NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUECasting my eye over the IOM Post range of philatelic offerings there are ?Battles of Britain? and ?Waterloo? not to mention the ?Somme?. The Queen of course pops up and so does Winston Churchill. Even the birth of the Royal ?young-un? gets a mention.Certainly there is some Manx material like Archibald Knox and Bryan Kneale and just to show I?m not a curmudgeon they did some years ago issue a set of commemorative stamps with the flags of the six Celtic Nations (I think to coincide with Lorient) perhaps it?s time for a reissue?However, there does seem to be a preoccupation with ?British identity? and also an alarming indication they are suffering from ?Watterson syndrome?. The latter is identification with the British military and in really extreme cases sufferers are known to start dressing up in military uniform. The condition is named after Home Affairs Minister Juan Watterson MHK who appears to have been the first verifiable case indentified.Additionally why the British military? Surely those stories I reported on about the Irish Defence Forces deployment to the Congo on the first trying and dangerous UN peacekeeping mission undertaken by the International body might be worth an International stamps issue?After all we have so much in common in these Islands. Don?t take my word for that it?s what ?her nibs? Elizabeth Windsor said on her visit to Ireland a few years ago:Writing the brief item about Cressy Dodd earlier I thought to myself surely our Manx culture, history and traditions are so rich we surely don?t have to plagiarise the traditions or personalities of other nations and especially one nation that just happens to be where the boat terminal from the Isle of Man comes ashore!What about a series on the folk life collectors like, Dodd, Morrison, Douglas and more modern practitioners, obviously you don?t have to be dead to be on a Manx stamp the Royal ?young-un? proves that!Perhaps I missed it and they?ve already done it, if so what about another go?Photo: Cressy DoddBERNARD MOFFATTIssued by: The Celtic News01/02/16THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.The Celtic League established in 1961 has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It promotes cooperation between the countries and campaigns on a range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, military activity and socio-economic issues (voir le site) this!