GREAT NEWS FOR PLAID CYMRU!

You will have heard by now that I and some other experienced Plaid councillors on Cyngor Gwynedd have lost our seats, but be happy - the results mean that we still have 35 members, with one seat in Blaenau Ffestiniog still to be fought, and Plaid will definitely form the government of the Council again this term. One of the most pleasing aspects of the result in Gwynedd were the gains in the Bangor and Ogwen area - hitherto the most difficult part of the county for us.

And elsewhere in Wales, the results have been very positive for Plaid, and they mean that we will surely have a part in the running of at least 3 or 4 authorities. Winning 7 seats in Cardiff, and 4 seats for the first time in Wrexham was especially pleasing, and regaining lost ground in such a dramatic fashion in Caerffili and Rhondda-Cynon-Taf proves we are truly on the way back in the Labour strongholds. But best of all was the Carmarthenshire results, followed closely by Ceredigion.

No longer do we have to prove that we are the party for the whole of Wales; it is now evident for all to see.

Thank you all for your support, and keep campaigning for Wales!

Dafydd Iwan, May 2nd, 2008.

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I would like to thank the people of the Gwendraeth Valley, and the Carmarthenshire wards for their warm welcome last weekend. This election campaign has been a happy and very positive one for Plaid Cymru, and we can look forward to some excellent results on Thursday and Friday.

The only sour note has been the way "Llais Gwynedd" candidates have dragged the campaign in Gwynedd into the gutter with their constant stream of personal attacks, lies and innuendo. The party leader Owain Williams has been conspicuous by his silence on these matters, and I have challenged him to condemn such tactics, and to dissociate his party from these candidates. A copy of my letter to him is published on the Welsh language version of this site.

The chief culprit in this campaign of personal abuse is the founder of "Llais Gwynedd", Aeron M. Jones, and his main organ of communication has been the Welsh language blogsite "Maes E". During the past few days, however, all his contributions to the site have been removed, presumably to prevent further damage to the credibility of his already terminally injured "party". This happened after his final coup de grace where he suggested that Zimbabwe had come to Caernarfon, and Cyngor Gwynedd were going to fix the vote by opening the ballot boxes on Thursday night and count them on Friday morning.......

A ST. DAVID’S DAY STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF PLAID CYMRU, DAFYDD IWAN B.ARCH., LL.D.

These are days of great cynicism regarding politics and politicians , and not entirely without reason. It affects all parties, especially those in government, whether locally or nationally. In such times, the challenge for us in Plaid Cymru is to unite behind the priciples which are important to us, and to state, with conviction, that this party will never renege on those principles.

What I want to concentrate on today, on our patron saint’s day, is the Welsh language, and I can say without equivocation that our commitment to the language is as strong today as it’s ever been. The best proof of this is Cyngor Gwynedd, the only county authority controlled by Plaid Cymru continuously since the reorganization in the mid-90s, and the only authority to be administered through the Welsh language. As we approach the elections on May 1st, we challenge other councils in Welsh-speaking areas, and National Park Authorities, to follow Gwynedd’s lead, and make the Welsh language the main language of their administration.

One of the main commitments by Plaid Cymru as it became part of a coalition government was to move towards legislation to strengthen the rights of Welsh speakers, and to give the Welsh language full official status, and full equality with English. We knew this would never be easy, being fully aware of Labour’s history of dragging its feet on the issue, but we will not flinch from securing legislation which will not only be binding on the public sector, but also on private bodies that provide a public service in Wales.

Education in Wales is facing a period of wide-ranging changes, from primary to secondary, and through to further and higher education, and we must take this opportunity to ensure that the teaching of Welsh, and especially teaching through the medium of Welsh, is developed thoroughly through the whole system, root and branch. We must ensure that all Local Authorities provide Welsh medium education to meet the demands of parents, and to this end, they should review that demand constantly. Following the Webb Report, there will inevitably be far-reaching changes to further education establishments, and it is this sector that most needs an expansion in courses through the medium of Welsh.

Higher education has already seen major change, where our universities are now virtually independent bodies, and the only way we can ensure an expansion of teaching through Welsh is by creating a Welsh Federal College to give focus and direction to the work. Plaid Cymru will keep to its promise to persuade the universities to cooperate to this end, as the present patchy and irregular development is far from satisfactory in the sector that should give the lead in any self-respecting nation.

