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RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin has told troops to return to their permanent bases after calling a snap drill to check their battle-readiness last week.
“The commander-in-chief President Vladimir Putin gave the order to the troops and units taking part in military exercises to return to their permanent bases,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies this morning.
Putin last Wednesday ordered snap combat readiness drills involving thousands of troops, in what was ostensibly a routine exercise.
The drill involved army, navy and airforce troops based in the central and western military districts, a vast territory that includes regions bordering Ukraine but also extending to the Arctic.
The drill did not include any regions beyond Russia’s borders such as Crimea, the Ukrainian Black Sea region which has become a flashpoint in the standoff between Moscow and Ukraine’s new authorities after the ousting of president Viktor Yanukovych.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had said that the drill would include military exercises “on Russia’s borders with other countries, including Ukraine”.
The drill, which was initially announced to finish on Monday, came shortly before Russian security forces began operating covertly in Crimea and Putin gained permission from senators for military intervention.
Kerry visit
Meanwhile, the United States has suspended military cooperation with Russia due to its military intervention in the country, as Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to visit Kiev later today.
“We have, in light of recent events in Ukraine, put on hold all military-to-military engagements between the United States and Russia,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.
The suspension of the post-Cold War cooperation covers exercises, bilateral meetings, port visits and planning conferences, Kirby added.
The crisis now threatens to blow up into the biggest test for global diplomacy — and relations between Moscow and the West — since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Kirby stressed that the suspended system had been “developed over the past few years to increase transparency, build understanding, and reduce the risk of military miscalculation”.
US Secretary of State John Kerry [Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/Press Association Images]
Both Washington and the European Union said they were looking at a range of sanctions against Russia for its threat to use force against an ex-Soviet neighbour for the first time since a brief 2008 conflict with Georgia.
The West’s warnings to Moscow came shortly after Ukrainian defence officials on the flashpoint Crimean peninsula said Russia had given its forces an ultimatum to surrender or face an all-out assault.
“The ultimatum is to recognise the new Crimean authorities, lay down our weapons and leave, or be ready for an assault,” regional Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov told AFP in the Crimean capital Simferopol.
But a spokesman for the Russian Black Sea fleet based in Crimea told the Interfax news agency the claim was “complete nonsense”.
World markets plunged and oil prices spiked on fears of an all-out offensive that would pit nuclear-armed Russia against its Western-backed neighbour.
People listen to a political speech on a stage in Kiev’s Independence Square [AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti]
Kiev’s new Western-leaning leadership is due to receive a morale boost today when Kerry meets with the new Ukrainian leadership and parliament to “reaffirm the United States’ strong support for Ukrainian sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity”, the US State Department said.
The hastily arranged trip reveals growing alarm at the events in Ukraine.
NATO is also to hold an urgent meeting today at Poland’s request, after the neighbour of Ukraine raised concerns about its own security in light of the crisis.
The world’s richest nations have already threatened to strip Moscow of its coveted seat at the Group of Eight industrialised nations for menacing its ex-Soviet neighbour.
In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said ahead of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Madrid that the 28-nation bloc would “consider targeted measures” against Moscow.
A special European summit has been called for Thursday.
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It would also be good if the government overhauled how it’s taught in our schools so people could learn how to speak it properly.
@johnbunton: Too right! Irish should be taught the same way as French or German, for example. Prose and poetry should be made optional for those who want to do it and these should be done in separate classes. Knowledge of the language should be prioritised first and foremost.
@johnbunton: it has been. 40% oral.
@Ken Loughman: I’m a fluent speaker and got top marks in LC Irish and I completely agree. Seperate language and literature papers, leave language as compulsory and have literature as an option. It’s hardly fair to those who struggle (either with languages in general or specifically with Irish) to be expected to have an in depth knowledge of the poems, plays etc if they’re finding it hard to grasp the actual language itself. Plus it’ll also benefit those who do have strong Irish as they’ll have another optional subject they can be confident in.
@Frainc Ó Broin: it’s still not enough in my opinion. Students all across Europe students are fluent in at least two languages. We start learning Irish at the age of 5 and stop at age of 17 or 18 and most people still don’t have a clue outside the set oral spiel we all have to give. There’s something very wrong with the system when you could get an A or B in higher level Irish and not be a fluent speaker at the end of it.
@Ebony: I based my comment on my own experience in secondary school. While I enjoyed learning the grammar I hated the prose and poetry. It serves absolutely no purpose for everyday situations in the 21st Century.
I should add that one of my great-grandmothers from Mayo was a native speaker and my Dad was fluent when he was younger. I regret not being fluent myself considering those connections to the language in my family. Still, there’s always Duolingo…
@Ken Loughman: It’s miles better than it was, at least at primary level. At least I think it is. My 7yo regularly comes out with a long mellifluous spiel, most of which I don’t understand.
@Ken Loughman: And how well do most Irish school leavers speak French or German ? Would a monolingual native speaker understand them or vv?
