50 YEARS OF SINGING!!

FOLLOWING the concert at the National Eisteddfod, I will be continuing with a tour of concerts beginning on September 21st. Full details on the "News" page, on the SAIN web-page (www.sainwales.com) and on 'facebook'. Hope to see you there.....

MY BOX-SET OF 219 TRACKS IS NOW AVAILABLE. Full details on www.sainwales.com:

"Cana dy gan": SAIN SCD 2675

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I wish LEANNE WOOD the very best as she leads Plaid Cymru to the next stage of our national campaign to secure the future of Wales. She brings a fresh approach, and an openness and honesty to the task which is in short supply amongst the British parties .

I also wish the best to the Plaid councillors who lead their respective local authorities:

Dyfed Wyn Edwards, Gwynedd

Elen ap Gwynn, Ceredigion

Dilwyn Roberts, Conwy.

VICTORY IN THE ROJ-TV CASE IN COPENHAGEN

ROJ-TV is the only Kurdish TV service, watched by 18 million people in Turkey, and millions more in the Kurdish diaspora. It is a comprehensive service, broadcast in all the Kurdish dialects, as well as Turkish, English and Arabic, including 20% of artistic and cultural programming and hours of children's programmes, as well as a full news and current affairs schedule. It is unapologetically pro-Kurdish, and that is why the Turkish government was determined to silence it.

It may have been under the radar for the British press and media, but the court case which recently took place in Copenhagen where ROJ-TV was appealing against the decision to close it down was of huge significance in terms of the freedom of the press and the right of the public for information.

It is with great joy therefore that we welcome the news that the Copenhagen court has decided not to rescind ROJ-TV's licence. Despite a heavy fine for ostensibly showing too much support to the cause of the PPK, ROJ-TV will carry on giving the Kurdish people the service they fully deserve, and giving the world news of what is going on in Turkey, where thousands of Kurdish people have been imprisoned for supporting the cause of the Kurdish language and their right to exist as a people.

DURING MY VISIT TO THE COURT IN COPENHAGEN in the company of two members of the ROJ-TV staff.

Imdat Yilmaz on the left is the TV station's Director.

There have been attempts to close the station down by the Turkish government in the past, but the Danish courts have resisted any attempts to use it for political purposes. What made this recent case different was the admission by Turkey that they made a deal with the Danish government to have the station closed in return for Turkey's vote to instate the former Danish PM, Anders Rasmussen as Director General of NATO.

Akif Wan, on the left above, is the London Representative of the Kurdistan National Congress, and he has first hand experience of the ruthless nature of the Turkish "justice system". He was a teacher in Turkey, but was accused of teaching Kurdish propaganda to his students, and spent 7 years in a Turkish prisons during the 80s; he is now barred from returning to his homeland, so has dedicated his life to work for the Kurdish cause in exile. On the right is 19-tear old Firat Tas, who has just returned from helping the earthquake victims in Van. Even there, he and his friends were arrested and spent hours in custody on suspicion of being "spies" for the Kurdish movement. ROJ-TV is the Kurdish people's only defence gainst such extreme oppression of human rights, and the only TV service which tells the Kurds the facts about what is going on in Turkey and the world today. We must defend it, or we will all suffer.

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HUW CEREDIG

I would like to thank all of you who have shown so much support after the death of Huw Ceredig. Margaret and their daughters Lowri and Leah will feel the loss most of all , and I know that they have all appreciated the tremendous warmth and kindness shown to them by friends and neighbours and so many people from near and far.

My brother Huw was a great character who brought a lot of hwyl and laughter into many lives, and he would want us all to carry on to make Wales and the world a better place.

HUW CEREDIG 1942 - 2011

AFTER THE REFERENDUM

Thanks to the united voice of the Welsh public in March's referendum, Wales now begins a new chapter in her long and proud history, with a Parliament of our own, and with powers to pass laws in 20 key areas of Welsh life.

But the tragedy is that the government is in the hands of the Labour party. Yes, it may be "more Welsh" than it has been, but it lacks vision and lacks ambition for Wales. So we are now seeing a government in a state of torpor, lacking in ideas, and lacking any dynamism.

We must do whatever we can to get it up and running, or else the Westminster Con-Dem tank will grind us down. This must be Labour's last stand.

IT'S BEEN A LONG, WINDING ROAD - BUT WE ARE GETTING THERE!