DAFYDD'S NEW YEAR MESSAGE, JANUARY 2008:

My hope is that 2008 will be a year where love triumphs over hatred, and

peace over war. But the signs are ominous, with millions having to live in poverty

and hunger, or in the shadow of futile merciless wars. May we do what we can to ensure that

the needs of people - whoever and wherever they may be - will be top of all

politicians' agenda in 2008. And as we fight to ensure a better , more sustainable, future for the

people of Wales , may we never lose sight of the world beyond our borders, and as we build

positively on the foundations of our own new democracy here, may we do so in a spirit

of love and understanding. Our responsibility is to ensure a better future for our own nation

by building bridges and not walls, and by reaching out to all other nations rather than by

turning in on ourselves.

Dafydd Iwan.

Remember the date of the Local Elections this year! : May 1st

WHY SEND PLAID MEMBERS TO THE SECOND CHAMBER?

Dafydd's letter to the "Western Mail" (24:11:07):

SIR – My friend Ray Davies, the Labour member for Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen asks why Plaid Cymru has changed its policy on sending members to the Second Chamber at Westminster. He seems angry – but yet is happy to see his own party fill the place with truckloads of nominated members.

I will tell you Ray why I supported this change in Plaid policy. For years I have opposed sending members there, because I did not want to see Plaid Cymru becoming too enmeshed in the trappings of the British State before the way to self-government was clear. Now that we are seeing the new Wales emerging, we have to use every opportunity and every level of government to expedite the process, and to ensure that we move from the present unsatisfactory form of devolution to a proper parliament.

The second Westminster chamber, anathema as it is to so many of us, will play a significant role in this process, and we have to ensure that people like Lord Kinnock does not have things all his own way there.

We will use both chambers, as well as the National Assembly, and every other constitutional means, to hasten the creation of a proper parliament for Wales. Then we can create a second chamber of our own in Wales, elected to represent the whole nation, and to scrutinise the work of the Senedd. I hope we will meet there one day Ray; you certainly won’t see me in the “other place”!

DAFYDD IWAN

President, Plaid Cymru

THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH FROM THE PLAID CYMRU CONFERENCE, SEPTEMBER, 2007:

(see the Welsh language website for the Welsh part of the speech)

We are living in exciting times. We are seeing great changes in the political map of Europe and of the British Isles. Indeed, I believe we can say that we are witnessing now a positive Celtic revolution, with Celtic nationalists running the government of Scotland, coalition partners in the government of Wales, partners in the majestically improbable government of Northern Ireland, and of course, running the highly prosperous independent Republic of Ireland. And to cap it all, a Scotsman is the Prime Minister of England!

But no-one has told Jeremy Paxman! Of course Adam is right , it is nothing less than a dereliction of duty the way the London-based media are ignoring what is happening in Wales. When you consider that the majority of the people of Wales get their news from London papers and TV programmes, it is a miracle that we are progressing at all as a party of Wales. Flagship programmes such as “Newsnight” are deliberately choosing to ignore what is happening politically in Wales, and leading journalists such as Huw Edwards and Guto Harri , who know all there is to know about Welsh politics, are seemingly barred from uttering the word Wales due to the blinkered editorial policies of the London media. And the question must be asked, how can we believe what they tell us about Iraq, or anywhere else in the world, when they cannot understand what is happening under their very noses here in Wales?

What is happening here and in Scotland and in Northern Ireland, and, yes, in the Isle of Man and Cornwall too, is more than re-arranging a few political deck-chairs. What we are seeing is the start of a new political era, the beginning of the forging of a new partnership of nations in the islands of Britain, which will at last reflect the reality of who we are. The days of John Bull’s monolithic Anglo-centric Great Britain are gone, we can now look forward to a far more progressive and creative partnership of all the nations. And the great thing is that it is happening all over Europe – but do we hear of the other emerging independent nations of Europe: Latvia, Luthiania, Estonia, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, Croatia? Were it not for a few sporting competitions and holiday brochures, we would never know of their existence. And we certainly do not hear of their economic success, and how their newly gained independent status has given them clout in the European Union and growing prosperity at home.

Wales, thanks to Plaid Cymru, is in the mainstream of European and world politics, but we must now redouble our efforts to ensure that we get what we deserve, and what we need – a full national parliament with full legislative powers. Or else, we will be left behind by the rest of Europe and the rest of the world.

How far we have come! No longer is our march to independence seen as something holding us back, it is now the catalyst to progress, the key to our self-confidence and self-fulfilment as a nation. But we must never lie back and rest on our laurels, we must never think the work is done. Now we can see the goal clearly in our sights, we must organize more effectively and campaign more vigorously than ever before. And the first test will come in May of next year – a mere 6 months away – when the people of Wales will be electing their 22 local unitary Authorities.

