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Posted by: WizardofOwls 23-Jan-2005, 10:13 AM
I subscribe to a e-newsletter that occasionally sends me news about the Celtic languages. I plan to start posting some of the best ones I receive here in this thread! Please feel free to post your comments on the articles here!

Here is the first one. I just got it today.

The battle over? Give me a break
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm
Scotland on Sunday. 23rd January, 2005.

There are two ways to view the news which emerged last week about the state of our language in the Western Isles. The smart way and the stupid way.

We could say that the investigation by the Western Isles Council means that
everything is over and that we should just forget about everything.

The response should be that it shows that there are problems which need to be addressed.

Things do not look very good at all.

Only a fifth of the children of the Western Isles use Gaelic to each other, even when they are fluent in the language. As Gaels, we are reluctant to speak the language inside the house to each other, again even though we all speak the language perfectly well, and even though everyone in the situation might be able to speak Gaelic.

We don't like speaking the language to the likes of doctors and ministers or other people in official positions, again even though we are all able to speak the language.

All this, despite, we are told the so-called "millions" which are being spent on the language.

And this in spite of all the progress which has happened to the situation of the language in many other areas. Between education, radio, television, and even publishing as shown by this newspaper. In many ways things are a lot better than they were.

But as Finlay MacLeod pointed out on Radio nan Gaidheal last Wednesday, the
situation is increasingly becoming like that of a table with a leg missing. The cause of the language has advanced in many areas of life in the schools, on the air, and in public life. But there has been a dramatic decline in the use of the language in the community.

But one thing is for sure. If the language had not made progress in those areas Gaelic would have become weaker in the communities and in families regarded. My view is that it would have happened much more quickly without the progress in other areas.

What is happening in the Islands is the same thing as happened throughout the mainland of Scotland through the last century. The language was just as strong in many parts of the mainland 100 years ago as it is today in some parts of the Western Isles. It became weaker across those mainland areas because of the lack of the things which we are seeing happening today.

What we are seeing is that the patient is receiving medicine without recovery coming quite as quickly as had been hoped and the patient still unwell. That does not mean that the patient should not receive some medicine or care.

And which of us did not spend years hearing exactly the same things?

"Gaelic is not a real language."

"That language is heathen/sinful/evil."

"It is so different from English that it will upset your mind."

"Gaelic is only of any use for picking potatoes."

"Gaelic signs will mean that people will die in accidents or that they will end up on the moon instead of in Gairloch."

Should we really expect things to change quite so quickly after so long?

Billions of pounds are spent on health each year and people are still unwell.

Scottish and UK governments spend 400 and millions upon millions of pounds
trying to wipe out the language from the face of this country. No-one would
expect the tide to change so quickly.

Gaelic is not strong enough in the home. The language is not spoken enough in the community.

The answer to that is to change things. To speak our language. To be more vociferous about the place of Gaelic. And not to give up in the battle.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 24-Jan-2005, 05:15 PM
Here are the headlines for today 1/24/05

1. WESTMINSTER WILL SUPPORT GAELIC RULES (Scottish Gaelic)
2. Language activist Eoin McKiernan leaves $40,000 to Irish-medium education (Irish Gaelic)
3. A nationwide search for new talent (Scots)

1. WESTMINSTER WILL SUPPORT GAELIC RULES
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/
Press and Journal. 09:00 - 10 January 2005

Westminster departments will comply with new rules on Gaelic - even although they will not have to, according to one MP.

MP Brian Wilson, who was the first minister for Gaelic before devolution, wrote to all Whitehall departments with a presence in Scotland asking them to support the provisions in the Gaelic Language Bill.

The bill includes the requirement for public bodies to draw up Gaelic language plans, even though, as devolved legislation, the bill will not require the UK departments to do so.

Mr Wilson said it would be anomalous if UK Government departments and public
agencies with a strong presence in Scotland, such as the Post Office and Inland Revenue, failed to act in the spirit of the legislation. He said that the departments could take relatively modest actions which would be of great potential value by raising the profile of the language.

The responses will be forwarded to Bord na Gaidhlig and other language bodies.

2. Language activist Eoin McKiernan leaves $40,000 to Irish-medium education
http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4871
Belfast 1/13/2005 , by Eoghan ó Néill

In his 89 years on earth Eoin Mc Kiernan was a passionate and innovative advocate of all things Irish, particularly the Irish language. And now seven months after his death the renowned Irish American has given a boost to children in the hard pressed Irish-medium schools in the North of Ireland.

In his will he left a $40,000 gift to fund Irish-medium schooling in the North, a tremendous boost for the sector at a time when money is scarce.

Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta, the Belfast based group responsible for financing Irish medium schools, will recieve the money and they are delighted with the news.

"It's wonderful news for the schools at a time when future state funding is uncertain' Pilib Ó Rúnaí from Iontaobhas told Eurolang. "$40,000 is a substantial amount of money and it will make a very real difference to schools and to pupils. And of course we're doubly delighted as the donation is a vote of confidence in the Iontaobhas and the work it does."

The gift comes with some conditions says Pilib. "Eoin Mc Kiernan was a true patriot and he was also a very intellectual man who understood the value of education in overcoming disadvantage for children. In that context there are some conditions regarding the way the money should be spent and the Iontaobhas will of course be adhering to those conditions."

The fund to administer the donation will honour Jeannette O'Callaghan McKiernan, Eoin's wife, another language enthusiast.

Informing the Iontaobhas of the gift the trustees of Eoin McKiernan's estate referred to his constant assertion that 'if a culture loses it's language it will also lose it's identity.'

'A practical man to the end Eoin McKiernan has done his bit to ensure that dosen't happen in the case of the Irish language' says Pilib.

Eoin McKiernan was born in Manhattan in 1915 of Irish parents. He spent his early years both there and in Ireland, travelling to Rosmuc in County Galway to learn Irish.

In the 1960s he became head of the English Department of the University of St Thomas, St Paul, Minnesota. In 1962 he founded the Irish American Cultural Institute, an organisation which is still going strong today.

During the 40 years which followed Eoin scripted and hosted 16 films and 53
programmes on Irish literature, language, folklore and culture for public
broadcast television.

He also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Irish studies in the US, created schemes to bring scores of thousands of young Irish Americans to Ireland for the first time, and brought hundreds of Irish writers, musicians and actors on tours of the US. Over these years Eoin secured a foothold for Irish studies in the once hostile world of American universities.

(Eurolang© 2005)

3. A nationwide search for new talent

A nationwide search for new talent celebrating the spirit and legacy of Robert Burns will be supported by funding of £100,000 from the Scottish Arts Council and EventScotland.

Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson today launched 'Burnsong' - a national project to encourage contemporary songwriting in Scotland.

Ms Ferguson said: "This week thousands of people throughout the world will celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns. His songs and poems, rich in their heartfelt humanity, strike a chord with us all.

"I'm delighted that the Scottish Arts Council and EventScotland are funding 'Burnsong', created to celebrate Burns, and to honour every kind of song.

"Children and adults will be invited to write songs in every conceivable style and, as with the songs of Burns, those that reflect people's lives, their relationships with others, surroundings and environment.

"Protecting Burn's legacy is crucial. Last week I met representatives from the National Trust for Scotland and tomorrow I'll be meeting leaders from South Ayrshire Council. I am confident these discussions about the Burns National Heritage Park will help ensure its long term viability."

'Burnsong' was created by Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association, an independent arts development agency serving the south-west of Scotland.

Burnsong' invites songs in any style or language: they can be new, or as new music composed for existing words, or old tunes found for newly written texts.

Songs need not be in Scots. There are two age categories, under 16 and 16+. Full submission details can be found at www.burnsong.com from January 25

Posted by: WizardofOwls 25-Jan-2005, 08:32 PM
Hello all!

Here are the headlines for today's news items 1/25/05:

1 GOVERNMENT 'NOT DOING ENOUGH FOR LANGUAGE (Cornish)
2 Schools link up for Welsh-medium teaching (Welsh)
3 Criticised council chooses Welsh-speaking schools chief (Welsh)
4 Radio Survey (Irish Gaelic)

1. GOVERNMENT 'NOT DOING ENOUGH FOR LANGUAGE'
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 11:00 - 18 January 2005

The Government must honour its commitment to promoting the Cornish language,
according to members of a pressure group. Cornwall 2000, which campaigns on
a number of platforms relating to Cornish self-determination and distinctiveness, claims that little has been achieved in the two years since Kernewek was recognised as a minority European language.

Camborne's Centenary Chapel was packed last week for a meeting organised by
the group, at which officers of Cornwall 2000 addressed representatives from
the Gorsedd, Cornish Solidarity, the Cornish Stannary Parliament, local councillors and various Cornish language groups.

They were told that in the two years since the Government announced that it had extended the provisions of the Council of Europe Charter for Regional and Minority Languages to include Cornish, very little progress had been made. They said that although a strategy group had been formed in Cornwall, there had still been no policy put in place, no effective administration created, no core funding allocated and no timetabled and costed strategy written.

Those members of the strategy group who were present at the Camborne meeting
agreed that progress had been slow, but argued that this had been largely due to staff at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister "dragging their feet".

However, they also agreed that more needed to be done as a matter of urgency, and suggested that regular meetings would help to refocus the Government's attitude to the Cornish language.

The meeting unanimously passed the following resolution: "In order to create a sound, long term, financial and organisational basis for implementing the Council of Europe Charter for Regional and Minority Languages the Government should act quickly to establish a clear course of action and chain of responsibility. This could be done through existing administrative structures or by establishing a new non-departmental public authority tailor-made for that purpose."

They also decided to establish a "CharterWatch" group designed to monitor
implementation, lobby central government and report regularly to the Council of Europe.

Cornwall 2000 reminded those present that "the Government is obligated to take resolute action when implementing the charter". By June of 2005, it must also be able to demonstrate to a Council of Europe inspection team what progress has been made.

The organisation intends to send details of its intentions and the contents of the resolution to the Government. They will also be passed on to officials of the Government Office South West when they meet a delegationfrom Cornwall 2000 later this month.

2. Schools link up for Welsh-medium teaching
http://www.eurolang.net
Huw Morgan in Abergele 1/20/2005

By using video links, schoolchildren in Wales will be able to receive their Welsh-medium education simultaneously. Giant plasma television screens have been installed in six Welsh-medium schools throughout Wales and pupils will be taught certain subjects by a single teacher. This £500,000 pilot project will expand the number of subjects available to be taught through the mediumof Welsh.

"The schools have been equipped with the most advanced video-conferencing
equipment in Wales," says project co-ordinator Dr David Charles, head teacher of Caereinion High School in mid Wales. "The idea is to share resources more efficiently and to broaden the curriculum for sixth form students [16 to 18 year olds]. We are linking with Ysgol Morgan Llwyd [in north-west Wales] to teach history and we are exploring ways of sharing expertise with Ysgol Glantaf [in the capital Cardiff] to deliver occupational 'A' level in leisure, recreation and business studies. It's early days, but video-conferencing will be in full swing by the start
of the next academic year. People can see the great potential of video-conferencing, which is definitely the way forward for Welsh medium and bilingual schools in rural areas."0

Amongst the subjects that will be available through the medium of Welsh are history, politics, statistics, law, sociology and Spanish.

"There is potential to develop other language courses as well by making contact with pupils in the relevant countries so that our pupils can practise their foreign languages," added Dr Charles.

Huw Alun Roberts, head of Ysgol Maes Garmon in north-east Wales, tells Eurolang that "it really does make the experience worthwhile for pupils. We are very pleased to be part of a scheme that is a cost effective way of delivering Welsh medium education".

This video-conferencing internet-based network is part of the £5.5m Welsh video network which is funded by the National Assembly of Wales and the European Commission. Universities, colleges and schools across Wales can share lectures and tutorials with each other and with their counterparts around the world. The network hopes eventually to be able to use NASA's educational facilities to study space. (Eurolang © 2005)

3. Criticised council chooses Welsh-speaking schools chief
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Gareth Morgan, Western Mail. Jan 21 2005

AFTER weeks of rows about language requirements for a council's new director of education, it has decided to appoint a Welsh-speaker anyway.

Carmarthenshire County Council was heavily criticised for failing to keep Welsh as an "essential" requirement when it advertised the £100,000-a-year post. The Welsh Language Board even stepped in and one of the appointments committee stepped down in protest.

But it has been revealed that a Welsh-speaker, Vernon Morgan, is to take up the post of Director of Education and Children's Services when the post becomes vacant later this year.

He will join the authority from Merthyr Tydfil County Council where he is Director of Integrated Children's Services.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas, AM for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, welcomed the appointment of a bilingual candidate but criticised the council for continuing the appointment process after the WLB announced its intention to hold an investigation.

But council chiefs say they are delighted by the appointment. They say Mr Morgan was the best person for the job and they were highly impressed by his vision for Carmarthenshire.

His appointment was unanimously agreed after two days of assessments and
interviews.

Councillors say the political row had no influence on their choice.

4. Radio Survey
http://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/foras/news/article.asp?id=122
Foras na Gaeilge. Thursday 20 January 2005

SURVEY DEMONSTRATES CLEAR DEMAND FOR ALTERNATIVES IN IRISH LANGUAGE RADIO

The Broadcasting Commission Ireland has today (January 20th) launched the
results of a national survey which investigated perceptions and attitudes towards Irish language radio programming in Ireland. The survey, which was co-sponsored by the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Foras na Gaeilge was officially launched by Minister Éamon Ó Cuív, T.D. Seosamh Mac Donncha, Príomhfheidhmeannach Fhoras na Gaeilge also attended the launch.

Entitled "Turning on and Tuning in to Irish language radio in the 21st Century" and prepared by MORI Ireland on behalf of the BCI and Foras na Gaeilge, the survey found that listenership figures for Irish language radio are healthy with around a quarter of the population tuning into Irish language radio occasionally. The survey also shows that listeners to Irish language radio are not a homogenous group; 69% belong to the 35+ age category and 94% do not live in the Gaeltacht; and proposes that a 'one size fits' all approach will not be feasible in engaging and satisfying needs in Irish language radio provision.

The survey found strong support for bi-lingual programming among all respondents with 84% stating that they would listen to a music programme with English language music and Irish language links-this figure rises to 87% in the 15-34 year old category. A further 59% of the total stated that they would listen to a phone-in show broadcast partially in Irish.

The survey also undertook a deeper analysis of respondents who identified
themselves as never listening to Irish language radio programming. It found that there is no strict relationship between ability to speak Irish and listenership to Irish language programming; 22% of those who never listen regard their spoken Irish as 'good' or 'very good'.

In launching the research Minister O'Cuív said: "This survey gives us scientific information on the audiences for Irish and bilingual radio programmes. More importantly, it gives us an insight into the needs and requirements of people under 35 with regard to radio broadcasting through Irish. I am satisfied that this important piece of work, which has been produced by the BCI and MORI, will be extremely useful to me and also to those who will be making decisions on the provision of Irish services for young people."

Looking to the future a significant 78% of respondents felt that Irish language programming should be provided by all radio stations. This compares with 31% who felt that the future development of the Irish language should be the responsibility of dedicated Irish language radio stations. A further 75% of all respondents would like to see the establishment of a dedicated Irish language radio station just for young people. 89% of respondents also felt TG4 was a good model for the future development of Irish language radio programming.

Speaking at the launch, Michael O'Keeffe, Chief Executive of the BCI said: "the Commission is delighted with the findings of the survey. It legitimises the work we are currently doing in promoting the use of Irish on radio and in working with the broadcasters to look at new ways of providing Irish language programmes. I believe that the survey should also support and provide a focus for broadcasters through demonstrating that there is clearly an audience for different types of bi-lingual programming".

Seosamh Mac Donncha, Príomhfheidhmeannach Fhoras na Gaeilge, continued: "On
behalf of Foras na Gaeilge I welcome the results of this survey. The results clearly show, beyond any doubt, that there is a huge audience for both Irish language and bi-lingual programming. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the Advisory Committee for their work on this survey and for their continuing efforts to support the development of the Irish language in the independent broadcasting sector."

-Ends-

Media Queries to

Catherine Logan or Aoife Clabby
Flesihman Hillard Saunders BCI
01 6188462/086 8114785 01 6441200

Posted by: WizardofOwls 26-Jan-2005, 08:36 PM
Here are today's news items for 1/26/05

1. 'A triumph for free speech' as Irish language newspaper, Lá, avoids closure (Irish Gaelic)
2. Cornish magazine targets children (Cornish)
3. PARLIAMENT?S EDUCATION COMMITTEE BACKS PRINCIPLES OF GAELIC LANGUAGE BILL (Scottish Gaelic)

1. 'A triumph for free speech' as Irish language newspaper, Lá, avoids closure
http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4887
Béal Feirste / Belfast 1/24/2005 , by Eoghan ó Néill

"The overwhelming support which Lá received from readers and supporters, from the Irish language community, and from minority language activists throughout Europe was the primary factor in overcoming this threat [of closure]. This is a victory for the Irish language and it's a triumph for free speech." That was how Ciarán Ó Pronntaigh, editor of the Irish language daily paper Lá described the news that Interreg funding for the paper, which has been delayed for half a year, has at last been given the green light.

The move lifts the threat of closure from Ireland's only Irish language daily. In June of 2004 Lá opened an office in the Donegal Gaeltacht as part of an agreed joint Interreg initiative. In the months that followed various Unionist MPs and Lords tabled a series of parliamentary questions and issued statements to the media condemning public funding for Lá and it's publishers, the Andersonstown News Group.

Lady Sylvia Hermon MP described as absolutley outrageous the fact that ANG had received £560,000 of public money and she alleged that ANG was 'an avowedly Republican newspaper group.'

Another Unionist parliamentarian, Lord Laird, stated in a newspaper interview that 'this funding is dangerous for the freedom of the press.' According to Lá these objections led to Interreg aid for the paper being subject to an external appraisal, an unprecedented move in the history of Interreg in Ireland.

In spite of that appraisal and an earlier one both being very positive the Interreg funding for Lá remained frozen until last week's announcement. That delay placed a massive financial burden on the newspaper and just before Christmas they were forced to lay off two full-time journalists and four correspondents and revert to a four rather than five day print run.

Closure threatened, but a vigorous campaign of support for the paper at home and abroad swung things firmly in it's favour and at the start of January it was confirmed that Interreg funding will be paid out shortly.

"This was the greatest threat to the paper in it's twenty years of existence," Ciarán Ó Pronntaigh told Eurolang. "The phenomonal support from the Irish language community and from language activists right throughout Europe was what ultimatley frustrated the Unionist campaign. Over 3,500 people signed our online petition, and there was constant pressure from the community in support of the paper. So it's down to these people that Lá will continue to come out and provide a much needed daily newspaper for the Irishlanguage community."

He also had a word of thanks for MEP Bairbre de Brún and Donegal Councillor Brian Ó Domhnaill who both campaigned to have the Interreg money paid as soon as possible.

Lá has already returned to publishing five days a week and according to Mr Ó
Pronntaigh they are looking forward not only to regaining their position of six months ago, but also to make major breakthroughs in the twelve months ahead.

Meanwhile, Lá has received a further thumbs up, this time in an independent report commissioned by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in the North.

The report, commissioned by the Department shortly before Lá relaunched as a
daily newspaper in 2003, recommended 'full support' for the paper. Drafted by respected consultants, Venture International, the report outlined the many benefits which a daily Irish language newspaper brings to the community and recommended a substantial increase in grant aid over and above the £157,000 which Lá receives at present from Foras na Gaeilge.
(Eurolang © 02005)

2. Cornish magazine targets children
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4198425.stm
BBC NEWS. Sunday, 23 January, 2005, 08:36 GMT

Children across Cornwall could soon be learning to speak Cornish at school.

The Cornish Language Fellowship is releasing a Cornish CD and magazine for nursery and primary school children later this year.

The fellowship say that it will help youngsters express their identity and understand Cornish place names.

Cornish campaigners won a victory last year when the government said pupils
could be registered as "Cornish" in a national educational survey.

The aim is to enable education officials to study the progress made in schools by children from different ethnic backgrounds.

3. PARLIAMENT?S EDUCATION COMMITTEE BACKS PRINCIPLES OF GAELIC LANGUAGE BILL

The Education Committee today published its Stage 1 report on the general principles of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill.

The Bill seeks to establish Bòrd na Gàidhlig in statute with a responsibility to oversee the development of Gaelic and to secure its status as an official language of Scotland. The Bill proposes a legal framework for the development of a national Gaelic language plan and would ensure that public authorities develop Gaelic language plans. Bòrd na Gàidhlig would also be given a duty to provide guidance on Gaelic education under this legislation.

Robert Brown MSP, Convener of the Committee said:

?During the course of its evidence gathering, the Committee has been particularly struck by the fragile condition of the Gaelic language. We are in no doubt that vigorous action has to be taken to secure the future and vibrancy of the Gaelic language, and that the Bill provides the framework for this.

?The Committee believes that this Bill will contribute to securing the future of Gaelic but it will not be enough on its own. It has to be backed up by real commitment by the Scottish Executive to the language and the Gaelic community and, in particular, to Gaelic education. Not only must it be encouraged to become the language of the playground and the home in its strongest areas, but Gaelic speakers and those who wish to learn should be effectively supported in other parts of Scotland .

?The Committee took the view that Gaelic ? one of our most historic tongues ? was already an official language of Scotland, but that its status should be more satisfactorily reflected in the wording of the Bill.?

Background

The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill 25) was introduced in the Parliament on 27 September 2004 .

The Committee?s consideration was informed by 284 written responses to its call for evidence on the Bill. The Committee also took oral evidence from a range of witnesses at five meetings in November and December 2004.

The next stage in the parliamentary process is a debate in the Chamber on the general principles of the Bill which will take place on Wednesday 2 February 2005 .

Dara Aithisg 2005 Aithlisg Ìre 1 air Bile na Gàidhlig (Alba)
Stage 1 Report on the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill
For further information, the media contact is:

James Mackenzie: 0131 348 5605
RNID TypeTalk calls welcome
E-mail: [email protected]

Posted by: WizardofOwls 27-Jan-2005, 02:19 PM
Here are the headlines for today, 1/27/05:

1. Stage 1 Debate on Gaelic Language Bill (Scottish Gaelic)
2. Charter for regional or minority languages: can the EU constitution help France ratify ? (Breton)
3. MSPs press for Gaelic commitment (Scottish Gaelic)

1. Stage 1 Debate on Gaelic Language Bill

The Scottish Parliament's Stage 1 debate on the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill will take place on Wednesday 2 February. Chamber business will begin at 2pm and the Gaelic bill debate should begin at approximately 2.15pm.

Public tickets are available for this meeting free of charge from the Parliament's Visitor Centre at 0131 348 5200. As there will be a high level of demand for tickets, you should book as soon as possible if you wish to attend.

This debate will also be broadcast live on the internet at www.holyrood.tv or may be watched for up to two week afterwards as archive files.

le deagh dhùrachd,
Dr Alasdair MacCaluim
Oifigear Coimhearsnachd Gàidhlig
Pàrlamaid na h-Alba
Dùn Èideann
EH99 1SP
Fòn: 0131 348 5395
Facs: 0131 348 5601
www.scottish.parliament.uk/gaidhlig

2. Charter for regional or minority languages: can the EU constitution help France ratify ?

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4890
Douarnenez 1/26/2005 , by Yann Rivallain

Yesterday, the French parliament began to examine a revised constitutional law, in anticipation of the adoption of the new European constitution. Minority language organizations have seized this opportunity to put forward an amendment to the future law which would allow France to legally ratify the charter for minority languages.

As has been the case with the adoption of previous EU treaties and international agreements, such as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), the French constitutional court had ruled that the proposed EU treaty was not compatible with the French Constitution.

Minority language organizations met earlier in January to discuss ways of adding a reference to minority languages to the French Constitution on this occasion. Previous attempts to modify Article 2, which states that the language of the Republic is French, had been blocked.

Under the auspices of EBLUL France, language organizations agreed to propose that the following straightforward sentence be added to Article 53 : "The French Republic can ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe".

According to Tangi Louarn, the newly elected president of EBLUL France, "Since Article 53 refers to international agreements, it is logical to include the European Charter in this section. Another attempt to change Article 2 would have been less likely to be accepted since it would have had wider consequences". In July 1999, a similar sentence was added to Article 53 of the French constitution which allowed "the Republic to recognize jurisdiction by the International court of justice".

In Brittany, where the Regional Council recently officially recognized the Breton language through a development plan, a letter urging them to support the proposed amendment was sent to 35 members of the National assembly. It argues that "respect for linguistic and cultural diversity is one of the principles of this constitutional treaty" and that it is therefore necessary "to modify the French Constitution to allow ratification of the language Charter so that France can in effect respect the principles and practices regarding linguistic and cultural diversity which underpin the proposed European Constitution". If everything goes according to plan, this amendment should be brought to discussion during the day.

Speaking to Eurolang, Tangi Louarn felt that the outcome of this initiative was uncertain as the previous attempt, in 2002, had failed due to the opposition of most UMP (conservative) parliamentarians. However, this time, it looks as if the amendment will be supported by both socialists and conservative MP's in Brittany and other regions giving it a real chance to be accepted.

"We can however hope that the new articles in the European constitution referring to the respect of linguistic diversity and non-discrimination on language grounds will convince French parliamentarians that France can not carry on going against international provisions and disregard its own diversity", added Tangi Louarn. It is somehow ironic "to see that while Brittany had now officially recognized three languages on its territory, French, Breton and Gallo, France recognized only one language".

With growing concern about France's policy towards minorities among its European neighbours and at international level, if the outcome of today's discussion is once again negative, next time round, the proposed amendment may well read "the French Republic can "not anymore not ratify" the European Charter for regional and minority languages". (Eurolang © 2005)

(Article 3, Part I of the draft constitution states that the EU "shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.")

3. MSPs press for Gaelic commitment

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4208753.stm
BBC NEWS. Wednesday, 26 January, 2005, 12:35 GMT

The Gaelic Bill will not be enough to save the language, according to a Holyrood committee.

In a report, the parliament's education committee called for "real commitment" from the Scottish Executive to Gaelic teaching.

But the committee backed the general principles of the bill, which gives the Gaelic tongue official status.

It also sets up a Gaelic development board although its members will not have to understand the language.

The aim of the body - Bord na Gaidhlig - is to oversee the development ofGaelic, to "secure its status as an official language of Scotland" and to give guidance on Gaelic education.

Some critics have argued it is a weakness that the bill does not require members of Bord na Gaidhlig to be able to understand Gaelic.

But the MSPs' report said: "The committee accepts it would be desirable for members of Bord na Gaidhlig to have knowledge of Gaelic.

"But it does not believe that this should be prescribed in statute as there may be benefit in ministers having the flexibility to appoint members with, for example, experience of the development of another minority language."

The report criticised the fact that the bill will not cover public bodies controlled by Westminster, such as pensions offices or the Food StandardsAgency.

Committee members stressed that the number of people able to speak, read or
write Gaelic had fallen to 65,674 by 2001 - a drop of 20% in 20 years.

Demand for 'commitment'

Its convener, Liberal Democrat Robert Robert Brown, said MSPs were struck by
the "fragile" condition of the Gaelic language.

"We are in no doubt that vigorous action has to be taken to secure the future and vibrancy of the Gaelic language, and that the bill provides the framework for this."

However, he warned: "This bill will contribute to securing the future of Gaelic but it will not be enough on its own.

"It has to be backed up by real commitment by the Scottish Executive to the
language and the Gaelic community and, in particular, to Gaelic education."

Posted by: WizardofOwls 28-Jan-2005, 05:48 PM
Here are the headlines for today, 1/28/05

1. Gaelic Community Learning and Development Conference (Scottish Gaelic)
2. Welsh to appear on all UK passports (Welsh)
3. PRESS RELEASE FROM GAELIC MEDIA SERVICE (Scottish Gaelic)


1. Gaelic Community Learning and Development Conference

From Alasdair MacCaluim:

Community and Learning Development Group for Gaelic

Annual Conference
Friday 18 March

Ramada Jarvis Hotel, West Mill Street, Perth

"Gaelic and Community Learning"

CLDRG for Gaelic is an opportunity for professionals working in the field of Community Learning and Development to meet Gaelic speakers, adult learners and the representatives from voluntary organisations to discuss issues of common interest relating to Gaelic Education.

The overarching theme of this year's conference is "Gaelic and Community Learning" and there will be workshops on:

A) ICT in the context of Gaelic
cool.gif Music, Drama and Outward Bound
C) Supporting parents with children in Gaelic Medium Education
D) Learners' Forums

Conference participants will have the opportunity to participate in two workshops.

Programme

9.15 Registration and Coffee

9.50 Introduction and Welcome
? Provost Bog Scott, Perth and Kinross Council

10.00 Keynote Speech "Gaelic and Community Learning"
? Dr Alasdair MacCaluim, Gaelic Outreach Officer, Scottish Parliament

10.30 Workshops

E) ICT in the context of Gaelic
F) Music, Drama and Outward Bound
G) Supporting parents with children in Gaelic Medium Education
H) Learners' Forums

12 Noon Lunch and Market Place

1.00 Keynote Speech - "Role of Bòrd na Gàidhlig in Community Learning"
Peadar Morgan, Language Planning Manager, Bòrd na Gàidhlig

1.30 Workshops

3.00 Plenary
3.30 Close

The conference is free of charge.

If you would like to attend this year's conference, please contact:

[email protected]

John Sweeney,
North Lanarkshire Council
Department of Community Services
Buchanan Tower
Buchanan Business Park
Stepps
G33 6HR

Tel: 0141 304 1929/35

Please let John know if you:
Have special dietary requirements
Need a creche (and if so, ages of children)
Wish space for a display

Applications should be received by Friday 4 March 2005

About CLDRG for Gaelic

The Community Learning and Development Review Group for Gaelic is an inter-authority group comprising representatives from Scotland's local Councils and organisations promoting Gaelic language and culture.

The group's remit is to develop encourage and support work in the field of Community and Development in relation to Gaelic learning.

The group organises training courses for tutors, promotes the language and culture through the annual Gaelic Learners' Awards and other events and provides a forum for learners, voluntary organisations and Community Learning and Development Staff at its annual conference.

2. Welsh to appear on all UK passports
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Tomos Livingstone. Jan 26 2005

Welsh is to appear on all UK passports, Culture Minister Alun Pugh said today.

The move follows discussions between Assembly Ministers and the Home Office.

The Home Office had previously agreed to allow the language to be used on the first page of passports issued in Wales.

But now Welsh will take its place alongside other EU languages on all passports issued in the UK.

Mr Pugh said: "I announced back in September that Welsh would be included in passports for the first time from late 2005 onwards. Today I can confirm that we have made significant progress with Home Office colleagues for Welsh to appear in every passport issued - not just in Wales but in all UK Passports.

"We will have further discussions with Home Office colleagues on the format of the personal details page as part of a further review of the design of the UK passport which is likely to take place by 2008."

3. PRESS RELEASE FROM GAELIC MEDIA SERVICE
http://www.ccg.org.uk/press/05/02.htm
28/01/05

The Gaelic Media Service (GMS) has proposed that a plan by the Scottish Media Group (SMG) to establish an embryonic Gaelic television channel be put on hold pending resolution of the form and funding of a dedicated Gaelic television service. SMG had offered to transmit a weekly post-midnight two-hour block of Gaelic programmes that would initially be broadcast simultaneously on analogue and
digital platforms but would cease to be transmitted on analogue once a fully-fledged digital channel is in operation. SMG has also asked Ofcom to relieve them of their obligation to broadcast programmes funded by the Gaelic Media Service during peak viewing periods.

At a meeting of the Gaelic Media Service Board of Directors yesterday it was decided to reject SMG's proposal as it now stands. GMS chairman Neil Fraser said: "We appreciate SMG's support for the establishment of a Gaelic channel. Their proposal adds emphasis to the need for one, but we are not prepared to abandon our current policy not to fund programmes that are broadcast after midnight. To do so would not be in the interest of the Gaelic audience. Our research shows that their greatest frustration with the current system is the transmission of Gaelic programmes at inconvenient viewing times. We would not wish to aggravate that situation further at a time when digital technology presents new opportunities for a more appropriate Gaelic television service than has been available previously."

Mr Fraser conceded that commercial pressures in a multi-channel environment make it more difficult for SMG to maintain the Gaelic presence to which they had committed when they submitted their licence application more than a decade ago. "The prime objective of the Gaelic Media Service is the early establishment of a Gaelic television channel with daily programming," he said. "Until we have
greater assurance of the funding, structure and stakeholder commitment that will make such a channel sustainable we are not in a position to pre-empt the ultimate solution that we are seeking, namely an adequately resourced service that will bring a new and welcome dimension to Gaelic broadcasting. There are a number of technical and operational options available that are currently under consideration."

The Gaelic Media Service welcomed the recommendation by the Scottish Parliament's Education Committee this week that "the Scottish Executive clarifies its role with respect to Gaelic broadcasting, the ole that Bord na Gaidhlig will play in advising Ministers with regard to Gaelic broadcasting and what efforts it is making to explore the opportunities for additional funding for Gaelic broadcasting."

For further information:
John Alick Macpherson
Depute Director
Gaelic Media Service
Tel - 01851 705550

Posted by: WizardofOwls 29-Jan-2005, 08:11 PM
Only one news item today, 1/29/05

By the way, I haven't heard any feedback on this column. Is anyone reading it? Please let me know if you enjoy it.

STROKESTOWN INTERNATONAL POETRY FESTIVAL

A FIRST PRIZE OF 4000 Euro FOR A SINGLE POEM IN IRISH, SCOTTISH OR MANX GAELIC !

In 2005 the competition for a poem in Irish, which has been a feature of
this festival since it began six years ago, will be greatly expanded. For the first time ever, thanks to sponsorship from Iomairt Cholm Cille, The
Columba Initiative, the prizes will equal those offered for the international competition for a poem in English. In addition, the
competition is being widened to welcome poems in Manx and Scottish
Gaelic. Rody Gorman, who has published poetry collections in Irish, Scottish Gaelic and English, and who is editor of the trilingual poetry periodical An Guth, will be the judge. There will be a second prize of 2000 Euro and a third of 1000 Euro. A shortlist of six will be announced, and each shortlisted poet will receive at least 450 Euro when they read at the festival (April 29 - May 2) when the winners will be announced. The final date for entries is 16 February 2005. With an entry fee of just 5 Euro per poem, it is well worthwhile for any poet, or aspiring poet, to enter a good few poems. It's time to forget the ?poor mouth¹ of Gaelic poetry, and for hundreds of poems to be sent to Strokestown! Entry forms from Strokestown International Poetry Festival, Bawn Street, Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, Ireland or download from
www.strokestownpoetryprize.com

Posted by: WizardofOwls 30-Jan-2005, 04:26 PM
Here is today's news for 1/30/05

A letter in the day's Scotland on Sunday.... (Scottish Gaelic)

Survival of the Gaelic language
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=114492005
Scotland on Sunday. 30th January, 2005.

MURCHADH MacLeòid's column 'Am Blàr Seachad? Istibh' (January 23),
translated into English online at www.scotlandonsunday.com appears to
fall into three dimensions, that of the Western Isles, Scotland as a whole
and Europe.

The lack of confidence in parts of the Western Isles as to Scottish (Gaelic) has been a creeping sore felt all over Scotland for centuries in the face of the advancing English language. I recognised it in Perthshire in my youth.

Till the time of William Dunbar, the name given to our most distinctive
native language was 'Scottish'. The inference in the use of Scottish Gaelic was that it was not our language. After all, no one calls Polish Polish Slavonic or Portuguese Portuguese Iberian.

Most countries in Europe have their own languages, be it Danish, Hungarian, Finnish, German, Polish, etc. So the use of 'Scottish' is justified as it was in the days before Dunbar.

The English language itself faced destruction under the threat of French
following the conquest in 1066. For example, a decree at Oxford ordered in 1325 "all conversations be in Latin or French".

Despite everything, English was to triumph, thanks to the efforts of two
Cornishmen, one of them John Trevisa, from St Mellion, who died in
1402. Writing about the growing change from French to English, Trevisa said: "...John of Cornwall, a grammar master, changed the instruction and construing in the grammar schools from French into English; and
Richard Pencrych learned that kind of teaching from him... so that now, in the year of Our Lord, 1385... in all grammar schools of England, children are now dropping French and construing and learning in English."

The last ferocious attack on the Gaelic language was in the application of
the 1872 Education Act, which was intolerant of all but English. But today
events have turned the full circle... we have our own Parliament again and a Gaelic Language Bill is making its way through it.

If we have the slightest pride in our own county we will do our best to make sure that Comhairle nan Sgoiltean Araich and their pre-school
playgroups in the language become universal. Thereafter, we must ensure that all teaching is conducted through our own Scottish (Gaelic) language, including using Scottish to teach other languages like English or Scots or French or German, etc. Such an attitude is not strange in most European countries. There, teaching is conducted in the native language, not in that of a neighbour.

Archy Macpherson, Edinburgh

Posted by: WizardofOwls 31-Jan-2005, 08:28 PM
Here are the headlines for today, 1/31/05

1. Gaelic learners initiative could set pace for rest of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic)
2. PLEA MADE TO USE 'UNTAPPED' SOURCE FOR GAELIC TEACHERS (Scottish Gaelic)

1. Gaelic learners initiative could set pace for rest of Scotland

http://www.whfp.com/1709/top2.html

West Highland Free Press
No 1709
Friday 28 January 2005

An initiative started last year by Portree High School to encourage young Gaelic learners to continue their education in the language has proved such a success that it has just been repeated this year.

Bord na Gaidhlig are delighted by the project and hope that it can be rolled out to other schools who offer Gaelic as a subject.

Last year Portree High School head of Gaelic AJ Macdonald and two of his assistants, Emma Christie and Ruairidh Macvicar, took three groups of second-year Gaelic learners, about 60 pupils in all, to the south end of Skye and Sabhal Mor Ostaig for a weekend activity course. On one of the weekends they were joined by pupils from Inverness Royal Academy.

The initiative aims to tell pupils a little of the history of the area and to strengthen their interest in Gaelic by showing them that a structure exists which allows pupils to achieve fluency in the language. Fun is also very much on the agenda.

Last Friday the first group of this year's second-year pupils spent Friday afternoon in Strath, Elgol and Glas na Cille, completing a worksheet at Cill Chriosd and listening to local stories and traditions along the way. Following dinner and a short presentation at Sabhal Mor they were joined by some college students and the evening was given to indoor games, quizzes and even some Scottish country dancing.

The next day involved a walk to the Point of Sleat and a return journey via Tarskavaig and Dun Sgathach where they heard of Cu Chulainn's skills in single combat and his skills with a shinty ball as a young lad!

Funding for this initiative is provided by Bord na Gaidhlig and all pupils who participate receive a certificate. Bord na Gaidhlig viewed last year as a pilot and hope more schools will join in this year.

The youngsters certainly seemed to enjoy themselves. Anna Barton said: "The trip away is a really good idea. I think there should be more opportunities for people to learn and use Gaelic. This trip has shown us how useful Gaelic can be."

Fellow pupil Adam Nicolson agreed. He said: "It would be great if we could do a trip like this every year!"

AJ praised the co-operation of other departments in the school. He said: "This proved extremely popular last year ? all the pupils who took part wanted to repeat the experience.

"The uptake this year is again very encouraging. A great number of our ex-pupils who came to the language as learners are today employed in Gaelic-related posts and making a very important contribution to the preservation and development of the language.

"We want our present learners to know that they have a valued and important part to play in the future. It is no exaggeration to say that the future of Gaelic is in their hands."

Bord na Gaidhlig are delighted with the project and bord chief executive Allan Campbell said: "This was a perfect mix of a good idea, developed by teachers, with funding support for its implementation from Bord na Gaidhlig. The bord is extremely encouraged by the successes of this initiative in its first year, and we warmly congratulate Angus John on his achievement. We very much hope that other schools from across cotland can now be encouraged to follow this excellent example."

Copyright 2004 West Highland Publishing Company Limited. All rights reserved.

2. PLEA MADE TO USE 'UNTAPPED' SOURCE FOR GAELIC TEACHERS

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?
nodeId=149235&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149218&contentPK=11745
574&moduleName=InternalSearch&keyword=PLEA%20MADE%20TO%20USE%
20'UNTAPPED'%20SOURCE%20FOR%20GAELIC%20TEACHERS&formname=sidebarsearch

this is North Scotland
in association with The Press and Journal

09:00 - 31 January 2005

Highland politicians have urged the executive to use an untapped source of Gaelic-speaking teachers to tackle the shortage which is threatening the revival of the language.

Highland MSP Rob Gibson said the executive has failed to convince 156 Gaelic-speaking teachers, currently teaching in English-medium primary and secondary schools, to transfer to Gaelic-medium teaching.

He said: "Figures from the executive show that there are 233 primary teachers who could teach in Gaelic medium, but only 152 do so at present."

And of the secondary sector, he said: "Only a few subjects are covered in just two or three schools, but there are 101 teachers who could teach through Gaelic and only 26 do so."

Mr Gibson, a former teacher himself and an SNP MSP, added: "There is a significant pool of untapped talent here but it is obvious that teachers are not convinced about the executive's commitment to Gaelic.

"Before they transfer they want to know that this will be a job with long-term prospects and a clear career progression. We would not be facing the crisis in teacher numbers if the executive could persuade these teachers that they are 100% behind Gaelic.

"The executive should be out there persuading these teachers to transfer and offering incentives if necessary to show that they really mean it, and the education minister should show his commitment by getting this moving as quickly as possible."

Highland Council has started a distance-learning postgraduate teacher training scheme with Aberdeen University. Council vice-convener, Michael Foxley, said there were a number of actions the executive could do to convince teachers to transfer.

He said: "Most of these teachers will be native speakers, and would be ideal for teaching through the medium of Gaelic but, perversely, they seem to be the most conscious, wrongly I believe, that their Gaelic is not good enough."

Posted by: WizardofOwls 02-Feb-2005, 06:41 PM
There was only one news item today, 02/02/05

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=118892005

The Scotsman
Tue 1 Feb 2005

Scotland's Homer comes back into literary fold

IAN JOHNSTON

IT WAS one of the world's greatest literary forgeries. The creation of "Scotland's Homer" by schoolmaster James Macpherson helped inspire a new romantic movement throughout the western world.

And so when the epic Gaelic poetry of the "blind bard" Ossian - which won dedicated fans including Napoleon and Thomas Jefferson - was exposed as a fake, there was a backlash led by the English intellectual giant Samuel Johnson.

But a new work cataloguing Scottish writing is to restore Macpherson's reputation, saying while he did invent a single voice for the tales of heroism and doomed love, they were largely based on stories handed down through the generations.

The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature - which will have taken five years to complete when it is published next year - will include discussions of almost every kind of Scottish writing of any significance.

The rehabilitation of Macpherson is part of a deliberate effort to give Gaelic its deserved place alongside writing in English and Scots in the pantheon of Scottish literature.

Susan Manning, professor of English literature at Edinburgh University, the editor of the 1700 to 1918 section of the multi-volume book, said the ferocious debate that ensued over the authenticity of the poems - Macpherson even challenged his arch-critic Johnson to a duel which never took place - was born largely out of cultural misunderstanding.

