Negative article in The Sun about American learning Welsh inspires huge online support. #Welsh #TheSun #Cymru

The Super Furry Animals can add another success to their chart-topping adventures: inspiring an American woman to increase her confidence.

After hearing music by Gruff Rhys and his band, Geordan Burress from Ohio, decided to learn Welsh in order to understand the music.

Geordan exclusively told The Rooftop:

The language sounded cool to me, and I enjoy learning languages anyway, so I decided that…

“I don’t think I would let my daughter climb up a path like that in a vehicle on wheels and especially knowing she would need to roll down again”.

“Are you really planning on letting your daughter descent those steep parts on 6 bicycle disk brakes all the way down?  That will be a workshop with a ‘steep’ learning curve in down hill biking”.

“The more I think this through the more I dislike the idea. Especially as you don’t seem to be very knowledgeable in this area (neither am I BTW) so it looks like this might end in tears. Please rethink this challenge and don’t risk your daughters health or worse with what seems a noble cause”.

Whilst I’m able to shrug these comments off with what might be considered determined ignorance, Ada on the other hand hasn’t yet developed this skill and comments like this have somewhat diminished her sense of hope in the project.

Although these comments have no impact on my desire to keep pushing on,  I have of late been coming home from work completely exhausted and finding it difficult to keep working on the wheelchair.

To try and reduce my workload, I had been questioning how useful this blog is. I mean, who actually reads it anyway?  Less time blogging means more time for building right?

As chance would have it, just as thoughts of discontinuing the blog were starting to run through my mind, in quick succession we received a number of messages through our Facebook page. For example:

“I am watching what you are achieving with great interest”.

“I love reading your site. Keep it up! I’m 33 now and have grown up in a wheelchair my whole life. There is nothing I haven’t been able to do with a little bit of planning, effort and engineering”.

“I used to be a fell runner and miss getting out on the hills […] This wheelchair would give me the opportunity to get out and explore and enjoy the off beat track again. I want this chair! I love the design it is so upbeat and mountain cracking!”.

“Good luck with everything you are both inspirational”.

On top of this, in the very same week, I was sat at my desk in work when a colleague came in brandishing an envelope which she suspected belonged to me. I didn’t know of any other G Davidson in the college so I proceeded to open it. I was absolutely gobsmacked when I did! It was a letter of encouragement from the Welsh Assembly! The letter reads;

“Dear Mr and Miss Davidson, I am writing to congratulate you both on your inspiring ambition to create a specialised mountain wheelchair in order to continue your adventurous outdoor exploits.

I understand that Myalgic Encephalomyelities, or ME, can make it very difficult to continue pursuing a variety of activities, particularly as the models of mobility aids available are not designed for the rich and wild terrains that we have in [North Wales]. Therefore, your determination to continue pursuing the activities you enjoy, and think creatively to solve these problems is especially commendable, and should be a model for us all.

With all the hard work and gritty determination that you have both shown, I have every confidence that you will fulfil your ambition to reach the top of Snowdon, and i hope you take the time to reflect on your journey there when you do.”

Letter regarding the Mountain Wheelchair from the Welsh Assembly

The kind words both from the assembly member and from the followers on Facebook offered an immense boost in motivation and I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to write to us. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me and has given me the impetus to keep the blog going. When Ada read the messages her face lit up, then she walked away doing a little dance with a smug look look on her face 🙂

Whilst I’m here, I’d also like to say thank you to one person on Facebook who consistently shares all of my posts and helps to encourage interest in the mountain wheelchair project. If you’re reading this Mervyn, then thank you, your support is deeply appreciated.

What’s Next?

It’s Friday today and in a few hours the college will be breaking up for Easter. Hopefully this means a short break for myself to recharge my batteries and then it’s back to building the mountain wheelchair with renewed focus and fewer distractions. Lots of parts and tools have arrived from overseas so hopefully I’ll be able to make substantial progress. Watch this space…

According to Westminster's Supreme Court Senior Judges, an Act of Parliament is needed which includes a decision from other UK states. However, the judges said a consultation from the Welsh Assembly ministers is unnecessary to trigger Article 50.

Welsh ministers said the Welsh Assembly is to be consulted before Brexit is to begin. According to President Of The Supreme Court Lord Neuberger, UK ministers need to make a decision before Parliament but it is unnecessary to consult the devolved legislatures before triggering Article 50. It meant that the Assemblies had no veto power over the UK Parliaments decision.

The Supreme Court said there is nothing in the Northern Ireland Constitution or the Sewel Convention that could help resolve the issue quickly. The Sewel Convention allows Welsh Ministers to vote on new laws that affect devolution. The UK Supreme Court does not consider Sewel as a legal convention putting it out of the question.

According to Welsh Government Senior Legal Adviser Mick Antoniw, the Supreme Court decision was a victory for the Parliament. He said the Welsh did not argue for a veto or a consultation but only wished the decision be made through due process and not through the UK government's planned prerogative right.