Bigots

It is now Eisteddfod Thursday and I'm very tired. Being very tired has something to do with being out very late last night listening to Tepot Piws, Heather Jones, Tecwyn Ifan and the brilliant Brigyn. Actually, they were all brilliant.

Tepot Piws were also funny. I'll never look the same way at missionaries to Africa again after one very bad joke that I shouldn't have laughed at but did.

This morning, in the churches' tent, I encountered what appeared to me and a friend to be a nasty and very rude bigot. All my public work for refugees and asylum seekers has meant that I don't talk about every thing that I do in pubs and other social contexts. It's simply not worth the pain. Someone who thought he knew me, but definitely didn't, came across and said that I should be ashamed of myself for inviting all those foreigners into Wales. It was all said in Welsh.

Afterwards, I thought a great deal about what I should have said to him but didn't. Above all, I should have directed him towards our refugee tent on the Eisteddfod and those foreigners who will have spent a great deal of time not only learning Welsh but also being Welsh. Today, I wanted to understand the man who appeared to be a bigot and help him to see so many things.

I did my stint as a panel member for Cymru Fory and spoke personally about my passion for Welsh devolution but also about my statutory responsibilities as a member of Emyr Jones Parry's Convention. I have a reputation and a history concerning these issues but I have not made my mind up about so much to do with this Convention's work. I pity those who have always made their minds up before so much listening has to be done.

The highlight of the day was launching Cytun's partnership with RNIB Cymru to have sufficient funds to translate the Wesh Bible into Braille. Working with such friends has been a joy. I have learnt a great deal from some of these friends who are blind but who see so much. Thank God for them.