"In a sense what he did was somewhere between an act of recreation and creation," she said.

"The original Gaelic epics were not written down, so he was remembering things [from his childhood in Aberdeenshire], writing down things he heard on his travels and combining them with scraps of previously written-down Gaelic."

Amid massive interest, establishment literary figures began to ask
Macpherson for copies of the original Gaelic manuscripts. When he was unable to produce them, some began to view him as a fraud.

"They said, `If these are genuine, show us the originals'. He couldn't really show the originals because they belonged to an oral tradition," Prof Manning said.

"That's why it's not as simple as a fraud versus a genuine translation. A lot of Highland readers said, `Yes, this is a translation, we remember these stories'. They would attest to its authenticity whereas the sceptics - often English or Anglo-Scots - would say translations require original manuscripts.

"It was a clash of culture between an oral and a written tradition."

The first translations by Macpherson were not presented as opening parts of a great epic by Ossian.

However Prof Manning said: "This notion gradually grew. If there was a great epic, there had to be a great epic poet and that would be Scotland's Homer.

"As Macpherson got backed into a corner, he started to produce more and more elaborate defences of it."

Ironically, Prof Manning said modern scholars view Homer, once thought to be a single genius, in a similar light to Macpherson's creation.

"Now we know not to think of Homer as the inspired bard. Homer was a committee just as much as Ossian was a committee," she said.

"The idea of Homer as a single `blind poet' is, I think, now fairly widely discredited - in the same way we shouldn't see Ossian as a single `blind bard'."

Artist Calum Colvin, who is professor of art photography at Dundee University, is among those to have renewed interest in Ossian.

He will take an exhibition of his work called "Ossian - Fragments Of Ancient Poetry" to Paris in November this year, partly because Napoleon was such an admirer of the work.

"I think Macpherson probably was quite a difficult person. He was a proud Highlander and he didn't take the jibes of Johnson very well," he said.

"But he was also the classic Scotsman on the make and he ended up a very wealthy man."

Belated recognition

THE forthcoming Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature will include a major section on Gaelic poets and writers who have long been ignored or downplayed by the literary establishment.

? Muireadhach Albannach O Dálaigh (fl. 1200-1224): One of the
greatest poets of the medieval classical poetic tradition and progenitor of the MacMhuirichs, the most important Scottish Gaelic learned family of the middle ages.

? Donnchadh Caimbeul (Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy) (c. 1443-1513): The Lord of Glenorchy, who died at Flodden, covered a wide range, from love poetry to the bawdy and scatological.

? Sìleas na Ceapaich (c. 1660-1729): Born a MacDonald, she married into an eastern Highland family and wrote one of the most famous laments in Gaelic tradition, for Alasdair Dubh of Glengarry. Her range included vicious political verse connected with the 1715 rising.

? Alexander MacDonald (Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair) (c. 1695-1770): The Gaelic genius of the 18th century, he was closely involved in all the major changes of the period (his 1751 poetry collection was the first non-religious book published in Scottish Gaelic).

©2005 Scotsman.com

Posted by: WizardofOwls 03-Feb-2005, 11:19 AM
Here is the news for today 2/03/05

1. Watchdog to investigate 'only 7% Welsh language' radio station (Welsh)
2. Parliament agrees unanimously with general principles of Gaelic Language Bill (Scottish Gaelic)

1. Watchdog to investigate 'only 7% Welsh language' radio station (Welsh)
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Martin Shipton, Western Mail. Feb 1 2005

THE row over Welsh language radio in West Wales has taken a new twist, with Radio Carmarthenshire to face a new inquiry over its use of Welsh.

An investigation by S4C current affairs programme Y Byd ar Bedwar has
revealed only 7% of Radio Carmarthenshire's output is in Welsh, highlighting serious doubt over their commitment to the language. Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has announced it will investigate the programme findings.

Following protests about the lack of Welsh content on Radio Carmarthenshire, Ofcom issued a yellow card warning to the station last October. The warning was lifted in December, when Ofcom found several changes had been made by the radio station. Now following the new S4C research, Welsh language campaigners have criticised Ofcom's readiness to give the station a clean bill of health.

Cefin Campbell, director of Mentrau Iaith Myrddin, said, "Questions need to be asked about the powers allocated to this new regulator, Ofcom. Should there be new guidelines issued to make radio stations reflect more accurately the linguistic and cultural character of the area represented? I think there are serious weaknesses in the present regulations, which allow Radio Carmarthenshire to ignore the wishes of local people."

Ofcom's director in Wales is Rhodri Williams, the previous chairman of the Welsh Language Board. He refused to be interviewed for tonight's programme, but said that since the yellow card was raised Ofcom hadn't received one complaint from listeners. He added that Ofcom didn't have the powers to impose quotas on radio stations, forcing them to broadcast a specific number of hours in Welsh.

When Radio Carmarthenshire made their initial application for a licence they had indicated that 30% of their output would be in Welsh. Three weeks ago Y Byd ar Bedwar monitored the station for 24 hours and found that 93% of the speech content was in English, with only 7% in Welsh. Cefin Campbell said the results were disastrous.

Keri Jones, chief executive of Radio Carmarthenshire, claimed 99% of people in the area are big fans of the station. Y Byd ar Bedwar goes out tonight at 8.25pm, on S4C.

2. Parliament agrees unanimously with general principles of Gaelic Language Bill (Scottish Gaelic)

The Stage 1 Debate on the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill was held yesterday
afternoon. The Parliament agreed unanimously with the general principles of the Bill.

The whole debate may be read at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-05/sor0202-01.htm

Or watched online at:
http://www.holyrood.tv/library.asp?title=General%20Debates§ion=31

The Bill will now return to the Education Committee for Stage 2, where it will be considered in detail by the committee, line by line, and where amendments will be considered.


Decision Time

17:11

The Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid): There are seven questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first question is, that motion S2M-1812, in the name of Peter Peacock, on the general principles of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) bill, be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Gaelic Language
(Scotland) Bill.

The Presiding Officer: The second question is, that motion S2M-1819, in the name of Andy Kerr, on the financial resolution in respect of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill, be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.

That the Parliament, for the purposes of any Act of the Scottish Parliament resulting from the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill, agrees to any expenditure or increase in expenditure of a kind referred to in Rule 9.12.3(cool.gif(ii) or (iii) of the Parliament's Standing Orders arising in consequence of the Act.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 06-Feb-2005, 08:43 PM
Here are the combined headlines for Feb 5 & 6, 2005:

1. An everyday tale of TV cynics (Scottish Gaelic)
2. New Language Points To Foundations Of Human Grammar (General Language)
3. Scots' legitimacy as national tongue (Broad Scots)
4. Gaelic legend who lives amongst us (Scottish Gaelic)

1. An everyday tale of TV cynics (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.whfp.com/1710/focus.html
West Highland Free Press. 4th February, 2005.

BRIAN WILSON looks at the sordid and devious background to the current attempt by Scotland's commercial television stations to abandon their statutory obligations to Gaelic

I was at a dinner in London's Natural History Museum recently which involved a number of people who had prospered on the business side of the television industry. "You'll know Gus Macdonald," one of them said to me. I affirmed.

His next line hit me, in that un­likely ­setting, with the force of the unexpected. "The way STV used Gaelic to get their franchise for nothing hasbecome a real legend in the ­industry," my new friend chuckled admiringly. He then regaled me with the full, audacious story of these heady days in the early '90s, when vastly valuable ITV franchises were subjected to a blind auction.

I found it a slightly eerie conversation. For what was being played back to me squared precisely with the story as I told it at the time and have always believed to be the truth. As the years rolled by, however, it became an increasingly difficult plot to convince anyone of. How on earth could something as marginal as Gaelic have been worth tens of millions of pounds to STV, in the sophisticated world of commercial television?

But it was, as my partner in this recent conversation cheerfully confirmed. To him, the story was ­merely an entertaining fragment of commercial television folklore. To me, it is still a piece of unfinished business. For the whole development of Gaelic television, with all its implications for the language, has been crucially undermined by that ruthless piece of commercial opportunism which the Lairds of Cowcaddens alighted upon in the early 1990s.

Their opportunity arose from a coincidence of timing. The Gaelic Television Fund was created at exactly the same time as the dotty Thatcherite idea of auctioning ITV licences was announced. Those of us who had lobbied for a Gaelic ­television service had expected the money to create a miniature version of what existed in Wales - a co­herent daily block of programmes within a single channel, probably BBC2, with the potential for a service to grow and develop.

Something entirely different - and grossly inferior - emerged. The new Gaelic Television Committee would fund programmes but the scheduling of them, if at all, would be a matter for the television com­panies. There would be no Gaelic channel, mini or otherwise, or ­programme planning. Gaelic programmes would be scattered around the schedules of both BBC and the ITV companies in Scotland.

The drive for this approach came from STV who, at that point in its then
30-year history, had never devoted a single minute of air time to Gaelic
programmes. Suddenly, it was as if they were the sole pro­prietors of Gaelic. Not only did they demand the right to broadcast Gaelic programmes but nothing less than peak-hour prominence would suffice. There would be drama, news, children's programmes, religion, the lot.

STV recruited bright young Gaels by the handful. They appointed a Gaelic Advisory Board under the chairmanship of Sir Kenneth Alexander. For a period of about two years, nothing in the Gaelic world could move without the imprimatur and financial sponsorship of STV. In what I always thought was the most cynical detail of all, they produced the company's annual report bi­lingually - for one year only, of course.

An essential part of this strategy was to bully and bludgeon with highflown rhetoric anyone who dared suggest that the whole thing was a con. And it was really only the West Highland Free Press that had the bottle to persist with that opinion. There was some sceptical comment elsewhere about STV being after the £9.5 million in the newly-created Gaelic Television Fund. But that was small beer and far from being the primary objective.

What they really set out to do - and, even more astonishingly, succeeded in doing - was to create from a standing start the myth that no rival could compete for the Central Scotland ITV franchise without a commitment to Gaelic which was commensurate with the one that they had just invented for themselves. They announced themselves willing to broadcast 200 hours of Gaelic per year including two midweek, peak-hour slots immediately following Coronation Street.

The implications of these commitments for advertising revenues - never mind the bemused viewers in Barrhead and Bargeddie - were enormous. But whenever doubts were expressed about the actual impact of peak-hour Gaelic programming on audience figures, the louder grew the bombast from Cowcaddens denouncing faint hearts and insisting that only through peak-hour exposure on ITV could the newly-created Gaelic Television Fund deliver on its objectives.

What happened next explains why STV's Gaelic strategy has taken its place in ITV's Hall of Fame and Greed. Several potential bidders for the
Central Scotland franchise took a close look at "the Gaelic commitment" and backed off. There were doubtless other factors but this was the big one. Once confident that there were no other contenders in the field, STV bid £2,000 per year for a franchise which, in a competitive en­vironment, might have fetched £20 million.

The rest, as they say, is history. STV's Gaelic Advisory Board soon disappeared. The annual report never contained another word of Gaelic. The kids who had been hired on short-term contracts were disposed of. One of the peak-hour slots dis­appeared before the ink on the franchise was dry and STV have been trying to get rid of the other one ever since.

Most of the programming was transferred to the middle of the night. The
second peak-hour slot was replaced by a still half-decent one on Sunday
evenings. Almost all of what is transmitted in Gaelic by STV is the cheapest possible television. There are now no slots available for children's programmes and they are trying to get rid of the commitment to broadcast eight Gaelic services a year. Along the way, STV took over Grampian - another pretty sordid story - so much the same now applies there too.

When they used Gaelic to get their franchise for nothing, STV claimed that they would broadcast five hours of Gaelic a week; that some of it would be in peak-viewing time; and that "it would be unfortunate if a television ghetto emerged". Last week, STV/Grampian proposed just such a ghetto - a single "block" of Gaelic programmes, getting rid of the Sunday evenings slot so that their entire obligation would consist of a couple of hours around midnight on Tuesdays, until they could get rid of that too.

They must not be allowed to get away with this. The previous regulator, the IBA, allowed STV to get away with murder - first in ­creating its Gaelic
myth and then in dis­mantling most of the commitments that it had given. The IBA is no more and its former Scottish represen­tative, Brian
Marjoribanks, is now an STV director. The new regulator is Ofcom and its first test in relation to Gaelic lies in whether it will hold STV to those vestiges of its Gaelic commitment which still exist.

Gaelic television's real need is for a dedicated channel which can grow and expand. The digital age has made that possible if the funding obstacles can be overcome, as I think they soon will be. Without the massive deceptions practised by STV and, to a ­lesser extent, Grampian in the early 1990s, Gaelic television would have developed very differently and, I am pretty sure, the Gaelic channel would by now exist. But as long as it ­doesn't exist, there must be no further contraction in the pittance that is available.

Gaelic has been worth many tens of millions of pounds to the shareholders - not to mention share-option holders - in the Scottish Media Group. Every time they try to walk away from it, they - and Ofcom - need to be reminded of how we got here in the first place.


2. New Language Points To Foundations Of Human Grammar (General Language)

By Inga Kiderra

http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/soc/BedouinSignLang.asp

University of California San Diego
News Release

January 31, 2005

How is a language born? What are its essential elements? Linguists are gaining new insights into these age-old conundrums from a language created in a small village in Israel's Negev Desert.

The Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL), which serves as an alternative language of a community of about 3,500 deaf and hearing people, has developed a distinct grammatical structure early in its evolution, researchers report, and the structure favors a particular word order: verbs after objects.

The study ? the first linguistic analysis of a language arising naturally with no outside influence ? is being published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of Jan. 31 to Feb. 4.

The authors are Mark Aronoff from Stony Brook University, Irit Meir and Wendy Sandler from the University of Haifa and Carol Padden from the University of California, San Diego.

By watching native signers tell stories and describe actions, the researchers found that the language goes beyond a list of words for actions, objects, people, characteristics and so on, to establish systematic relations among those elements. Sentences in ABSL follow a Subject-Object-Verb order, such as in "woman apple give," rather than the Subject-Verb-Object order found in English ? or, more significantly, in other languages in the region.

"The grammatical structure of the Bedouin sign language shows no influence from either the dialect of Arabic spoken by hearing members of the community or the predominant sign language in the surrounding area, Israeli Sign Language," said study coauthor Carol Padden, professor of communication at UC San Diego. "Because ABSL developed independently, it may reflect fundamental properties of language in general and provide insight into basic questions about the way in which human language develops from the very beginning."

ABSL arose in the last 70 years and is now in its third generation of use. Remarkably, the fixed word order of ABSL emerged within a generation after the inception of the language.

"Our findings support the idea that word order is one of the first features of a language, and that it appears very early," Padden said.

The research also supports the notion that languages can and do
evolve quickly.

"When we first came to Al-Sayyid, I expected to see a lot of gesture and miming, but I was impressed immediately by how sophisticated the language was. This is not an ad hoc, spur of the moment communication. It is a complex language capable of relating information beyond the here and now," said Padden.

Although other new languages such as creoles and Nicaraguan Sign Language have been reported, their unusual social and linguistic environments were not characteristic of typical languages, the study authors observe. Creoles are the product of interactions between existing languages. And Nicaraguan Sign Language, the creation of a group of deaf children, evolved in a school setting.

What distinguishes ABSL is that it grew ? as presumably did most languages of the world ? within a socially stable, existing community.

The Al-Sayyid village was founded about 200 years ago and today numbers some 3,500 members. Approximately 150 individuals with
congenital deafness, all of them descendants of two of the founders'
sons, have been born into the community in the past three generations.

A pattern of marrying within the village is the norm. Combined with deafness that is recessive ? recessive traits manifest only when two
carriers have a child ? the marriage practice has ensured that deaf people are well distributed throughout the group's population.

As a consequence, the researchers say, many of the signers in the community are hearing, a highly unusual situation for a sign language but one that can be predicted in a tightly-knit group which fully integrates its deaf members.

"It is a language of the entire community, both hearing and deaf," said Padden, who, with Tom Humphries, is co-author of the newly published Inside Deaf Culture (Harvard University Press, 2005). "ABSL is transmitted within families across generations, and children learn it without explicit instruction. It is the best analogue we have for studying how any new language is born and grows."

The Al-Sayyid group, the researchers point out, in some ways resembles the 19th-century whaling community in Massachusetts that produced the now-extinct Martha's Vineyard Sign Language. But that language died out before it could be recorded.

For the present study, the researchers focused on the second generation of ABSL signers. Further work will document the evolution of the language in the third generation.

The research is being conducted through the Center for Research in Language at UCSD and the Sign Language Research Lab at the University of Haifa. It is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Media Contact: Inga Kiderra, (858) 822-0661

Copyright ©2001 Regents of the University of California. All rights
reserved.

3. Scots' legitimacy as national tongue (Broad Scots)
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=141522005
Scotland on Sunday. 6th February, 2005.

A letter in Scotland on Sunday the day:

YOUR correspondent Archy Macpherson ('Survival of the Gaelic language', Letters, January 30) makes no mention of Scots. If any language deserves to be recognised as 'Scottish', on the analogy of Polish, Danish, etc, it is Scots.

Although it is derived from the Northumbrian dialect of Old English, it has
for centuries been the vernacular speech of southern Scotland, the central lowlands, the north-east lowlands and Caithness. It has its own regional variations and its own established literature.

Furthermore, it is the only speech that can claim to have been the official
language of the pre-Union Scottish state.

While the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act undoubtedly discriminated
against Gaelic, the important events affecting the future of that anguage
took place centuries earlier.

Once the various Anglian, Welsh and Norse elements of medieval Scotland adopted 'Inglis', as it was then called, as the common vernacular, the long-term future of Gaelic, one of gradual decline, was decided. This happened in the early Middle Ages.

Fred Forrester, Dunfermline

4. Gaelic legend who lives amongst us (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Ottawa/Earl_McRae/2005/02/06/921844.html

By Earl McRae -- For the Ottawa Sun
Sun, February 6, 2005

In the amber light of a dying wintry day, a front door opens on a quiet
street in Kanata and there she is, lovely as the island from whence she
came, her eyes and skin as clear and pure as its never-ending wind
from the sea.

She who has been living amongst us in anonymity since 2001; she who is a superstar; she who has travelled the world to great acclaim from
Europe to North America; she who is from the village of Eoligarry on the isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides off the northwest coast of Scotland; she who is Catherine-Ann MacPhee; she who is heralded as The Finest Gaelic Singer In The World.

I mention that the greatest legend of my music visited Scotland for an hour in March 1960, and she raises her eyebrows: Rock 'n' roll has never been her subsidiary taste.

While she has chosen to downsize her career since emigrating to Canada with her husband Angus, a computer software designer, and their children Mairead, 13, and Alex, 11, she is still present for her worshippers through her CDs, recently recording her first in Ottawa, Suil Air Ais, (Looking Back), for her British label. Last November, the BBC flew her to England to sing just one song -- testimony to her fame and greatness.

Gaelic revival

Gaelic, the traditional language of her people, is undergoing a revival.
There are Gaelic-immersion schools in Scotland, and its history and music is perpetuated through Scottish immigrants around the world and growing numbers of Gaelic societies, including one here in Ottawa.

Growing up on remote Barra with her sister, brother, and father who was a sailor, and mother who was a nurse, Gaelic was the only language spoken, and for many of the island, still is.

"My village was renowned for its Gaelic singing. The doors were never locked, and people would just drop in, and there'd be talking and singing,
and then the ceilidhs would start and go on and on. I was six before the
island got electricity. I didn't learn to speak English until I went to school."

Cathy-Ann, as she prefers to be called, was a gifted, natural singer. She
sang in the village halls and quaint hotels, on the tourist ships in the
harbour, and the word got back to the mainland about the young girl with the voice of an angel.

A professional Gaelic musical/ theatre group in Glasgow, Fir Chlis, recruited her, and three years later, another: The 7.84 Theatre Company, and now she was touring all around the world -- one stop, in the late 1970s, Sydney in Cape Breton, N.S.

Packed hall

"We came to perform There Is A Happy Land, the story of the Gaelic people and how they had to leave. We were to do only one show and fly back to Scotland, but a friend said she wanted us to perform the next night in Iona with a strong Gaelic population.

"On a moment's notice, handwritten notices went up on walls there the next morning -- 'Tonight! Bring All Your Friends!' -- and that night in the little village hall, it was so crowded you couldn't move, and people were
crying because this was their story.

"Cape Breton looked so much like Scotland. So beautiful. I was among my own. These were my people. I decided that one day I would move to Cape Breton and make it my home. When the kids finish college, I will -- a little house on a hill."

When Cathy-Ann, now 45, met and married Angus, they moved from Edinburgh back to Barra. "I wanted my children, for a few years of their lives, to have what I had." But, she never forgot Canada -- having performed across it several times -- and convinced Angus they should emigrate. With Cape Breton not providing the opportunities in his field, they came to Ottawa.

Devoting herself to her family, home, and relative privacy, Cathy-Ann MacPhee, the first lady of Gaelic song, still performs when asked. She can be reached at [email protected] and it is also the way to locally buy her CDs of Gaelic songs that proliferate stores in the U.K. and Cape Breton.

She plays for me some tracks on one of them, backed by the genre's best musicians in the world. "My God," I say, "you should be singing in concert at the NAC." Before leaving, I ask her to translate something for me into Gaelic. She laughs.

"Choinnich Elvis ri na caraidean aige aig port adhair Prestwick air a rathad dhadhaigh as an airm sa Ghearmailt," she writes in my notebook. Elvis met his fans at Prestwick airport on his way home from the army in Germany.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 07-Feb-2005, 08:28 PM
Today's headlines for 2/7/05:

I. Scotland
A. Language
1. Gaelic to be included on UK passports
2. Gaelic First for New UK Passports
B. Culture/History
1. Truth that lies in the mists of ancient legend
2. New currency for the king who coined his place in history

II. Ireland
A. Culture/History
1. Next Exit: Food, Gas and the Burial Place of Irish Kings

~~~~~~~~~

I. Scotland
A. Language
1. Gaelic to be included on UK passports

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=143122005

The Scotsman
Mon 7 Feb 2005

Gaelic to be included on UK passports

SCOTTISH Gaelic is to be included on UK passports for the first time,
the government is to announce today.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling will say the language is to
feature on all the new biometric passports from late this year or
early 2006.

©2005 Scotsman.com

~~~

2. Gaelic First for New UK Passports

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4238991.stm

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Gaelic first for new UK passports

UK passports are to include details in Scottish Gaelic for the first
time, it has been confirmed.

It will be used in all sections of new biometric passports with
translations into EU member state languages.

The documents, which are set to be introduced in late 2005 or early
2006, are being designed by the UK Passport Service.

Scottish Secretary Alastair Darling said it is an "important
recognition" by ministers of the Gaelic language.

He said: "Gaelic headings will be included in all key information
sections of the new passport and this signifies the importance the
government places on supporting the language."

The passports will include a chip, embedded in the document to boost
security, containing personal details.

Mr Darling made the announcement as he prepared to visit Lewis and
tour Consumer Direct - part of a UK-wide network of call centres
providing consumer advice.

'European Charter'

Western Isles Labour MSP Alasdair Morrison, a Gaelic speaker, hailed
the "major milestone" for the language.

He said: "Gaelic speakers have been campaigning for 30 years for
recognition of the language in government services, so this is
excellent news."

Donald Martin, chief executive of Comunn na Gaidhlig - the Gaelic
Development Agency - said the announcement was good news for
Scotland's Gaelic speakers.

He said: "This gives Gaelic a position it hasn't had before and is
very much in line with the UK Government's obligations under the
European Charter regarding regional and minority languages."

During his Western Isles trip, Mr Darling is also due to visit the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency Centre, to thank staff for their work
during severe storms in the Western Isles last month.

© BBC MMV

~~~~~~

B. Culture/History
1. Truth that lies in the mists of ancient legend

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=142092005

The Scotsman
Mon 7 Feb 2005

Truth that lies in the mists of ancient legend

Michael Wood

OVER the years, my job as a film-maker has taken me on many thrilling
journeys: searching for the Tale of Troy, tracking Alexander across
the heart of Asia; following the epic journeys of the conquistadors
in Amazonian Peru and Mexico. Often, in the wilds of the Hindu Kush,
say, or in the Andes, I have sat by the campfire to hear legendary
tales about real historical figures: how, for example, Alexander the
Great was borne up to heaven on a magic chariot drawn by griffons;
how he plumbed the depths of the ocean in a diving-bell. In a yurt
one night in the plains of central Asia, an old Turkman nomad told me
that Alexander really had horns, but because of his long wavy hair
only his barber knew the secret.

Often, at such times, it seemed that among the ordinary people the
legend had become more important than the history. The retelling of
the story in the folk tradition had produced its own narrative, far
more strange and wonderful than mere historical fact, but still in a
mysterious way reflecting some essence of the original story. Such
experiences set me thinking about myths in general, hero stories and
legends, and the way they grow over time, and are passed on - and
their relation to so-called "real" history. The BBC series that
started on Friday is the result of those musings.

The tales in our films come from some of the world's richest myth-
making traditions: Indian, Greek, Arabian and Jewish. The journeys
take us to some extraordinarily exotic places - Eritrea, Ethiopia and
the Yemen, Nepal and Tibet, Georgia and the mountains of the
Caucasus. But it is the myth from the Celtic world which is perhaps
the most famous and evocative of the lot: the tale of King Arthur and
the Knights of the Round Table.

Now, you might have thought that Arthur was a field too well-trodden
for anything new to be said. Everybody has their take on where
legends came from, and whether there is any history in them, but
nothing new has emerged on the "historical Arthur" over the past 30
years. My own feeling is that the story of Arthur is almost entirely
the creation of story-tellers in the British Isles, later embellished
by great French and German poets of the Middle Ages. The doyen of the
Arthur inventors, Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 1130s, fittingly wrote
within yards of the Oxford suburb where The Lord of the Rings, The
Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland and more recently Philip
Pullman's His Dark Materials were written: and Geoffrey is nearer to
them than to any historian. With Arthur, then, don't think history -
think story-tellers.

That said, though, was there a historical kernel? If there was,
scholars these days are more and more drawn to a Scottish connection.
The first written version of the legend, by Nennius in the early
ninth century, claims Arthur was a British hero fighting against the
Saxons at the time after the fall of the Roman Empire.

In this first appearance he is already a mythic figure, a Dark Age
Che Guevara shading into medieval Superman. Nennius gives Arthur a
list of 12 battles which, like other such lists in early Welsh
poetry, is drawn from different times and places: but some are
obviously northern: the Caledonian forest clearly lies to the north
of Hadrian's Wall; another may be High Rochester in the Cheviots.
Even more interesting in the northern connection is the tenth-century
Welsh Annals' mention of the battle where an "Arthur" was killed,
along with a Medraut who sounds very much like a prototype of
Mordred, Arthur's eventual betrayer. The name of the battle is
Camlann, which if it is to be found in any surviving Roman British
placename appears to be Camboglanna: the "crooked bank" -
Castlesteads Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall: a fort that we know was
occupied well into the post-Roman twilight perhaps by some Border
warlord.

This area between the wall, the Clyde and the Forth is also where the
earliest old Welsh poetry derives from: the poems of the bards
Aneirin, Taliesin, and interestingly enough, Myrddin "the Wild", the
wandering fugitive whom later tradition turned into the prophet and
magician Merlin.

All of which might suggest that the shadowy beginnings of the tale
might lie in a northern bardic tradition recording battles fought in
the Borders between Saxons, Picts, Scots and Cumbrians.

The early Welsh poems allow us to glimpse the real world of Dark Age
north British leaders in their feasting halls. They wore golden torcs
and cloaks of beaver skin, drank "pale mead" from gilded cups and
fought with "stained swords and bristling spears"; boasting, so the
poets said, that they would "rather be flesh for wolves than go to
the altar to wed": a suitably gritty take on the tale.

But was there a real Arthur? I'd put my money on one of the most
famous early Scottish texts: the biography of St Columba by Adomnan
of Iona. There, Adomnan tells of a tragic battle, perhaps back in the
580s, in the time of Aidan, the first king of the Dal Riada Scots to
really emerge from myth. In the battle, Aidan's eldest son is killed
by a border people known as the Miathi. His name is Artuir.

This Arthur is the genuine article - recorded in an excellent early-
eighth century manuscript, so unmediated by the fakers and the myth-
makers. And perhaps it's not stretching the imagination too far to
picture a bard in the court of Dal Riada singing of the tragic
victorious battle prophesied by St Columba where King Aidan's heir
died fighting with his brothers and heroes of his warband?

That's just a guess, of course. But in the end, the power of the
myth, like all great myths, doesn't depend on literal historical
truth. The perennial vitality of the Arthur legend comes from its
great symbols - like the Grail, mystical and ultimately unattainable -
and its timeless themes: the quest, the pure knighthood, the fatal
union of adulterous love, the tragedy of civil strife, and the
ambiguous majesty of kingship itself. All these themes had a
fantastic appeal to medieval people, and to the Victorians. And they
still do to us today.

? Michael Wood is a writer, broadcaster and film-maker. His new
series In Search of Myths and Heroes continues on Friday on BBC2.

©2005 Scotsman.com

~~~

2. New currency for the king who coined his place in history

New currency for the king who coined his place in history
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/32931.html
STEPHEN STEWART. The Herald. February 07 2005

HE is Scotland's "forgotten king", who built the modern nation state
but was
overshadowed by descendants such as Robert the Bruce.

Now a leading historian has written the first biography of David I,
claiming
he changed the direction of Scotland's development and had a far
greater
impact on Britain's history than was previously thought.

Dr Richard Oram, of the University of Stirling, said the twelfth-
century
monarch was often ignored, but was one of the greatest state-builders
not
only in Scotland, but in the British Isles.

He claims that David I modernised Scotland, formulated a national
legal
code, introduced native coinage, founded the main burghs, reformed the
church and established monasteries.

He also extended Scotland's southern frontier almost as far as the
Humber
but is almost entirely ignored in modern Scotland.
Dr Oram found that it was David I who built the dominant feature of
Carlisle
castle, the keep traditionally attributed to Henry II, the English
king.

Dr Oram said: "David was the king who effectively created the kingdom
of
Scotland as we would now recognise it.

"The man was a complete swine but then you didn't succeed by being
nice in
those days. Wallace and Bruce are seen as the 'liberators', the
patriotic
heroes who rescued Scotland from the tyranny of foreign oppression or
so the
conventional propaganda would have it.

"Both were the subject of epic poems which, whatever their historical
merit,
fixed them eternally in the popular mind as the towering
personalities of
medieval Scotland.

"David, despite his successes in projecting Scottish royal power
further
than any of his predecessors and extending it more effectively than
any of
his successors before the fifteenth century, did not have a similar
propagandist."

He added: "In post-Reformation Scotland, he was simply too Catholic
for the
taste of some historians."

Dr Oram's research into David I has revealed a complex character who
could
waver between God-fearing piety and ruthless violence. A committed
Christian, the king cared about his subjects, but was also extremely
ambitious for himself and his immediate family.

Dr Oram's work has also dispelled the long held myth that the
medieval king
was a "Normanised" outsider who imposed his ways on a backward
kingdom.

"He can appear as a cynical political manipulator who used casual
violence
as an instrument in his statecraft, but, conversely, he appears to
have been
deeply tortured by some of his actions and attempted to salve his
conscience
and secure spiritual salvation through pious acts," said Dr Oram.

"I believe he was much more of a hybrid, who introduced new ways
where they
helped him to tighten his grip on power and extend royal authority
generally, but also ruled in the tradition of his ancestors."

David established a feudal system in Scotland and introduced many
novel
ideas such as silver coinage, promoting education and giving
audiences to
rich and poor alike.

Stirling, Perth and Dunfermline were made royal burghs, which meant
that
they could engage in foreign trade and 15 religious houses were
founded,
including the abbeys at Jedburgh, Kelso and Melrose.

King David died in Carlisle in 1153, at the age of 69. He had ended
his days
gardening and tending orchards below Edinburgh Castle and in
Haddington.
Henry, His only son, had died in 1152, so he was succeeded by Malcolm
IV,
his 12-year-old grandson.

~~~~~~~~~

II. Ireland
A. Culture/History
1. Next Exit: Food, Gas and the Burial Place of Irish Kings

TARA JOURNAL

Next Exit: Food, Gas and the Burial Place of Irish Kings
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/international/europe/31tara.html?
oref=logi
n
By BRIAN LAVERY

Published: January 31, 2005

TARA, Ireland - Ancient England may have Stonehenge, but ancient
Ireland has
the Hill of Tara. The 6,000-year-old sacred site in the middle of
quiet
rolling fields is revered here as the burial place of 140 kings, and
as the
formative birthplace of this land's national identity.

Modern Ireland also has Dublin, whose budding metropolitan area is
home to
about 1.5 million people of Ireland's population of close to 4
million. The
city's growing sprawl is causing a clash that is affecting the entire
country, as lovers of the mythical and prehistoric Ireland try to
preserve
the placidity of Tara against the needs of local residents struggling
to
commute to the capital on antiquated and inadequate roads.

That need prompted plans more than four years ago for a highway
stretching
into County Meath, where the population has soared in the last decade.
Drivers rejoiced in the hope of relief from the interminable traffic
jams on
the existing two-lane road to Dublin, which carries double its
suggested
vehicle capacity as it winds through farmland and past rows of new
housing
complexes that have sprung up outside each little town.

The highway's proposed route, though, is to pass Tara, about 1.5
miles to
the east, and is to carve through a valley that contains some of the
oldest
archaeological sites in Europe. As a result, the road plan has become
a
lightning rod for bringing ancient history into contemporary politics.
Archaeologists and heritage campaigners have begun fighting a legal
battle
to move the road, and they contend that a failure to do so would
prove that
Ireland, awash with wealth after its "Celtic Tiger" economic boom,
has lost
touch with its roots.

Construction is to start early next year and be completed by 2008,
but could
take longer if protests go on.

The campaign to preserve the Tara-Skryne valley is backed by prominent
members of Parliament - one called the highway's route "an act of
cultural
vandalism" - and has attracted significant international support on
the
Internet.

Tara "is important to our psyche, our nation, and our identity," said
Julitta Clancy, secretary of the Meath Archaeological and Historical
Society, which is opposed to the route through the valley that
stretches
from the monuments at Tara to the picturesque ruins of a stone church
on a
neighboring hill at Skryne. "But it's also important to archaeology,
and to
what I think future generations should have handed on to them."

Supporters of the four-lane road, which at 40 miles in length and a
$900
million budget would be Ireland's biggest highway, counter that it
does not
threaten the hill itself. They point out that alternative routes pass
unacceptably close to dozens of houses. They also say that the 38
archaeological sites that developers have already found along the
route
would be excavated, documented, and stored in a museum.

"History and culture have a place, but I don't accept that they should
necessarily dictate" planning decisions, said Michael Egan, corporate
affairs officer for the National Roads Association, the government
body that
builds highways. "You can't sacrifice the current population en masse
for
archaeology alone."

That argument resonates with people like Alan Carton, who bought a
house
with his fiancée in Meath four years ago. Driving 32 miles to his job
in
Dublin takes him more than two hours each way, leaving little time
with his
16-month-old son.

"It annoys me that the baby sitter sees more of him than I do," said
Mr.
Carton, 30. "She gets to see him doing things for the first time that
I
don't get to see."

At a recent meeting of the Irish Parliament's environment committee,
opponents of the route contended that the Tara-Skryne valley is an
intact
archaeological landscape, filled with dozens and possibly hundreds of
undiscovered sites, like a ring of protective forts that encircle the
sacred
hill. They fear that Tara's spectacular views, which reach to 13 of
Ireland's 32 counties on a clear day, will be marred by gas stations
and
restaurants at a proposed cloverleaf junction nearby.

Unlike Stonehenge or archaeological sites like the Newgrange passage
tomb in
Meath, Tara requires a lot of imagination from contemporary visitors.
The
oldest monuments at Tara date from 4,000 B.C. - which, as every Irish
schoolchild proudly knows, precedes the Egyptian pyramids at Giza by
1,500
years - and Ireland's high kings were crowned on the hill until
Christianity
arrived. But most of its structures are buried or grown-over, and can
be
admired just as grassy bumps and ridges in the ground.

Still, many people consider Tara to be the heart of Celtic
spirituality -
new-age Druids still hold regular ceremonies here - and central to
being
Irish.

On a blustery afternoon recently, Ms. Clancy led a group of about 20
locals
on a walk around the hill, pointing out monuments like the two
parallel
ridges stretching down a slope that could have been a processional or
banquet hall.

"It comes down to the Celtic Tiger turning its back on its Celtic
past," Ms.
Clancy said.

Edel Bhreathnach, a historian at University College Dublin who has
researched Tara for more than a decade, told the parliamentary
committee
that the route would cost more money and more time than the
alternative
route to the east that opponents support, because of legal challenges
and
excavations required by law before construction begins.

"This destruction will be irrevocable," Ms. Bhreathnach said. "It will
undermine Ireland's credibility as custodians of our shared European
heritage."

Posted by: WizardofOwls 09-Feb-2005, 04:51 AM
Today's headlines for 2/8/05:

I. Scotland
A. Gaelic
1. Standing by their word
2. Attie Mackechnie
B. Broad Scots
1. Rastafarian Burns defies Scottish artistic traditions
C. General
1. Literary legacy we are denying our youngsters

II. Cornwall
1. Death of Jowann Richards

~~~~~~~~~
I. Scotland
A. Gaelic

1. Standing by their word

STANDING BY THEIR WORD
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/
Press and Journal. 09:00 - 07 February 2005

At a time when the number of Gaelic speakers in the Highlands and
further
afield is held to be dangerously low, what does the future hold for
the
ancient language? EILIDH DAVIES spoke to members of the Gaelic
community to
find out

Ciamar a tha thu? If you understand this phrase then you are part of
just 1%
of the Scottish population who does.

It means: "How are you doing?" in Gaelic.

The apparently fragile state of the language has led to a number of
initiatives over the past 20 years or so.

Not least is the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill, introduced in the
Scottish
Parliament on September 27 last year and expected to become law by
mid-summer.

Politicians hope the bill, debated in principle by MSPs last week,
will
secure the future of the language, both at ministerial and grassroots
level.

At its heart will be Bord na Gaidhlig, set up by the Scottish
Executive two
years ago to promote the language.

Bord na Gaidhlig chief executive Allan Campbell said the new
organisation
would have a stronger voice than previous organisations.

"For example, Comunn na Gaidhlig is not statutory - it has no
powers," he
said.

"It can cajole and coax and plead but it can't actually order or
instruct.

"The bord will have authority."

But though the board can deliver a hefty bite, Mr Campbell insists it
will
take a more co-operative approach.

He said: "I don't see any benefit in the bord, or any other
organisation,
waving a big stick and saying, 'you must do that'.

"We want to work with organisations. We have been set up to co-
ordinate the
redevelopment of Gaelic in Scotland.

"The future is extremely precarious. The number of Gaelic speakers is
at a
dangerously low level but we have a commitment from Government and
legislation on the horizon.

"That's a huge step forward.

"We will produce a national plan for Gaelic which will tie all the
threads
together, encompassing elements of the Gaelic language bill."

Mr Campbell said this would be done by working with voluntary groups,
enterprise companies and a wide range of other bodies to ensure
matters were
progressed at community level.

Public-sector bodies will also be required to produce Gaelic language
plans
or schemes through the bill.

Mr Campbell said about 15 bodies, such as VisitScotland, could be
invited to
work with the bord.

He also stressed it was important to find ways to enable people to
use the
language in their everyday life.

He said some services should be provided through the medium of Gaelic
and
that it was not necessary to translate everything into Gaelic.

He added, however, that companies should be thinking about what they
do and
who they do it for, and how they could deliver some of the service
through
the medium of Gaelic.

"It's essential for the status of the language," Mr Campbell
said. "It gives
pride to those who speak it and pride for those who provide this.

"It's about facilitation, not coercion - enabling people who want to
use
language, not forcing it on people who don't want it."

Mr Campbell said Gaelic could also be economically advantageous,
claiming it
is a unique selling point which helps give visitors a sense of place.

He said: "Unless we have that, we are denying ourselves an economic
opportunity in my view."

Previous initiatives aimed at safeguarding the language include the
1982
report by the then Highlands and Islands Development Board, Cor na
Gaidhlig,
the state of Gaelic, which recommended setting up a Gaelic language
board.

It also said the Scottish Office needed a Gaelic group from the Gaelic
community.

Comunn na Gaidhlig, meanwhile, a company with charitable status and
established to promote and develop the language, was set up in 1984.

Mr Campbell said: "There was a feeling in the 1960s and 70s, and even
before
that, that Gaelic was nice to sing and to use socially but, in every
practical sense, it was no use. This is not the case any longer.
There is
now an embryonic development of language."

The 2001 census recorded 65,674 people aged three or over who could
speak,
read or write the language - 1.3% of the population.

Many believe young people are the key to preserving the Gaelic
language.

More than 1,000 children are receiving Gaelic-medium education and a
further
1,000 are learning Gaelic in secondary schools in the Highlands.
Kirsteen
Keir is a teacher in the Gaelic-medium unit at Central Primary School
in
Inverness. It was the first such unit to open in the Highlands and
now has
more than 100 pupils.

Miss Keir was one of the first pupils at the school 20 years ago and
stresses the advantage of children learning the language through
school.

"It's definitely an advantage. Research has proved that by the time
pupils
who have gone through Gaelic-medium education reach Primary 7, they
generally outdo their English counterparts.

"It's challenging for them and I think it makes them more self-
confident,"
Miss Keir said.

Although she believes the future looks bright for Gaelic due to the
large
number of children receiving Gaelic-medium education, Miss Keir said
there
was always room for improvement.

"There will never be enough resources or materials, but I suppose
that's
true of most things," she said.

"We now know there are job opportunities for people who can speak
Gaelic.
That doesn't mean they have to have a Gaelic job, but it may be
useful to
them during their working life and it is seen as advantageous by many
employers."

Murdo Morrison is promotion manager for the Royal National Mod, the
annual
showcase for Gaelic singers and musicians. It has proved resilient,
surviving for more than 100 years.

Mr Morrison said the Mod had to change with the times if it was to
continue
to play an important part in the development of the language.

An Comunn Gaidhlig established the Mod and has now appointed three
development officers who work across Scotland, from the Western Isles
to
Dumfries.

Mr Morrison said this was one of the measures the body was
undertaking to
try to address the changing environment the language had to adapt to.

He also stressed that youngsters were vital to the survival of the
language
and said the importance of Gaelic at community level could not be
overstated.

Mr Morrison said Bord na Gaidhlig needed to be given time before any
judgment on its success could be made, but said he would be delighted
to
work with the it.

He added: "Gaelic is a national asset, not just confined to the
Highlands
and islands of Scotland.

"Gaelic is the only language which has been spoken continuously in
Scotland
from before the time of the Romans until the present day. It gave
Scotland
its name and has left its mark in the form of place names from
Lothian to
Caithness.

