NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUEWhen the Queen of England paid a State visit to Ireland five years ago great emphasis was placed on the fact that the two States indeed all the British Isles people are ?more than neighbours?Here?s a snatch of what she said:“Together we have much to celebrate: the ties between our people, the shared values, and the economic, business and cultural links that make us so much more than neighbours, that make us firm friends and equal partners.?The speech continued in the same vein whilst making some conciliatory gestures towards the ?complexity? of the history between the two States:“Many British families have members who live in this country, as many Irish families have close relatives in the United Kingdom. These families share the two islands; they have visited each other and have come home to each other over the years.“They are the ordinary people who yearned for the peace and understanding we now have between our two nations and between the communities within those two nations; a living testament to how much in common we have.“These ties of family, friendship and affection are our most precious resource. They are the lifeblood of the partnership across these islands, a golden thread that runs through all our joint successes so far, and all we will go on to achieve.“They are a reminder that we have much to do together to build a future for all our grandchildren; the kind of future our grandparents could only dream of.“So we celebrate together the widespread spirit of goodwill and deep mutual understanding that has served to make the relationship more harmonious, close as good neighbours should always be.”So there you have it!However our ?shared values and cultural links? the ?good will? and ?how much we have in common? does not seem to prompt the British government and institutions to return the artefacts that the ?English? portion of this group of good neighbours looted over the years and secreted away in their Institutions such as the British Museum and British Library etc.What sort of a ?neighbour? is it that nips in the house next door and steals the family silver and then at the next get together witters on about ?shared values and cultural links?.Of major concern to Manx nationalists is the continued retention by our ?neighbours? in London of the CHRONICLES OF THE KINGS OF MAN AND THE ISLES secreted away in the British Library it?s of little value or relevance to English history but of huge value to our own.The Celtic League stolen artefacts site lists just some of the vast array of important of artefacts that our ?good neighbours? have looted from the Celtic countries (link): (voir le site) Windsor can put on a good show but scratch away the surface and there is not much substance to what she says!BERNARD MOFFATTIssued by: The Celtic News31/01/16THE 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!