SEE "NEWS" PAGE FOR DAFYDD'S DIARY

I HAVE NOW COME TO THE END OF MY 7-YEAR TERM AS PRESIDENT OF PLAID CYMRU

and I would like to thank you all for your messages of support. I am very glad that our campaigning MEP, Jill Evans, is now taking over this role, and I wish her the very best in her work. Jill and I believe in the same principles of peace, equality and justice, and I look forward to working with her over her term of office.

As the Tory/Libdem cuts bite deeply over the next few years, we will need all the powers we can muster to defend our people. And Plaid Cymru is determined to lead the campaign to build those defences, and get the economy going here in Wales. We have the natural resources, we have the talent; - all we need is the freedom to put them to work for the sake of Wales.

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WE ARE NOW IN THE DECADE THAT WILL SEE WALES COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND INTO THE SUN.............................................

Yes, getting an elected National Assembly up and running in 1999 was a great achievement, but it wasn't enough by a long long way. We are still a nation with a democratic deficiency. However, we are now entering a decade which can see Wales at last getting real powers into our own hands. Powers that will enable us to put the interests of the people of Wales first, and eventually will see an end to enforced entanglement in unnecessary wars which kill our young people, which kill thousands of innocent people in their own lands, and which deplete our public purse by the million every day.

Dafydd Iwan

Many of you have asked for the words of the song "Yma o Hyd", so here they are, together with an English translation:

YMA O HYD

Dwyt ti'm yn cofio Macsen, does neb yn ei nabod o

Mae mil a chwe chant o flynyddoedd yn amser rhy hir i'r co'

Aeth Magnus Maximus o Gymru yn y flwyddyn tri chant wyth tri

A'n gadael yn genedl gyfan, a heddiw - wele ni!

Chorus:

Ryn ni yma o hyd! Ryn ni yma o hyd!

Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth (x3)

Ryn ni yma o hyd!

Chwythed y gwynt o'r dwyrain, rhued y storm o'r môr

Hollted y mellt yr wybren a gwaedded y daran encôr

Llifed dagrau'r gwangalon a llyfed y taeog y llawr

Er dued y fagddu o'n cwmpas, ry'n ni'n barod am doriad y wawr!

Cofiwn i Facsen Wledig adael ein gwlad yn un darn

A bloeddiwn gerbron y gwledydd 'Byddwn yma hyd Ddydd y Farn!'

Er gwaetha pob Dic Siôn Dafydd, er gwaethaf y gelyn a'i griw,

Byddwn yma hyd ddiwedd amser, a bydd yr iaith Gymraeg yn fyw!

Here Still

You don't remember Macsen, who was he? You don't know

One thousand and six hundred years is far, far too long ago.

When Magnus Maximus left Wales three eighty three was the year

He left us as a nation, and today – we are still here!

Chorus:

We're still here today! We're still here today

Despite everything and everyone (x3)

We're still here today.

Let the wind blow from the East, let the storm from the sea roar

Let the sky split with lightning, let thunderbolts shout encore.

Let the faint-hearted keep wailing, let the serfs grovel and fawn

In spite of the darkness around us, we're ready to greet a new dawn.

Remember that old Prince Macsen, left our country as one

Let's shout out to all the nations 'We'll be here until Kingdom come!'

Despite all the collaborators, despite "the old enemy". we're alive

We'll be here for ever and ever, and the Welsh language will survive!

Words by Dafydd Iwan, copyright Cyhoeddiadau Sain

DAFYDD IWAN CONTACT NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES:

"CARROG", RHOS-BACH, CAEATHRO, CAERNARFON, GWYNEDD LL55 2TF

HOME PHONE: 01286.676004
MOBILE PHONE: 07984202922

WORK: 01286.831111

E-MAIL: dafyddiwan@cymru1.net / dafydd@sainwales.com

websites:

www.plaidcymru.org: The website of Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales.

PLAID CYMRU, Ty Gwynfor, Marine Chambers, Anson Court, Atlantic Wharf, Caerdydd/Cardiff CF10 4AL

www.sainwales.com: The website of SAIN, Wales' premier recording company

SAIN, Canolfan Sain, Llandwrog, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL54 5TG

www.dafyddiwan.com : Dafydd Iwan's personal website

"Carrog", Rhos-Bach, Caeathro, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 2TF