"Although the language is in a precarious position, it also has some
very
enthusiastic and passionate supporters who, I have no doubt, will do
everything within their power to ensure the survival of the Gaelic
language."

~~~

2. Attie Mackechnie

Attie Mackechnie
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/32893.html
MAXWELL MacLEOD. The Herald. February 07 2005

The death of Attie Mackechnie has robbed Mull of one of its last great
tradition bearers and perhaps the most significant of the Gaelic
craftsmen
who formed the backbone of the project to rebuild and maintain Iona
Abbey.

The restoration project was led by George MacLeod, and while popular
mythology may suggest that all the re-building work was undertaken by
unemployed shipyard workers from Govan, an infinitely greater role was
played by a group of around a dozen Gaelic stone masons from the Ross
of
Mull.

Back in the 1950s, these included the young Attie, a stocky, intensely
dignified and good-looking Mull man who sang Gaelic songs to
international
competition level and had served with distinction as a seaman on
Russian
convoys.

As Herald columnist Ron Ferguson stated in his biography of MacLeod,
much of
the motivation behind the abbey's restoration related to the
glorification
of the Gaelic and Celtic traditions. Attie and his colleagues played
an
instrumental role in this through the cultural education of the
dozens of
young minister and labourers who joined them on the shaky wooden
scaffolding.

A typical summer's evening would see several of the Mull craftsmen
walking
among piles of massive granite stones, memorising their shapes and
distribution of weight for the day's building ahead. Their lifting and
laying would sometimes be lubricated by Gaelic worksongs, and always
with
humour.

Attie was at the heart of all this. He drove the lorry (Annie), fixed
almost
everything (specialising in disputes) and even found the time to
teach this,
no doubt irritatingly garrulous, young boy to catch flounders on
bated long
lines.

He was good to fish with, steady and methodical, and Attie seemed
almost
pre-programmed with knowledge of the tides, birds and wind. When he
hummed
his Gaelic songs as we waited for the lines to fill, the music seemed
to
come from the same source.

Although Attie's career necessitated that he often moved between the
Hebrides and the mainland, where his work included a spell as an
administrator at the Pierce Institute, in Govan, his heart was always
in the
west. All parties were delighted when he was able to return to the
completed
building to act as manager of the Iona Abbey Trustees maintenance
team.

It was then that perhaps the most significant part of his career
began. With
his quiet and unassuming manner, he was not only a pacifying link
between
the trustees and their new tenants, the Iona Community, who had
organised
the re-building, he was also an invaluable fund of knowledge on how
the
abbey (and, indeed, the trustees and the Iona Community) fitted
together.

These two groups, the Iona Community and the trustees, were often in
a state
of tension. Attie, who was a signed-up member of both organisations,
played
a sophisticated diplomatic role based on straight talking and zero
duplicity.

Back on his family's land on Mull, at Lee near Bunessan, Attie was
also fast
becoming something of a Gaelic legend through his story-telling,
singing and
general tradition bearing. An indication of the respect with which
George
MacLeod held Attie's word might be seen in MacLeod taking a dispute
over the
tenancy of that land to a question in the House of Lords.

His latter years were spent looking after his beloved wife, the
former Mary
Tolland, on Mull and, after her death, as a living institution whose
Mull
home was almost incessantly being visited by scholars and friends, all
hungry for his refreshing company.

A well-known voice on Gaelic radio and a respected source of
information on
all things Gaelic, his contribution was so accurate and immense that,
when
an indigenous forest was planted on the Ross of Mull, it was named in
his
honour.

This writer knew Attie Mackechnie for nigh on 50 years and never once
heard
him shout or insult anyone. He never had to.
He was truly a darling man and a great credit to his people. May the
soft
lands of Mull now take him home.

~~~

B. Broad Scots

1. Rastafarian Burns defies Scottish artistic traditions

Rastafarian Burns defies Scottish artistic traditions
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=145632005
SUSAN MANSFIELD. The Scotsman. 8th February, 2005.

YOU can't grow up in Ayrshire and escape Robert Burns. From annual
recitations in schools to tourist signs on every corner, you are left
in no
doubt you're in the shadow of the national bard. Graham Fagen grew up
in
Irvine, at the heart of Burns country, though he always felt more
affinity
with the sounds of Jamaican reggae.

Later, when he became an artist, he decided to look further into this
personal paradox. When he realised that Burns himself had planned to
leave
Scotland for a new life in Jamaica in 1786, he knew he had found
fertile
ground within which he could explore issues of cultural identity.

He has returned to it several times but never as directly, or perhaps
as
effectively, as in his new show, Clean Hands, Pure Heart. Visitors to
the
darkened space will be greeted by familiar words, in an unfamiliar
accent: a
video projection in which Burns's The Slave's Lament, spliced at each
end by
verses of Auld Lang Syne, is sung by reggae vocalist Ghetto Priest.

"I wanted to clash two songs together which have opposite sentiments,
but
make sense as a whole. The first rendition of Auld Lang Syne sounds
almost
like you're hearing it on the radio. Then there's a heartfelt
rendering of
The Slave's Lament by a young black Rastafarian man, which is
powerful in
terms of the history and meaning of the song. Then Auld Lang Syne
again,
revitalised and intensified."

Like all Fagen's work, it is a product of careful thought and
research.
Fagen, a contemporary of Douglas Gordon and Roddy Buchanan at Glasgow
School
of Art, is one of Scotland's most versatile artists. He has, he
says, "a
library of ideas, questions, curiosities, intrigues" from which he
plucks
the concept for each new work. Research will then guide him to a
suitable
medium.

That might be photography, drawing or watercolour. Or it might be
making a
neon sign, developing a new variety of rose, setting up a pirate radio
station, or designing a public park. Fagen doesn't hang around
waiting to be
pigeon-holed. At 39, he has shown all over the world. There have been
Biennales in Venice, New Zealand and Korea. This summer, however, he's
concentrating on matters closer to home, the arrival of his second
child.

Fagen is an ideas man. He may or may not have hands-on input in the
finished
work, but you can be sure he has overseen it carefully, pulling
together the
necessary expertise to realise his idea - rose growers, bronze
casters or,
in this case, a music producer. Adrian Sherwood has worked with
Madonna and
Sinead O'Connor, but, crucially for Fagen, runs his own reggae label,
On-U-Sound.

"I went to our first meeting, thinking he would want to think about
it get
back to me," Fagen says. "I stumbled through my pitch, and he
went: 'Sure,
great,' and spent the next 15 minutes talking about how we could do
it.

"Adrian played a version of The Slave's Lament to Ghetto Priest and
he just
sat and cried. He said that he somehow knew I would bring this song
to him,
that he was born to sing this song. You can see by his performance
how much
he understood and felt the lyrics."

It was with Ghetto Priest's moving rendition of Burns ringing in his
ears
that Fagen sat down to watch Hogmanay TV, trundling out its usual
tired
versions of the bard. "It sounded pathetic," he says. "It's as if the
most
radical we can get is having someone who used to be in a pop group
singing
Burns, and it's awful!"

Scotland, he says, has a paradoxical attitude to its national
poet. "Take
Shakespeare or Goethe - they have academic, political and cultural
examination and re-examination, as with any serious literary figure.
We have
a serious figure in literature who is good for selling shortbread!"

It is part of the artist's job, he believes, to question these
things: "The
artist is someone who lives and works and functions within the
culture.
Maybe the artist is in a position to work with that culture, to
examine that
culture, compare it to others, to question it, to analyse it, to try
to
understand it in order to present the views and understanding back in
some
way."

Any conversation with Fagen will range widely. One minute we're on a
cultural critique of Scotland, the next we're talking about the still-
life
painting of the 17th-century Dutch masters. The other works in Fagen's
Tramway show, four meticulous bronze casts of flowers and plants, he
considers "still lives".

There is a delicate black pansy ("It's the whole idea of seeing a
familiar
face in an unfamiliar colour, like having a young Rastafarian man
singing
The Slave's Lament"); a vase of arum lilies, formal and with
overtones of
mortality; a large leek, wrapped in a sheet of Kosovan newsprint, a
reference to Fagen's time as a war artist in Kosovo ("It weighs a
ton!");
and a pineapple and orange. Add rhyming slang (pineapple-chapel) and
you
have the sectarian divisions of Scotland on a plate.

His fascination with still life, he says, lies in the depth of its
tradition. The lowest genre in the table compiled by the artistic
academy,
it nevertheless had its own artistic language, one which he can play
with
and subvert. The best still-life paintings create an illusion of being
three-dimensional. Fagen's really are. Not just clever replicas, they
are
physical casts of the objects they represent. Not to mention what
might just
be the heaviest leek in the world.


* Clean Hands, Pure Heart by Graham Fagen is at Tramway 2, Friday
until 13
March, with a panel discussion and publication launch on 10 March.

~~~

C. General

1. Literary legacy we are denying our youngsters

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=146462005

The Scotsman
Tue 8 Feb 2005

Literary legacy we are denying our youngsters

PLATFORM

CARL MACDOUGALL


I SPOKE to a politician recently. We are, I suggested, the only
country in Europe who need to be educated about ourselves.

"How did you learn?" he asked, cocking his head to one side and
changing the subject. His point was that my non-academic route was
open to others, a logic which refutes the need for education.

Tom Devine rightly calls our schools' neglect of our nation's
history "an educational scandal". But the truly shameful fact is that
the scandal can be extended to other subjects.

Since Writing Scotland was broadcast on BBC2 last year I have been
stopped in the street, had letters and phone calls from strangers
asking for information. Most folk say they had no idea such a diverse
literary wealth existed.

The series set out to introduce Scottish writers and their work to a
Scottish audience. This had never been done before, either on radio
or television. We therefore tried to be as inclusive as possible,
hoping to offer what Chekhov said a short story should offer, a
glimpse; and from this initial sighting, he said, the rest of the
story can be constructed.

Such a series would be unnecessary in almost any other European
country where national literature is taught, often from primary
school onwards. Our achievements in science and engineering, our
strengths in literature and the arts, the fact that Scotland has
consistently punched above its weight in various fields is obviously
something our nation's young learn only if they are interested, after
they have left school.

Nothing about us is good enough. Our very language has been
consistently undermined and denigrated. Yet the list of Scottish
literature's individual and collective achievements is no less
impressive in its familiarity. Robert Burns is the world's most
celebrated poet. James Hogg's Confessions and Memoirs of a Justified
Sinner is a masterwork of world literature. Walter Scott invented
both the historical and romantic novel. Conan Doyle gave the world
its most famous detective. Robert Louis Stevenson invented the
psychological novel. Hugh MacDiarmid was considered one of the
greatest European writers of the 20th century. And Muriel Spark is
surely a candidate for the Nobel laureateship.

Edwin Muir said our ballads contain the greatest poetry Scotland has
produced: "They bring us back again to the Scottish people and its
part in the making of Scotland; for it was the people who created
these magnificent poems," he wrote. "The greatest poetry of most
countries has been written by the educated middle and upper classes;
the greatest poetry of Scotland has come from the people."

In the last analysis it is a matter of national pride. We have a
literature of which any other country would boast. It is a birthright
our children are being denied.

? Carl MacDougall wrote and presented BBC2's Writing Scotland series
which was screened from September to November last year.

©2005 Scotsman.com

~~~~~~

II. Cornwall

1. Death of Jowann Richards

Death of Jowann Richards
http://www.cornish-language.org/English/ViewNews.asp?view=143
Sunday, February 06, 2005

The Cornish Language Fellowship is sad to report the death of one of
Kernewek's most prolific authors. Yowann Richards died from a heart
attack
on Friday 28th January. He was very ill with heart problems in 2004,
and
although he made a miraculous recovery since leaving hospital last
April, he
started to become ill again a few weeks ago. However, on the morning
of his
death, he had remarked that he was feeling much better again, but
then died
of a heart attack a few hours later at around midday.

John Willis Richards was born on 14th June 1926, in Poole, Dorset. On
his
mother's side, he traced his family back in Penrith to about 1540,
and on
his father's side in West Devon to 1405.

He was educated at Poole Grammar School and later, after army service
1944
to 1947, at University College, Southampton. He was a Chemical and
Biochemical Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical
Engineers and
a Chartered Engineer. Until retirement in 1991, he worked for several
chemical and pharmaceutical companies, and latterly as a Consulting
Engineer. For some years he was a member of the Management Committee
of the
Government Biotechnology Directorate.

He was the author of many papers and articles, and of five books in
English,
on topics ranging from mathematics, fermentation, biochemical
engineering
and technical management to natural history for children. He was the
author
of numerous short and longer stories in Cornish, and one short Cornish
novel, writing under the name of Jowann Richards. His hobbies included
reading novels in Welsh.

He became a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh (Mab Roswern) by examination
in
1986, after learning Cornish through KDL (Kernewek Dre Lyther) and was
winner of the Mordon-Caradar Rosebowl in 1985, 1987 and 1993, The
Eisteddfod
poetry competition in 1989 and of the Cornish Crystal in 1986.

John was married to Nancy, with a son David and a daughter Gillian.
He lived
in Fareham, Hampshire.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 11-Feb-2005, 09:19 AM
Here are the headlines for 2/10/05

1. SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT MAY APPROVE GAELIC BILL(Scottish/Manx Gaelic)
2. No Welsh or other lesser-used languages on European jobseekers passport (Welsh)

1. SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT MAY APPROVE GAELIC BILL (Scottish/Manx Gaelic)

A LONG-AWAITED Gaelic Language Bill, which will give Gaelic official recognition and require all public bodies to create a language policy, is expected to be approved by MSPs shortly. The bill was unveiled last September and the Scottish Executive hopes it will complete its parliamentary process this summer. As well as giving official recognition to Scottish Gaelic, the bill gives powers to the Gaelic development board, B"rd na Gààidhlig, to oversee the development of the language and secure its status as an official language of Scotland. A Scottish Parliament committee scrutinising the bill warned earlier this month that the legislation on its own would not save the language. Education committee convener Robert Brown said MSPs had been struck by the 'fragile' condition of the Gaelic language. 'This bill will contribute to securing the future of Gaelic but it will not be enough on its own,' he said. 'It has to be backed up by real commitment by the Scottish Executive to the language and the Gaelic community and, in particular, to Gaelic education.' At the last census the number of people able to speak, read or write Scottish Gaelic had fallen to 65,674 by 2001 - a drop of 20 per cent in 20 years. Figures for Manx Gaelic, on the other hand, were much more positive showing an increase to 1,689 speakers - more than double the 1991 figure.

2. No Welsh or other lesser-used languages on European jobseekers passport (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net
Huw Morgan yn Abergele 2/8/2005

An European scheme that helps those seeking work and that includes information on the languages that they speak does not include the Welsh language. Europass, which was recently launched by the European Commission, is designed to make it easier for people to explain their qualifications when looking for work in another European country. It includes a series of documents including a Language Passport to show an individual's linguistic skills. But although the document allows people to select their mother tongue from a list that includes Catalan, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Korean as well as English, Arabic and Turkish, Welsh and other minoritised languages are not included. Plaid Cymru Euro MP Jill Evans has expressed her disappointment that this new European qualification scheme has ignored the existence of Welsh. "Once again we see Wales left out when it comes to Europe. The British Government is clearly not doing its bit to represent our interests at the European level. I'm a strong supporter of the Europass scheme - it has great potential to stimulate jobs and help growth by making it easier for people to look for work in other European Union countries - but this snub to the Welsh language is utterly unacceptable." She added that, "Not only is this a failure to recognise the reality of life in Wales - which after all is a part of the European Union - but I fear it could also discourage Welsh speakers or learners from taking part in this scheme. This could potentially put hundreds of thousands of people at a disadvantage. It shouldn't be difficult to rectify. I will be writing to therelevant authorities asking them to deal with the situation as a matter of urgency." The list does not allow speakers of Welsh to list their language either as their mother tongue or as a second language. This is despite Welsh being spoken by over 500,000 people in Wales, and by over 40% of young people who are very likely to be interested in this scheme. The Welsh language is also recognised as a lesser used language by the European Commission, as is Catalan, which, however, is on the list. (Eurolang ©© 2005) http://europass.cedefop.eu.int/instruments/lp/step0.do
Europass Language Passport
http://www.plaidcymru.org
> Plaid Cymru

Posted by: WizardofOwls 11-Feb-2005, 09:26 AM
Here are the headlines for today, 2/11/05

1. `No vision' in the teaching of Welsh

1. `No vision' in the teaching of Welsh Huw Morgan, Abergele 2/10/2005 http://www.eurolang.net/inbrief.asp?ID=4913 One of the pioneers of the teaching of Welsh has said that not enough is done to help people learn the language. Dr Carl Clowes, one of the founders and president of the trustees of the language teaching centre at Nant Gwrtheyrn in north-west Wales, says that there has been a lack of vision over the last 30 years. The National Assembly of Wales aims to increase the number of Welsh speakers by 5% by 2011. But Dr Clowes says that the present system is piecemeal due to a lack of funding and planning. Just 23,000 adults are registered to learn Welsh in Wales from a non- Welsh speaking population of 1.8m, according to Dr Clowes. Recent research has shown that a large majority of people support the language and many want to learn it. "Up to 91% believe every child should have the opportunity to learn the language and as many as 70% believe it to be important or very important," says Dr Clowes. "Achievements to date fall far short of the potential. Consider the level of commitment with that seen in the Basque country where, with a similar population, ten times the investment in the teaching of the Basque language has occurred compared to Welsh. There is no corporate identity, no logo, no image which stimulates and encourages the potential Welsh speaker." Although there are plans to revamp Welsh for adults by establishing six regional centres in order to have a more professional approach, Dr Clowes believes that these plans are not radical enough. He proposes a number of ways to improve the system, which include establishing a new body dedicated to promoting Welsh for adults with significant funding by the National Assembly. Dr Clowes also wants courses at local level to use intensive methods, complemented by residential courses with total immersion as the norm. He also wants a social structure to support Welsh learners to practice their skills in the community. "This is the last real chance to get Welsh for adults right," added Dr Clowes. "Unless we get it right the ambition of the National Assembly will be lost."
(Eurolang ©© 2005)
Canolfan Iaith Nant Gwrtheyrn:
www.nantgwrtheyrn.org




Posted by: WizardofOwls 16-Feb-2005, 09:48 AM
I received the news for several days all in one day! So rather than making several different posts, I?m going to send them all in one.
WARNING: This will be a LONG post!

P.S. If you enjoy reading these news items, please pm me and let me know. It is a lot of work getting these ready for the list, and if no one is reading them, then I see no reason for me to continue posting them. Thanks! Allen

Headlines for Feb 14, 2005
1) Gaelic in Ireland and Scotland (Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic)

Headlines for Feb 15, 2005
2) GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS PUT ON SPOT OVER PLANS TO BOOST GAELIC (Scottish Gaelic)
3) Scottish Gaelic will be on new UK passports and language bill makes
progress through Parliament (Scottish Gaelic)
4) Munro embodies Scotland's music and culture (Scottish Gaelic)

Headlines for Feb 16, 2005
5) Call for Welsh to be on all business signs (Welsh)
6) Moladh na Maighdinn (Scottish Gaelic)

1) Gaelic in Ireland and Scotland (Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic)
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=161692005

TORMOD E DÒMHNALLACH
[email protected]

While the number of Scots is declining, Ireland's population is growing at the rate of one per cent per annum. The republic's economy is booming and has consistently out-performed Scotland's. Here, the number of Gaelic speakers has declined to just over 60,000, but the Gaelic bill and Bòrd na Gàidhlig offer a ray of hope. In Ireland there are 1.43 million speakers of Gaelic, 43.5 per cent of the population, and there's optimism that the Official Languages Act of 2003 will lead to further progress. Paddy Geoghegan, from Galway, suggests that Gaelic speakers in Scotland should provide the same kind of support for a Gaelic TV channel that has been given in literature to the highly successful "Ùr-Sgeul" project.

©2005 Scotsman.com

2) GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS PUT ON SPOT OVER PLANS TO BOOST GAELIC
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?

DAVID PERRY. Press and Journal. 09:00 - 11 February 2005

Major Uk Government departments are being challenged to spell out what they will do to boost Gaelic in line with the Gaelic Language Bill going through the Scottish Parliament.

Argyll and Bute Liberal Democrat MP Alan Reid said last night that he wanted drivers to be able to apply for licences, travellers to apply for passports, older people to apply for pensions and taxpayers to complete their returns on Gaelic-language forms.

He has put a series of formal questions down at Westminster to establish what plans are being drawn up to develop the language.

He said last night that the bill would give the Bord na Gaidhlig the power to require Scottish public bodies to draw up and implement Gaelic-language development plans.

He added: "The Scottish Parliament has no say in the running of UK public bodies in Scotland, such as the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence, but I want the Government to ensure that UK Government bodies also prepare and implement Gaelic-language development plans."

He has put down a question to all senior ministers, asking what their
policy on Gaelic is and what plans they have to comply with the spirit of the Scottish legislation.

He said he was not going so far as to demand equality with the Welsh
language, which does have considerable legal status, because Gaelic is
spoken by a smaller proportion of the population. But he wanted to ensure progress was made on expanding its use.

Scotland Office Minister Anne McGuire told him earlier this week that UK government departments were taking part in discussions on the Gaelic
language.

3) Scottish Gaelic will be on new UK passports and language bill makes
progress through Parliament
http://www.eurolang.net/inbrief.asp?ID=4919

Davyth Hicks in Brussels 2/11/2005

Scottish Gaelic will be used in all sections of the new UK biometric passports and with translations into EU member state languages. The documents, which are set to be introduced in late 2005 or early 2006, are being designed by the UK Passport Service. It follows last week's first reading of a strengthened Gaelic Language Bill which saw the launch of an action group to recruit more Gaelic teachers.

Scottish Secretary Alastair Darling described the passport move as an "important recognition" by ministers of the Gaelic language. He told the press that: "Gaelic headings will be included in all key information sections of the new passport and this signifies the importance the government places on supporting the language."

Gaelic speaking MSP Alasdair Morrison, declared the move a "major milestone" for the language. He said: "Gaelic speakers have been campaigning for 30 years for recognition of the language in government services, so this is excellent news."

Donald Martin, chief executive of Comunn na Gaidhlig - the Gaelic Development Agency - said the announcement was good news for Scotland's Gaelic speakers.

He said: "This gives Gaelic a position it hasn't had before and is very much in line with the UK Government's obligations under the European Charter regarding regional and minority languages."

However, so far there has been no mention of inclusion on passports of the other Celtic languages under the UK state such as Irish and Cornish.

Last week the Gaelic language bill received the wholehearted support of the Scottish Parliament as the bill went through its first reading. Peter Peacock, minister responsible for Gaelic, used the occasion to launch an action group to tackle the need for more teachers.

He said: "There are many fluent Gaelic speakers who might not have considered a teaching career perhaps because they can't study full-time or don't live near a teacher-training college. That's why we need to introduce more flexible approaches like part-time courses or distance learning to meet the needs of all those who want to teach."

The group, which will produce an action plan by May, will also consider intensive language courses to help potential Gaelic teachers pass the language requirements.

Campaigners have criticised the bill for steering clear of giving Gaelic explicit equal status with English. The bill states that it will aim at "securing the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland." In this respect it contrasts with the Welsh language Act where Welsh has `equality of status' with English.

Although the bill has been strengthened since its first draft it has been criticised for being weak because it does not give the new Bòrd na Gàidhlig sufficient powers to ensure that local councils establish language projects and because of the lack of emphasis on the importance of Gaelic-medium education in regenerating the language.

However, on the status issue Mr Peacock appeared not to rule it out entirely saying he was still considering calls to give Gaelic equal legal status with English. He said: "I don't want to coerce people to speak Gaelic, I want to win converts to the cause of Gaelic. New laws alone cannot save Gaelic."

Liberal Democrat MSP John Farquhar Munro, a Gaelic speaker, said the bill was a step forward. But he added: "For the effective revival of the language, its status needs to be secured in legislation. "The Gaelic community needs to be encouraged, therefore the bill should state in the strongest possible terms that in the delivery of public services, Gaelic will be treated equally with English." (Eurolang ©
2005)

Gaelic Bill :
www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/billsInProgress/gaelicLangua
ge.htm

First reading debate:
www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament
/or-05/sor0202-01.htm

4) Munro embodies Scotland's music and culture (Scottish Gaelic)
http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=160682005

KENNY MATHIESON Scotsman.com
Mon 14 Feb 2005

DONNIE Munro has proved that there is life after Runrig, even if his aim to sit in Parliament failed. The band's former lead singer has continued his career as a solo artist, and is also an indefatigable worker for Gaelic language and culture.

Runrig is a uniquely Scottish phenomenon. A Celtic rock band with roots in Skye and a huge following across Scotland, the group's palpable sense of communion with their audience and the immediacy and passion of their music survived the journey from local dance band in the Western Isles to national institution.

Munro fronted Runrig through their glory years, and his final gigs with the band at Stirling Castle in 1997 were highly emotional affairs for all concerned.

"Leaving Runrig was always going to be painful," he admits. "We grew up as a band, and there was a very close personal connection. It was a painful break to make, but I think there are times in life that you know you have to make certain decisions, even if it might be easier not to."

One of the primary reasons for leaving was his ambition to be elected to Parliament. He stood for Labour in his home constituency of Ross, Skye and Inverness West, but lost out to Charles Kennedy, now the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who also happens to be a big Runrig fan. (Munro's colleague from Runrig, keyboard player Peter Wishart, fared better, and is now the Scottish National Party's chief whip and spokesperson for Transport, Rural Affairs, Culture, Media and Sport).

Munro has not run for office since, but it is a door that he chooses to leave open.

"I remain open-minded about standing for election again," he says. "I would certainly not rule anything out. It's a question I'm often asked, and I've said all along that I continue with political activity in a wider sense anyway in my various involvements."

Those include his solo career as a singer and songwriter. Munro has issued several albums, including a project entirely devoted to traditional Gaelic songs. He writes most of his material, but still returns to songs from the Runrig era as well.

"It was strange at first," he admits, "and I definitely felt a bit out on a limb. With Runrig we created an entity together, but now it's very much me and my songs, and I think that maybe creates a more relaxed, more intimate relationship with the audience and the music.

"I do go back to the Runrig songs as well," says Munro. "It's all about the song for me, and as far as I'm concerned, those songs by Calum and Rory MacDonald are some of the best things to have come out of Scotland."

Munro also has served as rector of both Edinburgh University and the University of the Highlands and Islands, and is involved in awareness-raising with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic College at Sleat on his native Skye.

"I'm very proud to be involved with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, which to my knowledge is the only institution in the world dealing with higher education solely through Gaelic language," explains Munro. "I've always seen the development work as an extension of what I was doing in Runrig," he says.

"I grew up in a house where Gaelic was spoken, but it was very much discouraged in school, and the pervasive influence of television added to that," Munro says. "I came to it again through music, and this work (with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig) is a wonderful opportunity for me to be involved with projects which recognise the value of regenerating Gaelic language and the economic, social and cultural health of the Gaidhealtachd."

In 2003, Munro completed a 20-day trek in Nepal to within sight of Everest, following the original supply route taken by the 1953 British expedition. The walk was done on behalf of the Highland Society for the Blind ? of which he is president - and was partly inspired by a family photograph of a two-year-old Munro perched on the shoulders of Edmund Hillary when the great mountaineer visited Skye in 1955.

"Apparently he broke his ankle climbing in the Cuillins!" Munro claims. "The trek was a very special undertaking for me. It was an absolutely wonderful experience made all the more significant by walking and living with my friend Sherpa Nema Tend and his family.

"In many ways their lives are probably close to what life was like in the Highlands and Islands a century or more ago."

©2005 Scotsman.com

5) Call for Welsh to be on all business signs
http://www.eurolang.net
Huw Morgan in Abergele 2/14/2005

Welsh pressure group Cymuned wants to make Welsh compulsory on all business signs in the west Wales county of Ceredigion. They made this proposal during a public inquiry into the county unitary development plan which is a blueprint for future developments in Ceredigion. Cymuned are calling for a revolutionary use of planning regulations to make Welsh compulsory on business signs in the county. No other county in Wales has this regulation.

The pressure group says that when businesses apply for planning permission to erect signs, permission should be refused unless the signs are bilingual.

"We think this is a novel way of making sure that any signs given planning permission in Ceredigion are bilingual," said Simon Brooks, Cymuned member to Eurolang. "We all know how frustrated Welsh speakers become that chain stores and private businesses keep putting up big intrusive signs on the outside of their shops and along roads that ignore Welsh. This forces English on those of us who want to live our lives through the medium of Welsh and it is not morally acceptable. All private business signs have to get planning permission before being put up. We'll be telling the Inquiry Inspectors that we want planning permission refused unless the signs are bilingual. If this principle is accepted in Ceredigion, I'm sure other areas in Wales would follow suit. If we win this, the days of English-only high streets will be over."

At the moment local councils can only specify the dimensions and location of signs on business premises, this being reflected in what type of locality these businesses operate. Although there are bilingual signs throughout Wales, especially in the Welsh-speaking heartlands, these are all voluntary.

Research by the Welsh Language Board shows that around 80% of Welsh speakers would be more prepared to support a business that uses the language. The Board offers grants of up to 50% to businesses to enable them to have bilingual signs, websites and stationery. It also contributes towards the cost of translating business material, provided that businesses use accredited translators to ensure accuracy. To encourage business to go bilingual the Board holds an annual competition to decide on the best designed bilingual material. (Eurolang © 2005)

6) Moladh na Maighdinn
http://www.ccg.org.uk/press/05/03.htm
Comataidh Craolaidh Gaidhlig Press Release.

Thursday 24th February 2005, 7.00pm

On Thursday 24 February at 7.00pm BBC2 Alba screens another, and intriguingly different, Gaelic mountain film. Moladh Na Maighdinn is a
richly-textured visual, verbal and musical weave linking and exploring the motivations behind climbing mountains and writing poetry.

In the mid 18th century, Duncan Ban MacIntyre composed his much loved Moladh Beinn Dobhrain ("In Praise of Beinn Dorain"), a long poem celebrating the flora and fauna - especially deer - of the Argyll mountain on whose slopes he had spent many years as a hunter and keeper. The poem - intended to be sung to pipes accompaniment and indeed with a structure reflecting classical "piobroch" - has come to be recognised as one of the finest nature poems not simply in Gaelic but in any language.

Moladh Na Maighdinn, produced by Douglas Eadie, directed by Douglas Campbell and with music by Allan Macdonald. Gaelic poet, Domhnall Uilleam Stiubhairt, takes on both the physical challenges of A'Mhaighdean in Wester Ross and the even more considerable creative challenge involved in writing a contemporary poem in tribute to Duncan Ban's masterpiece.

Moladh na Maighdinn is produced by Pelicula Films and funded by the GaelicMedia Service.

For further information:
Douglas Eadie
Tel - 01334 655 357

Posted by: WizardofOwls 25-Feb-2005, 12:16 AM
Due to computer problems, I have gotten behind with my postings of the news! I am going to try to get caught up. The next post will be pretty big as I try to cover several days? worth of news. I hope this is helpful to someone! smile.gif

Feb 17, 2005
1) MSP HITS OUT OVER GAELIC SCHOOL BOOKS (Scottish Gaelic)

Feb 18, 2005
2) Plaid Cymru and SNP call for UK to translate EU Constitution into Welsh and Scottish Gaelic (Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Irish Gaelic, and Scots)
3) Doric play gets an English translation (Scots)

Feb 19, 2005
4) Enterprising way to pass on a language (General Language)

Feb 20, 2005
5) Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song and Language Week (Scottish Gaelic)

Feb 22, 2005
6) The Scottish Parliament in Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic)

Feb 23, 2005
7) Respect for the whole linguistic heritage (Scottish Gaelic, Scots)
8) Welsh children's poems criticised for being "anti-English" (Welsh)

Here is the news:

Feb 17, 2005

1) MSP HITS OUT OVER GAELIC SCHOOL BOOKS (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=11843813
Press and Journal. 09:00 - 16 February 2005

Education Minister Peter Peacock was yesterday accused of leaving Gaelic-medium pupils with a sub-standard supply of teaching materials.

Highlands and Islands MSP Rob Gibson said 'pasteovers' in which English textbooks have a Gaelic translation pasted over the text, are still being used in spite of Mr Peacock's assertions to the contrary.

Mr Gibson had asked the minister if any schools were still using pasteovers and when these would be replaced with Gaelic printed books.

Mr Peacock told him that: "Storlann, the Gaelic resources centre, has made very good progress in providing materials for Gaelic-medium education (GME) classes.
"There is now little need for GME classes to be using English books with pasted over translations. Storlann has provided Gaelic books for all stages and most subjects of GME in primary."

But Mr Gibson alleged Mr Peacock had got his facts wrong.

He said: "I have heard from parents who have first-hand knowledge of the fact that pasteovers are still a major part of GME, both in Highland Council's area and in the Edinburgh City Council.

"The minister says the money has been put into the system, but we still don't have the materials. Clearly there are not enough resources available."

The issue has also been raised by Highland Council vice-convener Michael Foxley, who has complained several times at the education and Gaelic committees.

He added: "Progress is being made and good quality material is now coming through, but there is still a need for the full range of resources which are available for English medium education, such as fiction written in Gaelic. Pasteovers still feature and this was picked up by the Parliamentary education committee when they visited Portree.

"In English-medium children have access to stories such as the Harry Potter series. Why should GME pupils not have access to the same kind of material in their own language?"

Feb 18, 2005

2) Plaid Cymru and SNP call for UK to translate EU Constitution into Welsh and Scottish Gaelic (Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Irish Gaelic, and Scots)
Brussel / Bruxelles 2/17/2005 , by Davyth Hicks
http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4928

SNP and Plaid Cymru Euro-MPs have urged the UK Government to get a move on if the proposed EU constitution is to be translated into Welsh and Scots Gaelic ahead of any referendum. Both parties want to see the draft treaty available in Welsh and Gaelic, as well as English, to ensure an informed debate in the referendum campaign. However, the Foreign Office in London told Eurolang that the Constitution would only be translated into Welsh and that there were "no plans" for translations of any of the other languages in the UK state.

EFA MEPs Jill Evans (Plaid Cymru) and Ian Hudghton (SNP) were speaking after it was highlighted that the Rome conference, which agreed the treaty last October, set a six month deadline for governments to decide in which languages translations of the treaty would be provided.

The news came in answer to a Parliamentary question put down by Mr Hudghton. Referring to the need for an informed debate on the constitution Ian Hudghton MEP said: "We want to see the UK government recognise the status of the Gaelic and Welsh languages and provide timely translations of the treaty in both languages."

Plaid Cymru's Jill Evans MEP added: "The UK Government needs to get a move on if they're to make the six month deadline. We received a positive response to initial requests for a Welsh translation of the treaty but they've been suspiciously quiet since then. Given the growing bilingualism that is now the reality of Welsh public life, I don't see how any referendum campaign could be credible without the treaty being available in Welsh and English."

Mr Hudgton's written question asked, "article IV-448 of the proposed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe allows the Treaty to be translated into any language as determined by Member States among those which, in accordance with their constitutional order, enjoy official status in all or part of their territory. Whilst the UK constitutional order does not recognise `official' languages as such, the importance of both the Gaelic and Scots languages have been recognised throughout Scotland and, in particular, by the Scottish Parliament.

"Can the Commission confirm that, should the UK Government make appropriate representations, the proposed Treaty could be translated into (a) Gaelic and (cool.gif Scots, with authentic copies thereof being deposited in the archives of the Council, as envisaged in Article IV-448?"

EU Commission Vice President Margot Wallström, wrote (9.2.2005) : "The Commission confirms that, according to Article IV-448(2) of the Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 and currently subject to the national ratification processes, any Member State may autonomously determine that such a Treaty be translated into other languages. Nevertheless, this possibility is subject to the condition that those languages enjoy official status in all or part of the territory of the Member State in question, in accordance with its own constitutional order."

Another clause specifies that member states only have six months after ratification to tell the EU Council which languages they want the constitution translated into.

Eurolang contacted the Foreign Office in London to ask about the translation issue, not only for Welsh and Scottish Gaelic, but for the other languages in the UK state such as Cornish, Irish, and Scots. Their European spokesperson said that : "The constitution will be translated into Welsh. There are no plans for it to be translated into any other languages." (Eurolang © 2005)

3) Doric play gets an English translation (Scots)
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/33682.html
GRAEME SMITH. The Herald. February 18 2005

AFTER half a century, the work of Charles Barron, the Scottish playwright, is to be translated for the first time. But only so it can travel linguistically from the north-east to the central belt.

Amang the Craws, the story of a young Aberdeenshire farm hand who ends up on death row in America, is being translated from Doric so pupils elsewhere can understand it. "It seems that those of us who live in the north-east of Scotland are officially foreigners, or at least that we speak a foreign
language," said Mr Barron.

The play is for use by pupils who are studying intermediate English or intermediate drama and features considerable use of the dialect. Learning and Teaching Scotland, the government body which produces school material, has printed an English version. "I'm delighted that the play is going into schools," said Mr Barron. "But it certainly isn't particularly broad. It is just everyday, modern Aberdeen speech.
"The other two plays in this series, Tally's Blood by Ann Marie di Mambro and Britannia Rules by Liz Lochhead, have both been set in Glasgow and are written in quite broad Glasgow, but it never occurred to anyone that we might find that difficult." Mr Barron, 69, whose work has been performed all over Scotland, added: "I think part of the problem is that Doric isn't a written language, so it looks more difficult than it sounds.

"I have some mixed feelings about the translation but on the whole I'm glad."

Examples of the translation include: I canna dae athing at eence - I cannot do everything at once; Tak that in her han' 'n a - Take that with you as well.

Feb 19, 2005

4) Enterprising way to pass on a language (General Language)
http://news.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=185372005

Edinburgh Evening News
Fri 18 Feb 2005
Education

FORMER drama student Ceyline Cateland turned to the Edinburgh Enterprise Campaign to get advice on how to turn her dreams into reality.

The Gorgie woman founded Zélé Languages, Theatre and Education about eight months ago and now is talking of trying to crack the American market.

After a brief spell putting on theatre performances for children at the Edinburgh International Science Festival in 2003, she realised she could teach schoolchildren French in fun and creative ways through singing, dancing and acting.

By putting on a variety of performances and workshops from her base in the city's Bristo Place, she believes children are able to grasp the French language more easily than they would sitting in a classroom as her performances encourage them to learn.

Ms Cateland, 26, who left her native France almost three years ago, said that the EEC has played a key part in helping her to develop her idea into a business. She added:

"I had heard about the EEC from people in the Gorgie area and went along to West Edinburgh Action, based in Hailesland Place, where I talked my idea through with the Enterprise Guide Kirsten Cook.

"My idea was to set up a theatre company and put on shows depicting Breton folk tales, but Kirsten advised me to view my business idea as whole such as, providing French lessons, CD-Roms, cultural trips and drama to broaden the company.

"I feel really proud at what I have achieved so far. My big plans are to look to expand the business to other areas in Scotland followed by England and then hopefully break the American market while working with artists from all over the world to interpret their cultures and languages."

Zélé Languages, Theatre and Education is operating at profit and expects to have a £31,000 turnover by the end of the year.

©2005 Scotsman.com

Feb 20, 2005

5) Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song and Language Week (Scottish Gaelic)
Sponsor: An Comunn Gaidhealach, America (The Gaelic Society, America)

Dates for 2005: Sunday, July 3 through Friday, July 8

Location: Lees-McRae College, Banner Elk, North Carolina

Nearby attractions: Grandfather Mountain and the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games that are held this year from July 7 ? 10, 2005

This year's Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song and Language Week, sponsored by An Comunn Gàidhealach, America, will run from July 3th through the 8th in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina.

Gaelic song classes covering a range of traditional forms will be offered, including waulking or milling songs and mouth music. Scottish Gaelic language classes for beginner, intermediate, and advanced speakers will also be offered. Teachers this year will be Mary Ann Kennedy, a founding member of Cliar and well known BBC radio broadcaster; Màiri Sine Chaimbeul, a native Gaelic speaker, member of the faculty at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and the 2004 and 2005 ACGA National
Mòd judge; and Jamie MacDonald, a member of the faculty at St. Frances Xavier College in Nova Scotia and founder of the North Carolina Mòd and the Grandfather Mountain Song and Language Week. Mary Ann and Màiri Sine will teach both Gaelic song and language while Jamie will teach beginning Gaelic.

There will also be plenty of opportunities outside of class to practice speaking Gaelic with other students and instructors. Additional activities include evening cèilidhs, Gaelic videos, a silent auction, and hikes in the beautiful surrounding mountains. A Gaelic mòd, or singing competition, will be held on the Saturday following the workshop at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.
Participants in the Gaelic Song Week are urged to stay for the Highland games and compete in the mòd.


The workshop is housed at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Participants stay in one of the school's charming spacious dormitories and three nutritious meals a day are provided by the college food service. Fees for the week are $410 for ACGA members and $445 for non- members. There is a $25.00 discount if final payment is postmarked by May 15. This price includes all instruction, room, and meals from Sunday evening dinner through Friday lunch.
The workshop concludes just as the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games are getting underway down the road at MacRae Meadows on Grandfather Mountain. As usual there will be a Gaelic tent at the games, and the North Carolina Gaelic Mòd will take place on Saturday at 3:00 PM.

Contacts: Cam MacRae at [email protected] or Libit Woodington at [email protected].

For more information see the Grandfather Mountain Song and Language Week information
at www.acgamerica.org.

Feb 22, 2005

6) The Scottish Parliament in Glasgow

The Scottish Parliament will be holding a community meeting in Partick Library, Dumbarton Road, Glasgow on Monday 14 March from 7.30 to 9.00pm. The evening will begin with a short talk in Gaelic from the Parliament?s Outreach Service which look at the Gaelic Bill and at how the Gaelic community can participate in the work of the Parliament. A detailed handout in English will be distributed for those not fluent in Gaelic. This will be followed by a question and answer session on Gaelic issues with MSPs. Pauline McNeil MSP, Robert Brown MSP and Sandra White MSP have all indicated that they will attend.
If you would like to attend this outreach meeting or if you would like more information, please contact us: Alasdair MacCaluim, Room DG.06, The Scottish Parliament, Dùn Èideann/Edinburgh, EH99 1SP tel: 0131-348-5395, e-mail:

[email protected]

Le deagh dhurachd,
Alasdair MacCaluim
____________________
Dr Alasdair MacCaluim
Oifigear Coimhearsnachd Gàidhlig
Pàrlamaid na h-Alba
Dùn Èideann
EH99 1SP
Fòn: 0131 348 5395
Facs: 0131 348 5601
www.scottish.parliament.uk/gaidhlig

Visit the Parliament's website at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/ or watch the Parliamentary business live at http://www.holyrood.tv/"

Feb 23, 2005

7) Respect for the whole linguistic heritage (Scottish Gaelic, Scots)

Points of View http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/33808.htmlYour Letters. The Herald. February 21 2005

WITH reference to your report (February 18) that a play in Doric has been translated into English by Learning and Teaching Scotland, presumably Doric here means north-east Scots. The object is evidently to make it "comprehensible" in schools in other parts of Scotland.

One imagines that Learning and Teaching Scotland is an educational instrument financed by the Scottish Executive to implement government policy. Since the Scottish Parliament is clearly responsible for education and our linguistic heritage, it is difficult to understand the object
of such an exercise. Gaelic and Scots, with all its dialects, belong to the whole of Scotland, and a proper object of education would be to foster respect in schools for the whole linguistic heritage, in particular, the rich heritage of Buchan. This appears to be another example of substitution of deracination of children for education.