I have already alluded to the fact that working in local government in Wales today is not all milk and honey. Especially if you’re in power, as Plaid Cymru is on Gwynedd. But having said that, there is no more satisfying job in the world than the job of serving your local community, managing progress and change in your community, and maintaining public services in your community. And next May, make no mistake about it, we can make great gains in the crucial local elections if we set about it with the same enthusiasm and professionalism as we did in this year’s Assembly elections.

My one clear message for all of you as you go from this Conference today is go home, and make sure if there is no candidate in place already, that there will be one very very soon. Because once you have a candidate in place, you can start preparing for the May election. Get the candidate’s name about, using the local press and media as often as possible, and identify the local issues which will exercise people’s minds and interest between now and May. We have the national platform as we have never had before, - but it is you, and only you in your respective communities who can prepare the ground for victory in May by showing that you mean business, and that Plaid has a candidate committed to serve the people of your community. Now, more than ever before, you can have help and support and advice from the National Campaigns Unit, so you will never be on your own; but in the end, it is only work on the ground that will get our candidates elected.

As I have already said, working in local government can be immensely rewarding, and we in Plaid Cymru believe in decentralist, devolved government, we believe in taking local decisions locally wherever possible, and we believe in giving power to communities. But it has to be admitted that we are a long way from achieving that; far too much power has been taken away from elected local authorities, there are too many directionless and time-consuming partnerships, and far too much bureaucracy. Plaid Cymru in government must address these problems, and must seek to simplify and clarify the processes of making local decisions and delivering local services.

I will briefly mention three policy areas where I believe we can now move ahead in Wales, especially as they are three areas where we virtually have complete control through the National Assembly.

Education – we have already moved away from an over-emphasis on tests and exams and league tables, but we must continue this trend, and place the emphasis squarely on developing skills, raising the status and effectiveness of vocational training, and much more time given to open-air activities. On a recent visit to Brittany, I was very impressed by the central role played by maritime pursuits in schools, so much so that maritime clubs have become centres of community activity, both for social, leisure and training purposes. If Brittany can do it with the sea, we can do it with both sea and mountain, and combat many of our social problems at the same time. Education through the medium of Welsh must be developed further, and our bilingual skills used to learn other languages. But above all, we must develop a truly Welsh national curriculum, where the youth of Wales will be taught the history and geography of their own area, and their own nation, as the basis for learning about the world

Planning – the present system is far too laborious, lengthy and bureaucratic, and too concerned with preventing development rather than managing creatively the right kind of development. We could in Wales develop a far more holistic system, where all factors, including social and cultural factors, are taken into account, and where rural areas are seen as places of sensitive, sustainable development potential rather than no-go areas. Our attempts in Gwynedd to create a sustainable decentralist pattern of development, giving rural communities a fair chance of survival as living, viable communities are constantly being thwarted by civil servants who are convinced that “sustainable” means getting as many people to live as close together as possible in large towns.

Affordable homes – it is now recognized that this is a top priority throughout Wales, but the only way we can move forward successfully is for the Assembly government and Local Authorities to work together, appoint dedicated officers, release public land, and get developers and landowners engaged in a comprehensive plan of action. But as the housing market continues to over-heat, the ability of people to buy, part-buy or rent in their own community must be protected by watertight legal agreements, in perpetuity.

Some good work is already taking place in these areas, and there has been some recognition that we have to move away from the complex, over-bureaucratic, multi-layered and dis-jointed system of government we have in Wales at present. Plaid Cymru can now play a far more direct part in working to this end, and we must never cease to be a campaigning party of change, whether in government or not.

In one sense, our task in Plaid Cymru is to marry the dream with the reality. We must learn to buckle down to the hard work of running our country, on a national and local level, without losing sight of our long-term vision. We must face the day-by-day grind of tackling problems faced by people in their communities and daily lives, while still believing in the ultimate goal of achieving full self-government which will give us the tools to do things in a different way, and within a different set of priorities. We must face difficult decisions in the short term, knowing that we will succeed one day to secure the national independence of Wales, which is another way of saying that we will be free to join an interdependent family of nations on our own terms.