@Gearóid ÓCiaráin: Well, I speak both pretty well. I can guarantee you that school leavers who did French or German have a better chance of being able to use them in everyday situations than they would with Irish. That’s the whole problem with how Irish is being taught.
@johnbunton: it’s not how it’s taught – it’s whether or not people want to learn it – unfortunately most people don’t
@johnbunton: I think it’s also a matter of exposure. Any non-native English speakers who are fluent in English grew up watching the same films and listening to the same music as us – all in English!
@johnbunton: let’s gets teachers that engage with teachers first. My own personal experience is no interaction and Peig.
@Ken Loughman: very true im a fluent irish speaker and definitely the time spent learning poetry etc be better spent actually learning the language u don’t do french poetry or german to learn them
@johnbunton: what’s wrong with a big stick
@Thomas Harrington:I would argue that the way Irish is being taught, i.e. having to do prose and poetry at the same time instead of concentrating on the language itself, is one of the reasons why people don’t want to learn it.
The Clondalkin Irish scene is vibrant thanks in part to great work by those who established Aras Chronain. It’s worth a visit even if all you order is a Pionta, le do thol
Faoi dheireadh Caithfidh muid a bheith dóchasach go dtarlóidh sé mar a deireann siad
@Séan Ó Nuanáin: i hope to at some point be that good at irish like you. Started a course to get myself back to a decent level of irish again as i was quiet good at it in school. It all starts coming back to me the more im at it.
@shellakybooky: maybe you should start learning English first so you can be quite good at Irish.
#PrayForArlene
Irish was a complete waste of time in my secondary school. We did double Irish classes just to pass an exam but never learned how to really speak or understand real Irish
@Stipe Miocic: its sad isn’t it? I could start quoting Irish poetry to you but I haven’t a clue how to go about ordering a meal in a restaurant, buying cinema tickets etc in Irish. these are basic things you learn when you start learning another language so you feel confident speaking it. because of Polish friends who don’t treat me as an inferior species because I can’t speak the language I can speak more Polish than Irish &quite happily use it in Poland/ with Poles
@Stipe Miocic: and the fault lies with?
Arlene, will choke on her cornflakes.
Welcome to the the 21st century, where personal choice is welcomed, now to LGBT equality/rights
This entire sham is put into perspective when areas such as Clondalkin and Ennis are included.
@Adam Reid: Clondalkin has a thriving Gaelscoil. The area has a deep cultural interest and is steeped in history. The round tower garden was recently renovated and there’s a good buzz about the village. No better place to enthuse people of all ages to get involved in learning, or relearning their native language…. And of course they have Eoin Ó Broin and Lyn Boylan who do Trojan work in and for the area.
@Paul Linehan: Clondalkin has a chip shop; how many residents eat chips there?
@Adam Reid: Clondalkin also has Indian, Pizza and Chinese takeaways…. So I’m going to presume that they have choices!!!
Is fuath liom Gaeilge. D’fhéach fir brónach i gúnaí dubh a ghlac pléisiúr orthu siúd a bhí ag obair go rialta ag daoine nach bhfuaimnigh Éire mar a cheap siad gur chóir é a labhairt.
So what did we need an Irish Language Act for if we can just do this?
Seems almost like someone was trying to be antagonistic, when this could be sorted out in such a more graceful manner.
@alphanautica: Some people may have become addicted to drama, publicity and ‘historic moments’.
@Brendan O’Brien: You mean like the Majority of People in the North?? because thats who want an ILA.
So, incremental progress can be made through common sense.
Surely better than an all-or-nothing stand-off between massive tribal egos.
Do the DUP know this. ??
Proud to be Irish but Irish isn’t good for business……just saying
Stupid language
@Gearoid De Burca: Yes, English is a stupid language with everything backwards in comparison to rich languages like Irish.
@eastsmer: Irish speaking areas are full of people born with a sod of turf in their mouth.
@Gearoid De Burca: from the sounds of things, you were born with a sod of sh**e in yours.
@Gearoid De Burca: Hi Arlene!
@Gearoid De Burca: Coming from a person with an Irish name!
@Gearoid De Burca: Anyone who calls a language, any language, stupid is an ignoramus.
@Gearoid De Burca: you’re not much better obviously…..
@Leadóg: I just called it stupid
@Gearoid De Burca: With a name like yours..???
What planet are you on..
@Gearoid De Burca: At least its Irish turf.
@Gearoid De Burca: bitter that you were sh!te at Irish in school eh, Gerry Burke?
@Laura: You bite… You eat the same shite. So just grin with a wide one and except you’ve improved by at least on the higher intelligence ladder!!!
G
An Ghaeltacht should be a place where ”Native” Gaeilge is spoken or else change it to Gaeltacht Dhúchasach for example. Places like those mentioned in the article above could then use An Ghaeltacht.
Difference according to the article is that it covers only a handful of Gaeltacht areas and doesn’t supply any funding. ILA (I think) covers all areas with majority Irish populations and restores some funding that was previously cut.
have your say