Dr David Purves, Edinburgh.

8) Welsh children's poems criticised for being "anti-English"

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4935Abergele 2/21/2005 , by Huw Morgan

There have been a number of objections to two poems that have been chosen for children to recite in competitions in this year's Urdd Eisteddfod - Europe's largest youth festival. The head teacher of a school in the capital Cardiff, Ysgol y Mynydd Bychan, objected to a poem by Myrddin ap Dafydd,
one of Wales' leading poets and a former Children's Poet. The poem was chosen for children under 12 years old and features the fact that, after the defeat of the Welsh prince Owain Glyndwr by English forces at the beginning of the 15th century, Welsh bards were forbidden to write poetry. The objections are that the poems are anti-English.

Myrddin ap Dafydd denies this accusation. "I would ask those that are introducing children to the poem to tell the story behind it," he says. There were numerous penalties against the Welsh at the time - they could not buy property, hold a public office or support the poets.

"That is the key to the poem; that you are forbidden from rhyming, you cannot protest, you cannot sing, you cannot recite poems against this injustice," added Mr ap Dafydd. "I feel that forbidding people to rhyme would be something that children would understand. Basically, this is a poem against racist legislation and historians say that these were the most racist pieces of legislation [against the Welsh in the 15th century] that were ever passed anywhere in the world. Therefore, the poem is anti-racist."

The Urdd movement has supported the poem. "This is a historic poem, presenting a chunk of Welsh history in a satirical and comic way," says Siân Eirian, the Eisteddfod's director.

Protests have also been made against the choice of another poem, by another school in the capital. Teachers at Fitzalan High School say that the poem Bwyd Od (Funny Food) by poet Carys Jones, is "insensitive". The poem mentions different kinds of food and makes fun of the fact that some people will not try what they perceive as 'foreign food'.
"There is possibly an attempt to say that Welsh food is better than food from other countries," says Emma Walsh, the Urdd's organiser at the school. "I felt that it was a bit awkward for us to try and explain the poem [in a multi-racial school]." Many schools in the cities of south Wales are multi- racial and all pupils receive Welsh lessons with many taking part in Urdd activities such as the Eisteddfod to practice their Welsh.

Carys Jones disputes the complaint that her poem is racist saying that it is a celebration of a multi- racial society, and she has been supported by the Urdd. "The poem celebrates the fact that we have such a variety of food in Wales from every corner of the earth. The truth is that the last verse says that foreign food is not odd at all," says Siân Eirian.

The Urdd Eisteddfod will be held in May in Cardiff, and although the movement has received some complaints about the poems, the hope is that there will be a great deal of support for the festival in an area which has seen an explosion in the number of Welsh speakers - especially amongst the young - during the last twenty years. (Eurolang © 2005)

Posted by: WizardofOwls 28-Feb-2005, 05:35 PM
Here are the news articles for the last few days.

Feb 25, 2005
1. Language group threatens to sue British Government (Welsh)

Feb 27, 2005
2. Gaelic at St. Anza?s (Scottish Gaelic)

Feb 28, 2005
3. ScotsGate (Scots)
4. Wales teaches us a lesson in nationhood (Welsh)
5. Wales to get own 'poet laureate' (Welsh)
6. Welsh speakers 'have been conned' (Welsh)
7. KRENA AIM TO MAKE IT A CORNISH HAT-TRICK (Cornish)
8. Inverness Gaelic Forum proud to announce launch of new bi-lingual website (Scottish Gaelic)

Feb 25, 2005

1. Language group threatens to sue British Government (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4944
Penygroes 2/23/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion

A member of the Welsh language pressure group Cymuned is visiting Strasbourg this week to put pressure on the British Government to fulfil its obligations about protecting the Welsh language. If it doesn't they threaten to take it to court.

One of the founders of Cymuned will take part in a week of high-powered meetings with top Council of Europe officials as part of a concerted effort to bring to book any governments which fail in their obligations under the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

"The British Government has to file its second state report this year," says Seimon Brooks, who will be representing the pressure group in Strasbourg. "There were problems in their first report which need to have been solved by now. If we think they've got it wrong with the next report, make no bones about it, we'll sue them."

During the week, Cymuned will be taking advantage of the opportunity to study and discuss points of international law to begin the groundwork for a possible court case. Cymuned will also be strengthening connections with a number of other European pressure groups.

"There'll be no easy ride for the British Government on this report," warns Aran Jones, Cymuned's chief executive. "We're going to produce a mirror report under Council of Europe guidelines which will detail exactly where the British Government is failing in its responsibilities to our language, Cymraeg, so they can expect hard questions from Europe, followed up by a
very high profile court case if they don't get it right."
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has been in force in Britain since 1998, but in the seven years since, says Cymuned, the percentage of Cymraeg speakers in areas where the language remains a community language have continued to fall, "showing clearly that the British Government is failing the minorities it has promised to protect".

The report was originally presented in 1999 and scrutinised by an advisory committee which drew attention to some aspects that it was not happy with. The British Government was given the opportunity to respond and it is this is what will be presented some time this year. The advisory
committee praised the fact that devolution of power from London to Cardiff was a positive step to help the Welsh language but it was unhappy with the measures taken to make more use of the
language.

"The governments in London and Cardiff have been drawing attention to the fact that there has been a national increase in the number of Welsh speakers, but they have disregarded the situation in the Fro Gymraeg (the heartlands of the language) where there was a decrease," added Aran
Jones. "We must have a strategy for y Fro Gymraeg. We believe that both governments have been misusing the fact that there has been an increase throughout Wales - they have been painting a misleading impression of the situation of the language because this is not the situation in the Fro Gymraeg."

"We believe that the British Government will respond in one of two ways [when the new report is presented]. One, it will admit that there has been a failure and therefore it will have to explain how it is going to change the situation; or it will draw attention to the increase in the number of
speakers throughout Wales, which in our opinion is misleading."

Language issues have been devolved from London to Cardiff and therefore it is the National Assembly of Wales which has responsibility for the Welsh language since 1999. But it is the British Government that has signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and therefore it is - eventually - responsible for the language. (Eurolang © 2005)

Feb 27, 2005

2. Gaelic at St. Anza?s (Scottish Gaelic)

StAnza: Scotland's Poetry Festival
St Andrews
Saturday 19th March
2.30pm Voices of Scotland £2.50/£1.00
St John's House Undercroft, South Street
Reading by Derick Thomson & Christopher Whyte
The leading voices from two generations of modern Gaelic poetry
Tickets from The Byre Theatre, Abbey Street,
St Andrews, Fife KY16 9LA.
Telephone: 01334 475000Web site: www.stanzapoetry.org

Many thanks.
--
Kind regards,

Brian Johnstone

___________________________________

Brian Johnstone
Festival Director
StAnza: Scotland's Poetry Festival

[email protected]
[email protected]
01333 360491

www.stanzapoetry.org

Feb 28, 2005

3. ScotsGate (Scots)

David Wilson scrieves:

A new Scots wabsteid hes kythed o late, cried Scotsgate: (Scots)

http://www.scotsgate.com/

It says, at its "Downlaod page," that:

A number of Scots language learning resources will eventually be available from here. The first is the ScotsGate Scots Grammar. Next will be a set of vocabulary lists, followed by a guide on learning to speak and write modern Scots.

The ScotsGate Scots Grammar (2004, 216k, PDF format, v1.0) an 18-page introduction for adult learners. It covers all the main gramatical points you need to get started and points to further reading and resources.

4. Wales teaches us a lesson in nationhood

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1499681,00.html

Our Celtic cousins are reaping the benefits from a new can-do attitude, writes Kenny Farquharson
Sunday Times.
February 27, 2005

The Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay is a wonder of titanium-clad steel and Welsh slate. In a corner of this iconic new building a class of 10-year-olds sits mesmerised, listening to a storyteller spin a fantastical yarn about whales and unicorns.

The group is bathed in sunlight streaming through the centre's huge windows, which are the shape of letters. From outside you can see that they spell out a short poem in Welsh and English, including the phrase: "In these stones horizons sing."

As the children leave, Michael Harvey, the storyteller, pulls up a chair and explains how Wales is starting to look to the horizon after decades of contemplating its navel.

"There is a massive feeling of possibility just now," he says. "This place helps. Just coming here makes kids feel important. But it's more than that. Things are coming together."

Scots have often been guilty of regarding Wales as a lesser nation, lacking our cultural confidence and self-belief. But on St David's Day this coming Tuesday, the Welsh will have more reason than ever to celebrate their nation with pride. Wales is on a roll, and for once Scotland has cause to be a little envious of its smaller Celtic cousin.

Renaissance is too strong a word for it. But there is a fresh and unfamiliar Wales springing up along the banks of Cardiff Bay. As well as the Millennium Centre, there are trendy restaurants and hotels, futuristic apartments and offices. Joining them this autumn will be the new Welsh assembly building designed by Richard Rogers. All in all, it is shaping up as one of the most appealing waterfront sites in Britain.

When the Millennium Centre opened, some critics ridiculed it as a "golden armadillo", to which the Welsh first minister Rhodri Morgan replied: "I'd rather have a golden armadillo than a white
elephant."

It was a dig at Holyrood, of course, and he had a point.

The contrast could not be clearer. In Edinburgh our most famous new building has been blamed for sullying public faith in devolution and politics in general, and besmirching Scotland's image. In Cardiff the Millennium stadium and the Millennium Centre have brought Wales triumphantly centre stage in the cultural and sporting life of Britain, arguably for the first time.

Comparisons with Scotland now tend to flatter the Welsh. While Scottish Opera prepares to go dark for a season to save money, the Welsh National Opera has just opened a new critically acclaimed production of Berg's Wozzeck.

Even on the sports field the Welsh appear to have the upper hand. They recently beat England 11-9 in the Six Nations rugby, the first such victory in Cardiff for 12 years. The Millennium stadium is the crucible of English football while the new Wembley is being built, playing host to the FA and Carling cup finals.

The stadium was also the venue for a tsunami benefit concert last month that attracted 60,000 people and raised £1.25m. Headlined by Eric Clapton, it was organised in just three weeks. Last weekend's Scottish equivalent at the SSEC took an extra month to arrange and raised less than a quarter of that amount.

In the first minister's office overlooking the new assembly building site, Morgan enthusiastically describes the tsunami effort as emblematic of a new can-do attitude in Wales. "It was leap of faith," he says. "Before they got the bands confirmed they had to make a decision to go ahead."

With a shock of grey hair and a sharp mind honed at Oxford and Harvard, Morgan is a formidable politician and a charismatic leader who makes Scotland's first minister appear dull by comparison. While Jack McConnell is increasingly lampooned for embarrassing gaffes, Morgan is quick witted and popular.

Not everything in Cardiff is rosy. A refusal to embrace Blairite reforms has meant hospital waiting lists are twice as long as those in England. Like Holyrood, original estimates of the cost of the assembly building were wildly optimistic - civil servants initially put the price tag at £12m. Now the budget is about £50m and holding.

The Welsh leader will be approaching 68 by the time of the next assembly elections in 2007, but has said he intends to seek re-election. Assembly insiders say there is nobody waiting in the wings to take the country on to the next stage.

The Welsh are enjoying their moment in the sun, but the dream could evaporate with a foot out of touch, a new first minister or an inability to fill the 1,800-seat Millennium Centre on a regular basis, turning it into a white elephant after all.

The Welsh part of the poem on the front of the Millennium Centre reads: "Creu gwir fel gwydr o ffwrnais," which translates as: "Creating truth like glass from inspiration's furnace." Not even Morgan needs reminding that glass is a fragile thing.

5. Wales to get own 'poet laureate'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4300625.stm
BBC NEWS. Saturday, 26 February, 2005, 12:55 GMT

Wales is to have its own national poet after the Arts Council Wales gave a £5,000 lottery grant for the role.

The poet will act as a cultural ambassador for the nation, creating new works which promote the image of Wales.
Both England and Scotland already have their own national bards.

The appointed poet would hold the role for one year and their works would be read at ceremonial and official occasions. The language will alternate between Welsh and English.

Iestyn Davies, head of communications at the Arts Council of Wales, said: "As a country renowned for it literary heritage it is fitting that Wales should have its own national poet, creating new works that celebrate our successes, comment on our failures and raise the profile of Wales
through literature."

'Cultural nationhood'

The announcement comes as the arts body Academi hosts its annual conference, Songs of Freedom, which looks at the question of politics, propaganda and freedom of speech.

Chief executive Peter Finch, who has previously called for the post's creation, welcomed the
news.

"Wales is as much the land of poets as it is the land of song - the appointment of our first National Poet will bear this out," he said.

"England was first with its Poet Laureate, then Scotland with its Maker and now Wales - ample evidence of our growing cultural nationhood."

Some of the duties of the poet will include encouraging young people to take part in literary
activities.

6. Welsh speakers 'have been conned'

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/index.cfm?page=4
Rhodri Clark, Western Mail. Feb 24 2005

GENERATIONS of Welsh speakers have been conned by the idea that Welsh is the language of heaven, Plaid Cymru's president said last night.

In a lecture at Bangor, Dafydd Iwan said the language needed to move to the centre of modern life if it was to have a viable future.

He also warned that further and higher education, still offering few Welsh-medium studies, were stopping the language gaining the full benefit of the huge growth in Welsh-medium schools.

Dr Iwan will repeat his lecture, titled To Hell with the Language of Heaven, at Oxford University next week.
He told the Western Mail yesterday, "Calling Welsh the language of heaven - something that people still say today - was a symbol of the fact that people had put Welsh to one side.

"It didn't matter that Welsh didn't have a place in the world because when you reach heaven everyone will be speaking Welsh there. It was escapism, culturally and linguistically.

"English was seen as the language of progress and education."

Respected Welsh educationalists like Sir Hugh Owen supported the idea that Welsh was fine in the home, chapel and Eisteddfod but English was the key to getting on in the world.

Dr Iwan said, "We've been a bit gullible in swallowing a story that Welsh is the language of heaven. It's time we forgot that nonsense and concentrated on making Welsh a language that works in this world, in the modern world."

Although the language had progressed into modern fields, more was needed to make it a language of business, communications and modern entertainment, he said.

And a stronger Welsh Language Act was needed to ensure public services were consistently available in both Welsh and English, said Dr Iwan.

7. KRENA AIM TO MAKE IT A CORNISH HAT-TRICK (Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 11:00 - 22 February 2005

Cornish language rock band Krena are hoping to make it a Cornwall hat-trick when they compete in next month's Pan Celtic Song Contest in Ireland. It is being held as part of the Pan Celtic Festival in Tralee in County Kerry between March 29 and 3rd April 3. The song contest is on March 31.

Krena - Cornish for "quaking" - have a lot to live up to because Cornwall has won the competition for the past two years. In 2003 it was won by Naked Feet, and in 2004 by Keltyon
Bew.

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Matthew Clarke said: "Our raison d'etre is to bring the Cornish Language to more people by turning it into rock, funk, and even punk. As well as our own songs, we have taken folk songs such as Lamorna and The Wild Rover and rocked them up."

Formed in 2003, the band has played widely, including Lowender Peran, Caradon Festival of Arts and Culture, Dehwelans and Castle Rock.

Matthew, who was formerly a member of Spit and Skwardya, is a newsreader on Pirate FM and press officer for Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek (The Cornish Language Fellowship). He is joined in Krena by Tom Phipps (drums), Dan Phipps (bass) and Brian Inman (guitar).
The song they have written for the Pan Celtic is entitled Fordh Dhe Dalvann (Road To
Tolvaddon).

"The contest was won by Cornwall for the past two years, so if we can manage it again, then Cornwall would have pulled off a hat-trick," said Matthew. "After the contest - and hopefully winning for Cornwall - we rush to the Abbeygate Hotel for a Cornish-Breton night, where we will be doing the full Krena experience."

Krena will be up against entries from five other Celtic nations: Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, and the Isle of Man.

8. Inverness Gaelic Forum proud to announce launch of new bi-lingual website (Scottish Gaelic)

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis (Inverness Gaelic Forum) are proud to announce the official launch of it's new bi-lingual website: www.inbhirnis.org . This site is dedicated to informing the public on Gaelic issues and events in and around Inverness as well as a promotional tool for the work of the Forum.

Brian Ó hEadhra, Development Officer with the forum states: `Inverness has a higher proportion of Gaelic speakers per head of population than any other city in Scotland and we felt it was time that Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, should have a Gaelic dedicated website. There are many Gaelic language events happening in Inverness throughout the year and we hope that locals and visitors will access the site to learn about what Gaelic events are happening in the city and what Gaelic services are on offer here.'

The new website has a number of facets; for example, if you are interested in finding out what Gaelic classes are available in the area there is a page dedicated to Gaelic education. There is also a forum page on the site where people can comment on the site content and engage in lively discussion about Gaelic and related activities.

Alasdair MacLeòid, acting Chair of the Forum, states: `This is an exciting time for Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis; we are a new group dedicated to promoting Gaelic in the Highland capital and what better way to promote our aims and Gaelic events than through a regularly updated, informative website.'

The site is fully bi-lingual and easily read. Groups and individuals who are holding Gaelic language events are asked to send any information on their upcoming event to: [email protected] . The site is updated weekly and is under continual development.

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis is grateful for the generous financial support towards this project from the Gaelic in the Community Scheme, incorporating Highland Council, Inverness & Nairn Enterprise and European Funding, as well as funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Editors Note:

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis is a young and vibrant community-based organisation, open to Gaels, Gaelic learners and everyone else interested in encouraging Gaelic and Gàidhealach culture across our area. The group was formed by a group of individuals based in the area who felt the need for a group who could take forward and represent the views of the Gaelic community in the city. It looks to provide a regular open forum raising issues in areas such as education, broadcasting, bi-lingual signage, culture, and more, ensuring that `an Guth na Coimhearsnachd' (the voice of the community) is heard by officials and organisations at this time of unprecedented growth and change in the city. The Fòram also looks to stage dances, cèilidh's, social evenings, events for children, lectures, etc. in the area ? giving Gaels in and around the city an opportunity to meet and speak their language and enjoy Gaelic cultural events. Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis is a charitable organisation, which relies on contributions and membership subscriptions to take forward its aims and objectives.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Ó hEadhra - Oifigear Leasachaidh
Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis
c/o 5 Caolshràid Mhìcheil,
Inbhir Nis,
IV2 3HQ

Fòn: 01463 234138
Facs: 01463 237470
Post-d: [email protected]
Làrach-lìn: www.inbhirnis.org

Posted by: WizardofOwls 05-Mar-2005, 07:37 PM
March 2, 2005

1. Road safety concerns raised over use of Gaelic signs (Scottish Gaelic)
2. Inverness Gaelic Forum frustrated with veto of plans for bilingual signage (Scottish Gaelic)
3. Highland Council Feels Gaelic Bill Does Not Go Far Enough (Scottish Gaelic)

March 3, 2005

4. Seattle Course (Scottish Gaelic)
5. Petition for the Declaration of the Fro Cymraeg (Welsh)
6. Hi-Arts (Scottish Gaelic)
7. Halifax to launch Celtic festival (Scottish Gaelic)

March 4, 2005

8. The saga of Gaelic road signs, episode 694 (Scottish Gaelic)

March 5, 2005

9. The Truth About Innse Gall (Scottish Gaelic)


March 2, 2005

1. Road safety concerns raised over use of Gaelic signs (Scottish Gaelic)

http://news.scotsman.com/inverness.cfm?id=229442005

The Scotsman
Wed 2 Mar 2005
Scotland - Inverness

JOHN ROSS

GAELIC road signs could be a traffic hazard in the Highland capital where few people speak the language, it has been claimed.

The issue has caused a split in Highland Council, which has decided to limit the use of bilingual signs to Inverness city centre, unless other areas specifically want signs in English and Gaelic.

Councillor Ron Lyon said: "I don't consider Inverness to be a Gaelic town and there are very few speakers that you will hear on Inverness High Street. This is a phoney gimmick and a danger on the open road."

He was supported by David Munro, who said: "I am not anti-Gaelic, but this must be done sensibly ... less than 10 per cent of the people in Inverness speak Gaelic."

Fòram Gaidhlig Inbhir Nis (Inverness Gaelic Forum) expressed its "frustration and deep disappointment" at the decision to limit the signs.

Brian Ó hEadhra, its development officer, said: "This is a sad day for Gaels in Inverness and further afield. After centuries of discrimination against our language, we looked on such initiatives as having real potential for giving Gaelic its rightful place in the capital of Highlands."

©2005 Scotsman.com

2. Inverness Gaelic Forum frustrated with veto of plans for bilingual signage (Scottish Gaelic)

Press Release
Date: 01 March 2005
From: Inverness Gaelic Forum

Fòram Gaidhlig Inbhir Nis (Inverness Gaelic Forum) today (01/03/05) expressed their frustration and deep disappointment with the decision taken by Inverness councillors yesterday (28/02/05) to veto plans for bilingual signage for street signs throughout the Inverness area.

The recommendation for bilingual signage came from a report prepared for Inverness & Nairn Enterprise in 2004, which put forward proposals for enhancing the status of Gaelic in the city, and promoting Inverness as the "capital for Gaelic", promoting the economic rewards that cities such as Galway in the west of Ireland have enjoyed in terms of cachet, cultural vibrancy and increased tourism.

After some controversy, Inverness was only recently chosen as the location for the new national Gaelic Development Agency Bòrd na Gàidhlig, and have been home to the main offices of many of the main Gaelic development organisations such as Comunn na Gàidhlig, An Comunn Gàidhealach and CNSA (the Gaelic Playgroups Association) for a number of years.

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis seeks to represent the views of the Gaelic community in Inverness, and have recently appointed a development officer in order to assist the development of the language in the city. Brian Ó hEadhra, Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis Development Officer has said, "This is a sad day for Gaels in Inverness and further afield. After centuries of discrimination against our language, we looked on such initiatives as having real potential for giving Gaelic
its rightful place in the Capital of Highlands. The city has a very strong Gaelic heritage, a growing Gaelic-medium education sector and is still home to many Gaelic speakers from the west coast and the Western Isles; this is a real slap in the face."

He added, "I find it amazing that we have private companies such as Safeways (Millburn Road) and pubs such as Hootananny recognising the value of our Gaelic language by using Gaelic signs, and an economic development agency (Inverness & Nairn Enterprise) looking to promote the language for the benefit of the city, but it appears that such exciting and innovative developments for the city are being held back by a few backward-looking individuals. They have no excuse in not recognising the place of Gaelic in our city, as each Inverness councillor has recently been given the book The Gaelic Place-names and Heritage of Inverness, written by Roddy MacLean. We will not accept this decision lying down."

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis have set up an on-line petition seeking bi-lingual signage in Inverness and throughout the Highlands. The webpage is: http://www.petitiononline.com/Ceartas

People can also air their views on the new Gaelic website for Inverness: www.inbhirnis.org

3. Highland Council Feels Gaelic Bill Does Not Go Far Enough (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2005/feb05/gaelic_bill_amends.htm
Highland Council Press Release. MONDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2005

The Highland Council has welcomed the amendments to the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill put forward by the Minister for Education and Young People, Peter Peacock, for consideration at Stage 2 but believes that a further significant amendment is still required.

The Council believes the proposal for a National Gaelic Education Strategy was probably the single most important recommendation put forward in the Education Committee's Stage One Report on the Bill and is very disappointed by its absence in the Minister's amendments at Stage 2.

Vice Convener, Councillor Michael Foxley said: "I remain convinced that getting this provision on the face of the Bill is absolutely central to ensuring the co-ordination of a cross-sectoral approach to Gaelic education provision.

"Its inclusion would ensure, when resolving issues such as the lack of teachers for example, that all relevant organisations must provide a vibrant co-ordinated and coherent service - from the Careers Service, to training by Universities and Colleges, to re-training, to action by local
authorities, to incentives. This simply does not happen at the moment.

"So whilst we are pleased to see the steps being taken by Peter Peacock to look at various issues on an administrative basis, we feel that it is only by putting the National Education Plan on a legislative basis and under parliamentary scrutiny that real progress can be guaranteed."

Councillor Hamish Fraser, Convener of the Council's Gaelic Select Committee agreed. He said: "Without a legal requirement on future administrations to take a pro-active and positive approach to Gaelic, there is no guarantee that the whole approach to the subject won't be reversed with a
different Government/Minister in place.

"Furthermore, whilst it might be argued that the Bord's National Strategy should ensure all public authorities' own plans are cross referenced and complimentary, we do not feel that the Bord is in a position to take the necessary high level overview of these agencies' terms of reference and
strategic and operational plans/aims. The Executive is not only well placed to do this - but does so already in relation to these agencies' more general functions."

The Highland Council gave its strong support to the Education Committee's proposal for a National Education Strategy for Gaelic when it was published in the Committee's Stage One Report on the Bill. Councillor Fraser also wrote to Mr Peacock on behalf of the Council's Gaelic Select Committee to recommend that the Minister accept the Committee's report in its entirety.

The Council's Director of Education, Bruce Robertson, is now chairing a Working Group established by the Minister to look at the development of resources for the curriculum in secondary schools using new technologies as well as being a member of the recently-established group looking into Gaelic teacher supply. Despite working so closely with the Executive on this,
however, Mr Robertson also believes that it is not enough simply to seek an administrative
solution.

He said: "It is encouraging that the Minister has agreed that these issues need to be addressed by setting up these working groups. Nevertheless, I believe that once we have reported and the Minister has agreed a way forward, these conclusions should form part of an over-arching
national strategy for Gaelic education which needs to be given legislative or regulatory expression.

"It is essential that these issues are given the importance and weight that they deserve, because only then will we succeed in making a real and lasting difference."

-ends-

Notes to Editors:

The deadline for tabling amendments to the Gaelic Bill closed at midday on Friday 25 February. Only MSPs are entitled to put forward amendments at Stage 2.

The Education Committee will consider Stage Two amendments on Thursday 3 March. It is not expected to need the three days set aside for this Stage and it is likely to have completed consideration of all the amendments tabled by the end of the first day.

The Highland Council will seek to have the inclusion of the National Gaelic Education Strategy considered as part of the Stage Three debate on the Bill. It will be seeking the support of Highland MSPs as well as those who expressed their support for strengthening the Bill at the
Parliament's Stage One debate on the Bill.

March 3, 2005

4. Seattle Course (Scottish Gaelic)

Slighe nan Gaidheal's new Gaelic education program, Zero To Gaelic in 2 Years (Z2G2) continues to roll along. The third instructional day in our current series is set for Saturday, 23 April 2005 (Di-Sathurna, 23 Giblean 2005) so mark your calendars now.
As usual we will have classes for Level 1 and Level 2 learners. We begin a new Level 1 group each year at the November Gaelic Intensive Day, but if you don't want to wait that long to begin, then please contact us via e-mail to [email protected] and we will be happy to discuss options for getting caught up to one of our groups already in progress.

If you have already been studying Gaelic for a while, please take a look at our Table of Correspondences, which you can get here: http://www.slighe.com/documents/z2g2_table.pdf

At the April GID, Level 1 learners will be covering units 7,8 and 9. Level 2 learners will tackle units 25, 26, and 27.

Our presenters will be:

Maureen Lyon, is a native speaker from the island of Lewis now living in Canada. She is a popular presenter at our classes. Since 1985 she has been Gaelic tutor for the Vancouver Gaelic Choir which has competed four times at the Royal National Mòd in Scotland. Gaelic music has been a major part of her life since childhood. She teaches beginners to advanced Gaelic at the Scottish Cultural Centre throughout the winter. She will be working with the Level 2 students.

Judith Cummings was born and brought up near Glasgow, Scotland, and started to learn Gaelic as a teenager. For many years she taught harp through the medium of Gaelic at Feisean (Festivals) and Gaelic schools in Scotland. She has also taught beginners' Gaelic language
classes for Glasgow's Community Education Programme for adults. Judith moved to live in Seattle three years ago and is currently involved in her most challenging teaching project so far: bringing up her 1 year-old daughter as a Gaelic speaker.

Zero to Gaelic in Two Years is an on-going program. If you are worried that you may be too brand-new you should contact us and we will either alleviate your worries or show you how to come up to speed!

Here are full details -

Saturday, 23 April 2005 ( Giblean 2005)
9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.
Findlay Street Christian Church
4620 South Findlay St, Seattle, WA 98118
Two blocks northeast of the intersection of Rainier Ave S and Orcas Street
Plenty of on-street parking, & no meters!
More detailed directions will be sent by e-mail upon request.

$30 members, $40 non-members.

You may register and pay at the door, but pre-event registrations by mail are strongly encouraged. Send your checks to
Slighe nan Gaidheal
PO Box 20667
Seattle, Washington 98102
A registration form can be downloaded from:
http://www.slighe.com/documents/GID_Registration_Form.pdf

For further information, contact:
[email protected]
or 206.903.9452 (message phone)
or 206.722.4261 (home phone for Committee chairman)

www.slighe.com <http://www.slighe.com/>

Slighe nan Gaidheal is Seattle's Gaelic language & cultural society

5. Petition for the Declaration of the Fro Cymraeg (Welsh)

If you agree with the Datganiad y Fro Gymraeg (Declaration of the Fro Cymraeg) below, why not put your name to the ePetition?
http://www.petitiononline.com/cymuned/petition.html

"I have read the Declaration of the Fro Gymraeg at www.datganiad.com, declare my support for it, and call upon the National Assembly of Cymru and the British Government to recognise
the Declaration formally."

http://cymrurydd.com/nucleus/cymunedFlog.php?itemid=67

Blog Cymuned

Testun llawn -- "Datganiad y Fro Gymraeg"
Dydd Iau, 4 Tachwedd 2004

Datganiad y Fro Gymraeg
[fersiwn Saesneg]

DECLARATION OF THE FRO GYMRAEG

proclaimed on the 23rd October 2004

Preamble

Whereas every human being is of equal worth and value;

Whereas there is within the human race a great and rich variety of language, culture and nationality; and all languages, cultures and nationalities in the world are of equal worth and value;

Whereas every nation, whether large or small, has the right to exist in its own proper communities and territory, without having to suffer colonisation; and no nation has the right to colonise the communities and land of another nation;

Whereas racism (namely oppression on grounds of race, that is physical characteristics, rather than or in addition to nationality, language or culture) is utterly repugnant;

Whereas colonisation (which happens when migrants refuse to integrate into a new country, but instead impose their own language, culture and identity on the country to which they migrate, assimilating and/or displacing the indigenous people) is a form of theft and therefore a crime, and is a form of racism (namely colonial racism) since colonisation and racism are inextricably linked, both historically and at the present time;

Whereas many of the world's indigenous languages, cultures and nations are in danger of extinction (`ethnocide') and others are already extinct, mainly as a result of colonisation and colonial racism;

Whereas this process is a threat to the common heritage of the whole of humanity as well as that of individual nations, and is therefore a crime against humanity;

Whereas Cymraeg (the Welsh language) and its parent Brythoneg have been the indigenous languages of Cymru (Wales) for around 2,500 years, but it is now only in Y Fro Gymraeg that Cymraeg is a community language;

Whereas Y Fro Gymraeg, its communities, its language and its culture now face extermination and ethnocide due to colonisation and the loss of much of its indigenous population, in common with many of the world's other indigenous peoples;

Whereas the declarations of the United Nations and the Council of Europe recognise the right of indigenous peoples not to suffer ethnocide, to retain their traditional lands and their identity,
and to be protected by their governments; and that these rights are an integral part of the international framework for safeguarding human rights;

Now, therefore,

We solemnly proclaim the following declaration:

Article 1 - Y Fro Gymraeg exists as a distinct region and areas of Cymru, namely those parts of the traditional territory of the Cymry (Welsh people) where the majority of the indigenous population and a third or more of the total population are able to speak and understand Cymraeg.

Article 2 - We fully support all efforts to restore and popularise Cymraeg in other parts of Cymru (and we also support the Welsh culture of those regions which is expressed through the medium of English or other languages), but we believe that the survival of Y Fro Gymraeg is indispensable to the survival and development of Cymraeg in the rest of Cymru and as a national language, and to the survival of Cymru as a nation.

Article 3 - The people of Y Fro Gymraeg have the right to retain it as a region and areas whose particular and proper language is Cymraeg, where Cymraeg will be the official language, the natural language of the community, the main language of administration and commerce and all other aspects of life, and the common language amongst in-migrants and between in-migrants and indigenous people; and they have the right not to suffer colonisation and loss of the indigenous
population.

Article 4 - The people of Y Fro Gymraeg (including those indigenous people who are not able to speak or understand Cymraeg) have the right to social justice, which includes homes, work and
livelihoods, together with education and other services provided through the medium of Cymraeg, within communities whose language is Cymraeg.

Article 5 - `Normal in-migration' (which happens when migrants of any origin, extraction or race respect the language, culture and identity of Y Fro Gymraeg, learn and use Cymraeg and integrate into the community on that basis) is fully acceptable in Y Fro Gymraeg, and can further enrich our multi-racial and inclusive Cymraeg-speaking society.

Article 6 - No-one has the right to colonise Y Fro Gymraeg, whether intentionally or otherwise; such colonisation is a colonial-racist act and therefore a crime, as are encouragement and support for colonisation; and denying, opposing or undermining the existence of Y Fro Gymraeg and its communities are also colonial-racist acts.

Article 7 - The people of Y Fro Gymraeg have the moral right to oppose colonisation and the loss of its indigenous population, and to oppose policies and actions which further these processes. Such opposition is in solidarity with other indigenous peoples throughout the world who are suffering as a result of colonial racism. This is not a conflict between nations, but rather between two ideologies, namely colonial racism on the one hand and anti-colonialism/anti-racism on the other..

Article 8 - We oppose totally all forms of racism; we declare that all human beings are of equal worth and value, whatever their race and physical characteristics; and we declare that Y Fro Gymraeg is a multi-racial and inclusive region and areas whose particular and proper language
is Cymraeg.

Article 9 - We declare that it is the responsibility of everyone in Cymru to do that which is within their power to ensure the survival of Y Fro Gymraeg and its communities..

Article 10 - We demand that the Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru (the Welsh National Assembly Government), the United Kingdom Government, the European Union and all other relevant bodies support this declaration, recognise the existence of Y Fro Gymraeg and its
> right to continue to exist, accept their moral responsibility to protect it, and take such action as is necessary to fulfil that responsibility.

Wedi'i gyfrannu gan aran am 11:28:06 - Categori: Cyffredinol

6. Hi-Arts (Scottish Gaelic)

[Extract]
Here are just some of the features that you will find in this month's HI~Arts Journal...

Mill a h-Uile Rud - PETER URPETH gets the lowdown on a Gaelic punk band from Seattle ahead of their short tour of Scotland.
http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/mar05_band_profile_Mill_a_hUile_Rud.htm

Gaelic Article - RODY GORMAN reports on the work of the Gaelic publishers Coiscéim (please note - this article is written in Gaelic).
http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/mar05_gaelic_feature_coisceim.htm

Interview - Saxophonist RAYMOND MACDONALD, co-leader of the Burt-MacDonald Quintet, talks about his return to An Tobar in Tobermory this month to develop and perform a new
commission.
http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/mar05_interview_raymond_macdonald.htm

Dal Riata - EILEEN BELL joined the HI~Arts team on a recent media excursion in Argyll, including a visit to Kilmartin House Museum.
http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/mar05_feature_dal_riata.htm

Interview - Irish pianist and composer MÍCHEÁL Ó SÚILLEABHÁIN talks to the Arts Journal about his a tour of the Highlands and Islands and his passion for bringing together traditional and classical music.
http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/mar05_interview_micheal_o_suilleabhain.htm

Watch out for more features, reviews, film reviews and What's On information throughout the month of March 2005.

The HI~Arts Journal Team
www.hi-arts.co.uk

7. Halifax to launch Celtic festival (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050302/HALIFAX02/TPTravel/TopStories

Three-day June event will bring together top pipers, fiddlers and dancers

By STEVE MACLEODCanadian Press
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - Page T2

HALIFAX -- Walk anywhere in Halifax's historic downtown and the Celtic roots of New Scotland's largest city are as thick as the fog that often blankets its harbour.

On a typical Saturday night the sounds of fiddles and shanties spill onto the streets from the city's Irish pubs. Stroll along the waterfront boardwalk and hear the skirl of a kilted piper busking. Introduce yourself to a Haligonian and the chances are fairly good their surname will begin
with a Mac or Mc.

In late spring, the city's vibrant Celtic soul will be even more evident when the first-ever Halifax Celtic Féis music and cultural festival is held. "We want to make this into one of the premier Celtic events in North America," says Ian MacIsaac, a local piper who with partner Keith
Publicover began talking about organizing a major Celtic festival about 1½ years ago.

"The artists who are coming are well known and they're world class."

Pronounced fash by the Scots and fesh by the Irish, féis is Gaelic for meeting or gathering and the Halifax version from June 2 to 4 will bring together the world's top pipers, fiddlers, dancers, craftspeople and storytellers for three days of music and workshops -- and a pint or two. One
of the events, Pints and Piobaireachd (pronounced pee-brock), will bring together some of the world's top bagpipers, including Scotland's Gordon Walker and world solo piper of the year Bruce Grandy of Nova Scotia for a performance at Pier 21, a national heritage site.

At Casino Nova Scotia, Fiddles on Fire, Feet on the Floor will marry traditional Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton fiddlers with step-dancers.

Those wanting to know more about the Gaelic language, piping and genealogy can attend workshops at Saint Mary's University during the day and check out performers at night in both pub settings and soft-seat theatres around the city. The festival will close with a pop ceilidh, or kitchen-party, whose lineup has yet to be finalized.

MacIsaac and Publicover have embarked on a five-year plan to grow the event from relatively modest beginnings into a major international festival that will help extend the city's tourism season beyond the usual July 1 to Labour Day crush.

Halifax Celtic Féis: 902-444-3000; http://www.halifaxcelticfeis.com.

March 4, 2005

8. The saga of Gaelic road signs, episode 694 (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.whfp.com/1714/editor.html
West Highland Free Press. 4th March, 2005.
More than 30 years after their titled predecessors set their faces against the use of any Gaelic on Inverness-shire road signs, how disappointing it is to see the modern councillors parroting the same old anti-Gaelic arguments.

This time the argument is - thankfully - not about the west coast, where the debate has been won. It concerns Inverness itself. Scotland's newest city has "never been a Gaelic town", we are told from Glenurquhart Road. The cost of installing bilingual signs throughout it would be prohibitive.
They might also cause motorists to crash. Gaelic will therefore be limited to the city centre unless the representatives of other districts specifically request them, which seems unlikely.

Inverness was, of course, a Gaelic-speaking town along with most of the rest of Scotland, if we go back far enough. It still retains a substantial minority of speakers, but the evidence of this heritage is sadly no longer reflected in the language mostly used on Church Street. It is to be found most vividly in the place names of the outlying districts. Where does councillor Dave Munro think the misspelt words Ballifeary, Lochardil and Culcabock come from?

Much was made in the council chambers of the supposed high cost of putting Gaelic on road signs in Inverness. Aside from the fact that the cost would actually be negligible, it cannot be pointed out too often that Inverness has done financially very well indeed out of Gaelic. When the bids
are in for the siting of new Gaelic agencies, with all of their associated salaries and building developments, we do not hear quite so much from councillors about Inverness not being a Gaelic-speaking town. Inverness merchants have never been slow to exploit the image and culture of the Gael for their own tourist industry.

And in the year 2007 an Inverness-based group, fully supported by Highland Council, is planning to mount a "year of Highland culture". Millions and millions of pounds, we are assured, will be pumped by this exercise into the region. Most of those millions will doubtless go straight to
Inverness itself.

Perhaps the city's councillors would like to explain to the backers of Highland 2007 and to the rest of us, why Gaelic is good enough to attract their funding, but otherwise is to have no permanent place in the civic life of the "Highland capital".

Ceud mile failte, indeed!

March 5, 2005

9. The Truth About Innse Gall (Scottish Gaelic)

A new survey reveals a shocking deterioration in the level of Gaelic language usage in the Western Isles. The survey is the forerunner to a "Gaelic Language Plan" to be published this autumn. It highlights the fact that children who are educated through Gaelic choose English
as the language of social communication with their peers.
©2005 Scotsman.com

Posted by: WizardofOwls 15-Mar-2005, 06:37 PM
Hi there! Just getting caught up on the news... Seem to keep getting behind... Sorry about that! smile.gif

March 6, 2005

1) A VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF CORNISH LANGUAGE (Cornish)
2) Beyond fleet feet, ancient Irish tongue thrives (Irish Gaelic)

March 9, 2005

3) Manx Study Seminar (Manx Gaelic)
4) Welsh language group launches online petition in support of the language's heartlands (Welsh)
5) School calls for 'corridor' Welsh (Welsh)
6) Welsh broadcasting does not properly reflect Welsh language pop music (Welsh)
7) DELIGHT OVER CHOICE OF VENUE FOR MOD IN 2007 (Scottish Gaelic)
8) Doric signs show road to the aisles (Doric)
9) Bid to spread the word on Scots poet (Scots)
10) Shetland dialect (Scots)
11) Time to recognise a new golden age of Scots literature (Scots)
12) Major boost for Gaelic on Skye (Scottish Gaelic)

March 6, 2005

1) A VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF CORNISH LANGUAGE (Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 11:00 - 01 March 2005

A strategy to help develop the Cornish Language in the 21st century has been officially published following extensive consultation with Cornish language groups, individual Cornish speakers, local councils and members of the public.

When Nick Raynsford, the Minister for Local and Regional Government, announced in November 2002 the Government's decision to recognise Cornish as falling under Part II (Article 7) of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, he emphasised this as a positive step in acknowledging the symbolic importance of the Cornish language to Cornish identity and
heritage. After almost a hundred years of the modern revival of the language, it had finally received official recognition. But what does this new status mean - if anything - to the ordinary resident of Cornwall who wants to learn more about an idiom that is so much a part of our
everyday lives through place-names, family names and increasingly house and business names?

A substantial document - Strateji Rag An Taves Kernewek (Strategy For The Cornish Language) - has just been published which aims to set out the next step in the development and wider use of the Cornish language, Kernewek, in every sphere of life.

The 28-page strategy document is the result of two years' work by a steering group made up of five senior members of the language community (George Ansell, Maureen Pierce, Ken George, Andrew Climo-Thompson and Vanessa Beeman), John Sawle and Jenefer Lowe representing Cornwall County Council, and a member of the Government Office South West (Tony Steele).
Together with an advisory group consisting of a number of organisations with specialist expertise, including Agan Tavas, Cussell An Tavas Kernuak, Dalva, Gorseth Kernow, the Institute of Cornish Studies, Kesva An Taves Kernewek, and Kowethas An Taves Kernewek, they came up with a plan to create better understanding and use of the language in the 21st century as a way of strengthening Cornwall's identity and distinctiveness.

There has already been criticism from some quarters that two years after Nick Raynsford's announcement more should have been done to press for government funding to enable every school child to be given the opportunity of learning Kernewek. However, members of the steering group argue that "Rome wasn't built in a day" and that the strategy document is only a
first step.