I opened by replaying the words of that great campaigner for peace and justice who was both honoured and reviled by his own country, Paul Robeson. And I cannot think of a better way of expressing our goal as a party than to repeat his fine words. In the name of all who have gone before us, in the name of the workers of Wales who have slaved for generations in coalmine and slate-quarry, in shipyard and cottage, in office, school, factory and steelworks, in the name of all the mothers of Wales who have sacrificed for their children, and in the name of all the children of Wales who will come after us, we will strive to make this nation worthy of you all, not to wage war on anyone, not to oppress anyone, not to deprive anyone of their freedom, but in the words of Paul Robeson, “to strive together toward a world where we all can live abundant, peaceful and dignified lives.”

Dafydd Iwan, Llandudno, September 2007.

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THANKS TO PLAID CYMRU, ALL FOUR PARTIES HAVE REACHED A LARGE MEASURE OF AGREEMENT ON CRUCIAL ISSUES SUCH AS AFFORDABLE HOUSING, THE HEALTH SERVICE, EDUCATION AND THE WELSH LANGUAGE. IF WE ARE TO SEE A SELF-GOVERNING WALES TRULY DELIVERING FOR THE PEOPLE OF WALES, WE MUST HAVE THIS MEASURE OF AGREEMENT ON BASIC PRINCIPLES PERTAINING TO WALES AS A NATION.

WITH ALEX SALMOND LEADING THE GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND, AND MARTIN MACINNES WORKING WITH IAN PAISLEY IN NORTHERN IRELAND, AND IEUAN WORKING WITH RHODRI IN WALES, THE CELTIC NATIONALISTS ARE AT LAST PLAYING THEIR PART IN THE CREATION OF A NEW PARTNERSHIP OF FREE NATIONS IN THE BRITISH ISLES.THIS IS THE END OF BRITISH IMPERIALISM, AND THE START OF A NEW AGE OF ENLIGHTENED COOPERATION BETWEEN ALL THE NATIONS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

WELCOME TO THE 15 NEW MEMBERS OF PLAID CYMRU IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF WALES:

BRAND NEW MEMBERS (except Gareth who returns to his proper place):

NERYS EVANS

BETHAN JENKINS

CHRIS FRANKS

GARETH JONES

MOHAMMAD ASHGAR

RE-ELECTED MEMBERS:

IEUAN WYN JONES

HELEN MARY JONES

RHODRI GLYN THOMAS

ALUN FFRED JONES

DAI LLOYD

ELIN JONES

DAFYDD ELIS THOMAS

JANET RYDER

JOCELYN DAVIES

LEANNE WOOD

MY THANKS TO ALL THE OTHER 45 CANDIDATES WHO WORKED SO HARD DURING THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN, AND WHOSE WORK CONTRIBUTED TO THE OVERALL SUCCESS OF PLAID CYMRU

WE CAN NOW START IN EARNEST ON THE HARD BUT EXCITING TASK OF BUILDING THE NEW NATION OF WALES.

GALLWN YN AWR DDECHRAU O DDIFRI AR Y GWAITH CALED A CHYFFROUS O ADEILADU'R GYMRU NEWYDD GYDA'N GILYDD

N.B. Election campaign photos under "News" ;

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 gwaetha 'rhen Tony 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 Tony's gang, we're alive

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

Words by Dafydd Iwan, copyright Cyhoeddiadau Sain

At the foot of this page you will find a list of the dates of some of my meetings, concerts and other occasions for 2007

PLAID CYMRU has published its pre-manifesto Vision statement for the Assembly elections: "CHANGE FOR THE BETTER". If you have not had a copy, please contact Plaid head office:

Ty Gwynfor, 18 Park Grove, Cardiff CF10 3BN

and send any comments or suggestions to that address. Or go to the PLAID Website at www.plaidcymru.org

DAFYDD IWAN CONTACT NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES:

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

HOME PHONE: 01286.676004
MOBILE PHONE: 07984202922

CAR-PHONE: 07787875213
E-MAIL: dafyddiwan@cymru1.net

YOU CAN DO IT, WALES! : By Dafydd Iwan, President of Plaid Cymru, The Party of Wales.

For the last 25 years or so, my day-job has been running a business. I have seen the company, which I founded with a friend in Cardiff in 1969 when we were two nearly-broke students, move to Gwynedd and grow into a multi-faceted concern. It now employs 38 people, and many more on a free-lance basis, working in a high-tech field, and exporting the music of Wales to the four corners of the world. Together, we generate around two million pounds worth of activity in the local economy annually, and provide interesting, creative and challenging jobs. There is no experience quite like it - seeing an idea grow, a dream turning into reality, an ambition fulfilled.