Councillor John Lobb, chairman of the Cornish Language Strategy Advisory Group, said: "This is a very important milestone in the development of the Cornish language. Interest in the Cornish language has been growing considerably in recent years and this strategy will help everyone
involved in its development to identify future priorities. Work can now begin on implementing individual action points.

"Now that the strategy has been completed, work is under way to implement the next steps and put funding packages into place to realise the action plans which will follow.

"The response to this public consultation has been heartening: we now have a clear understanding of the aspirations of the people of Cornwall for their language.

"While many differing views have been put forward, a clear vision of Cornish as a widely-spoken community language has emerged during the process. This strategy recognises that there is a long way to travel to achieve this long-term vision but it offers a realistic, step by step approach
towards that goal, and it will need to be reviewed regularly in the light of progress. The development of Cornish cuts across all policy areas of government but we are confident that with the goodwill of all concerned the vision can be realised."

A draft strategy was put together in 2004 and put out to consultation, with the final version being published in a bilingual format. It sets out the authors' vision for the future of the language both in the short and long term, based on the results of consultation with Cornish communities and Kernewek speakers. It looks at the history of the language, the revival, the current situation and steps to be taken to ensure further growth.

The main focus of the strategy is, understandably, education - from pre-school through to university and adult learning.

The authors state: "In some cases this is expressed simply as a desire for every young person to have at least one experience of a language activity and awareness of Cornish culture. In other cases the wish is for space to be made for learning within the curriculum where there is a demand."
A number of targets are identified:

An accessible education programme from pre-school to higher and adult education.

Effective partnerships between statutory bodies, the formal education sector and the voluntary
sector.

The development of new ways to access the Cornish language and support systems both for new learners and newly fluent speakers.

Effective teaching resources.

Research programmes.

High standards of teaching.

Training for voluntary teachers.

Recognised qualifications in the language for learners and teachers.

A change in those perceptions of Cornish which form barriers to teaching and learning leading to a greater take-up of the language by young people.

The authors add: "Learning and teaching Cornish needs to be valued in the same way as other languages in order for it to thrive."

Other important areas identified include: making the language more visible in everyday public life; developing the media profile of Cornish through film, television, newspapers, radio and the Internet; exploring Cornish branding and other commercial opportunities that the language offers
for business, marketing, publishing and tourism; working towards Cornish receiving equal merit and treatment to languages such as Welsh; and setting up a network of centres of Cornish language activity and expertise where resources can be shared and projects and initiatives
developed.

The steering group stresses that the strategy is not intended to be an end in itself, but a working document which will be reviewed annually and updated to reflect progress and the changing cultural landscape.

"The vision and targets are ambitious and there needs to be a realistic acceptance as to the pace at which they can be delivered," the group's members state. "There are no quick fixes. The recognition of Cornish under the Charter and the partnership which has set this process in motion has set the framework for the future. The task is now to build the partnerships and projects which will turn the vision into reality. It is evident from the experience of other language communities that in order for there to be sustained growth the building blocks need to be put in place
progressively and the capacity within the language movement to respond to growth in demandand activity needs to be developed. Implementation of the strategy will require resources, not only in financial terms but, more importantly initially, in dedicated time to develop the actions."

An officer is to be appointed soon to develop and implement the plans and a monitoring group will be formed to oversee implementation and compliance with the European Charter.

Mr Lobb concluded by saying: "It is our belief that the recommendations contained in this strategy will attract widespread public support and are confident that the objectives in language planning are achievable. Cornwall now has a unique opportunity to develop the use and knowledge of its ancient language throughout the community, enriching the lives of future
generations and consolidating a Cornish identity; one that is so important within a multilingual
Europe."

Strateji Rag An Tavas Kernewek (Strategy For The Cornish Language) is available in four versions of Cornish, as well as English, and can be obtained by writing to John Sawle, Chief Executive's Office, County Hall, Truro. Alternatively, e-mail [email protected] or visit
www.cornwall.gov.uk

2) Beyond fleet feet, ancient Irish tongue thrives (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.newsday.com/
BY JIM MERRITT. March 6, 2005

Patrick Clifford's class is learning a bit of Gaelic vocabulary tonight plus some handy phrases for getting around in the Irish countryside.

"An bhfuil sé fuar?" Clifford says, writing the Irish Gaelic words, which mean, "Is it cold?" on a portable blackboard at the front of a makeshift classroom inside the Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall in Babylon.

Justine Napodano, one of 15 students taking Clifford's beginning Irish class, repeats the Gaelic tongue twister, then the correct answer on this winter evening:

"Tá sé fuar: It is cold."

"I'm really into languages," explains Napodano, 17, a Seaford resident and a senior at Island Trees High School. Though only a tiny bit Irish (she's mostly Sicilian-American), Napodano is enjoying the lessons, during which Clifford, an Irish immigrant who lives in Lindenhurst, also holds up flashcards with Irish vocabulary words. "It doesn't sound like any other language I've ever heard before."

For Maureen and Bill Crowley of Kings Park, married accountants who've just returned from a trip to the Emerald Isle, it's more of an essential skill. The fourth-generation Irish-Americans have been promised a return trip to Ireland if they can master the Irish tongue.
Keeping Irish alive for the Irish, the Irish-American and the merely curious is the object of the Gerry Tobin Irish Language School, which generally includes between 50 and 120 students, and attracts some 70 students to free classes each Thursday.

Founded in 1988, the school offers the most extensive Irish language instructional program in North America, according to an Irish Voice article published last fall.

A thriving Irish language school is "a testament to the long history of Irish Americans on Long Island," said Anne O'Byrne, an assistant professor of philosophy at Hofstra University who grew up in Ireland.

Students say they're drawn in because of interest in their own Irish heritage as well as the language's music and intellectual challenges.

"I want to learn every language known to man," said Lauren Soule, 15, of West Babylon, whose ethnic background includes Norwegian, Polish and Russian ancestors, but no Irish.

"Irish Gaelic in particular is undergoing a tremendous renaissance since its near-extinction in the mid 20th century," according to Jerry Kelly, another one of the 10 instructors at the school.

Kelly said that English speakers had suppressed Gaelic in its homeland during centuries of British rule. In the schools, "they would beat you if you spoke Irish," he said. Kelly teaches a "Mommy, Daddy & Me" program for kids 2-9; other sections cover advanced conversation, literature, history, and creative writing.

Irish - taught now in Republic of Ireland's public schools, a central reason for its comeback - is spoken as a "first" language there by about 40 percent of the republic's close to 4 million inhabitants; a few hundred thousand also speak it in Northern Ireland, according to Kelly. Music with Irish Gaelic lyrics is also having a resurgence, especially among young people.

But what's the use of studying a language heard only on one little, if beloved, island?

"We've got the greatest epic literature [in Irish Gaelic] that survives in Indo-European culture," said Kelly, 53, a financial consultant who lives in Seaford and raised his two children to speak Irish at home.

A branch of Celtic which originated in central Europe in the 12th to 8th centuries B.C., Irish is the source of words such as "puck" and "smashing," as in we had a "smashing" time, say the Tobin school instructors.

The Tobin school is part of a larger Irish-language scene nationwide, said Thomas Ihde, director of the CUNY Institute for Irish American Studies at Lehman College in The Bronx. Irish Gaelic courses are taught at about 20 colleges and universities nationwide, including New York University and CUNY, and in high school and university adult education programs. Ihde estimates that about 80 percent of students studying are either Irish-American or married to one.
The other 20 percent include Brian V. Sukhoo, 15, of North Babylon, whose background is Puerto Rican and Guyanese. Each Thursday he accompanies Soule, his girlfriend, to class.

A student of languages, Sukhoo said he's also studying Japanese, German and Korean. He enjoys the school's warm learning environment and hopes to speak Irish one day in its native land.

Says Sukhoo: "I think it's only right to learn the language of the place you're going to visit."

March 9, 2005

3) Manx Study Seminar (Manx Gaelic)

http://www.iomguide.com/events/event_list.php?id=Douglas

Breathing life into the corpus: the case of Manx Gaelic

Dates: 14th April 2005
Description: Centre for Manx Studies Seminar Series at Elmwood House, Isle of Man College,
Douglas.
Time: 7.30pm
FREE

4) Welsh language group launches online petition in support of the language's heartlands (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd Meirion, Penygroes 3/7/2005

Welsh language group launches online petition in support of the language's heartlands The Welsh language pressure group Cymuned has launched an online petition to support its campaign for the Welsh language heartlands. The group was formed in 2001 to tackle widespread inmigration of
English speakers to the heartlands, threatening the language. The census of that year showed, whilst there had been a increase in the number of Welsh speakers throughout Wales, there had been a decline in its heartlands. Cymuned now want the National Assembly of Wales to adopt measures to safeguard these communities by helping local people to compete in the housing market and strengthening its economic activity.

People are encouraged to read and declare support for the Declaration of the Fro Gymraeg (the Welsh-speaking heartlands) on the internet. The petition was launched by displaying a large banner 'Y Fro Gymraeg - Keep Our Communities Alive' on the walls of Dolwyddelan castle, in north-west Wales, once a stronghold of the Welsh princes and one of the last castles to fall to the invading English armies during the 13th century.

"This is the first public step towards revealing how much support we have received for our Declaration of the Fro Gymraeg," says Richard Evans, chairman of Cymuned's Executive Committee. "A lot of preparatory work has been going on behind the scenes, and through displaying this banner on the walls of Dolwyddelan castle, we are declaring that the public work is now beginning. We demand that the Assembly Government recognises the existence and the importance of the Fro Gymraeg."

Cymuned's definition of the Fro Gymraeg is those areas where over 50 per cent of the population that was born in Cymru (Wales) speak Cymraeg (Welsh), and over 33 per cent of the population as a whole. Cymuned says that language planning experts have announced that there is a need for a geographic area where a minority language is the main language of all spheres of life if it is to survive in the long term.

"We have a lot of plans for promoting the Fro Gymraeg this year," says Aran Jones, Cymuned's chief executive, "and this is just the beginning. We will not stop until Rhodri Morgan [First Minister of the Assembly] and the Assembly Government recognise that the Fro Gymraeg exists, and accept that our Cymraeg-speaking communities are of priceless importance to our nation as a whole."

The petition can be found at www.petitiononline.com/cymuned/petition.html.
(Eurolang © 2005)

5) School calls for 'corridor' Welsh (Welsh)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/4326407.stm
BBC NEWS. Tuesday, 8 March, 2005, 09:03 GMT

One of Wales' oldest Welsh-medium schools is urging parents to encourage their children to speak more of the language in the corridors.

Arwel George, head of Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig in Aberystwyth, said Welsh had reached a "new low" outside the classroom.

He has appealed to parents, pupils and staff at the school to revive pride in their native tongue.

A language pressure group said Anglo-American culture was to blame.

Rhieni Tros Addysd Gymraeg (Rhag)/Parents for Welsh Medium Education, said English music and magazines played a major role in young people's lives.

In his letter to parents Mr George said: "During recent years there is a sense that there has been a decrease in the use of Welsh along the school's corridors.

"There has always been an element of this as Penweddig students are bilingual and using English, contrary to the school's expectations, is one means whereby young adolescents can express their
individuality.
"By now, however, we feel that we have reached a new low and there is need for us as staff, students, parents and governors to realise what the situation is and pull together to revive our pride in the Welsh language and to strengthen its use in the life of the school."

Mr George added that he wanted to adopt a new slogan for the coming year: '2005: A successful new year for Welsh at Penweddig'.

Ysgol Penweddig opened in 1973.

Heini Griffith of Rhag said Welsh-speaking young people were under "enormous pressure" from the English language.

"English is the dominant language especially of youth culture. The Anglo/American culture dominates music and magazines and plays a large part in young people's lives," said Mr Griffith, who lives in Swansea.

"Schools are left to deal with this and parents must take more responsibility to encourage their children to speak Welsh. Teachers take on too much responsibility for the language."

He added: "The problems at Penweddig are general problems seen in other parts of Wales and young people are under enormous pressure from English.

"I welcome Mr George's initiative and knowing him his message is positive."

6) Welsh broadcasting does not properly reflect Welsh language pop music (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd Meirion, Penygroes 3/8/2005

The Welsh language media does not do enough to help contemporary Welsh language pop music. This is the accusation made by singer Gwilym Morus, lead singer of Drumbago, who has just released a solo album. He says that the current provision is of a low standard and undermines the work of many Welsh people to sustain a healthy and meaningful culture.

About a hundred people have signed a petition organised by Mr Morus, which says that a wider range is needed to reflect the real scene. It asks for more programmes, more documentary programmes of a high standard on various aspects of the Welsh language scene, and a "serious attempt to sustain and promote the present live scene". He adds that the standard of Welsh pop music has improved over the last few years and that this is not reflected on Welsh radio and
television.

"The music played is from a narrow selection of middle-of-the-road music," says Gwilym Morus in an interview with a local English-language newspaper. "More diversity would reflect the real climate of the scene. The tendency to play the same songs once the album has 'aged' is narrow and boring. A little effort to use complete albums would create a greater diversity and make a world of difference to their service. Also playing poor English songs is an insult to the great number of good Welsh-language songs that have been recorded over the past decades. We have plenty to chose from in this country."

BBC Radio Cymru, the national radio channel, plays pop music for about two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon of mainly middle-of-the road material, with some English hits included in the afternoon. A further two hours of middle-of-the road material is broadcast in the early evening, but a more youth-orientated programme is broadcast for three hours in the late evening.

BBC Wales has denied the accusations, saying that the opposite was true and that it helps to promote Welsh language music. "We record on average one session every fortnight through the year ... with these songs [later] played to a much wider audience," said a BBC spokesman. "I have seen no evidence that Radio Cymru only plays one song from these sessions over and over.
We also help the live scene by holding Brwydr y Bandiau (Battle of the Bands), Mawredd Mawr (an annual competition to find the best Welsh language pop song) and RAP Awards (awards for those working in the Welsh language pop industry). In the next two months, we will be holding meetings with Welsh record labels and promoters to see how we can boost the scene further."

The Welsh language television channel S4C - which at present broadcasts a weekly pop programme - has also defended its output by saying that they have "a strategy, and part of that is to have a commissioner that listens". The channel welcomes any dialogue on its output. (Eurolang © 2005)

7) DELIGHT OVER CHOICE OF VENUE FOR MOD IN 2007 (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=11986169
KEN JONES. Press and Journal. 09:00 - 08 March 2005

Lochaber has been given a massive cultural and financial boost with confirmation yesterday that it is to host the Royal National Mod in 2007.

The district has already been named as the venue for the World Mountain Bike Championships in 2007 - the Scottish Year of Highland Culture.

The Mod, which runs from October 12 to 20, will give a welcome boost to Lochaber's tourism economy which already provides 2,500 jobs and is worth more than £150million a year.

There are also high hopes that Lochaber can attract two other international events in 2007 - an ice climbing competition at Kinlochleven, which has the world's biggest indoor ice climbing wall, and a freestyle kayak contest at Fort William.

Yesterday's announcement comes just a week after a £307,000 cash package was delivered to promote the area worldwide as the Outdoor Capital of the UK.
The news that Lochaber will host the Mod was welcomed locally. Olwyn Macdonald, a councillor and Highland Council's Lochaber area convener, told colleagues at a meeting yesterday: "This is absolutely fantastic news.

"The Mod is a fantastic cultural event which builds on the support the council provides to organisations to promote and develop our indigenous language and culture. I know from previous events our young people especially enjoy competing at the Mod as it provides both a focus and a
platform to broadcast their language and musical skills."

Michael Foxley, a champion of Gaelic and the council's vice-convener, said: "I am delighted as Lochaber intends to celebrate the Highland Year of Culture in spectacular fashion.

"The Mod in Lochaber will be the centrepiece of this."

Robin Banks, chairman of Am Mod Naiseanta Rioghail, added: "Fort William is regarded by many as one of the best locations for a Royal National Mod, with a good supply of hotels and competition venues."

The event relies heavily on local voluntary support, but Charlie MacColl, chairman of the Lochaber branch of An Comunn Gaidhealach, said his members were now looking forward to planning for the event.

He said: "It is a long time since the Mod was here in Lochaber and I am pleased that a decision has finally been made. We will be getting started immediately on planning for 2007 and I am sure that the Gaelic community in and around Lochaber will lend their support."

This year's Royal Mod will be in the Western Isles and at Dunoon in 2006.

The announcement is an added bonus for a group of tourism operators and businesses, who have been spearheading the drive to have Lochaber officially recognised as the UK outdoor capital.

The recently announced funding package, which includes £100,000 European cash and £152,000 from the Highlands and Islands Enterprise network, will be used to promote Lochaber as the premier destination for outdoor sport, adventure tourism and health-related recreational activities.

The claim is already underpinned by its hosting of the Scottish Six Day Motorcycle Trials, which returns to Lochaber in May, along with the Ben Race, both of which attract international competitors.

Heats of the World Cup mountain biking event will return to Aonach Mor for the fourth year in September, bringing an estimated 40,000 competitors, back-up teams and spectators and a possible £2million for the local economy.

8) Doric signs show road to the aisles (Doric)
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=251092005
Edinburgh Evening News. 7th March, 2005.

SUPERMARKET giant Asda has ditched English and introduced signs in a local dialect in a new Scottish store, it emerged today.

Bosses at the Asda superstore in Peterhead decided to put up all of its signs in Doric - the traditional language of Scotland's north-east.

All directional signs in the store, and some of the Asda promotional sayings, have been translated into the local tongue.

"Welcome to Asda" has been changed to "Come Awa In", while "Always Happy to Help" and "Always Low Prices" have been translated into "Wid Aye Gie Ye a Han" and "Easy on the
Pooch".

Even the toilets in the store have been given a regional twist, with the ladies labelled as "Quines".

On leaving the store a sign also reads "Hist ye Back" - meaning "Come Again Soon".

The Doric signs were translated by the Buchan Heritage Society.

Store manager Craig Patterson said: "We hope our decision to introduce the Doric signs will give the dialect a real boost."

9) Bid to spread the word on Scots poet (Scots)

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=254702005
FIONA MCGLYNN. EDUCATION REPORTER
Edinburgh Evening News. 8th March, 2005.

THE words of one of Scotland's most famous but neglected poets may soon be heard ringing around Edinburgh classrooms.

Poetry lovers have launched a bid to have CDs of Robert Fergusson's greatest works handed out to schools and libraries in the city.

The Friends of Robert Fergusson group wants children to help keep the Scots language alive.

It also plans to bury a time capsule containing work related to the poet beneath a recently erected statue of Fergusson on the Royal Mile. Fergusson has long been regarded as Scotland's forgotten poet, and was believed to have been one of Robert Burns' greatest inspirations.

Dr Peter Robinson, former chairman of the Friends group, said he was keen for Fergusson's poems to be better known. The group hopes to raise £900 to buy 30 of the music sets, made up of three CDs, which have been produced for the group by company Scotsoun.

It features people such as Scottish poet and writer Hugh McDiarmid reading extracts from Fergusson's work.

Dr Robinson said: "This CD holds absolutely unique documents, some wonderful readings of his poetry going back 30 years.

"It is important to realise that Burns was unlikely to have written in Scots in quite the same way if it had not been for Fergusson."

Fergusson's most famous work, a 368-line poem called Auld Reikie, has been described as a long ode to Edinburgh's bustling street life in the 18th century.

Burns is said to have changed from writing in English to broad Scots after reading Fergusson's
work.

Bill Watt, fundraising co-ordinator for the Friends, said: "My main interest is to keep as many Scottish words in the English language as we can.

"The more words we keep in the language, the more we can identify with ourselves as a people."

City pupils are already set to be more aware of Fergusson after education bosses agreed to hold a poetry competition in schools in his name.

An application for funding to pay for the capsule and the CDs was turned down by Edinburgh City Council last year.

However, members of the Friends are confident they will manage to raise money from private
donations.

A city education spokesman said: "We have been approached by the Friends of Robert Fergusson who asked if we would help them promote Robert Fergusson and his work to our schools by running a poetry competition in our schools.

"We are happy to support the campaign in this way, and hope this helps raise the profile of Robert Fergusson."

The Friends organisation was responsible for putting up a statue of Fergusson in October last year outside Canongate Kirk, where he was buried after dying in an asylum aged just 24. Fundraising problems meant the statue has not had a name plaque since it was put up in October.

However, enough money has now been raised to pay for paving stones inscribed with the poet's name and a plaque. The metal plaque is likely to be mounted on a stone plinth and would display details of Fergusson's life, including four lines from Auld Reikie.
The time capsule is expected to contain information such as minutes from the Friends' meetings.

Fergusson was born in 1750 in Edinburgh's Old Town. He attended the University of St Andrews, where he began writing poetry.

He died in 1774.

10) Shetland dialect (Scots)

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=248992005
The Scotsman. 7th March, 2005.

With regard to your report (1 March) on street names in Shetland, the Shetland dialect retains many features of the Norn language which was spoken on the islands until their incorporation into Scotland. It continued to be spoken for hundreds of years after Shetland came under the control of the Scottish crown, but during that time it was gradually replaced by a local form of
Scots.

The present dialect is essentially Scots, in character, but with many more Norse influences than on the mainland. Evidence of the Scots language can be found in the typical Scots geographical terms and street names that occur in various parts of the islands. In Lerwick, there are the usual braes, wynds, lochsides and "closses" (closes) one would expect to find elsewhere in Scotland.

It would be a welcome development if the old Scots street names were restored to the central Lerwick closes.

MICHAEL HANCE
Manager, Scots Language Resource Centre
York Place
Perth

11) Time to recognise a new golden age of Scots literature (Scots)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/34587.html
KEITH BRUCE. The Herald. March 07 2005

Scottish Books

IT is becoming increasingly clear to me that we are living through a golden age, new renaissance - call it what you will - of Scots literature. This is not a hyperbolic statement.

Recent past times have had their high points, but many years passed between Lanark and Kelman and Trainspotting and recognition for Edwin Morgan was a long time coming. Playwrights like Peter Arnott and John Clifford enjoyed single successes and then years in the wilderness. Despite the fact that the arts are not quantifiably better off in financial terms, the riches we are enjoying in terms of work are truly remarkable. In the theatre, a new generation of writers - David Harrower, David Greig, Zinnie Harris, Nicola McCartney, Gregory Burke - enjoy national and international reputations, many of their predecessors have come back into the limelight, and new young talents (Catherine Grosvenor and Morna Pearson for example) are waiting in the wings.

The Scottish novel, meanwhile, boasts its greatest-ever diversity with successful romance and thriller writers, incomers setting up shop to work here, and new talent emerging annually from creative writing hothouses like the courses at the universities of Glasgow and St Andrews.
Historians, biographers and cultural commentators and critics from here are also in the top rank. Literary events are blooming all over the country beyond Edinburgh's now annual book festival, with the appetite for Stanza in St Andrews, Wigtown's Book Town and - this year - Pitlochry's Winter Words and Glasgow's new Aye Write! exceeding all expectations. Poetry is also thriving. Just as Don Paterson and Kathleen Jamie's prize-winning shows a country punching above its weight, so Scots are well-represented in the UK lists and there is a growing local commitment to verse publishing.

Into this glorious ferment come two major new collections by two important figures. Stewart Conn had a long career as a major figure in radio drama, but in his later years it is his poetry that has secured his status, and the publication of Ghosts at Cockcrow (Bloodaxe, £8.95) in part marks the end of his three-year tenure as Edinburgh's first Poet Laureate (a fine accolade for an Ayrshire lad).

Iain Bamforth is a generation younger and grew up in Glasgow but is now resident in Strasbourg, a true polymath of the old Enlightenment type, a doctor with his own practice and a scientific translator whose last book, The Body in the Library, was an inspired anthology of medically
related texts both obscure and culled from Camus, Flaubert, Conan Doyle, Kafka, Auden and
Larkin.

In their very different ways the reach and range of both men is remarkable. The title sequence of Conn's book is intensely personal. A journey through Burgundy rich in observation, these narrative and descriptive poems in a range of forms have a poignant subtext of mellow ageing and reflection. Contentment is rarely assumed to be a spur to creativity, but these give the lie to
that.

Then there are Conn's public poems. I am less taken with his sequence on his perceived predecessor as makar of Edinburgh, Roull of Corstorphine. This mixture of history and imagination fails to gel and the facts sit ill with the flights of fancy beyond the simple amusement at their very juxtaposition. The poems of contemporary Edinburgh (and beyond) that follow them are captivating in their comparative directness. In a few words, Conn transports you to the Museum of Scotland or the Botanic Gardens or puts you in front of a painting by Elizabeth Blackadder or Craigie Aitchison. He's at his best when the personal (and the tender) intrudes. Sightings may be the best poem by spectacle-wearer not written by John Hegley.

Like this March, Bamforth's A Place in the World (Carcanet, £8.95), roars in like a king of the jungle. The opening poem, Third Person Lion, is derived from the writings of 18th-century German philosopher C G Lichtenberg but it is hard not to hear echoes of the timid Caledonian lion of Herald cartoonist Jim Turnbull: "Here it stands, thistlefine, emblazoned in a mane of light. Its distinctive sin is pride. This be its written constitution."

Although it would be a major misjudgment to read Bamforth too parochially, there are some important "Scottish" poems here. Calvin's Architect is a slightly jaundiced pen-portrait of Alexander "Greek" Thomson and A Nest of Boxes for the Opening of the Scottish Parliament is a wonderfully eclectic list-poem that delights with its startling appropriateness. Elsewhere he ranges widely across European culture and history and beyond. Among many other antecedents, he has a fondness for Portugal's Fernando Pessoa. By contrast Bamforth's recognition is surely coming during his lifetime.

12) Major boost for Gaelic on Skye (Scottish Gaelic)

http://northtonight.grampiantv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=6118
Grampian TV. 08/03/2005 15:31

Multi-million pound plans have been put forward to provide a major boost for Gaelic on Skye. It's hoped a new cultural centre at the Gaelic College will benefit both the language and the local
economy.

Sleat on the South of Skye is the spectacular location for Scotland's only Gaelic College. The new campus buildings on the water's edge are a source of inspiration for students who come here from all over the world to enjoy the language.

Since being established more than thirty years ago Sabhal Mor Ostaig has been at the forefront of the development of Gaelic. This year its planned to build on these strong foundations by creating a six point four million pounds centre for creative and cultural industries, called Fas.

The word 'Fas' is Gaelic for growth. With elements such as studios, a theatre and business incubation centre, it's expected the facility will sustain 90 jobs, and more than live up to its name.

Funding's been pledged by Highland Council, the Scottish Executive and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and a bid has been submitted for European support.

Those behind the development believe it'll be a massive boost for the local area. Appropriately the centre is due to open in 2007, the year of Highland culture.


Posted by: WizardofOwls 15-Mar-2005, 07:19 PM
FYI: Please note that this is the second of two posts that I have made in this column today. If you have not read the previous post, then you have not read all of today?s news! This post catches us up on all of the latest news.

March 11, 2005

1) Gaelic signs of the times (Scottish Gaelic)
2) EU Constitution to be translated into Welsh, but not other UK languages (All Celtic
Languages)
3) MOD GROUP TO VISIT CORK FOR CELTFEST (Irish Gaelic)
4) Who's dogged by a Glasgow accent? (Scottish Accent)
5) MANX GAELIC COULD BE BROADCAST ON NEW TV CHANNEL (Manx Gaelic)

March 13, 2005

6) Pure dead fabulous - Scots accent takes on a Home Counties lilt (Scottish Accent)
7) Scottish Parliament Spending (Scottish Gaelic)
8) Scots Gaelic is in peril. It is our duty to save it (Scottish Gaelic)

March 14, 2005

9) Opinion Please(Scottish Gaelic)

March 11, 2005

1) Gaelic signs of the times (Scottish Gaelic)
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=261362005

The Scotsman
Thu 10 Mar 2005
Opinion - Letters

I read John Ross's article on Gaelic road signs and I am disheartened by the Anglo-centric attitude adopted by some Highland councillors, who plan to limit bilingual Gaelic-English road signs in Inverness and beyond.

I understand that if a sign says "Cunnartach Feansa Dealain" instead of "Danger Electric Fence" it would lead to the demise of many non-Gaels. But in Spain, where I live, all the traffic signs are the international ones, recognised all over Europe, including Inverness.

Although Castellano (Spanish) is the official language in Spain, there are other popular languages and dialects.

On a recent visit to Valencia, I noted that all the place names and directions were in Castellano and Valenciano, the latter having a similar relationship to Spanish as Scots has to English. With Gaelic such a different language, the English script in Gaelic-English signs could be given greater emphasis.

Gaelic road signs in the Highlands are no gimmick, but a culture boost and an encouragement to Gaels and Gaelic learners alike. The Highland Council has to develop a more expansive policy to our new Scotland.

DAVID IAN WEIR
Puerto Rey, Vera
Almeria, Spain

©2005 Scotsman.com

2) EU Constitution to be translated into Welsh, but not other UK languages
(All Celtic Languages)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4963
Brussel / Bruxelles 3/10/2005 , by Davyth Hicks

Plaid Cymru Euro-MP Jill Evans has welcomed the news that the proposed EU Constitution will be translated into Welsh as reported on Eurolang on 17th February. A formal announcement came yesterday from UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in a response to a parliamentary question tabled by the party's UK parliamentary leader Elfyn Llwyd MP.

Ms Evans , who has been leading the party's campaign for greater recognition for the status of the Welsh language in Europe, described the announcement as a first step in winning official EU status for Welsh. Jill Evans was the first MEP to legally use Welsh on the floor of the European Parliament when rules were changed to allow non-official languages to be used last year.

Speaking from Strasbourg, Jill Evans MEP said: "We're delighted that we've won this battle to get the EU constitution translated into Welsh. This was the first step in our campaign for Welsh to be recognised as an official European language and we now hope that the New Labour Government in Westminster will go further and propose Welsh as an EU working language."

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party (SNP) has stepped up its campaign to have the proposed EU Constitution translated into Scotland's indigenous languages. The Foreign Office informed Eurolang that the UK government does not intend to translate the document into Gaelic or Scots. The SNP believes that translations should be provided prior to any referendum on the proposed Constitution.

Speaking to the press yesterday, Europe spokesperson Ian Hudghton MEP said: "The recent enlargement of the EU has seen a huge leap in linguistic diversity. Scotland's indigenous languages are part of that diversity and are an important part of the rich cultural tapestry of Europe.
"The European Commission has confirmed to me that the proposed Constitution can be translated into Scotland's languages - if the UK requests it. Such a step would mark a significant commitment to the future well-being of Gaelic and Scots.

"We congratulate the Welsh on securing a commitment from the government for a translation to be made in their language. However, if it's good enough for Wales, it's good enough for Scotland. The government must rethink its stance and show full respect for Scotland's culture."

The Foreign Office has also informed Eurolang that the UK government has no plans to be translate the Constitution into Irish or Cornish either.

Language issues were also raised in the European Parliament's plenary session in yesterday's debate to prepare for the forthcoming European summit in Brussels, Catalan Republican MEP Bernat Joan called for coherence from those Spanish MEPs who have been demanding greater pluralism and respect for diversity within the EU, due to the ongoing reduction in the use of the Spanish language in the EU institutions. "You cannot call for pluralism in Europe and then on the other hand refuse it, for example, as happened in the Spanish state Parliament", said Mr Joan.

In this context the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) representative in the European Parliament observed that without the participation of the stateless nations Europe would remain incomplete. Mr Joan went on to express his approval "for the differential vote in the Basque Country and Catalonia in the referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty" which saw a higher `No' vote.

Bernat Joan closed his remarks with a few words in Catalan: "without Scotland, Wales, the Basque Country, or Catalonia, Europe is not Europe. Without the Catalan language, a complete and worthy Europe will not be built".(Eurolang © 2005)

3) MOD GROUP TO VISIT CORK FOR CELTFEST (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=12008101
Press and Journal. 09:00 - 10 March 2005

A group of musicians representing the Royal National Mod are visiting the Irish city of Cork this month to take part in celebrations marking the 2005 European Capital of Culture.

The group, which performs under the name Fionnar, includes singers and musicians from Glasgow, Argyll, Fort William, Oban, Ullapool and Dingwall.

Highland Council's Gaelic song fellowship official, Dingwall-based Fiona Mackenzie, is also making the four-day trip from March 14 to 18.

The group will take part in Celtfest 2005 at University College Cork, joining musicians from Galicia, Brittany and Wales.
Financial support for the trip has come from Highland Council, the organisers of the Irish festival and Gaelic organisations in the Highlands.

Murdo Morrison, promotions manager for the Mod, will also attend the event.

He said: "Groups such as Fionnar represent the future of the Gaelic language and Scottish traditional music. All the members are either fluent in, or are learning Gaelic, and all have a wide range of musical skills including fiddle, accordion, Gaelic song, piping and clarsach."

The group are also expected to take part in celebrations to mark St Patrick's Day and will be staying in Ballyvourney, County Cork.

4) Who's dogged by a Glasgow accent? (Scottish Accent)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/34989.html
ALLAN LAING. The Herald. March 10 2005

IT just so happens that John Reid talks with an unmistakable west of Scotland accent. Yet, is that really such a bad thing?

Does it automatically make the health secretary qualify as an "attack dog", a description he was given in an extraordinary spat with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight?

The minister took grave exception to the presenter describing him as New Labour's attack dog, barking back that the only reason Paxman had done so was because of his Glasgow accent.

Dr Jane Stuart-Smith, reader in language at Glasgow University, has studied the Glasgow accent in detail.

She reckons that, while the Glaswegian way of speaking may have a certain reputation, it has little to do with the reality of either the language or the way it is delivered.

Instead, it is all down to the stereotypical images with which Glasgow has been historically
connected.

Strictly speaking, since he was born in Bellshill and went to school in Coatbridge, Mr Reid does not have a Glasgow accent - however, this minor accident of geography did not prevent the smooth-talking health secretary from laying proprietorial claim to the vernacular of no mean city during his spat with the interviewer.

Once again, the perception of the way Glaswegians express themselves - and the negative connotations associated with it - has become a matter ofpolitical debate. The last time it happened was shortly after the Springburn MP, Michael Martin, was appointed Speaker of the House. Parliamentary sketch writers had a field day, complaining about his impenetrable accent anddubbing him "Gorbals Mick" for the way he talked. It later prompted Mr Martin to accuse some (English) journalists of blatant snobbery.

Now, it appears, it is the turn of the Rt Hon member for Hamilton North and Bellshill to feel threatened because of his brogue. The truth is, of course, that in the unlikely event of Dr Reid losing his seat at the next general election, he would surely find alternative employment in a Glasgow call centre. He may not possess the mellifluous, silky-smooth tones of, say, Hugh Grant, but his voice is strong, his delivery assured, and his enunciation pretty near perfect.

As part of her research, Dr Stuart-Smith examined the speech patterns and voice quality of people in working-class Maryhill and middle-class Bearsden.

She said: "I didn't find any evidence, phonetically, for the type of harsh, rough Glasgow voice that people talk about. But there was something else which had nothing to do with the language but was connected to the association which certain accents have with certain characteristics.

"Unfortunately, for a long time broad Glaswegian was associated with certain types of behaviour. There was a study in the 1970s in which one university lecturer associated it with violence and roughness. But I don't agree. The truth is that most people in Glasgow don't talk with a harsh
voice.

"My own feeling is that I find it surprising that these stereotypes still exist in a modern, cultured, interesting and thriving city."

For Dr Stuart-Smith, it is not so much the Glasgow accent but the whole way that Glaswegians communicate. Typically, they are straightforward, witty and intelligent.

"In Glasgow, to survive intellectually and verbally, you have to be very sharp and fast, and I think some of the communicative practices in southerners are very different indeed," she said.

This may serve to explain, at least in part, why outsiders have a problem with the Glasgow accent.

"As a southerner myself, we are supposed to be witty - and Paxman himself is very astute and tenacious - but in some sense I think that we tend to be more withdrawn.

"We perhaps might not be quite so overt about what we are talking about. A typical Glaswegian arguing with a typical southerner might find it quite frustrating because it might take them a while to draw that person out.

"Glaswegians don't observe pausing. Southerners might be more guarded, reserved, and will qualify and think what they are saying.

"They are more cautious," she said. Cautiously.

As for John Reid, the curious thing about his Newsnight altercation was that Paxman didn't once mention his Glasgow accent. It was the minister who brought it up, a remark which prompted the presenter, something of an attack dog himself, to ask "What on earth are you talking about?"

And, while Mr Reid regarded the suggestion as an insult, he is not normally regarded as the sensitive type.

For many politicians, a reputation for being a snarling rottweiler is as a badge of honour. The label did little to adversely affect the political careers of, for example, Norman Tebbit and Denis Healey - both men who, unlike John Reid, achieved their notoriety without the benefit of a
Glasgow accent.

5) MANX GAELIC COULD BE BROADCAST ON NEW TV CHANNEL (Manx Gaelic)

http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?
SectionID=1143&ArticleID=967995
IoM Online. 10 March 2005

MANX Gaelic broadcasts could be included in a proposed new satellite channel.

Phil Gawne MHK and Adrian Cain, the Manx language officer, discussed the possible inclusion of the language on a new channel from Gaelic Media Services, Scotland.

'While it is unlikely that Manx Gaelic content would be much more than say half an hour a week, this would be a tremendous step forward for the language,' said Mr Gawne.

They spoke to John Angus MacKay, GMS chief executive, last week, ahead of a seminar to launch the idea. It is expected the channel would come into being around 2008 after broadcasting switches from analogue to digital.

Mr Gawne said: 'The seminar was to launch the idea of what is going to happen, in particular with Gaelic broadcasting, with the new system and introduce the new channel idea to leaders of all Scottish Gaelic agencies.

'There was a brief mention that perhaps the Manx language could be included in all this.'

The seminar took place in Inverness.

A jointly funded report is to be produced this summer on how Scottish and Manx Gaelic officers can work more closely to the benefit of both languages.

The report will focus on media services and broadcasting, but tourism, education, cultural and political co-operation will also be considered.

During the meeting it was agreed the Island could work more closely with GMS.
Mr Cain said contacts in the field of language were important.

He said: 'We sometimes can feel quite isolated in the Manx language movement and finding out that our larger Gaelic-speaking cousins face similar problems to our own is very reassuring.

'It was also very pleasing to be told that in some areas we are, in fact, ahead of Scotland, particularly with regard to understanding the potential political and economic importance of our
language.'

March 13, 2005

6) Pure dead fabulous - Scots accent takes on a Home Counties lilt (Scottish Accent)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=274192005
FIONA MACGREGOR. Scotland on Sunday. 13th March, 2005.

SEE YOU, James, your patter is pure gentleman's underwear.

Elaine C Smith and Joanna Lumley are not quite as far apart as many may have thought - the Home Counties' accent is spreading to Scotland.

Following last week's furore when health secretary John Reid accused Jeremy Paxman of insulting him over his Glasgow pronunciation, Scots scientists have revealed that Glaswegians are in fact using more "English" speech patterns and dropping their Rs.

Dr Jim Scobbie from the Speech Science Research Centre at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, is carrying out the research on children and adults at the Glasgow Science Centre.

The ongoing study comes after speech experts noticed that the accents of many young Glaswegians were becoming closer to the English upper classes.

Scobbie said language experts first noted a decline in the use of the much-parodied Scots rolled R during the 1990s, but this process appears to have accelerated in the last few years.

Residents of Maryhill, an area of Glasgow perceived to have a "strong" accent, are now dropping the consonant altogether at the end of words with words such as 'car' and 'bar' are changing in pronunciation to 'cah' and 'bah'.

However, contrary to claims that English television programmes are influencing the way Scots speak, Scobbie believes the dropping of the final R is a natural development.

"To the casual listener it may sound like the R has been dropped completely as it is in England, but when you look at the ultrasound images you can see the tongue starts to shape an R before the sound trails off."
He said if it was a case of merely copying English pronunciation there would be no evidence of the R at all. And he claimed that within Glasgow there were also differences with the dropped R more common in Maryhill than Bearsden.

"There's a natural tendency in all languages for consonants to become weaker at the end of the word than at the beginning. So you might still get the burred R at the start of word even if people are losing the final R.

"You can call it laziness, but when you speak you want to concentrate on what you're saying not how you're saying it."

Scobbie said that within a generation the final R could well be lost completely, meaning it would be no different from the English pronunciation and if the change was a natural development it could soon spread to other parts of Scotland.

Scobbie added other changes that had been noticed in pronunciation including a loss of the aspirating H sound. As a consequence, words such as 'which' were beginning to be pronounced 'wich' north of the border and some young Scots were even being recorded as saying 'lock' instead of 'loch'.

However, Scobbie cautioned against being judgmental over changes in accents. "[Using the ultrasound equipment] I'll be able to explain to visitors to the centre that Glaswegian is both scientifically important and as well-articulated as any other accent of English. This may seem
surprising for an accent which is often criticised as sloppy or unattractive."

Another aspect of the changing Glasgow accent which Scobbie hopes to investigate during the study are changes in the pronunciation of the letter L. Scobbie believes among some Glaswegians it is also beginning to turn into a vowel sound at the end of words.

"Some speakers avoid tongue tip contact against the skin behind the upper teeth very systematically if it precedes silence or a consonant such as m, p, b, f, v where the tongue tip is not involved, but before a vowel re-instate the contact. That such very clear rule-based variation
happens with L is a new discovery and the ultrasound can show it very clearly."

He hopes the findings will allow for advancements in speech therapy.

"The Glasgow accent in particular is ideal for research because of these various types of R and L. Studying them with ultrasound will enormously increase the amount of articulatory data on two of the hardest consonants of English for children to learn, for therapists to treat, and for some language learners to master."

Stuart Cosgrove, Channel 4 director of Nations and Regions, and a noted commentator on Scottish culture, said: "There's no doubt that languages are always in flux but it is equally true that Glasgow parlance has influenced language in the south as well.
"The word 'minging', originally a Glasgow word for filthy, was picked up by Ali G and is now in frequent use throughout the country."

SNP culture spokesman Michael Matheson said: "This research does not match up to my experience in Glasgow which has a healthy, strong cultural identity, part of which is its accent.

"I find the idea that it's similar to a Home Counties accent bizarre and I am sure most people in Glasgow will agree.

7) Scottish Parliament Spending (Scottish Gaelic)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=274242005
MURCHADH MacLEÒID. Scotland on Sunday. 13th March, 2005.

FOR Gaels, used to hearing that the authorities are spending "untold millions" on their language, last week's revelations that ministers think nothing of taking chauffeur-driven limousines to travel between the Scottish Parliament and offices at St Andrews House, holds a grim irony.

The new parliament building has only been in operation since September last year, yet in the six months since then, ministerial cars have made 276 trips from the Executive offices on Regent Road to the Holyrood building on the Canongate. By foot the journey would take about seven
minutes.

The life of luxury for ministers contrasts with the uncertainty over the future of Caledonian MacBrayne, astronomical island travel costs, the poor public transport, and expensive petrol. Gaels pay taxes too, and wonder if this is the best use which can be made of their cash.

8) Scots Gaelic is in peril. It is our duty to save it (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.sundayherald.com/48303
Sunday Herald. 13th March, 2005

Muriel Gray argues that multicultural Scotland should give priority to protecting our most endangered species, the native Gaels, before we start worrying about those who speak Punjabi, Urdu or Arabic

In the minds of some there seems to be a little confusion over what constitutes cultures under threat. The militant French speakers of Quebec, who lobbied aggressively for separation from the big, bad English-speaking Canada that sustains them, argued that they were "preserving their
culture". Perhaps nobody had the heart to point out that they had little to worry about, since their culture was being very efficiently preserved by 61 million people in a place called France.

Similarly, as politicians here jump through hoops, sympathising with ethnic minorities who wish to "preserve their culture", it seems to have escaped their notice that Punjabi, Urdu and Arabic are not exactly languages teetering on the brink of extinction, nor are the customs, practices andreligions associated with those tongues about to become as obscure as Morris dancing. It seems rather peculiar to attempt to "preserve" cultures that are robust, expanding, and are still there in their countries of origin any time you want to pop back and have a good long look at them.

If anyone should know what a real cultural crisis looks like then it's us, the Scots. One of our indigenous languages, Gaelic, is still in peril, and the population for whom it remains the mother tongue is dwindling at an alarming rate. The Western Isles, still the main preserve of Gaelic as a
first language, is facing a terrifying population loss, from 29,600 in 1991 to projected figures of 21,725 in 2018, a 17% fall compared with the Scottish average decline of 2%. The reasons for this tragedy in the making are many, but right now the focus has to be on not why it's happened,
but how to stop it. Unlike the various cultures of our ethnic minorities, or Canada's grumpy French speakers, if the language and culture in the Western Isles disappears, it's gone forever.

Of course, for a decade now, as we know only too well, the Gaelic Media Service, formerly the CCG, has been beavering away, using European funds, to help preserve the language by the commissioning of television programmes broadcast in Gaelic. Some aspects of this project have been a resounding success, as in current affairs, arts strands that have been unashamedly seeped in the Gaelic culture and yet have appealed to a wider audience than the Gaels, and children's programmes. Our own son sits and watches studiously some baffling affair, featuring three women in coloured fairy tutus shrieking cheerfully at each other in Gaelic, and he considers this
to be sufficiently entertaining to tune in regularly. Evidence suggests that young children are picking up the language naturally from the viewing of such shows, which is one of the positive results the commissioning process hoped to achieve. Some offerings, of course, have been less successful, such as the ill-fated and wooden Machair and some documentary programmes that the target audience complained were too parochial.

But the big problem is that the funding, just like the population, is dwindling, as the money was never index linked. What should be a budget of around £11.5 million is still only £8.5m, meaning the intended 200 hours of broadcasting has been cut to around 160. Worse still, the Gaelic-speaking audiences are growing sick and tired of having to wait until the wee small hours of the night for their programmes to be shown, as commercial broadcasters such as SMG shove them out of the way in favour of revenue-gathering prime-time shows, and non-Gaelic audiences are frustrated by the narrowing of content that has crept in due to the reduced funds.

The Milne Report, commissioned to look at the future of Gaelic broadcasting, came up with the solution of a dedicated Gaelic channel, and it's becoming increasingly obvious that not only is this the only sensible way forward, but that it's now absolutely essential.

With the Scottish Executive sensitive to the needs of the crisis-torn Western Isles, it looks likely that this might become a reality, but the big worry is about who actually runs a digital channel. The mutterings about the need for established broadcasters such as SMG or the BBC to run it on behalf of the Gaels is not good news. Not only is the suggestion, however well-intended, a tad patronising, but for this to work as an autonomous, long-term commercially viable proposition, and more importantly to directly benefit the population of the Western Isles, it must be run by Gaels themselves. Anyone sneering that this would be impossible should think again. A recent visit to Stornoway revealed how impressive both the existing media facilities and the core of homegrown talent really are. But if modesty, self-deprecation and a horror of bravado is a Scottish trait in general, it is even more highly developed in the Hebridean psyche, and the ability to talk themselves up when they blooming well deserve to is pretty much absent. Those on the islands who are busy doing things quite brilliantly are also masters of keeping quiet about it.

The bottom line is that unless the Gaels create, service and maintain their own channel, with total financial and creative autonomy, the project's benefits will distil down into very little.

It might seem perverse in these trouble-torn days to suggest that the future of the Western Isles and its language should be one of our top priorities, but we need to recognise that it's like the canary down the mineshaft, the fragile thing that means we're all safe as long it stays alive. Its
demise would have dire cultural implications for the whole of Scotland, not least the damning admission that we hadn't the strength, the courage, the inventiveness or energy to save something that could never again be recreated.

I don't know about you, but I'd certainly subscribe to such a channel, and sit and watch hour upon hour of mad fairies in tutus if it meant that the irreplaceable part of our national culture remained intact and in good health. How could any of it be worse than EastEnders?

March 14, 2005

9) Opinion Please(Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.hie.co.uk/consultation.html

Highlands & Islands Enterprise is looking for your opinion on the direction of economic and community development in the Highlands and Islands. It is important that the profile of our Gaelic language and culture is raised. Please fill out the consultation form on line. The closing date is 18 March.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 17-Mar-2005, 08:51 PM
March 15, 2005

1) PEACE OFFER IN WRANGLE OVER GAELIC SIGNPOSTS (Scottish Gaelic)
2) COUNCIL REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO GAELIC (Scottish Gaelic)
3) Hopes that new Welsh Language Act will ensure that public bodies offer services in the language (Welsh)

March 16, 2005

4) The Scottish Parliament has established an online forum on the issue of contemporary Scottish music. (Scottish Gaelic)
5) Irish channel buys Welsh learners' series format (Irish Gaelic, Welsh)
6) CORNISH BRANCH SUPPORT 'RESOLUTE ACTION' CALL OVER LANGUAGE
(Cornish)

March 17, 2005

7) SUCCESSFUL GAELIC UNIT MAY FACE CLOSURE (Scottish Gaelic)

March 15, 2005

1) PEACE OFFER IN WRANGLE OVER GAELIC SIGNPOSTS (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=12030900
ANGUS MACDONALD. Press and Journal. 09:00 - 14 March 2005

An Offer has been made by a senior Highland councillor to broker a peace deal in the row over Gaelic signs in Inverness and throughout the Highlands.

Some Inverness councillors argued that Gaelic did not play a significant role in the city's past - with one councillor, Jimmy MacDonald, retorting that there were more Gaelic speakers in Inverness than the rest of the Highlands.

Other city councillors argued the bilingual road signs would cause accidents and cost too much.

Now Michael Foxley, Highland Council's vice-convener, has offered to discuss the benefits of Gaelic and bilingual signage with areas throughout the Highlands which argued that the language is not part of their heritage.

But he has accused councillors of hiding something "far more unpleasant" in their attitude towards Gaelic.

Caithness and Sutherland areas have also voiced scepticism about the signs, with councillors claiming their heritage is more Viking than Gaelic.
Councillor Foxley said: "What people are doing is hiding behind a smokescreen something that is far more unpleasant in their attitude to the Gaelic language.

"The council has a budget of half a billion pounds and, in a budget that size, the cost of Gaelic signage is infinitesimal but the potential benefits to the Gaelic language are enormous.

"The argument that Gaelic or bilingual signs compromise road safety is complete and utter nonsense. There is no safety issue - full stop.

"The Welsh Office produced a report in 1997 which shot this argument down once and for all. The net cost of replacing the signs under the council policy is zero.

"Caithness wants to opt out, but it is curious that many of the place names in Caithness are Gaelic, there is a strong Gaelic-medium unit in Thurso, and the area wants to play a big part in our traditional music festival Blas. They are also keen on hosting the Mod, but yet they don't want the road signs."

The council's Gaelic committee will promote the signage for roads and streets throughout the Highland area and is keen to increase the number of Gaelic speakers, making that a key aim of the Highland Year of Culture 2007.

The only exceptions will be if an area committee limits the amount of Gaelic and bilingual signage where it is felt the cultural history of the area has less of a Gaelic base.

Education convener Andy Anderson said: "There is a quiet revolution going on.

"The bilingual signs starting to appear on Black Isle and west Highland roads give a sense of place.

"All school signs will be bilingual soon, and that includes Caithness."

Inverness provost Bill Smith added: "It is unfortunate that there is an impression that Inverness councillors are reluctant to support Gaelic.

"A minority are not convinced, but I am in a majority which sees the benefits to Inverness and the Highlands of promoting Gaelic in everything we do."

2) COUNCIL REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO GAELIC (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2005/mar05/gaelic.html
Highland Council News Release. ISSUE DATE: MONDAY 14 MARCH 2005

The Highland Council's Gaelic Select Committee has reaffirmed its support for Gaelic by agreeing to promote bilingual road and street signage throughout the Highlands; internal and external bilingual signage in all buildings owned by the Council, including schools, and introducing key words of Gaelic on Council publications and documents to highlight the
importance of the language.

The Committee is supporting greater use of the language to increase the number of Gaelic speakers in the Highlands and to back up the Council's commitment to the language, most notable through Gaelic Medium Education, which is provided to more than 1,100 pupils at 11 secondary, 18 primary and 17 nursery schools.

Road and street signs represent the only potential to increase costs but this will be minimal as the Council policy requires that signs are erected solely on a replacement basis or when a new sign is required. With place names, where there is only one letter of a difference in the Gaelic and English, the Gaelic version will be used.

A cross-service working group has been set up to develop a style of internal and external building signage, which features Gaelic and is compliant with Disability Discrimination Act guidance.

Stationery will be bilingual; the web site will be revamped to feature Gaelic, and the title and the main headings of publications and documents will be bilingual.

It is recommended that this approach should be followed across the Council, unless a formal decision is taken by an Area Committee to exercise discretion in implementing the parts of the policy relating to road, street and building signs, for the sole reason that it is felt that the cultural history of that particular area has less of a Gaelic base.

Vice-Convener Michael Foxley said: "The message that goes out from the Council is very clear indeed. We are 100 per cent committed to promoting the Gaelic language and culture and this will become increasingly clear over the coming months and as we celebrate the Scottish Year of Highland Culture in 2007.

"Gaelic is a community language of the Highlands and we must do all we can to celebrate its contribution to our heritage and culture. It sets us apart and lets visitors know that they are in a very special part of Scotland."

Provost Bill Smith, Chairman of the Council's City of Inverness and Area Committee agrees. He said: "It is unfortunate that an impression has been given that Inverness Councillors are reluctant to support Gaelic. A minority are not convinced but I am one of the majority who sees the benefits to Inverness and the Highlands of promoting Gaelic in everything we do."

Councillor Andy Anderson, Chairman of the Council's Education Culture and Sport Committee, said he conscious of a "quiet revolution", noticing an increasing amount of Gaelic signage throughout the Highlands. A clear message had been given to schools in Highland that all new signage must be bilingual.

Gaelic Select Committee Chairman, Councillor Hamish Fraser, said: "I am delighted with the support the Council is giving to our language,
which is
being given unprecedented importance through the passage of the Gaelic
Language Bill in the Scottish Parliament. In Highland we will play
our part
in ensuring the language prospers. I am firmly of the belief that our
language, which is exclusively ours, will in years to come bring many
social
and economic benefits to the Highlands and Islands."

3) Hopes that new Welsh Language Act will ensure that public bodies offer services in the language (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4968
Penygroes 3/14/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion

According to a Welsh MP, there is a possibility of having a new Welsh Language Act. Speaking to Eurolang after taking part in a discussion forum on the need for a new Act, Hywel Williams, MP for Arfon in Welsh speaking north-west Wales, said that because the Assembly Government of Wales has decided that the Welsh Language Board will be abolished and its work done by a department of the Assembly, there will have to be a new Act.

Mr Williams has already raised this with Welsh Secretary, Peter Hain, who represents Wales in the British Cabinet, who did not react unfavourably to the suggestion.

According to Mr Williams, this will be an excellent opportunity to strengthen what is in existence at the moment. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society), which organised the forum last Saturday, is pressing for a new Act that will require private companies to use the language. At present it is only public bodies that come under the remit of the Act.

But Mr Williams says that any new Act should ensure first that public bodies offer a Welsh language service to its consumers, and that this should be more important as a short term goal. "The present Act does not ensure this," says Mr Williams. "It should be bottom up, that is serving the people, rather than top down, which is the situation at present. All these public bodies have a Language Plan; they tell the Language Board what they want to put in them, rather than the Language Board telling then what should be in these plans."

Mr Williams added that it is better that all Welsh speakers are offered a service in their first language rather than a large national company being obliged to have its packaging in Welsh, although he does not disagree with Cymdeithas yr Iaith that this should be a long term goal.

Hywel Williams has now commissioned an independent study to see what the provision is amongst public bodies for offering their services in Welsh, and comparing it with the situation in other countries. The findings will be published in about a fortnight. If this study shows that this service is lacking, he will use the information to form the basis of a new Welsh Language Act to be presented to the British Parliament. The Welsh Assembly does not have the power to pass its own laws.

Mr Williams says that any new Act should stress the right of the individual to have any public service in his or her own language. "This should have a force of law such as the Race Relations and Equal Opportunities Acts have so that individuals could bring cases against any public bodies not satisfying the language act." (Eurolang © 2005)

March 16, 2005

4) The Scottish Parliament has established an online forum on the issue of contemporary Scottish music. (Scottish Gaelic)

You can put your views forward online at:

http://www.holyrood.tv/board.asp

You may write in in Gaelic.

le deagh dhurachd,

Alasdair MacCaluim
Oifigear Coimhearsnachd Gaidhlig / Gaelic Outreach Officer
Parlamaid na h-Alba / the Scottish Parliament

5) Irish channel buys Welsh learners' series format (Irish Gaelic, Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4969
Penygroes 3/15/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion

The format for cariad@iaith (love4language), the Welsh language reality television show which follows celebrities as they start learning the language, has been sold to Irish-language broadcaster TG4.

Cariad@iaith was broadcast last year on Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C) which saw celebrities including Janet Street-Porter, (who although she had a Welsh-speaking mother had made several disparaging remarks on television and in newspapers about the Welsh and their language), television comedy star Ruth Madoc, and paralympic champion Tanni Grey-Thompson. They spent a week learning Welsh at the Nant Gwrtheyrn National Language Centre in Welsh speaking north-west Wales.

The language centre was established in an old quarrying village in 1978 with the first course held in April 1982. It is hemmed in by the sea on one side and steep cliffs on the other three sides. The language centre holds both residential and day courses, and the cariad@iaith series used the
facilities there for teaching the language to the celebrities.
The participants were filmed not only during their language lessons but also during leisure activities, such as visiting a pub and visiting the nearest towns, where they were encouraged to use the Welsh language. The idea is that the learners are immersed in the language, and they are
discouraged from speaking English.

Now the format has been bought by TG4 who will commission an Irish language version.

TG4, based in the Irish-speaking Galway Gaeltacht in western Ireland, plans to commission an Irish independent television company to produce the show and will be approaching various Irish celebrities to take part.

Cameras will follow the language novices as they study six hours of Irish per day at an as yet undisclosed venue, under the close supervision of a team of language tutors.

An innovative language learning system called 'suggestopedia', based on visual imagery and memory techniques, will be used to teach the celebrities the basics of the language. Throughout the project there will be limited contact between the learners and the outside world, while they will also be asked to perform a number of different team-building tasks.

"I am confident that caraid@liadh will be a winner for TG4," says Proinsias Ni Ghrainne, TG4's Commissioning Editor. "We have a great mix of celebrities who the nation will want to watch learning Gaelic. The series will air on TG4 in the autumn."

Iona Jones, S4C's Director of Programmes, says that "the cariad@iaith format was a successful one for S4C. The interesting mix of celebrities ensured entertaining viewing, while the series also raised awareness and interest in the Welsh language and Welsh culture. We're delighted TG4 has bought the format, which we are certain will be very successful in Ireland."

Cariad@iaith was produced for S4C by Cardiff-based independent television company Fflic. Two series involving members of the public were also broadcast, the participants being a mix of those born and bred in Wales but not being able to speak the language, some who had moved to Wales to live and also three participants from the Welsh community in Patagonia, Argentina. This posed some problems as they could only speak Spanish, but they left Nant Gwrtheyn after three months fairly fluent and confident in the language and were keen to pass on their new skills to their compatriots in South America. (Eurolang © 2005)

6) CORNISH BRANCH SUPPORT 'RESOLUTE ACTION' CALL OVER LANGUAGE
(Cornish)

Cornwall 2000, a Cornish civil liberties and human rights group, have criticised the Governments handling of its obligations to the Cornish language, under the Council of Europe Charter for Regional and Minority Languages (ECRML). Stating that international agreements like the ECRML place legal obligations on governments who must then ensure that these obligations are met. In the case of the Cornish language, CharterWatch, a group set up by Cornwall 2000 to oversee the implementation of the government's obligation in respect of the Cornish language, say that the Government is failing to take "resolute action" to promote and develop the Cornish language. Instead, the government are relying on individual volunteers and groups to implement the Government's legal obligations and this, say Cornwall 2000, is unacceptable. Cornwall 2000 point out that the Stratejy rag an Tavas Kernewek/Strategy for the Cornish Language document that was published earlier this year, "was entirely a local initiative by volunteers", (Tony Steele, Government Office of the South West representative). Although the government are in their third year of recognising the Cornish language, "it has yet to do anything to meet its Charter commitments." In contrast, Ulster-Scots, which received the same level of recognition as the Cornish language under the same European Charter was granted direct UK government funding for 2001/2 amounting to, £567,000 for the language, £262,000 for culture, £432,000 for education and £187,000 for general promotional work. In addition, the school curriculum is now being altered to take account of the Ulster-Scots experience. Such discrepancies, within the same state, as to how international agreements are administered is totally unacceptable. An Scoren Kernewek/The Cornish Branch of the Celtic League support CharterWatch's call that "Whilst we are willing to adopt the CLSD [Cornish Language Strategy Document], this does not obviate the need for government to take what the Committee of Experts deem to be 'resolute action' in order to fulfil its legal obligations to us and the Council of Europe. Moreover, we anticipate that government will clearly indicate what form this resolute action will take by the time of the UK's 2nd Monitoring Report, due in July 2005."

(Report prepared for Celtic News by Kernow Branch)

J B Moffatt
Secretary General
Celtic League

17/03/05

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

March 17, 2005

7) SUCCESSFUL GAELIC UNIT MAY FACE CLOSURE (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.scottishstandard.com/news_story.asp?headline=38577
Scottish Standard

15/03/05

A flagship Gaelic unit in the Highlands may be forced to move or close because the school that houses it is "bursting at the seams."

Parents of pupils at the Lady Lovat primary school in Morar say they will oppose any move to transfer the unit ? of around 40 pupils ? to neighbouring Mallaig where there is more space.

A report from HMI school inspectors voiced concerns over the lack of space at the Morar school and the local council now face some tough choices.

Mallaig Primary School, just three miles away, has a roll of 69 pupils in primary classes, and could easily house the unit. But moving the Gaelic pupils would leave the Morar school with just 11 children ? and this is expected to fall to nine in August, prompting fears the school could close.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 18-Mar-2005, 08:34 PM
March 18, 2005

1) Gaelic Comeback in Deepest Indiana (Irish Gaelic)
2) Disney uses Welsh in Winnie the Pooh (Welsh)
3) GAELIC GETS A BOOST IN INVERNESS AND NAIRN (Scottish Gaelic)
4) Folk feis lined up for Callander (Scottish Gaelic, Scots)

March 18, 2005

1) Gaelic Comeback in Deepest Indiana (Irish Gaelic)

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4271584
PA NEWS. 12:53pm (UK). Thu 17 Mar 2005

In English-speaking Ireland, the Gaelic language is viewed by some citizens as an all-but-dead language that should be allowed to fade into oblivion.

But at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, where students pay nearly £20,000 (around $40,000) a year to attend, the language is enjoying a renaissance.

"There are a lot of kids here who are the grandchildren of the very successful and the very rich, and their grandparents were taught to forget about their Irish past," said Eamonn O Ciardha, programme director at Notre Dame's Keough Institute for Irish Studies.

"They want to know about their language, they want to know about their history, they want to know about their culture."

The institute, established in 1993, allows students to examine everything from the language to Irish history and dance.

It also does a good job of integrating Irish and American perspectives, said John Harrington, president of the American Conference for Irish Studies.

"They've done a good job of creating Irish studies as a genuinely international subject area, which is what it is," Harrington said.

This year, 882 undergraduates are taking at least one class in Irish studies, including 155 in Gaelic. That's up from 2002-03, when 150 students enrolled in Irish studies classes and 96 students signed up for Gaelic.

Student Katie Scarlett O'Hara, from Kansas, counts herself among those trying to recapture a bit of her past. Her father was born in Ireland, but raised in America.

"My dad is 100% Irish and really proud of it," she said.
Her father doesn't know how to speak Gaelic, but Katie O'Hara is learning - partly because of her heritage and partly because she would like to speak the language when she studies in Dublin next year.

O'Hara said the hardest part of Gaelic is the pronunciation.

"I studied French for seven years, and at least in French the same letters kind of make similar sounds. In Irish certain combinations are totally different," she said. "The language is very guttural, messy and thick."

Instructor Brian O Conchubhair, from Tralee, County Kerry, where Gaelic is still widely spoken, said it is easier to teach Irish in America because students take it because they want to. In Ireland, it's compulsory.

"Here they come willingly. They want to recapture what their parents, grandparents, great grandparents lost or discarded," he said.

O Ciardha said many Irish readily gave up their language when they arrived in America.

"We left our language on Ellis Island," O Ciardha said. "It was part of the trauma of the famine and the fact that, for generations before the famine, the Irish people had been told that their language was barbaric, that it was a badge of stupidity and ignorance and that it was no good for them anywhere else in the world."

O Conchubhair hopes the current generation will help change that perception, both here and in
Ireland.

"The more global Ireland becomes, the more successful Ireland becomes, there is a danger that Ireland becomes less and less Irish, that it becomes some multinational industrial complex where we speak English and we watch Hollywood TV," he said. "We're losing that which made us distinctive, that which created a distinct culture and the great writers of the 19th and 20th
centuries."

But O Ciardha believes Gaelic will survive.

"The death of the Irish language has been foretold since the 1840s, but it's still hanging in there," he said.

2) Disney uses Welsh in Winnie the Pooh (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd Meirion, Penygroes 3/18/2005

The Welsh language will be featured in a live Disney show for the first time. The Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh show will be staged at Cardiff's recently opened Millennium Centre. Welsh-language children's television presenter Martin Geraint will appear in the show and he will teach some Welsh words to the presenter Tracie Franklin.

The producers of the show, Feld Entertainment, says it decided to include the language in the show to reflect the growing importance of the language, especially amongst pre-school children. It is estimated that about 40 per cent of the children of Wales speak the language, compared to 24 per cent in 1991. Most of the growth has been in the capital Cardiff and the south-east of Wales.

"As soon as we realised how important the Welsh language is in Wales we started to look for ways to embrace the language in any way we could," says Gary Kane of Feld Entertainment.

There has been criticism of the Millennium Centre for the lack of Welsh language performances being staged there, and this may alleviate these criticisms. "The significance of Feld Entertainment's undertaking to include the Welsh language in its production at the Wales Millennium Centre is not to be underestimated," says Judith Isherwood, Australian-born chief executive of the centre. "The Welsh language is again flourishing - particularly among young people. So it is only right that we strive to deliver certain cultural products bilingually to support and aid this growth."

The script of the show has been designed so that members of the audience who cannot speak the language will be able to follow the action.

"There is no bigger brand of children's entertainment and it's marvellous that such a big company is embracing our native language in their show," says Martin Geraint. (Eurolang © 2005)

3) GAELIC GETS A BOOST IN INVERNESS AND NAIRN (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2005/mar05/gaelic_boost.html
Highland Council News Release. 17th March, 2005.

The development of the Gaelic language and culture has been given a higher profile in the Inverness and Nairn area with the recent appointment of Aonghas Macleod from Borve in Skye as the Gaelic Development Co-ordinator for the area.

Based in Comunn na Gàidhlig's offices in Inverness, Angus will be working with a range of public, voluntary and community bodies within the area to implement the recommendations of the Gaelic Language and Culture Plan which was recently agreed by The Highland Council, Inverness and Nairn Enterprise Bòrd na Gàidhlig and Comunn na Gàidhlig. These recommendations cover pre-school and youth activities, bilingual signage, promoting Gaelic in
the workplace, cultural events and cultural tourism.

Councillor Roderick Balfour who is a Chair of the Inverness Area Education Culture and Sport Committee and a Member of the Councils Gaelic Select Committee said: I'm delighted that we have appointed a Gaelic and Culture Co-ordinator for the Area It is important that we begin to implement the recommendations in the Gaelic and Culture Plan for the Area. There are interesting developments taking place in the City and the surrounding area and a growing interest in the language therefore we want Gaelic and heritage to be part of these developments; there will be a new Gaelic school in the City and we also realise that the development of Gaelic and culture is also creating a number of quality jobs in the region. I look forward to seeing a number of positive outcomes in the not too distant future."

On taking up his post Angus said:" I am really looking forward to the challenge of working with the various bodies who are interested in promoting the Gaelic language and culture in the Inverness and Nairn area. There is a lot of interest in throughout the area for Gaelic and my task is to ensure that all those who have a desire to learn and use the language have the opportunity to do so. We also hope to raise the profile of Gaelic through bilingual signage and cultural events".

ENDS

Note to editors:

The Inverness and Nairn Gaelic Language and Culture Plan was commissioned by Inverness and Nairn Enterprise, following an earlier study into the economic benefits to the area from Gaelic developments. A Steering Group, comprising the Highland Council, Inverness and Nairn Enterprise, Comunn na Gaidhlig, Bord na Gaidhlig and Forum Gaidhlig Inbhir Nis, will oversee the implementation of the Plan.

Aonghas Macleod is a native of Borve in Skye and is a former student of Sabhal Mor Ostaig. He has been involved in Gaelic Media work, Gaelic Drama, Gaelic writing and is currently a contributor to the Gaelic Youth web-site Sgleog.

Further information on the matter can be obtained from Aonghas Macleod on 01463 234138 or Aonghais line manager, Donald Martin on 01851 701802

4) Folk feis lined up for Callander (Scottish Gaelic, Scots)

http://icstirlingshire.icnetwork.co.uk/

TRADITIONAL music and song tuition will be on in Callander next month.

Feis na Mheadhan, or, in old Scots, Fest of the Mids (Festival of the Midland area) held its first event in Stirling last October, attracting around 20 children for music classes and the same number of adults for Gaelic tuition.

This time the music and song classes will also be opened to adults. Along with Gaelic and Scots song there will be the chance to learn pipes, clarsach, bodhran, fiddle, whistle, accordion and Scottish step dance.

The group's secretary Chas MacDonald said: "We were really pleased with the way things went last time and we're now looking to grow on that.

"Opening up the music classes to adults this time is in direct response to feedback we received from many of the parents whose children attended last October."

Among the tutors confirmed to take part on the weekend of April 23-24 at Callander's McLaren High are Gaelic singer Margaret Bennett and instrumentalist Hector Henderson.

There will also be ceilidh in Callander Kirk Hall on the Saturday evening at 7.30pm with entertainment from feis tutors as well as a ceilidh band made up of the more experienced students who attended last October's event.

For more information contact Chas on 01786 442057 or e-mail [email protected].

Posted by: WizardofOwls 21-Mar-2005, 09:35 AM
March 21, 2005

1. Languages die out, taking history along (General Languages)
2. Doric literature 'neglected' in favour of Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic, Doric)
3. Concern over amount spent on Welsh-taught courses (Welsh)
4. 2005 North Texas Scottish Gaelic Immersion Weekend (Scottish Gaelic)
5. Petition (Scottish Gaelic)

March 21, 2005

1. Languages die out, taking history along (General Languages)

By Brittany Karford Daily Universe Staff Reporter - 16 Mar 2005
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/54836

BYU Newsnet
Let there be light.

Kuna. Klctza. Cúu, ma chin áaje. There are many ways to say goodbye in Mam. But soon the world may be saying farewell to the Mayan language and the culture in which it originated.

Along with Mam, the United Nations estimates half of the world's 6,000 languages will disappear in less than a century, while half of the world's people now use one of just eight languages: Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and French.

"Compared with the biology of species, that's like nothing surviving but the top-ten predators," said Lyle Campbell, a professor of linguistics at the University of Utah. "You can see that the magnitude of losing languages at the current rate will be a catastrophe for humanity."

Many linguists are scrambling to save dying languages, while others say it is simply the natural evolution of languages to continually develop, change and die off, just like species of plants and animals. In either case, the globalization of language is changing the cultural makeup of the world and experts say even modern language is being compressed and reduced to mean less.

Campbell is actively involved in language revitalization because he said he thinks the wisdom of the world is encoded in its languages. He is closely involved in the preservation of many Mayan and Native American Indian languages but documenting a language through literature, tapes and video is a massive undertaking, let alone restoring it in schools and the community. Though Campbell and other such professors may stem the tide, most threatened languages will remain doomed.

Aging populations, economic pressure and youth apathy for old traditions are only some of the conditions leading to the endangerment of a language. However, traditional ethnic languages in Africa are fading out for a different reason. More than 30 different languages used to be spoken in Uganda but the official language is now English.
After spending a semester as a political affairs intern in the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, Uganda, Micheal Bowerbank, a senior from Concord, Calif., said Uganda has adopted English as its official language to avoid favoring only one of the country's many tribes, increasing unity and the opportunity for trade with the rest of the world.

"They only teach English in the schools now," Bowerbank said. "Native languages are not taught anymore. Eventually they'll disappear."

A speaker of 52 different languages, David Stewart said once a language is lost, the culture behind it is also lost. Stewart, a BYU graduate who now resides in Colorado, is a wholesale translator for a long list of clients, including the C.I.A., the National Security Agency, the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff and companies like Boeing and IBM, to name a few.

"Language preserves more culture than any other thing," Stewart said. "You can learn more about a people by learning their language than by visiting their country."

Stewart said every language contains a value system and a way of thinking peculiar to it. While German is one of the best languages for a mechanical process, he said it would be poor in describing a walk through a forest. But, Portuguese, though clumsy in speaking of a mechanical process, is quite beautiful in describing scenery.

However, description in modern languages is much different than expression in ancient languages. Stewart said today's languages are becoming crude in their ability to convey meaning. He gave one example of the Sumerian word for bird, mushen, which has several meanings, such as "bird of morning." The English word today would need several supplemental words to illustrate the same point.

"English is becoming duller, like an old hatchet," Stewart said. "The distinct languages in the world are like colored layers of sand in a bottle being shaken until they are no longer
recognizable."

But more than just a word's descriptive power, Janis Nuckolls, a sociology professor at BYU, said there is a specific worldview contained in the words of a language. Nuckolls specializes in Quechua, the largest indigenous language spoken throughout South America. The use of idiophones in Quechua gives words a particular symbolic ecology that Nuckolls said represents the culture's animistic outlook on their world: a belief that everything has a life and energy.

"We live in a very disenchanted world," Nuckolls said. "Our culture of science constrains us in certain ways regarding our language use. You never know what you are losing with the unique usage that may never be formed again in a language."

But Ray Clifford, the director of the Center for Language Studies at BYU, is not alarmed. As language is constantly evolving, Clifford said even the English language of today would not be readily recognized by Shakespeare. To Clifford, the number of languages in existence today is evidence of man's creativity. Despite fewer languages, the people of the world are increasing their ability to communicate across groups.

"The goal of world peace will never be achieved without mutual understanding," Clifford said. "You cannot achieve mutual understanding without effective communication, which shared language can provide."

And a connected world does have advantages. For many indigenous Mayan peoples, Spanish, as opposed to their native languages, is the means of obtaining advanced technology and better medicine ? imperative in an area of the world where half of the children die before they are two years old.

John Robertson, a linguistics professor at BYU, has worked extensively with indigenous Mayan languages for almost 40 years and said sacrificing the traditional languages for Spanish is a complex trade-off.

"The traditional languages are wonderful because of their beauty and complexity, but they are being taken over by Spanish," Robertson said. "Scientific advances are corrosive to the preservation of old traditions which are located in the language."

But perhaps cultural tradition and technological advancement don't have to be mutually exclusive, seen through the efforts of many cultures that are working hard to preserve the languages of their past.

Danny Cannon, a junior from Holliday, Utah, speaks K'ekchi', one of more than 30 official languages in Guatemala. Cannon said the country has made so many languages official in order to preserve them. The government is also making great efforts to write languages down and require indigenous language education in the school system. "I think that saving a language preserves more culture than anything," Cannon said.

Whatever the future of the world's languages, professor Campbell said language will continue to be a marker of ethnic identity for its speakers. The speakers of Mam border Mexico and continue to be influenced by Spanish. If Mam is robust it may survive to echo the culture that created it, for if it disappears, although the voice of the people won't die, part of their past will.

There is another way to say goodbye in the Mayan language of Mam ? Q'onk chipena. It means strength to all.

2. Doric literature 'neglected' in favour of Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic, Doric)

http://www.sundayherald.com/48489
Aberdeen festival accused of cultural cringe
By Senay Boztas, Arts Correspondent. Sunday Herald. 20 March 2005

LEADING Scottish writers and politicians have called for an Aberdeen literary festival to give as much prominence to the Scots language - especialy the Doric dialect - as it currently gives to Gaelic.

The Word festival - hosted by Aberdeen University and celebrating its fifth year - has programmed a day-long celebration of Gaelic literature for the event in May.

The Scots language is represented in the three-day line-up of speakers and events but does not have its own fringe programme in the same way as Gaelic. Critics have blamed its omission on a "cultural cringe" about Scots .

The Word festival's Gaelic programme is part of a growing trend to nurture Scotland's ancient tongue with proactive support. In February this year, MSPs unanimously supported a Gaelic Language Bill, to give the language official status and encourage the recruitment of more teachers.

Bryan MacGregor, head of the college of arts and social sciences, and a vice-principal of Aberdeen University said he hopes the Word programme will become a "major Gaelic festival in its own right". But writers and adherents of the Scots language believe that their voices should be given equal weight, in literary festivals and in legislation. Aberdeen already has a Doric festival, but it consists of ceilidhs and concerts rather than academic debates.

Organisers of the Word festival, who will announce its full programme at events in Edinburgh and Aberdeen on Wednesday, say that there is simply not enough room for a Scots programme within their weekend festival too. But they insist that writers of Doric - the Scots language used in the Aberdeen area - have always had a significant role in the event.

Alan Spence, artistic director of Word, said that the few days of the
festival, from May 13 to 15, are a constraint. "In a weekend
festival, it is
a bit tight to have a Doric day," he explained.

"A weekend seems to be the optimum size, but there is only so much
you can
have. It would get a bit fragmented.

"There is an enlarged Gaelic element this year. Where we are located, there is a strong Gaelic presence, so it is good to reflect that. But we feature Doric quite prominently, and [the poet and writer] Sheena Blackhall has been a feature since the first festivals."

But one writer who translated much of Moby-Dick into Doric and whose latest book interweaves Scots, Gaelic and French, said it should not be a neglected language - and that languages such as Punjabi are part of Scotland's national voice.

John Aberdein, who will launch his first novel Amande's Bed at the festival, said Scots and Gaelic should be nurtured in both literary events and legislation.

"I would agree that [both languages should be encouraged in Scottish Executive legislation], not to be divisive against Gaelic, but to achieve parity," he said. "When Scots is spoken by four million people, it seems neglectful that it doesn't have that status.

"People may learn it at their mother's knee, but you have to nourish it, although one of the biggest problems in writing it is that there can be no standard Scots because of the variations - Shetlanders are massively different from Glaswegians.

"Doric should be represented in Word, but festivals have a duty to represent quality rather than be token istic: we don't want a couthy corner, because Scots is self-confident."

Aonghas MacNeacail, the Gaelic poet and broadcaster, said that the new Gaelic programme would encourage people to see it as a living literary language, but that Scots should have the same status.

"The Scots writer James Robertson said that because it is closer to English, it is hard to develop a coherent voice for their cause," he said. "But most Gaelic writers are happy to see investment, not subsidy, in both. They should be seen as languages that belong to all of Scotland, from the Isle of Skye to the Borders."

Sheena Blackhall, poet, writer and research fellow at the Elphinstone Institute - which promotes Doric - in Aberdeen, said that this native tongue should also be nurtured in the Word festival, and more widely.

"Doric in the northeast involves everyone, and every ethnic group should be catered for," she said. "But we often suffer from the cultural cringe, and sometimes they [legislators and programmers] are a bit timorous in incorporating their own culture.

"Scots isn't a minority language, but the problem is the sheer lack of publishers and a distribution network nationally, and it is difficult to promote unless it is heavily funded and subsidised."

Michael Matheson, culture spokesman for the SNP, said that Scots and Gaelic should be equally appreciated, and encouraged through a Languages of Scotland Bill.

3. Concern over amount spent on Welsh-taught courses (Welsh)
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
By Laura May. Mar 16 2005

The amount of money spent on university courses taught through the medium of Welsh is falling as a proportion of the Assembly's spending on higher education, it was claimed today.

Caernarfon AM Alun Ffred Jones said he accepted that the Welsh-medium university sector had welcomed additional funding from the Assembly.

But he said: "The proportion of the funding available for teaching through the medium of Welsh is decreasing."

Education Minister Jane Davidson said an extra £2.9 million had been made available to fund projects such as scholarships and teaching fellowships for Welsh-medium students and lecturers.

Ms Davidson's announcement of the extra funding for the sector, made last year, drew a protest by hundreds of students at Aberystwyth University.

Students said the cash injection was "a step in the right direction" but was still not enough and demanded more courses taught in Welsh.

4. 2005 North Texas Scottish Gaelic Immersion Weekend (Scottish Gaelic)

The 2005 North Texas Scottish Gaelic Immersion Weekend will take place in McKinney, Texas April 30-May 1st at the Holiday Inn in McKinney. This year will be the third time that this event has happened. It is the only Gaelic-language event of its kind in Texas. We will have a weekend of Gaelic-language instruction with instructor Muriel Fisher, a Gaelic speaker from the Isle of
Skye.

This will be an opportunity for some of the many Texans of Scottish highland descent to learn something of the language of their ancestors/

Additional information about the event can be found at the event web site at http://gresset1.airweb.net/Immersion.html

5. Petition (Scottish Gaelic)

Thathas air ath-chuinge a chur air chois a thaobh suidheachadh craoladh na Gàidhlig agus thathas ag iarraidh gun cuir daoine taic ris. Siuthadaibh!

http://www.petitiononline.com/craoladh/

Please add your signature to this petition and help us take Gaelic Television into the Digital Age!

Brian Ó hEadhra - Oifigear Leasachaidh
Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis
c/o 5 Caolshràid Mhìcheil,
Inbhir Nis,
IV2 3HQ

Fòn: 01463 234138
Facs: 01463 237470
Post-d: [email protected]
Làrach-lìn: www.inbhirnis.org

Posted by: WizardofOwls 22-Mar-2005, 07:52 PM
March 22, 2005

1. 9th Annual ACGA Scottish Gaelic Immersion Weekend (Scottish Gaelic)
2. Failure to study Burns 'a weakness for Scotland' (Scottish Literature )
3. Province picks lament for ad campaign (Scottish Gaelic)
4. Gaelic Initiatives Set to Share in £1.92million Aid Windfall (Scottish Gaelic)
5. Nicholas Ostler's fascinating history, Empires of the Word, examines why some languages survive while others die out, and why English reigns supreme (General Languages)

March 22, 2005

1. 9th Annual ACGA Scottish Gaelic Immersion Weekend (Scottish Gaelic)

An Comunn Gaidhealach ? America (ACGA) presents its 9th Annual Scottish Gaelic Immersion Weekend, held for the first time in Ohio, from May 19 ? May 22, 2005. ACGA and The Great Lakes Gaelic Society will co-host this long weekend, featuring some of the best Scottish Gaelic instructors from Scotland, Canada and the United States.

The immersion weekend is a unique opportunity for learners of Scottish Gaelic to come together with more advanced and native speakers in both a classroom setting and informal gatherings. Whether you are a new learner with no experience or an advanced speaker, the immersion weekend will provide opportunities to speak Gaelic in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Extracurricular activities will include old time Scottish dancing on the Friday evening and a cèilidh on Saturday evening. The beautiful facilities of the Burr Oak Resort include a ravine hiking trail, tennis courts, indoor pool, miles of nature trails and many vantage points from which to view the magnificent scenery. Burr Oak Resort is located in Southern Ohio in the Burr Oak Sate Park. For more information on the resort and park, and to browse their website, log on to their website at www.burroakresort.com.

For more information please see the ACGA website
http://www.acgamerica.org/events/immersion/imm_2005/imm2005.html

or email Frances Acar at [email protected]

"Tìr gun chànain tìr gun anam"

2. Failure to study Burns 'a weakness for Scotland' (Scottish Literature)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/35759.html
PHIL MILLER, Arts Correspondent. The Herald. March 22 2005

THE failure to make the study of Burns mandatory in schools is a weakness of modern Scotland, the head of the Cultural Commission is to claim today.
In a speech at the Scottish parliament, James Boyle is to focus on the literary scene in Scotland, which he says is one of the nation's greatest cultural successes.

But he is to say that more needs to be done in Scotland, "the co-owner of the English language", and add: "We don't teach Scottish literature and history systematically in schools: in other words, we don't equip youngsters to know and own their culture.

"We do not require public libraries to buy Scottish literature. There is no Scottish based library supplier . . . we are having a Burns Festival in 2007 but we don't teach Burns as a mandatory
subject.

"If we don't teach, promote and buy Scottish literature as part of our educational and industrial strategy, how can we expect literature to flourish in future?"

The Commission has been charged by the executive with formulating a cultural plan for Scotland until 2030.

As part of the British Council's Promoting Scotland Worldwide agenda, Mr Boyle will demonstrate that much of the Commission's thought concerns the role of culture in education.

3. Province picks lament for ad campaign (Scottish Gaelic)

http://novascotia.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ns-tourism-song20050321
Mar 21 2005 04:40 PM AST

CBC News

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia has a launched a $7.7-million tourism campaign with a song about its "miserable" shores.

Tourism officials chose an old Gaelic tune sung by Cape Breton performer Mary Jane Lamond for television ads to air in Ontario and New England.

Written by an unknown songwriter in the 1830s, the tune is about Scottish immigrants coming to Nova Scotia. In the last line, the singer says that if she had a boat, she "wouldn't be oppressed by this miserable land."

"It's kind of a desperate song, in some ways it's a lament. It talks about the pain they felt leaving Scotland and coming to start in a new place," said Lamond, at Monday's official campaign launch.

"It does seem ironic, but it is appropriate because it is a song composed in Nova Scotia."

Tourism Minister Rodney MacDonald defends the use of the song in the tourism campaign, saying it went through extensive focus-group testing.
"We do extensive research to ensure that the people we are attempting to reach to come here to Nova Scotia we are reaching. And this song is doing so," he said.

The Gaelic tune will not be heard in Nova Scotia. A song by local performer Matt Mays is part of the tourism campaign in the Maritimes. Mays' song, in English, describes the province as a good
place.