But why am I, as President of Plaid Cymru, telling you this? Because, as an entrepreneur, I know how important the world of business is to the future of Wales. Despite all the talk of inward investment, the backbone of the Welsh economy is the network of small and medium-sized enterprises covering the length and breadth of Wales. Most of these are run by locally born Welsh people, but many are also run by people who have moved here, drawn to Wales by the beauty of our landscape and the warmth of our communities. What they all have in common is that they have within them the potential for growth. If we want to strengthen the Welsh economy, and increase our workforce, these SMEs are the key. What they need is the right kind of advice, the right kind of training and skills, and hassle-free access to the right kind of financial investment. The last thing they need is the present plethora of initiatives competing with each other to achieve their paper targets.

So do I believe the private sector can settle all our problems? Certainly not. I understand the private sector well enough to know that private companies are best at doing what they were created for, and that it is the public sector that is best at delivering public services. There are things we can learn from each other, and some of the discipline and speed of decision which is inherent to good private business needs to be learnt by the public sector. But if we want a good standard of service in health, education, social welfare and public security, then there is no better way of providing it than through a strong, well-run and well-financed public sector, driven by the needs of our people and not by the profit motive. The distinction between these two drivers has become blurred under New Labour.

And how to pay for such public services? By taxing people and business fairly on their income, and using local taxes to pay for local services. Is not a form of local income tax preferable to a system of council tax enforced on the public, inflated by a housing market which bears no relation to the strength of the local economy? The re-banding of houses for tax purposes by the Assembly Government mean that the taxpayers of Gwynedd, for instance, paid more in taxes, but Gwynedd did not benefit one bit, as the revenue grant settlement to Gwynedd was reduced by that exact amount. And what about non-domestic tax? Would it not be fairer for this to be spent in the locality where it is levied? In Gwynedd alone, well over £20 million is collected in business tax - and it all goes to the Treasury in London.

Another thing we can learn from the business sector is the need to take risks. All of us who run businesses know that if you are not prepared to take risks, you will never move forward. And if that is true of running a business, it is also true of running a country. But New Labour have created a culture where risk-taking is frowned upon, and venture and enterprise thwarted. And nowhere is this more true than here in Wales, where we have a National Assembly devoid of power, lacking in ambition, and a New Labour Government totally without vision or direction. Wales after the devolution referendum victory was straining at the leash, but the Assembly Government, far from releasing our great potential as a nation, seems to be intent on making the leash ever shorter and tighter.

Take the Objective One fiasco. Has it strengthened the Welsh economy, has it increased the wealth of our communities? Of course there have been isolated successes, but the fact that we will still qualified for further aid after 2006 is in itself proof of failure. But the biggest failure, apart from the scandal of the shortfall in match funding and disappearing regeneration funds, is the lack of real, lasting jobs, and the negative impact on our industrial base. And this is largely due to the unimaginative and bureaucratic way the whole scheme has been run. When projects are presented, they are immediately swamped by gloomy predictions of problems and failure, by mountains of paper-work, and a host of "business advisors" and expensive feasibility studies, until that important initial spark of enthusiasm is extinguished.

Carwyn Jones has referred to the success of Ireland in creating a young, vibrant high-tech "Celtic Tiger that roared" .But that was because they were full members of the EU, able to influence the rules of the game, and because they cut bureaucracy to the bone and gave companies tax incentives to tackle the worst problem areas. In short, a self-governing and independent Ireland did everything we have failed to do; and we have failed due to a lack of vision and enterprise, created by a political culture obsessed with spin, control-freakery and oppressive risk-assessment.

Dafydd Iwan To put it bluntly, we have allowed ourselves to be exploited and our country's wealth plundered beyond reason. But now is pay-back time. Not in a spirit of vengeance, but in a spirit of positive venture. It is time we stood up to be counted. No longer should we be content to sit on the sidelines of history, shut out from the world. It is time Wales took itself seriously, time to release the tremendous potential of our people and our land. Time for us to join the world in the pursuit of progress without exploitation, peace without oppression, and the creation of a just society where equality, compassion and respect for our cultural and natural environment are paramount.

All this I know is much more than "mere politics" but we must set our sights higher if we are to change Wales for the better. At the same time, we must have clear, practical objectives as well, and the next major step will be to change the present inadequate Assembly into a real Parliament with legislative and tax-raising powers. It must happen, but it will only happen when we start believing in ourselves as citizens of Wales, and next May we will have the opportunity to do just that, and to start a new chapter in the history of Wales. May 3rd 2007 can be a great milestone in the unfolding story of Wales - it is up to you to make it so.

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