Both songs are used as background music in the television ads. Actor John Dunsworth, who plays Mr. Leahy on the show Trailer Park Boys, does the voiceovers.

This year's tourism marketing campaign is the most extensive one yet, including tv, magazine and online elements. It's also the first time the province has planned major TV campaigns in Ontario, Quebec and New England.

The province recently announced a $1.4-million campaign to rebrand Nova Scotia as a place to "come to life." However, that tag line isn't included in this tourism campaign.

Mary Jane Lamond's website - Song lyrics

É Horò

http://www.geocities.com/celticlyricscorner/lamond/suase.htm#ehoro

4. Gaelic Initiatives Set to Share in £1.92million Aid Windfall (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=12083764

this is North Scotland in association with The Press and Journal
09:00 - 22 March 2005

A Group of Gaelic community, arts, culture and education projects and organisations across Scotland are set to benefit from a share of £1.92million with support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

The funding is designed to improve opportunities for Gaelic learners and speakers of all ages to use the language in their local communities.

The projects include new books for primary and secondary schools to extend the range of Gaelic educational material available to teachers and children, a collaborative drama project for Gaelic speaking teenagers from Ireland and Scotland to provide training in theatre craft and acting skills, portable translation equipment for the use of Gaelic at community meetings throughout Scotland, a range of Gaelic tuition classes for both learners and fluent speakers across the UK and a writing scheme encouraging new Gaelic fiction for the 21st century. Scottish education Minister Peter Peacock - who has ministerial responsibility for Gaelic - said: "To ensure the Gaelic language thrives it is vital that we promote its everyday use and increase appreciation of its place and value in Scottish culture."

Bòrd na Gàidhlig chairman Duncan Ferguson said: "Bòrd na Gàidhlig has
a clear goal to increase the numbers of speakers and users of Gaelic
in communities across Scotland. "

5. Nicholas Ostler's fascinating history, Empires of the Word, examines why some languages survive while others die out, and why English reigns supreme (General Languages)

Take my word for it
http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/history/0,6121,1436277,00.html

Jane Stevenson
Sunday March 13, 2005
The Observer

Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World
by Nicholas Ostler
HarperCollins £30, pp624

This learned and entertaining book starts around 3,300BC and works forwards. Given that it's a short history of the last 5,000 years, it is remarkably comprehensive as well as thought- provoking. For most people, learning a first language is so 'easy' you don't remember doing it and picking up others later on is a tedious chore.

It therefore seems reasonable that any time one group of people conquers another, the victors should impose their language, but historically, things haven't always worked like that. Nicholas Ostler's aim is to look at why some languages survive and spread, while others, for example the Aboriginal languages of Australia, fail.

He identifies three major paths to success: breed your way to majority status (like Chinese), spread by conquest (like Arabic) or give rise to a popular religion (like Sanskrit). But there is also another aspect contributing to the long-term survival of a language, which is to become classical.

We normally think of classics as 'Latin and Greek', but there have been a good few others. Sumerian outlived its political heyday by a millennium and half; I was pleased to discover that one of its leading writers was the world's first major poetess, Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akka, in the 24th century BC.

There's an old linguist's joke that a language is a dialect with an army, but the material in this book suggests that the real key to survival is for a language to be a dialect with a civil service. A class of bureaucrats with the power to defend its monopoly can keep a language going for centuries, as can a set of scriptures, while conquerors come and go.

Once a particular language is universally used for an empire's laws, tax records and so forth, it takes a lot more than mere conquest to force a change. Whether incomers imposed their language or adopted that of their subjects usually relates to whether they wanted business - and taxpaying - to go on as before or whether they arrived equipped with pen-pushers of their own.

Consequently, German's inability to establish itself as a world language is less of a mystery than Ostler tries to make it. 'German conquerors' did not storm into the Roman world as monoglot speakers of Germanic dialects. Most were from tribes which had served Rome for generations and they arrived, in the main, with some official sanction and equipped with the functional Latin which they had learned as mercenaries. Because they wished the economy to go on working, they adopted the language common to both sides: Latin.

By contrast, in England, where the Roman state had stopped functioning, the Angles and Saxons displaced both Latin and British Celtic with remarkable thoroughness.

Ostler also enters on the vexed question of whether any special qualities in a particular language contribute to its success, beyond the good fortune of being attached to an convenient writing technology (it was the development of the first workable script of record, cuneiform, which ensured that after 2,000 years, Akkadian scribes were still using bits of Sumerian as shorthand, just as, equivalently, we use i.e. and e.g.).

Ostler is clearly carrying a torch for Sanskrit, perhaps the most self-conscious language which the world has ever produced. The argument he makes for its intrinsic lovableness is that 'because of its elaborated descriptions and analyses of itself, it could always demonstrate what was best and why it was best. It thereby made itself irresistibly attractive to upwardly mobile institutions. Being concretely defined in the grammar books, Sanskrit was eminently learnable'.

This is superficially attractive, but it is equally true of classical old Irish, a tongue which has been singularly unable to attract externaldevotees, though the Irish also had a sophisticated grammatical tradition and similarly lauded their language's comprehensiveness, beauty, and primacy over all others.

The worldwide success of English in the twentieth century is normally linked with American cultural and economic imperialism. Ostler, however, makes a provocative case that it actually builds on 19th-century British colonialism and is also strongly related to Britain's role in Europe, though the reasons why English has become the major working language of the EU may in itself have to do with the existence, offstage, of America. But it is worth observing that economic power in itself does not inevitably make a language attractive, if politics are against it. Despite the commercial success of postwar Japan, the 'Asian co-prosperity sphere' it tried to create has stoutly resisted Japanese.

If one asks whether Ostler successfully makes his case for a set ofobjective criteria why some languages have achieved global status, the answer has to be not quite. A language can experience favouring or unfavouring circumstances, but its actual fate involves a large measure of
contingency.
As with the extinction of species, explanations can only be retrospective. There was nothing obviously wrong with blaauwbok or with Phoenician except that they died out, whereas their respective cousins, sable antelopes and Hebrew, survive and thrive.

Ostler is looking for universal theories of why languages succeed, but what the stories boil down to is: this is what happened. However, that doesn't prevent Ostler from using the final chapters to look at the future, on which his thoughts are iconoclastic. Again and again, as Ostler shows, writing technologies have survived the language which gave them birth and there is no reason to assume that the modern world will be any different in this respect.

English-language postings on the web have dropped below 50 per cent of total traffic and Spanish is now the majority language of the US. Habla usted español? If not, it might be wise to learn.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 28-Mar-2005, 09:03 PM
March 24, 2005

1. Caithness Refuses to Go along with Gaelic Signs Proposal (Scottish Gaelic)

March 25, 2005

2. Grand Gaelic gathering is unveiled for Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic)

March 26, 2005

3. Alba/Scotland National Football Team Petition (Scottish Gaelic)

March 28, 2005

4. Tachartasan/Events (Scottish Gaelic)



March 24, 2005

1. Caithness Refuses to Go along with Gaelic Signs Proposal (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=d
isplayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=12091724

IAIN GRANT. Press and Journal. 09:00 - 23 March 2005

Caithness has refused to follow the lead from other parts of the Highlands and promote bilingual road signs in English and Gaelic.

Councillors yesterday decided not to go along with Highland Council's drive to promote the signs.

The council's Gaelic language plan backs the addition of Gaelic to the English version on road and school signs, as well as council documents.

But it will not be applied in Caithness after the area committee decided at its meeting in Thurso yesterday to opt out of the policy.

Area convener David Flear said public representations he has received strongly oppose the idea with people complaining it would mean extra cost, create confusion and cause an extra road hazard.

And Mr Flear said that unlike the rest of the region, there is not a strong history of Gaelic in Caithness.

He said: "It's often said we're the land beyond the Highlands."
Wick West Councillor Bill Fernie said: "I've also had representations asking us to opt out of the policy. I haven't spoken to anyone who is in favour of Gaelic signs."

Area convener Alastair MacDonald said Dunbeath is the only Caithness school whose name comes from Gaelic. He said the policy elsewhere has meant the bi-lingual sign for Clachtoll in west Sutherland has the name - the same in English and Gaelic - repeated.

Councillor Tom Jackson, Thurso East said this was a clear case of a Highland issue where 'one size does not fit all'.

But Thurso West councillor Roger Saxon believed individual communities or schools within Caithness should be allowed to add Gaelic to signs, if that was their wish.

He said the extra cost would be 'miniscule' as the Gaelic version is added only when signs need replaced.

Mr Saxon added that research in Canada did not reveal any problem with road safety. He said: "We should not close the door on this completely. There may be particular communities or schools that might want something that stands out from the rest." But he was a lone voice and he also lost out in his suggestion that the committee should think about bilingual signs in English and Norse.


March 25, 2005

2. Grand Gaelic gathering is unveiled for Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic)

http://news.scotsman.com/glasgow.cfm?id=317872005

The Scotsman
Fri 25 Mar 2005
Scotland - Glasgow

CHRIS MCAULEY

AN AMBITIOUS plan to bring together the largest number of Gaelic poets and musicians ever assembled was unveiled in Glasgow yesterday.

The Flower of the West project, launched by the Glasgow Gaelic Arts' An Lochran organisation, will promote Gaelic culture though the enduring work of the well-known Scots band, Runrig.

The idea is to bring to life - through music, song and poetry - the images from Flower of the West, a book written by Calum and Rory MacDonald of Runrig.

The story documents the brothers' journey in spreading Gaelic culture across the world through music, verse and song.
The celebration of Celtic tradition is planned for May when artists, poets, singers and performers will converge on Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall to hail the lasting legacy of Runrig, and the influence the MacDonald brothers, in particular, have had in delivering the traditional Gaelic culture to an international audience.

Helping to get the show on the road yesterday at Cafe Gandolfi in the Merchant City was Stevie Jackson, better known as the guitarist with the internationally acclaimed Glasgow band Belle and Sebastian.

He said: "The overall concept is to make the Gaelic culture in Glasgow that bit more apparent, and I am only too happy to help out with that, even though I don't speak the language myself."

The Flower of the West event is part of a broader programme of Gaelic arts activity planned for the city during the coming months, and has been developed in conjunction with Glasgow City Council.

©2005 Scotsman.com


March 26, 2005

3. Alba / Scotland National Football Team Petition (Scottish Gaelic)

To: The Scottish Football Association

We, the undersigned, call upon the Scottish Football Association to proudly display the Scottish national name, "Alba," along with its equivalent, "Scotland," on the national football team's shirt.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/alba777/petition.html


March 28, 2005

4. Tachartasan/Events (Scottish Gaelic)

Naidheachdan agus tachartasan ann an Inbhir Nis/
News & Events in Inverness:

Seinneadairean Inbhir Nis
Inverness Sangsters
Taigh-òsda Beaufort - Hotel (shuas staidhre),
11 Rathad Culduthal - Road

Dihaoine, 1 Giblean. 9f.
Friday, 1 April. 9pm. Donations welcome

Do you like singing? Would you like to meet up in a social setting to have an informal singing session (Scots & Gaelic song etc)? Just singing, no instruments or smoking! You don't have to sing to attend (listeners welcome!)

A bheil ùidh agad ann an seinn? A bheil thu ag iarraidh coinneachadh ann an àite sòisealta airson seisean seinn neo-fhoirmeil a dhèanamh (amhrain Albannach, Gaidhlig, m.s.a.a.)? Ma tha, thig gu Seinneadairean Inbhir Nis.

Contact: Brian Ó hEadhra
01463 234138

Posted by: WizardofOwls 30-Mar-2005, 10:11 AM
March 29, 2005

1. Burns library to reopen after £2m renovation (Scots)
2. English place names purged to boost Gaelic (Irish Gaelic)
3. Ireland Enacts Law Banning English on Maps (Irish Gaelic)
4. "One Year Past: Nothing is Done for Sign Languages!" (Sign Language)

March 29, 2005

1. Burns library to reopen after £2m renovation (Scots)

STEPHEN BREEN
March 29 2005

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/36195.html

The Herald (Glasgow)
Web Issue 2232
March 29 2005

A HOUSE containing one of the world's leading collections of works by Robert Burns re-opens this week after vital conservation work to prevent mould damage.

Broughton House, at Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, underwent a £2m upgrade, including computer-controlled humidity monitors to preserve the 3000 books and papers by Burns.

The collection ? the fourth largest in the world ? had been kept in a damp basement in the eighteenth century townhouse and, over the years, mould had developed, threatening to damage the priceless collection.

It includes one of 12 known copies of the Kilmarnock edition of Burns's work, the first printing of his poetry from 1786 ? which is the rarest edition of his work and contains To a Mouse and The Twa Dugs, which gave an early insight into the Bard's prodigious talent.

Broughton House is now in the hands of the National Trust for Scotland and re-opens on Friday, after two years of renovations. Robin Robertson, property manager, said: "This is the fourth largest collection of Burns's work ? so it is very, very important and one of
the reasons people come here."

2. English place names purged to boost Gaelic (Irish Gaelic)

By Shawn Pogatchnik
29 March 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=624454
The Independent

The legal map of Ireland has changed in a bid to promote the country's little-used official tongue, Gaelic.


As of yesterday, the English names of more than 2,300 towns and villages in Ireland's western regions, or Gaeltacht, no longer have legal standing and may not be used in government documents or on new Ordnance Survey maps.

The change takes in the most westerly parts of Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry and Mayo as well as a few Gaelic-speaking pockets of Meath, north-west of Dublin, and Waterford in the south-east. On the Dingle peninsula in north-west Kerry, for example, two villages known chiefly by their English names, Dunquinn and Ventry, must be identified on signs and official documents as Dun Chaoin and Ceann Tra.

Under the new laws, Tipperary would be Tiobraid-Arran, which means in Gaelic, the well of Ara.

Another law specifies the proper Gaelic versions and spellings of hundreds of place names outside the Gaeltacht, where English is dominant. The English names remain legal, but displaying the Gaelic alongside them will become mandatory.

Since independence in 1922 governments have pursued a policy of mandatory Gaelic in schools and made it a requirement for many jobs, even though just 55,000 native Gaelic speakers remain of a population of 3.9 million.

©2005 Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.

3. Ireland Enacts Law Banning English on Maps (Irish Gaelic)

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer
Mon Mar 28, 2:19 PM

http://www.comcast.net/news/international/europe/index.jsp?cat=EUROPE&fn=/2005/03/28/92619.html

DUBLIN, Ireland - Tourists, beware: Your guide book may tell you the way to Dingle in County Kerry, but all the road signs will be pointing you toward An Daingean in Contae an Ciarrai instead.

In an age where many people bemoan English's growing global influence, advocates of local languages scored a small victory Monday when Ireland enacted a law outlawing English in road signs and official maps on much of the nation's western coast, where many people speak Gaelic.

Locals concede the switch will confuse foreigners in an area that depends heavily on tourism, but they say it's the price of patriotism.

"The change is nice for the locals, but if a stranger's coming in without one of the new Dingle maps, it can be quite difficult," said Sarah Brosnan, assistant manager of the Dingle Bay Hotel, which - like most things connected to the tourist trade - won't be changing its name.

In all, more than 2,300 towns, villages, fields and crossroads that traditionally had both English and Gaelic names have had their previously bilingual road signs changed to Irish only. The change chiefly affects three far-flung regions of the western seaboard called the Gaeltacht, which has long been nation's last stand in the battle against English dominance.

There, English place names no longer have legal standing and may not be used in government documents or on official Ordnance Survey maps. The switch also applies in a few official Gaelic- speaking pockets of County Meath, northwest of Dublin, and County Waterford in the southeast.

On the breathtakingly beautiful Dingle peninsula in northwest County Kerry, signs with English spellings were taken down weeks ago, even in cases where the English versions remain popular in local parlance. Local villages still principally known as Ballydavid, Castlegregory and Ventry are now called only Baile na nGall, Caislean Ghriaire and Ceann Tra.

Gaelic enthusiasts say such place names are redolent of local history and eventually will prove less confusing for visitors - so long as they are armed with updated or Gaelic-friendly maps.

Locals like Brosnan, who went to an all-Gaelic school but speaks English as her first language, say promoting Gaelic is a point of pride.

"I can't see them ever allowing English back on to the signs," she said.

The new law says the government-run Ordnance Survey mapping agency must use only Gaelic names in the Gaeltacht area. The law does not apply to independent producers of maps, although they are expected to follow the policy.

The initiative has placed a new focus on the battle to preserve Gaelic in Ireland, where the language faded from everyday use in the 19th century, when Britain ruled the land.

Ever since Ireland won independence in 1922, successive governments have pursued a policy of mandatory Gaelic in schools and made it a requirement for many jobs, even though just 55,000 native Gaelic speakers remain in this country of 3.9 million.

About 40 percent of residents identify themselves as fluent in Gaelic on census forms, but in practice this doesn't seem to be anywhere near the case.

The government's Irish language commissioner, Sean O Cuirreain, reported this month that the state was spending $650 million annually on teaching children Gaelic in elementary and high schools, yet too few students were attaining "a reasonable command of the language" after 13 years and 1,500 hours of instruction. He called for an urgent review of how Gaelic is taught.

English, in practice, permeates even government-funded projects to promote Gaelic.

The state-run Gaelic radio network recently decided to begin broadcasting popular music in English, while the state's Gaelic TV station runs English-language films, often American cowboy movies. Other programs include such distinctly non-Gaelic offerings as "SpongeBob SquarePants."


O Cuirreain noted that the government and opposition lawmakers, though almost entirely pro- Gaelic in policy, were demonstrably pro-English in practice - less than 1 percent of parliamentary debates are conducted in Gaelic.

Another impact of the law is that, for many places, the government has settled eons of argument about what the locality's real Gaelic name should be. Some villages and smaller rural entities called "townlands" have had rival spellings - and even totally competing names.

The town of Mountcharles in northwest County Donegal, for instance, has often been known in its straight Gaelic translation "Moin Searlas," but the government-approved list rejects this in favor of a more medieval name "Tamhnach an tSalainn," pronounced as "townuck awn tallan" and meaning "hill of salt."

On the Net:

Government department that promotes Gaelic,
http://www.pobail.ie

Irish language commissioner, http://www.coimisineir.ie

Dingle guide to Irish place names, http://www.dingle-peninsula.ie/towns.html

Gaelic television station, http://www.tg4.ie/

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

4. "One Year Past: Nothing is Done for Sign Languages!" (Sign Language)

SLCB Press Release

23-03-05

A year has passed since the announcement by Northern Ireland Office on the recognition of Northern Ireland Sign Language (NISL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL) as official languages of Northern Ireland on the equal par as Irish and Ulster-Scots.Shane Gilchrist Ó hEorpa, the chair of Sign Language Centre Belfast commented: `One year gone, where are we? Very little is being done about this.'

Tokenism may be the better term to describe the lack of action on NISL & ISL.

`ISL and NISL may be recognised as "official languages" yet we have more people using our two languages than Ulster-Scots speakers and Chinese speakers yet Chinese and Ulster-Scots get a lot more respect than NISL/ISL and we think it is unfair'

One reason behind the recognition of NISL and ISL is that it will lead to have the number of sign language tutors and interpreters increased which will be of some benefits towards the Sign Language community.

`More and more schools are signing up to have us teaching NISL to their pupils because they feel that learning sign language will be of some benefits for their pupils. There are more linguists in Northern Ireland taking a strong interest in the development of NISL' Ó hEorpa said, `yet NISL is still discriminated against on a daily basis, not being taken seriously as a language'

`So much work is needed to be done' SLCB concluded. A large number of sign language activists are not skilled in minority language rights and often they are not fluent in English which is often a "foreign language" for them.

England & Wales have recognised British Sign Language (BSL) two years ago and the responsibility was given to Maria Eagles, the Disability Minister within the Disability Unit at the Department of Work & Pensions for England & Wales. The decision was demoralising & insulting for many BSL language activists who believe that BSL should be at least recognised as a language. In Northern Ireland, the Sign Language community is fortunate as NISL & ISL are being looked after by the Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure for Northern Ireland who also looks after Irish and Ulster-Scots.

`We would like it if there is a statutory agency created to aid the development of the Sign Language Community just like Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency ? our languages does need the same respect the two minority languages have from the British Government!'

The SLCB would like to take the opportunity to thank people for their support in getting the recognition for the two national sign languages: Northern Ireland Sign Language and Irish Sign Language.

More information:
Shane Gilchrist Ó hEorpa, Sign Language Centre Belfast
Email: [email protected]

Notes to Editors:
The Sign Language Centre Belfast, part of the SLCB Group, is very delighted of being the only representative organisation for Sign Language users in Northern Ireland that fights for the same equality the English, Ulster-Scots and Irish language speakers take for granted including sign language medium education, sign language teaching, sign language training, research into Northern Ireland's two national sign languages: Northern Ireland Sign Language and Irish Sign Language. According to one estimate, around 250,000 people in the UK use British Sign Language on a daily basis.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 02-Apr-2005, 02:01 PM
Sorry that these deal only with Scottish Gaelic this time but, after all, all of these news stories come from a Scottish Gaelic newsgroup that I subscribe to! smile.gif

March 31, 2005

1. Gaelic Education Dispute Is Averted (Scottish Gaelic)
2. Gaelic medium community group for children aged 5-12 looking for a new leader (Scottish
Gaelic)
3. Gaelic for hikers (Scottish Gaelic)

April 1, 2005

4. Information on this year's Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song and Language Week (Scottish Gaelic)
5. Black day as EU fools with place names (Scottish Gaelic)

April 2, 2005

6. Inverness Gaelic Forum - Public Meeting (Scottish Gaelic)

March 31, 2005

1. Gaelic Education Dispute Is Averted (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=12128394

this is North Scotland in association with The Press and Journal

09:00 - 30 March 2005

Education chiefs have headed off a row which threatened an English-Gaelic split among parents over the future of their village school.

After seeking legal advice, officials have given assurances that every parent's view will be taken into account when statutory consultations get under way over a possible relocation.

The assurance has been welcomed by parents of the 51 pupils at Lady Lovat Primary School at Morar, which is "bulging at the seams".

To ease the problem, Highland councillors have suggested a number of options, including the transfer of either the 41-pupil Gaelic medium unit or the 10-strong English-language stream to neighbouring Mallaig, where there is spare capacity.

If the English stream was moved, statutory consultation would need to be carried out with parents because it would be relocated outwith its existing catchment area of Morar.

However, parents had initially been told consultation would not be necessary in respect of the Gaelic unit because it would be moved within its catchment area, which encompasses Morar, Mallaig and Lochailort.

Parents opposed to the transfer of the Gaelic unit claimed Lochaber education officials were "simply trying to exploit a loophole in the law to forcibly move the Gaelic unit without the proper legal process" .

But, after seeking legal advice, Highland Council's director of education Bruce Robertson has assured them they will have the same rights to consultation as those with children in the English stream.

And he has pledged that the school will remain as it is until at least August of next year, with consultations being carried out in the intervening period.

Gaelic parents' group chairman Fiona Johnston said: "We would like to thank Mr Robertson for seeking legal advice to clarify the situation."

The school's English-stream caters for 10 children but is set to fall to nine in August and, without the Gaelic unit, parents fear the school could close.

Mr Robertson says the success of Gaelic provision has put pressure on the small school.

It is against a background of empty classrooms at Mallaig, where there are 69 pupils and three teachers, compared with 51 children at Morar, three miles away. But Morar parents have delivered a "hands off" message and say any splitting of the Gaelic unit would be detrimental to their youngsters' language development.


2. Gaelic medium community group for children aged 5-12 looking for a new leader (Scottish
Gaelic)

Are you interested in working with children? In fun and games?

If so .........

We are looking for a new leader for the Inverness Sradagan group and a few people to help out from time to time.

Sradagan is a Gaelic medium community group for children aged 5-12 years and there is lots of fun and games to be had!

If you are interested then please contact:

Màiri Imlach
Comunn na Gàidhlig
5 Mitchell's LaneInverness IV2 3HQ
phone: 01463 234 138
email: [email protected]

For more information visit our website at: www.sradagan.org

Tha Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd a' lorg do bheachdan air Dreach Sgeama Gaidhlig agus Cultar aca. 'S e 8 An Cèitean an latha mu dheireadh airson seo.

The Highland Council are looking for your views on their (Draft) Gaelic and Culture Scheme. Closing date: 8 May.

Ceanglaichean/Links:
http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/gaelic/gaelicplan10.pdf
http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/gaelic/planamam.pdf
http://forums.highland.gov.uk/gaelicforum

Cuir fios gu/Contact:

Morag Anna NicLeoid
Oifigear Leasachaidh Gaidhlig
Comhairle na Gaidhealtachd
Tigh na Sgire
Park Lane
Portrigh
An t-Eilean Sgitheanach
IV51 9GP ALBA Roinn Eorpa
Fon/Phone:01478 613835
Facs/Faxs:01478 613828
Post-d/E-mail:[email protected]
For further information on The Highland Council
visit our web-site www.highland.gov.uk
www.think-net.org www.hi-ways.org

3. Gaelic for hikers (Scottish Gaelic)

http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=1402762004

The Scotsman
Sat 11 Dec 2004

JIM GILCHRIST

COLIN MacLeod stands on the summit of Ladhar Bheinn, at 1,020m the highest top in Knoydart. Ladhar Bheinn means "Hoof Mountain", and all around the peaks and troughs of the Rough Bounds rear spectacularly like frozen waves, their names sounding a rugged Gaelic litany - Stob a?Choire Odhair, Bealach Coire Odhar, Bealach Bàn, Aonach Sgoilte ...They mean, respectively, "dun-coloured hill", "dun-coloured pass", "fair pass" and "split ridge", and for MacLeod, a native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Lewis, just reading these names gives immediate insight into the landscape.

Next month, he gives non-Gaelic-speakers the benefit of his knowledge in Tir is Teanga, which means Language and Landscape, a six-part series filmed in the Highlands and islands. Roving through prime hillwalking territory such as Glencoe, the Cairngorms, Skye and Knoydart, MacLeod, a presenter in BBC Scotland?s Gaelic department, is accompanied by a fellow hillwalker who knows the area.

The predominant language on any map of the Highlands is Gaelic, although English, Scots, ancient Britttonic and Pictish and - particularly in the west - Norse also crop up.

"Even basic things like the Gaelic names of colours tell you about the terrain or other features, like a peak or a rounded hill. Straight off, you?ve got an advantage. You?re not just reading contours," he says.

If you don?t know your stob from your sgurr or your beinn from your bealach, Tir is Teanga, in Gaelic with English subtitles, should help you regard the hills with fresh insight.

Made by the Glasgow-based company Caledonia Sterne and Wyld for BBC Scotland, the idea behind the series, as producer Les Wilson explains, "is that viewers should come away with a good knowledge of ?Ordnance Survey Gaelic? - and be able to pronounce hills as well as climb them".

The series also dispels any presumption that Gaelic place names are necessarily more poetic than their English counterparts. "Some of them can be quite functional," says MacLeod.

Indeed, Gaelic functionality could sometimes be just too basic for strait-laced Victorians, and he cites the Cairngorm peak known as the Devil?s Point, a discreet bowdlerisation of the original Gaelic name Bod an Deamhain - "the Devil?s penis".

Apart from offending delicate sensibilities, place names can also give insight into areas we tend to label, not wholly accurately, as wilderness.

"There?s a view that the Cairngorms, for instance, are very hostile to man and in winter, obviously, they are," says MacLeod. "But there are Gaelic names there, such as the Làirig an Laoigh, ?the pass of the Cattle?, and the Làirig an Laoigh Ghrù, so obviously people frequented this area."

MacLeod is a keen hillwalker, but it wasn?t all foot-slogging for him and the crew who shot some spectacular footage for the series. They went out in fishing boats and kayaks to view a coastline of inlets and rocky skerries which were the ruin of many a ship, and are often named accordingly.

On the west coast, especially, the Vikings left a place-name legacy of their own, including Knoydart into whose sea lochs the dragon ships sailed. Knoydart is the Gaelicised version of the Scandinavian Knut?s Fjord.

One might presume that the government surveyors who mapped these areas would be indifferent and slipshod in their attitude to Gaelic, resulting in misinterpretations such as Gleneagles, which in fact has nothing to do with eagles but refers to eaglais, or church. On the contrary, however, MacLeod has a great deal of respect for these pioneer mapmakers.

"It?s phenomenal the way so many of these names have survived, when you consider that the people putting them on the maps were English speakers, and the majority of the people they were talking to spoke Gaelic vernacular and had little or no written education.

"Obviously, there will be misinterpretations, but at the same time, you will still have a name on the map, although, heaven knows, there are hundreds more we?ve lost, in that they were never recorded," says MacLeod.

The programme comes at a time when organisations such as the Scottish Place-Name Society consider it a disgrace that the investigation and recording of place names receives no official support. Tir is Teanga features place names expert Ian Fraser, yet since he retired from Edinburgh University in 2001, there have been no other comparable posts in Scotland.

Despite recent overtures to the Scottish Parliament for an independently-funded place name survey, Scotland currently lacks any such institution - unlike other European countries (often with far less linguistic diversity).

"Anywhere people are living on the land," says MacLeod, "they will have a multitude of smaller, very pinpointed place names that relate to their knowledge, perhaps of settlements that have moved, or what livestock or crops were once there, or perhaps somewhere named after its bad snowdrifts, although it might no longer get much snow."

An indicator of climate change? Perhaps. The Gaelic namers have at least left us a clue to how things were, if we only have the language to read it. sm

? Tir is Teanga starts on Thursday 13 January at 7pm on BBC 2. Visit the Scottish Place-Name Society at www.st-andrews.ac.uk/institutes/sassi/spns/

April 1, 2005

4. Information on this year's Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song and Language Week (Scottish Gaelic)

A Chàirdean,
We've just posted the latest information on this year's Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song and Language Week on the An Comunn Gaidhealach, America, web site (www.acgamerica.org) so go take a look. We'll have three terrific teachers this year, classes in language and song for all abilities, and lots of extra activities. This year's workshop will be held from July 3rd through the 8th, ending just as the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games get started. Check the website for more information and/or e-mail me if you have questions.

Le meas,
Cam MacRae
[email protected]
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=344812005

5. Black day as EU fools with place names (Scottish Gaelic)

PAUL DRURY AND JIM MCBETH


EUROPEAN bureaucrats will push forward legislation today to force the Scottish Executive to change place-names that offend or discriminate on the grounds of race and gender.

In a move the Nationalists described as the "ultimate madness in political correctness", it has taken only a quorum of four Euro commissioners from Italy, Germany, France and Spain to redraw Scotland's map.

The German commissioner, Arlo Pilof, the architect of the 2006 Race and Gender Equality Imposition Code (conformity), an amendment to existing rules, said: "We believe many names do not conform, and we started with Scotland because it is the worst of the culprits with offensive names such as Skinflats, near Grangemouth."

However, he promised the Scottish Executive could apply for grants of up to ?43.6 million (£28 million) to facilitate change.

That was dismissed yesterday by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce as a "drop in the ocean". A spokesman said: "Changing stationery and business cards could cost that alone."

The commissioners in Brussels have demanded "race and gender-sensitive" names found for towns such as Motherwell, Blackburn, Helensburgh, Fort William, Campbeltown, Peterhead, Lewis and Fraserburgh be changed.

A Scottish parliamentary group, set up in anticipation of the legislation, has made a start. Fort William, in the shadow of Britain's highest mountain, would become Fort Nevis by 2006, under
one suggestion.

Edinburgh City Council is considering revising Arthur's Seat because the commissioners said its ancient name contained sexual undertones "likely to offend those visiting Edinburgh".

Under the new amendment the word "Glen" could be banned as gender-biased. Scotland Office officials have suggested a change to Vale, as in Valecoe and the Great Vale.

An SNP spokesperson said: "This is monstrous buffoonery, an outrageous waste of resources and politically correct madness.

"I understand, for example, that North Lanarkshire Council will consider plans to change Motherwell to Parentwell," the spokesperson said. "What is Dunbartonshire going to do with Helensburgh?"

Under European rules going back to 1986, a quorum of four member state commissioners have the right to table what is known as a "L.I.L Proof A", a prelude to any legislation which proposes to amend or remove a name or description "relating to a city, town or centre of habitation with more than eight people of voting age".

The four commissioners tabled the L.I.L Proof A in December and today the legislation will go before a committee of ten commissioners. It is expected to be law by 1 April, 2006.

The Scottish Executive had sought to win exemptions for places beginning with "Black", but the bureaucrats were adamant they were racist.

"We could hardly have places like Colouredford or the Coloured Isle, the Coloured Cuillins," said a spokesman.

However, the Executive has come up with an alternative, to revert to the Gaelic rendition of black - dubh - which it believes will be acceptable.

The spokesman added: "They won't know the difference, hopefully. And Burndubh and Dubhford don't sound too bad."

However, the greatest difficulty will be experienced by the producers of Ordnance Survey maps.

A spokesman said: "This is a nightmare, amending every map. I understand there will be a hiatus, where old maps are acceptable. But new maps will have to be in place by 2007.

"More cartographers will be needed and the process of re-tooling machines will begin next year.

"Inevitably, the cost will be high and prices will go up. We estimate, for example, a map such as the Landranger series for North Skye will retail at £94.20 by 2007."

Mr Pilof revealed that England would be next on the agenda, citing the Isle of Man as particularly worthy of change.
A Manx spokesman said yesterday: "I hope this is a long way off. We are two-time losers, what with the island's name and Douglas as the capital. It's ridiculous, isn't it?

"It's as if these people sat there all day and made up this stuff."

April 2, 2005

6. Inverness Gaelic Forum - Public Meeting (Scottish Gaelic)

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis ? Coinneamh Phoblach

Taigh-òsta Chaluim Chille
(shuas staidhre)
Columba Hotel
Ness Walk

Diardaoin, 14 Giblean. 7f.
Thurs, 14 April. 7pm

Seo cothrom airson còmhradh a dhèanamh ri buidhnean agus daoine a tha brosnachadh na Gàidhlig nar baile. Cuideachd, bidh sinn a' bruidhinn mu dheidhinn iomairtean agus thachartasan Gàidhlig a tha romhainn ann an Inbhir Nis.

This is an opportunity for you to meet groups and individuals who are interested in promoting Gaelic in our city. We will also discuss forthcoming Gaelic events and developments in Inverness.

Brian Ó hEadhra - Oifigear Leasachaidh
Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis
c/o 5 Caolshràid Mhìcheil,
Inbhir Nis,
IV2 3HQ

Fòn: 01463 234138
Facs: 01463 237470
Post-d: [email protected]
Làrach-lìn: www.inbhirnis.org

Posted by: WizardofOwls 03-Apr-2005, 07:28 PM
April 2, 2005

1. Welsh Education Demand Outstrips Supply (Welsh)
2. Cornish Language Signs Campaign (Cornish)

April 2, 2005

1. Welsh Education Demand Outstrips Supply (Welsh)

CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

Growing demand for Welsh language education is forcing Cardiff council to consider setting up an overspill starter class in Moorland Primary, English-medium school, in Splott.

In the last five years two purpose-built Welsh-medium primaries in Cardiff have opened but these have filled up ahead of schedule. This has led to the council facing criticism for a lack of foresight.

Parents who have not gained a place for their child at the present Welsh-medium school of their choice have been invited to attend a meeting next month to outline the plans and conditional on the success of this meeting the go-ahead for the new starter class will be given. It is planned to open the unit in September.

The city's newest purpose-built Welsh-medium primary, Ysgol Y Berllan, Deg opened in September 2003 in Circle Way East, Llanedeyrn and by the following April it was oversubscribed.

In addition another school in the capital in Leckwith, Ysgol Gymraeg Pwll Coch, which opened in 1999 has had to install the first of eight temporary classrooms four years later.

This gives some indication of the healthy demand for Welsh language education.

J B Moffatt
Secretary General
Celtic League

02/04/05

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

2. Cornish Language Signs Campaign (Cornish)

CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

The postal campaign to all town and parish councils in Cornwall calling for bilingual place name signs on the sides of roads throughout Cornwall is continuing with letters currently being dispatched to all 26 Town Councils.

This is to be followed up with correspondence to all 180 Parish Councils in Cornwall making a similar call.

The campaign, was initiated last year with correspondence to the West Briton newspaper and Camborne Town Council, calls for all Councils to exercise their right and fulfil their duty to include the Cornish language on place name signs throughout Cornwall.

(Report prepared for Celtic News by Kernow Branch)

J B Moffatt

Secretary General
Celtic League

02/04/05

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

Posted by: WizardofOwls 14-Apr-2005, 10:13 PM
April 6, 2005
1. 'No panic' over Eisteddfod 2007 (Welsh)

April 9, 2005
2. Gaelic Organisation Takes on Two New Staff Members (Scottish Gaelic)
3. Eyes down (Cornish)

April 11, 2005
4. only one week left to sign this petition (Scottish Gaelic)
5. Minority languages on the Internet: ongoing UNESCO-sponsored study (General Language)

April 13, 2005
6. Group to find ways to recruit and retain Gaelic teachers meets today. (Scottish Gaelic)
7. Give Gaelic More Bread (Scottish Gaelic)
8. The Scottish Parliament is holding a meeting (Scottish Gaelic)
9. Funding for Gaelic projects (Scottish Gaelic)

April 6, 2005

1. 'No panic' over Eisteddfod 2007 (Welsh)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4409197.stm
BBC NEWS | Wales | 'No panic' over Eisteddfod 2007

National Eisteddfod organisers say they are "not hitting the panic button" about a site for the 2007 festival.

But they admit they face a dilemma in finalising the location for the event.

Liverpool's Welsh community have raised fears over their ability to organise the event, although the city council has re-stated its commitment.

Meanwhile, the National Eisteddfod Council is set to hear that Flintshire Council has said it cannot afford to host the festival.

The news comes as the Archdruid of Wales, Dr Robyn Lewis, is to call on the national council, the ruling body, to hold all future eisteddfodau in Wales.

A question mark over the siting of the 2007 event was raised after Roderick Owen, President of Cymdeithas Cymry Lerpwl (Liverpool Welsh Society), confirmed he had sent a letter to eisteddfod director Elfed Roberts.

In the letter, sent 10 days ago, he claimed members of the society had rejected the idea of holding the eisteddfod in Liverpool because they felt there were not enough Welsh speakers to organise the event.
The eisteddfod, an annual celebration of music, dance, poetry, and art, has been held in Liverpool three times before - in 1884, 1900, and 1929.

Traditionally, the festival moves around Wales each year and this August it will be hosted by Faenol in Gwynedd.

Eisteddfod director Elfed Roberts said the national council meeting in Aberystwyth would consider the archdruid's proposal as well as the options for the 2007 venue.

He said: "The Liverpool bid is still on the table. We will discuss the pros and cons of that and come to a decision. It does not necessary mean that we will make a final decision."

He said Flintshire council had told him last month that it was facing financial problems over its bid to host the event.

"It leaves us with a bit of dilemma but we're not hitting the panic button as yet. We haven't held the 2005 eisteddfod yet, and were still organising the 2006. We have got some time."

Liverpool Council Chief Executive Sir David Henshaw said the invitation to host the eisteddfod coincided with the city's 800th anniversary.

He added that he expected the eisteddfod council members to consider all points of view fairly.

Flintshire Council said it was preparing a statement on its position on the 2007 National Eisteddfod.

© BBC MMV

April 9, 2005

2. GAELIC ORGANISATION TAKES ON TWO NEW STAFF MEMBERS(Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=12195370
Press and Journal. 09:00 - 09 April 2005

Bord na Gàidhlig has appointed two new members of staff, bringing the total number of recruits at the new body to nine.

Annchris MacLean, from Tarbert in Harris, will shortly join the bòrd as a receptionist and secretary. She is currently in her final year at the University of Aberdeen studying for an honours degree in Gaelic.

Josie Forman has been appointed as administration secretary and will work part-time at the bòrd. She spent 10 years in the civil service in England but is currently a student on the Gaelic and Related Studies degree scheme at Inverness College UHI.

Originally from Staffin in the Isle of Skye, she now lives in Inverness.

Chief executive of the organisation, Allan Campbell, said: "It is a great pleasure to welcome Annchris and Josie to Bòrd na Gàidhlig at such an interesting and busy time in the bòrd's development. It is particularly encouraging to welcome two young members to the team and I wish them every success in their new posts."

3. EYES DOWN(Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 11:00 - 05 April 2005

Dydh da dhy'hwi oll. Yma treylyans bras ow hwarva dhe'n dowlenn apposyans settys gans Kesva an Taves Kernewek. Yma an gansrann rag apposyans war anow owth ynkressya dhiworth ugens kansrann dhe hanter an merk, mes saw rag kynsa gradh rag an vlydhen ma.

There are big changes happening to the examination curriculum as set by Kesva an Taves Kernewek (Cornish Language Board). The percentage for oral examination is being increased from twenty per cent to half the total mark, but only for the First Grade for this year.

Ytho pyth yw oll an flows ma dhe wul gans bingo? Wel, my a dhadhlas gans an klass Kelliwik a- dro dhe'n edhomm dhe dhyski oll an kynsa kans niverenn yn unn tro.

Mes i a waynyas an dadhel awos bos Chichi, ytho hemm yw rag Maurine Pierce ha'n klass Kelliwik.

So what is all this rubbish to do with bingo? Well, I argued with the Callington class about the need to learn all the first hundred numbers in one go. But they won the argument because of Bingo, so this is for Maurine Pierce and the Callington class.

Lagas Kelly, niver onan

Kelly's eye, number one

Den yn fyw, niver pymp

Man alive, number five

Orderyow medhek, niver naw

Doctor's orders, number nine
Onan, mann, hansel marins

One, zero, marine's breakfast

Diwarr, unnek

Legs, eleven

Anfeusik rag nebes, niver tredhek

Unlucky for some, number thirteen

Onan ha hweg, hwetek hweg

One and six, sweet sixteen

Alhwedh an daras, onan war'n ugens

Key of the door, twenty-one

Dew hos byghan, dew war'n ugens

Two little ducks, twenty-two

Pymp ha seyth, Heinz

Five and seven, Heinz

Pymp ha naw, an linenn Brighton

Five and nine the Brighton line

Oll an hweghow, Klykkyti-klykk

All the sixes, clickety-click

Eth hag eth, diw venyn dew

Eight and eight, two fat ladies

Bann an shoppa, deg ha peswar ugens

Top of the shop, ninety

No wonder Kernow's bingoing mad.
For Cornish language classes in East Cornwall, call Maureen Pierce on 01579 382511
or e-mail: mpierce@caresawgrym . freeserve.co.uk;
in Mid Cornwall, call Pol Hodge on 01726 882681 or e-mail: [email protected];
and in West Cornwall call Jori Ansell on 01736 850878 or e-mail: [email protected]

April 11, 2005

4. only one week left to sign this petition (Scottish Gaelic)

A (bh)charaidean,

Chan eil ach seachdain air fhàgail airson do làmh a chur ris an athchuinge seo. Gheibh thu e aig:

http://www.petitiononline.com/craoladh/

Tapadh leibh airson bhur taic!

Cuideachd, tha na BBC a' lorg bhur beachdan air:
http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/
Seall duilleag 42 gu h-àraidh.

There is only one more week left for you to sign this petition on-line.

http://www.petitiononline.com/craoladh/

Thank you for your support!

PS, the BBC are looking for your views:
http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/
See page 42 in particular.

To: Riaghaltas Bhreatainn / UK Government
Tha mi airson fios a chur gu Ofcom gu bheil mi a' làn-chreidsinn gu bheil e deatamach a thaobh a bhith a' cur cànan Gàidhlig na h-Alba san àm ri teachd air bunait thèarainte shoirbheachail, agus ann a bhith a' coileanadh dhleastanasan Riaghaltas na RA a thaobh Craoladh Gàidhlig fo Artaigeal 11 de Chùmhnant Eòrpach nam Mion-Chànanan: a) gun tèid sianal telebhisean digiteach Gàidhlig sònraichte agus seasmhach a stèidheachadh cho luath's a ghabhas, le goireasan agus maoineachadh iomchaidh, agus a' craoladh raon beartach de dhèagh phrògraman, air an craoladh aig amannan amhairc iomchaidh, cool.gif gus an tèid an leithid de shianal a stèidheachadh, agus mus tèid gluasad gu tur thairis gu seirbheis digiteach, nach bu chòir lùghdachadh sam bith a bhith ann an àireamh agus deasachd phrògraman Gàidhlig air sianalan analogue, agus c) gun cumar a' craoladh phrògraman a tha air am maoineachadh le Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig taobh a-staigh bheàrnan amhairc prìomh-ama.
I want Ofcom to know that I strongly believe it is essential in order to secure a successful future for the Scottish Gaelic language, and in fulfillment of the UK Government's obligations on Gaelic Broadcasting under Article 11 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: a) that a dedicated, sustainable digital Gaelic television service be established at the earliest possible opportunity, adequately resourced and funded, and broadcasting a rich range of quality programmes, to be scheduled at appropriate viewing times, cool.gif that, until such a channel is established, and prior to digital switchover, there should not be any diminution in the quantity or quality of Gaelic programming on analogue channels, and c) that programmes funded by the Gaelic Media Service should continue to be broadcast in peak viewing slots.

Brian Ó hEadhra - Oifigear Leasachaidh
Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis
c/o 5 Caolshràid Mhìcheil,
Inbhir Nis,
IV2 3HQ

Fòn: 01463 234138
Facs: 01463 237470
Post-d: [email protected]
Làrach-lìn: www.inbhirnis.org

Tha am post-dealain seo tighinn bho Fhòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis.
This email is from the Inverness Gaelic Forum.

5. Minority languages on the Internet: ongoing UNESCO-sponsored study (General Language)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4989Udin 4/10/2005 , by Max Mauro

The presence of minoritised languages on the World Wide Web is growing, but what kind of use is made of these languages on web sites of all kinds? To answer this, and similar questions, Unesco is sponsoring a world-wide ongoing enquiry.

A group of researchers from Aston University in England, coordinated by Sue Wright, published in 2004 the first findings of a research focusing on five European languages: Occitan in France, Sardinian, Ladin and Piedmontese in Italy, and Frisian in the Netherlands. The research has been looking not only at monolingual sites, written wholly in the minority language, but also at bilingual ones, and at sites that use some words of the language for tourism and commercial purposes.

Speaking of numbers, the researchers found thousands of sites for Occitan, hundreds for Sardinian and Frisian, and dozens for Ladin and Piedmontese. Being an easy and cheap way of communicating, the Internet offers space for as many as diverse kinds of uses. The study shows that information on minority languages is more widely available on the Internet that it is in traditional print and audio-visual media.
Most of the sites studied have cultural promotion as their main aim, some have militant and political contents but this varies according to the different contexts. The Ladin community, although small, shows a great variety of website authors: church, political parties, feminist groups, photography clubs among them. In other linguistic communities, the language is used to maintain and promote identity.

Among the sites entirely in the minority language, the researchers gave particular attention to the Sardinian web site www.comitau.org. This site shows a tendency to create websites for a well educated and younger audience. Founded by an association of university students, it contains up- to-date information about Sardinia and elsewhere, as well as essays and articles.

According to the researchers: "Remembering the influence of the newspaper on nation building and the spread of the national language ., we predict that such sites could be very influential linguistically if they come to be used by large numbers. As the question of a Sardinian standard is at present under debate, the linguistic influence of sites like www.comitau.org may be important".

In Italy and in the Netherlands official government institutions provide information in the regional languages, and state legislation seems to be more supportive than in France. "Only a very few sites in France have any public funding. State support appears generous in Italy and the Netherlands by comparison", says the report.

In the Frisian, Occitan and Ladin communities words in the minority languages are frequently used by the tourist industry. Therefore, on the Internet there is a greater number of web sites written in the state language that only use a few words in the minority language.

In their conclusions the researchers highlight the fact that, where there is no agreement on a standard orthography, Internet could help develop it, but for the time being they found "the prevalence of a very free attitude towards written language compared with the standards in print publishing". (Eurolang © 2005)

April13, 2005

6. Group to find ways to recruit and retain Gaelic teachers meets today. (Scottish Gaelic)

The action group set up to find innovative ways to recruit and retain more Gaelic medium teachers meets for the first time today.

As well as considering existing routes into Gaelic medium teacher training, the group will look at how to attract new recruits and encourage existing Gaelic-speaking teachers to switch to Gaelic medium education.

Education Minister Peter Peacock, who established the group to meet the growing demands for Gaelic medium teachers, said:

"We want to see Gaelic not just survive, but thrive and Gaelic medium education is crucial for thelanguage's long-term growth.

"We need to find flexible solutions to ensure we have sufficient Gaelic medium teachers - both primary and secondary - to meet the growing demand.

"This could mean more part-time or distance-learning teacher training or immersion language courses to help Gaelic speakers brush up their language skills.

"We also need to persuade those teachers who could teach through Gaelic, but choose not to, that Gaelic medium education has a bright future. I hope that our major commitment to Gaelic - as highlighted by the Gaelic Language Bill and the development of Gaelic secondary education - will do just that."

The group, which will produce a national action plan by May, is chaired by Matthew MacIver, chief executive and registrar of the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

The full membership is:

Matthew MacIver (GTCS)

Murdo MacIver (North Lanarkshire Council)

Catherine Macaslan (University of Aberdeen)

Iain Smith (University of Strathclyde)

Bruce Robertson (Highland Council)

Duncan Ferguson (Bòrd na Gàidhlig)

Bill Maxwell (Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education)

Donald Henderson (Scottish Executive Education Department)

Douglas Ansdell (Scottish Executive Education Department)

The group's remit is to consider the following areas.

Promoting Gaelic medium education teacher recruitment
Gaelic medium education initial teacher education
Routes into Gaelic medium education
Resources for Gaelic teaching.

There are currently two distance-learning courses offering training for Gaelic medium teachers - based at Aberdeen University and Stornoway's Lews Castle College. The first intake from Aberdeen will complete their courses in June when 20 primary and five secondary students are expected to graduate.

The latest figures show that, in 2003, 233 primary teachers were able to teach through Gaelic but only 152 were currently doing so. In secondary schools, 101 teachers were able to teach through Gaelic but just 26 were doing so.

In 2003/04 there were 1,236 pre-school pupils in Gaelic medium education, 1,972 in primary and 284 in secondary. In addition, there were 2,513 Gaelic learners in secondary school.

7. GIVE GAELIC MORE BREAD (Scottish Gaelic)

Apr 13 2005

A PROFESSOR claimed yesterday that Gaelic is on the brink of dying out - because the Scottish Executive are not doing enough to back it.

Dr Wilson McLeod of Edinburgh University found that four in 10 Gaelic speakers in the capital were not teaching the language to their children.

He hit out as the Executive pledged £200,000 to promote Gaelic through schools and community groups.

Dr McLeod said: 'In Edinburgh they never put a bilingual sign up and you can't write to the council in Gaelic.

'There is not much support for it.You have to go out of your way to use Gaelic?

8. The Scottish Parliament is holding a meeting (Scottish Gaelic)

The Scottish Parliament is holding a meeting at Inverness Town House on:

Friday 15th April

7.30 ? 9.30 p.m.

We would like to meet with individuals and representatives from local community groups ? anyone, in fact, who is interested in finding out more about the Parliament.

The session will consist of three parts: the first is a presentation on what the Parliament is and how it works. Importantly, the element will describe the various ways in which local community groups and individuals can have their voice heard by the Parliament.

There will also be a short presentation in Gaelic (with simultaneous translation into English) on how Gaelic speakers can participate in the Parliament's business. This element will also describe the legislative process ? using the topical Gaelic Language Bill as an example.

After a short break, the evening will conclude with an hour long question-and-answer session with local MSPs Fergus Ewing, Mary Scanlon and Maureen MacMillan.

Please note, this is not a 'party political' meeting ?people of all political persuasions (and none!) are welcome.

Attendance is free and refreshments will be provided. Please note, however, places are limited and must be confirmed in advance. Anyone interested in attending should contact Alasdair MacCaluim, Gaelic Outreach Officer, on 0131 348 5395 or email
[email protected]

9. Funding for Gaelic projects (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2005/04/12101922
Scottish Executive News Release. 12/04/2005

Funding of almost £200,000 has been awarded to Gaelic education and cultural projects.

The beneficiaries are:

* Stòrlann - £60,000 to produce books for use in Gaelic medium classes

* A'Chuisle - £20,000 funding towards the cost of this Gaelic medium teachers conference in Aviemore

* Condorrat School Gaelic Choir - £15,000 towards the costs of performing at Vancouver Mod

* Bòrd na Gàidhlig - £100,000 to expand the small initiatives fund for Gaelic groups

Education Minister Mr Peacock said:

"Gaelic is poised for a new dawn with the Gaelic Language Bill expected to become law next week. As the language stands on the threshold of this significant development, it's great to be able to support the grass roots projects that help the language to thrive.

"This cash will benefit Gaelic speakers and organisations throughout Scotland as well as helping to generate interest in the language's future and making learning more enjoyable.

"The new books will prove particularly useful for pupils in Gaelic medium, further expanding the range of material on offer to them, while the support for A'Chuisle's conference will allow our growing profession of Gaelic medium teachers to share best practice and plan for the future.

"Nor is the money confined to what is traditionally seen as the Gaelic-speaking heartland - our cash will help Condorrat School's Gaelic Choir make the trip from North Lanarkshire to Canada for the Vancouver Mod.

"On top of all this, the £100,000 for Bòrd na Gàidhlig's small initiatives fund will allow them to expand their heavily oversubscribed fund. Already, they've been able to fund a range of community groups - from pre-school to youth groups and language classes to festivals.

"I am confident that Gaelic faces a bright future. Our Bill will provide the solid foundations needed but it is the enthusiasm, determination and focus of projects such as these which will ensure we succeed."

Duncan Ferguson, Chairman of Bòrd na Gaidhlig, said:

"It is greatly encouraging to see so many interesting and diverse Gaelic projects being developed throughout Scotland, at such an exciting time in the language's history.

"It is vital that communities are supported in their efforts to create new opportunities to access the Gaelic language and culture, and we welcome the additional funding from the Scottish Executive which will see a significant increase in the number of projects receiving assistance."

The funding was made possible by a re-allocation of Gaelic specific grant which was not required in 2004/05.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 22-Apr-2005, 04:55 PM
Here is the latest news.

WARNING: This one is VERY long! The last item, # 12 is almost as long as all of the other stories combined!

Enjoy!

April 16, 2005
1. Gaelic Scots say fàilte to 1st dual language jobs site (Scottish Gaelic)
2. Prison wrong to restrict Irish language: judge(Irish Gaelic)
3. Oh Archie, Listen to Krena (Cornish)
4. Film Needs Cast and Crew (Cornish)

April 18, 2005
5. Funds breakthrough for Gaelic TV (Scottish Gaelic)

April 21, 2005
6. Irish-medium school opens in Liatroma (Leitrim) (Irish Gaelic)
7. Let's talk Gaelic, before it's too late (Scottish Gaelic)
8. Report criticizes lack of Irish language usage in education and administration (Irish Gaelic)
9. Welsh language society to gain from multi-millionaire's will (Welsh)

April 22, 2005
10. MSPs rule against Gaelic equality (Scottish Gaelic)
11. The Invisible Tongue (Scottish Gaelic)
12. Tributes paid to Plaid's pioneer (Welsh and English alternating) (Welsh)

April 16, 2005

1. Gaelic Scots say fàilte to 1st dual language jobs site (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.onrec.com/content2/news.asp?ID=721215/04/2005 10:47:00

ScottishJobs.com, which links employers and employees by listing job opportunities online, has today announced the launch of Scotland's first ever dual language Gaelic and English recruitment website.

As of today, Scotland's leading independent jobs website is now uniquely able to cater to the employment needs of over 80,000 Gaelic speaking Scots and the employers who continue to use our 'second language' in everyday life.

The launch by ScottishJobs.com, which recently led one of Scotland's largest ever voluntary sector initiatives with the Special Olympics Summer Games, follows a burgeoning revival of the Gaelic language in Scotland which only began to gather pace throughout the 1980's and 1990's.

However, it was not until September 2004 that the long-awaited Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill lodged at the Scottish Parliament gave Gaelic official recognition as a language of Scotland and prepared national Gaelic language plan.

ScottishJobs.com's launch announcement follows a long line of work place inclusivity programmes and innovative recruitment sector initiatives by the Glasgow-headquartered company, including close working ties with the Commission for Racial Equality and becoming the first Scottish recruitment site to provide employment assistance online for the visually impaired.
Speaking about the new look website and its Gaelic functionality is ScottishJobs.com's managing director Pat Kelly who says: "ScottishJobs.com is all about inclusivity in the workplace and the Internet is instrumental in helping us to communicate that message to every area of Scotland. Providing access to Gaelic-speaking jobseekers and employers is part of that programme and helps to support not only the re-emergence of the language in the commercial arena, but increases links between those looking for better employment and those companies and organisations that can offer it."

Gaelic, which has been spoken in Scotland since 500AD, is now fully functional at ScottishJobs.com and available for the over 80,000 potential jobseekers and employers who maintain the rich cultural heritage of Scotland 's indigenous language.

Once forbidden to be spoken under pain of deportation following the Battle of Culloden in April 1746 - as was playing the bagpipe and wearing the kilt - Gaelic has managed to survive and thrive throughout oral and written tradition.

Support for Scotland's 'second language' has included the appointment of a Gaelic Officer to the Scottish Parliament in 2000 and the more recent announcement of a new Gaelic secondary school to be opened in Glasgow in 2006.

www.ScottishJobs.com

2. Prison wrong to restrict Irish language: judge (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=629650
By David Gordon. Belfast Telegraph. 15 April 2005

A judge has ruled that a republican prisoner's human rights were breached by a restriction on the use of the Irish language in jail craft works.

Maghaberry Prison inmate Conor Casey launched his High Court judicial review battle after some of his drawings were confiscated at the high security jail near Lisburn.

His legal team argued that Prison Service rules on craft works contravened the European Convention of Human Rights.

The guidelines on crafts made in cells state that the "use of any language other than English will be restricted to a simple readily understood inscription".

They also warn that items which do not comply with this restriction "may not be allowed out of the prison".

High Court judge Mr Justice Deeny concluded that this rule was unlawful, as it breached the right to freedom of expression under the European Convention.

Paramilitary inmates at Maghaberry are permitted, as a jail privilege, to produce craftworks in their own cells, for circulation by supporters in the outside world.

Materials required for the artistic work may be supplied by the Governor or purchased from the prison tuck shop.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Deeny referred to evidence given by a prison governor, Ian Johnston. Mr Johnston stated that the jail employs one or more persons who can translate Irish.

This showed that the prison was in a position to translate more than a "simple readily understood inscription" within its own "reasonable resources", the judge said.

The governor also stated in his evidence that he would not have confiscated two items that were taken from inmate Conor Casey - drawings of the General Post Office in Dublin during the 1916 Rising and the emblem of the County Tyrone Gaelic Athletic Association, which included a few words in Irish.

The judge said Mr Johnston's acknowledgement "does appear to indicate that at times the policy is either ambiguous or is misinterpreted by some prison officers".

Mr Justice Deeny concluded his ruling by suggesting that the rules should state: "The use of language which cannot readily be understood by the application of the prison's current resources will not be permitted."

3. OH ARCHIE, LISTEN TO KRENA (Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 11:00 - 12 April 2005

Trist en vy dhe redya an WMN seythun eus passys ha lyther gans Archie Smith, Porthyust. I was sad to read the WMN last week and a letter by Archie Smith, of Gorran Haven, who writes: "To me, the attempted revival of the ugly-sounding Cornish language which no one knows how to pronounce, is no consolation."

Mester Smith re skrifas an keth tra yn y lyver, Smiles And Tears. Ena ev a lever y vos Sowsnek. Hag yn hwir y fowt perthyans yw avel an skoedhoryon peldroes sowsnek po oll an kasadow kryjek diskwedhys gans sowson yn 1549.

Mr Smith has written the same stuff in his book, Smiles And Tears. Then he says he is English. And indeed his intolerance is like English football supporters or all the religious hatred shown by the English in 1549.

Ha breusysi an Kesstriv Pan-Keltek a brederis bos an yeth kernewek pur hweg ha nag yw hagar vyth. Krena a waynyas an Pan-Kelkek 2005 gans aga han Fordh dhe Dalvann.

And the judges of the Pan-Keltek Song Contest thought the Cornish language very sweet, and not at all ugly. Krena won the Pan-Keltek 2005 with their song Fordh Dhe Dalvann.

Yma edhomm bos oll an kanow yn Pan-Keltek skrifys yn yeth Keltek.Gwaynoryon kyns o Clannad ha Capercaillie ha Kernow re waynyas Pan-Keltek rag an lies gweyth kyns ha rag an diwettha tey blydhen!

All the songs in Pan-Keltek need to be written in a Celtic language. Past winners were Clannad and Capercaillie and Cornwall has won Pan-Keltek many times before and for the last three years.

Kernow yw feusik dhe gavoes bondow avel Krena. Gwynn agas bys mebyon. Goeth on ni ahanowgh hwi.

Cornwall is lucky to have bands like Krena. Well done boys. We are proud of you.

My a gar an yeth kernewek ha my a gar an rannyeth. Ow holonn vy yw bras lowr ha kernewek lowr dhe gara an dhiw.

I love the Cornish language and I love the dialect. My heart is big enough and Cornish enough to love both.

4. FILM NEEDS CAST AND CREW (Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 09:00 - 14 April 2005

Cast and crew are being sought for a Cornish language film which is already an award winner. The positions are for De Sul (Sunday), winner of the Govynn Kernewek funding award at the Cornwall Film Festival 2004.

The film explores a moment of cathartic change within a small Cornish fishing village in 1900.

The local preacher, Father Lewyth, fears for the future of his community when the loyal church going villagers, listening to their needs and desires, go out and fish on the holy day of Sunday. Having broken the rules of the Sabbath, all sense of the order that once stood appears broken, as the villagers awaken to new ways of living that seem to threaten Lewyth's ideals of a strong community.

The producers require actors for two of the principal roles as well as a choreographer to collaborate on the film's climactic sequence.

The main roles are Jowan, a husband and father, mid-late 30s, who is strong willed. His character is a main focus in the transformation of the community. Mother Ursell is an elderly sick lady (65- plus) who undergoes a miraculous transformation within the film.

The film will shoot on DV for five days during May.

Due to the very tight budget this work is likely to be unpaid. However, this is an opportunity to work on what is already an award-winning project, which will receive a major first screening when it is premiered at the Cornwall Film Festival 2005 in November.

Contact Mathy Tremewan at [email protected] or on 07890 541087.

April 18, 2005

5. Funds breakthrough for Gaelic TV (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/37478.html
CATHERINE MacLEOD, UK Political Editor.
The Herald. April 18 2005

THE deadlock over funding for a separate digital channel for Gaelic broadcasting appears to have been broken with a £250,000 contribution from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Last night it emerged that Tessa Jowell, UK culture secretary, was involved in a last-minute effort to lock Whitehall into a financial commitment before parliament was dissolved this month.

The culture department is not allowed to discuss details of the offer because there are spending implications in the context of a general election campaign but last night the Scottish Executive said Ms Jowell had made the commitment in writing.

A source close to the first minister said: "This represents considerable progress in our aim of establishing a digital Gaelic language service in Scotland." The executive is pleased the DCMS has conceded that it should make a financial contribution to Gaelic broadcasting, and an official predicted this would make it more likely that the executive, the BBC and SMG would put funds on the table.

Gaelic campaigners argue that at least £20m is essential to establish a high-quality service but it seems that the package amounts to £16m.

The executive appears willing to give about £11.5m, a rise of £3.5m that would bring the present £8m contribution into line with inflation, while the BBC and SMG and Ofcom will have to contribute the remainder. Industry sources believe SMG would like to give up its responsibilities on Gaelic broadcasting and Ofcom may demand a substantial contribution if this transpires.

Brian Wilson, former government minister and leading campaigner for Gaelic funding, said: "This finally disposes of DCMS's total refusal to contribute which has been the source of the impasse. The amount is very modest but at least it begins to allow a package to be put together. But why on earth has it taken so long?"

Neil Fraser, chairman of the Gaelic Media Service (GMS), said: "If there is indeed a sum of money being offered by DCMS, and we have had no confirmation, we would welcome the principle of the DCMS supporting Gaelic funding although the reported sum of money would hardly make a substantial difference."

However, he added that reform of the funding structure for Gaelic broadcasting remains the most important unresolved issue for the service.

A spokesman for Bord na Gaidhlig said: "While we welcome some movement in the process, the amount of money involved is disappointingly modest. We are hoping to establish a minimum service which would require funding in excess of £20m and there would appear to be some way to go to achieve that."

April 21, 2005

6. Irish-medium school opens in Liatroma (Leitrim) (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net
Eoghan O Neill, Baile Atha Cliath 4/20/2005

The decision of Irish Education Minister Mary Hanafin to recognise an Irish-medium school in County Leitrim has opened a new chapter in Irish language education. Leitrim has for long been the only one of the 32 counties not to have a single Irish-medium school.

With the opening of Gaelscoil Liatroma on a site near Carrick on Shannon this September the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle will be in place.

"It's great for Leitrim, it's great for Irish and it's great for education" says Adrian Mac Conmara, one of those behind the new school. "In terms of the language this will really put Leitrim on the map and of course we will be writing a bit of history this September. It's a sign of how things are progressing for the language that for the first time Irish-medium education will be on offer in every county in the country. We're over the moon and it's a testimony to the hard work and effort put in by parents, supporters and friends here in Leitrim, a partnership which has worked so well for Gaelscoileanna up and down the country."

Appropriately the organisation with responsibility for Irish-medium schools, Gaelscoileanna, was set up in 1973 and this year, on it's 32nd birthday it will see Irish-medium schooling on offer in all 32 counties for the first time.

With almost 30,000 children in Irish-medium schools outside of the Gaeltacht areas Irish- medium education is continuing to grow at a faster rate than other educational sectors.
Along with the good news for Leitrim the Department of Education granted recognition to two other Irish-medium schools in Dublin last week and it's hoped that another, in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, will be given recognition shortly.

However, while the primary level has been extremely successful with 154 Gaelscoileanna now throughout the island the growth of post-primary has been much slower with only 36 post- primary Irish medium schools. In recent years Gaelscoileanna have been trying to focus more attention on this sector.
(Eurolang ©2005)

7. Let's talk Gaelic, before it's too late (Scottish Gaelic)

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1463807,00.html

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Comment | Brian Wilson: Let's talk Gaelic, before it's too late

The language will not survive without a government-backed television channel of the kind that has benefited Welsh and Irish

Brian Wilson
Wednesday April 20, 2005
The Guardian

This week, the Scottish parliament is to finalise a law that, for the first time, will give official status to the Gaelic language - on the face of it a great leap forward for an indigenous minority language that has had always to contend, at best, with official indifference. Even within Scotland, there is no unanimity of support. It is a while since active repression took place - though I know people of my generation who had the living daylights beaten out of them for speaking Gaelic in school - but the official view is still tempered with suspicion of something that, quite literally, it does not understand.

To give an extreme example: in Washington last year, at the annual Smithsonian festival, the Scottish Tourist Board asked the organisers to take down signs with Gaelic, in case potential visitors thought it was not an English-speaking country. (Mercifully, they refused.) In contrast, the Irish have never been shy about marketing their Gaelic images. As a language of everyday use, Gaelic has been driven back towards its Hebridean bastions. As long ago as the 1930s, the great poet Sorley Maclean wrote of the "steady, unbearable decline of Gaelic". Yet it has continued to produce a flow of writers, academics and musicians. Without replenishment, however, the well will run dry. In reality, this will be a pretty diluted form of official status. Government bodies will be asked, but not required, to plan for use of Gaelic. UK government agencies operating in Scotland are not covered; though when I wrote recently to relevant Whitehall ministries, they all said that they would embrace the spirit of the legislation.

The outcome should be significantly more visibility for Gaelic in Scotland, which will make a worthwhile contribution to public awareness. Nobody wants the literacy skills of a small linguistic community to be wasted on translating public documents that nobody reads. The real needs of Gaelic lie in education and communication.

Scottish Gaelic enjoys nothing like the status of either Welsh or Irish, because its supporters have never been able to equal the political influence of their Celtic counterparts. The unavoidable conclusion is that direct action wins a lot more recognition than any amount of reasoned argument.

Until now, the most modest demands have met deep-rooted resistance. The campaign for bilingual road signs in even the most Gaelic-speaking areas was still being fought decades after it had been won in Wales and Ireland. But the objections of Edinburgh civil servants and an anti- Gaelic minority in local government are being overcome, and one wonders what the fuss was about.

Signage that matches meaningless phoneticised placenames with their Gaelic originals confuses nobody and adds significantly to understanding for locals and visitors alike. Principally, however, it is a gesture of respect for a language that once covered most of Scotland and is still spoken or understood by 100,000 people within Scotland, and probably as many outside.

The real battlegrounds for Gaelic, as for any minority language, are education and broadcasting. There are a couple of thousand primary-age children in Scotland being educated through the medium of Gaelic, but provision is patchy and tends to fall off the end of a linguistic cliff in secondary school - the real problem being a lack of Gaelic-medium teachers.

As Ireland has found, status and money guarantee nothing in the 21st century. The Irish Language Act, passed last year, strengthened official support for Irish Gaelic. But a commissioner appointed to look, perhaps for the first time, at what the state gets for its money questioned why the annual ?500m that goes into Irish language teaching produces so few fluent speakers.

There is plenty of evidence around the world of what can be done to help a minority language flourish in our monocultural global village. One lesson is that to stand a chance, they need access to mass communication.

Here again, Gaelic has lagged far behind. In 1998, I initiated a process that should by now have led to a Gaelic TV channel using digital and satellite technology. A Gaelic channel has no more chance of being self-financing than S4C in Wales or TnaG in Ireland. It is also a fact of life that a contribution from the the Treasury or the Department for Media, Culture and Sport was necessary before the Scottish Executive could chip in. The failure to make progress on that modest objective in the past seven years - despite Labour signing up to European obligations on minority languages - has been intensely disappointing.

Tessa Jowell's protracted difficulty in turning words into deeds is due, I'm sure, to the hostility of her civil servants to the growth of S4C and the fact that it takes more than £100m a year out of the DCMS budget. They have refused to accept that Gaelic's demands are, as ever, much more modest. So the only public money for Gaelic broadcasting continues to be the £8m-a-year fund created by the Tories.

This results in a few Gaelic programmes scattered around Scottish schedules, mainly late at night, doing hardly anything for Gaelic except to annoy insomniacs. An entirely disproportionate amount of buckpassing between government departments has gone on, right up until the calling of the election, about this modest matter, and I can only hope that there will be someone willing to break the impasse after May 5.

I am realistic enough to know that the needs of Britain's indigenous minority languages are an extremely marginal issue for most of my fellow citizens, and for my erstwhile political colleagues. But I do retain the old-fashioned view that politicians who can't see the case for doing the right thing on small matters that cost little should not be trusted with large matters, where the stakes might be much higher.

· Brian Wilson was Scottish Office minister with responsibility for Gaelic, prior to devolution; he is not seeking re-election as an MP

[email protected]

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

8. Report criticizes lack of Irish language usage in education and administration (Irish Gaelic)

Baile Atha Cliath 4/20/2005 , by Eoghan O Neill
http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4999

The recent publication by Ireland's Language Commissioner of his first annual report has created controversy around the issue of Irish in the classroom. The office of An Coimisinéir Teanga (Language Commissioner) was set up in 2004 to monitor the compliance of public bodies and government departments with the Official Languages Act, 2003. The Act aims to increase the quality and quantity of services provided by the state through the medium of Irish.

In his first report Coimisinéir Seán Ó Cuirreáin detailed the 304 complaints which he had received since the establishment of the post last February.

The most common complaints included forms being supplied in English only, replies in English to correspondence in Irish, lack of Irish in signage and advertisements, negative or antagonistic attitudes by officials towards providing services in Irish, and problems with the use of name or address in Irish.

There were also complaints regarding the scarcity of speech therapy services in Irish for children in the Gaeltacht.

26% of the complaints received by An Coimisinéir Teanga came from the Gaeltacht with the remaining 74% coming from outside Gaeltacht areas.
20 public bodies were found to be in breach of their statutory obligations to publish annual reports simultaneously in both Irish and English and were named in the report.

On a more positive note An Coimisinéir Teanga verified that 124 annual reports by public bodies were published simultaneously in Irish and English in the first six months after the introduction of this statutory provision of the Act.

Although there is a simultaneous translation facility in the Dáil and Seanad, the Irish Parliament, An Coimisinéir Teanga also drew attention to the failure of politicians to use Irish there and noted that less than 1% of Dáil and Seanad debates was conducted in Irish last year.

"One expects leadership from elected representatives" he noted. "If the language continues to be marginalised and sidelined like this in the most important institutions in the life of the country, it is difficult to imagine that it will not have grave implications for the future viability of the language."

While the report was wide ranging it was Seán Ó Cuirreáin's remarks about Irish in education at the launch of the Report which sparked headlines. An Coimisinéir Teanga recommended a dispassionate review of every aspect of the teaching of Irish in primary and secondary school.

According to Seán Ó Cuirreáin the teaching of Irish in the state costs 500m euros per annum but, in spite of almost 1,500 hours of tuition over a 13 year period, many pupils had not even attained basic fluency on leaving school. He said even students who achieved high grades in Irish in their final exams found the spoken language a struggle. Teachers should not carry all the blame for this, and a comprehensive review of teaching and learning was required, he said, along with a public debate.

A public debate which has been going on since the publication of the report. Enda Kenny, leader of the biggest opposition party, Fine Gael, echoed Seán Ó Cuirreáin's call for an immediate review of the teaching of Irish in schools. Such a review should, he said, consider in particular, whether there is an underlying difficulty with the Irish syllabus that is turning students away from the study of Irish, especially at second level education.

"We need to consider" he said, "if we are doing more harm than good to the language by forcing unwilling students to complete Irish to Leaving Certificate level."

Such sentiments were echoed by other politicians and some media commentators. John Carr Secretary of the biggest teachers union , the INTO, welcomed Seán Ó Cuirreáin's comments. "Let's admit that its time for radical curricular reform" he said. "There should be spoken Irish only for the first four or five years of a child's school life in order to build an oral language base. Let's do without textbooks for that time. Let's admit that there is a need for more training for teachers to support this change. Let's admit that the Department of Education has under-funded and under-resourced the language. Not a red cent has been put into schools specifically to support the teaching of Irish. There has been financial support for Science, PE and the Arts but not a cent for Irish. Let's also admit that it's time to look at the second level exam system and its impact on the language."

While many welcomed the Coimisinéir's remarks as a starting point for a debate which would improve the teaching of Irish and ultimately improve the situation of the Irish language community, some in the media took the opportunity to lambast the language and those who speak it.

When and how the Minister for Education will choose to address the concerns voiced by An Coimisinéir Teanga is not clear but it is expected that she will do so before the Dáil retires for the summer break. (Eurolang © 2005)

9. Welsh language society to gain from multi-millionaire's will (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd Meirion, Penygroes 4/20/2005

A wealthy Welsh landlord has left the major share of his estate to four Welsh organisations. The main beneficiary of London-based Howel Vaughan Lewis' estate is Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society). Mr Lewis was born near Tregaron in west Wales but moved to London in the 1950s. He died in March 2004.

Other Welsh organisations to benefit are the Welsh national party Plaid Cymru, Merched y Wawr (the Welsh women's movement) and Urdd Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh movement for young
people).

The solicitors handling Mr Lewis' estate refuse to disclose the exact value of his estate but they are not denying claims that Mr Lewis was a multi-millionaire. Mr Lewis owned twelve houses - in Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and London, as well as personal assets including stocks and
shares.

Following a number of bequests, including £100,000 to a church in west Wales, half of his estate goes to Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg with the remaining half being shared equally between the other three Welsh organisations.

In a statement, Cymdeithas yr Iaith' press officer Hedd Gwynfor said: "We appreciate very much every contribution, and we understand that money has been left to Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg in a will. Unfortunately we do not have any further information at present. The matter is in the hands of our solicitors."

It is said that Mr Lewis painted his London houses in the Welsh colours red and green to show he was a Welsh patriot. He was a bachelor who is said spent very little on himself.
(Eurolang © 2005)

April 22, 2005

10. MSPs rule against Gaelic equality

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4467769.stm
BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland |

MSPs have ruled out giving Gaelic equal status with English under Scottish law. The Scottish Parliament unanimously approved the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill on Thursday.

Politicians voted down an SNP amendment to give the language "equal validity" with English and instead agreed that it should be given "equal respect".

Education Minister Peter Peacock, who has responsibility for Gaelic, said the decision marked a historic day for the nation's native tongue.

The bill is expected to receive Royal Assent in the coming weeks and is due to become law before the summer.

Mr Peacock said there was a danger that giving the two languages equal legal status could result in a court ruling requiring all public services to be made available in Gaelic.

He told fellow MSPs: "This bill gives clear recognition to the language as an official language, commanding equal respect with the English language.

"There is a real danger that the interpretation by the courts could result in a meaning of the status that this parliament does not intend and could not be delivered.

"Using the phrase equal validity in the bill carries a significant risk that the court could rule that the bill should result in the right to demand the use of the language in a wider range of circumstances than is intended."

Forward thinking

The SNP's Alex Neil said it was a day when the Gaelic language was going forward, not backwards.

He added: "We still face a major challenge. It is estimated there is still a net loss of about 1,500 Gaelic speakers in Scotland every year and also that we have a dire shortage on the education front of decline of 1,500 Gaelic-speaking teachers.

"The passage of the bill of itself will not actually address or solve these problems, but what it does do is send a clear message about the serious intent of the parliament in addressing all the problems faced by the Gaelic language."

Tory education spokesman Lord James Douglas Hamilton said the bill was a landmark for Gaels and their culture.
However, his party colleague Ted Brocklebank, a member of Holyrood's Scottish traditional arts group, said the attempts to revive Gaelic were commendable but that Mr Peacock had not explained how it would be saved using the measures in the bill.

He said: "The only problem is that with Gaelic facing wipe-out, this well-meaning but ultimately impotent piece of legislation is likely to be as successful as prescribing a throat lozenge for a pneumonia patient."

'Significant moment'

The bill will now hand the future of the language over to a new body, Bord na Gaidhlig, which has statutory powers to control its development.

Its chairman, Duncan Ferguson, said: "This is a truly significant moment in the history of the Gaelic language and culture.

"Gaelic has been officially recognised as an important and valuable part of the living culture of a thriving new Scotland.

"It is a time to look to the future, to a new and confident generation of Gaelic speakers, to new opportunities to learn and to use Gaelic, and to a greater understanding and respect for the Gaelic language and culture."

A final amendment also ensures that it is not a prerequisite for all the board's members to be fluent Gaelic speakers.

Pressure to preserve the ancient language came as the number of Gaelic speakers has fallen.

The 2001 Scottish census found 58,652 speakers compared with 66,320 in 1991 and 254,415 in 1891.

© BBC MMV

11. The Invisible Tongue (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.freescot.com/news_page.php?story=48#e

Just like other Scots, Gaels were full of hope when self-government arrived. All were thinking there would be a fresh impetus to the promotion of national culture in 1999. Unfortunately , The Scottish Parliament has not yet been able to deliver cultural justice for the people of Scotland or the Gaelic language. To friends of Gaelic, it has been like banging one's face against a brick wall.

Gaelic will be staying in a locked box until The Scottish Parliament has the full control over national broadcasting policy. Action Plans and the good wishes of The Education Committee will not be enough.
Gaelic will prosper when she is seen and heard the length and breadth of Scotland.

What is on the television or the radio in Gaelic tonight? Very little indeed. There are 999 digital signals on the television today. There is more than enough place for Gaelic, and Gaelic needs to be on the air all day and every day. Not just for one hour at a time, at three in the morning

Broadcasting is the foundation of indigenous language preservation in the 21st century. It isn't easy in a Scotland without power. Ofcom is currently debating the future of Scottish television. We have heard many promises. Though we may be able to wait, Gaelic can not.

The authority lays with Westminster, however they are far too slow."Scottish solutions for Scottish problems" was the devolutionists triumphant slogan. What is more Scottish than Gaelic? We need political leadership now. We know that there are good intentions towards Gaelic from every party in The Scottish Parliament but without authority over broadcasting, these intentions will bring silence.

12. Tributes paid to Plaid's pioneer (Welsh and English alternating) (Welsh)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4471679.stm

"Wales, living her own life with dignity, will take her due share in creating a just, stable and peaceful international order. Her greatest contribution to human welfare and civilisation, however, will be to create in the national homeland a fair society, a free society." - Gwynfor Evans, Wales Can Win, (Llandybie,1973). Plaid pioneer Gwynfor Evans dies

Tributes are being paid to Gwynfor Evans, one of the most prominent Welsh politicians of the 20th Century, who has died aged 92. He became Plaid Cymru's first MP in the 1966 Carmarthen by-election and was president of his party for 36 years.

He threatened to starve himself in the cause of Welsh language television, leading to the foundation of S4C.
=======================================================

Cymru'n cofio Gwynfor
Eich teyrngedau i Gwynfor Evans
Mae Cymru'n talu teyrnged i Gwynfor Evans fu farw yn 92 oed wedi oes o ymroddiad i'r iaith, ei wlad a gwleidyddiaeth.

Bu farw'r dyn ddaeth yn Aelod Seneddol cyntaf Plaid Cymru yn ei gartref ddydd Iau.

Daeth i amlygrwydd fel llywydd Plaid Cymru yn y 1940au, swydd a ddaliodd tan 1981.

Bydd ei angladd yn cael ei gynnal yng Nghapel Seion, Aberystwyth ddydd Mercher.
Ond ei lwyddiant mwyaf efallai oedd ei fuddugoliaeth yn is-etholiad Caerfyrddin yn 1966.

Roedd ei fuddugoliaeth ymhlith y rhai mwyaf syfrdanol erioed yn hanes gwleidyddiaeth Prydain a chafodd sylw gwasg y byd.

Bu'n amlwg iawn yn yr ymgyrch am sianel deledu Gymraeg a bygythiodd newynu hyd at farwolaeth os nad oedd Llywodraeth Margaret Thatcher yn sefydlu sianel.

Roedd yn awdur ac ysgrifennodd yn helaeth ar Hanes Cymru.

'Rhyfeddol'

Cafodd ei eni yn Y Barri ar Fedi 1 1912 ond bu'n byw am ran fwya ei fywyd yn Llangadog, Sir Gaerfyrddin, cyn symud i Bencarreg.

Yn ddyn priod,roedd ganddo saith o blant ac wyrion, wyresau a gor-wyrion.

Bu farw yn ei gartref yn Nalar Wen yng nghwmni ei deulu ar ôl gwaeledd hir.

"Roedd yn dal i'n caru ni drwy'r cyfan, yn ein cynnal ac yn gefn i ni," meddai un o'i feibion, y Parchedig Guto Prys ap Gwynfor.

"Roedd â chariad at ei genedl, y diwylliant a'r iaith, wrth gwrs.

"Ac roedd ganddo gariad at gyd-ddyn. Roedd pobl yn dod o bedwar ban i Dalar Wen ac yn cael croeso bob amser ac roedd yn dwlu arnyn nhw.

"Ond, yn bennaf, yr oedd ei gariad at ei Arglwydd."

Newid map Cymru

Dywedodd Rhys Evans, newyddiadurwr a chofiannydd Gwynfor Evans, fod ei gyfraniad yn "gyfangwbwl ryfeddol a'r cyfraniad yn rhychwantu saith degawd o weithgarwch ym mywyd cyhoeddus Cymru a Phrydain.


Cofio'r 'cawr gwleidyddol' "Roedd ac mae'n ffigwr sy'n haeddu cael ei gyfri fel rhywun wnaeth
drawsnewid map gwleidyddol Cymru a Phrydain.

"Fe wnaeth drawsnewid Plaid Cymru o fod yn sect fechan iawn o bobol i fod yr hyn yw hi heddiw, plaid sy'n cael ei chyfri fel plaid yn gyfansoddiadol a phlaid sy'n cael ei pharchu.

"Yn ail, roedd yn hollbwysig o safbwynt y mudiad cenedlaethol. Fe oedd wrth wraidd nifer o'r ymdrechion dros gynifer o flynyddoedd.
"Os edrychwch ar agweddau fel darlledu cyhoeddus, y brifysgol, Cymreigio'r cynghorau, fe welwch ôl gwaith a dylanwad Gwynfor
Evans."

Dywedodd ei gyn-asiant Peter Hughes Griffiths iddo newid gwleidyddiaeth yng Nghymru.

Gweithiodd gyda Mr Evans yn y saithdegau a thrwy gipio sedd Caerfyrddin, meddai, roedd wedi paratoi'r ffordd ar gyfer datganoli.

"Sicrhaodd ei safiad personol dewr sianel Gymraeg."

Dywedodd iddo hyd y diwedd gynnal diddordeb mawr ym mhob agwedd ar wleidyddiaeth Cymru.
==================================================================

Politicians pay tribute to Plaid statesman

The veteran Welsh language campaigner and former president of Plaid Cymru Gwynfor Evans has died aged 92. Mr Evans changed the face of British politics when he became Plaid's
first MP in the 1966 Carmarthen by-election.

Fourteen years later he threatened to starve himself to death in the cause of Welsh language television, leading to the foundation of S4C.

Plaid president Dafydd Iwan said Wales might not even have been counted as a nation without him.

Mr Evans died on Thursday morning after having been ill for some time.

Mr Iwan said he would remain his party's spiritual leader.

He added: "It is impossible to underestimate Gwynfor's unique contribution to building Plaid Cymru into the party it is today."

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said Mr Evans had made a massive contribution to Welsh public life.

Gwynfor Evans was Plaid Cymru president for 36 years

Mr Morgan said while Mr Evans' relationships with Labour MPs "were not always positive," he was a "good and gentlemanly figure".

An adult learner of Welsh, Mr Evans was a teenager when Plaid Cymru was established in 1925, but he emerged as the party's president 20 years later - a position he held for 36 years.
Gwynfor Evans was born in Barry, south Wales, in 1912, but spent most of his life in Llangadog, Carmarthenshire.

Educated at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and then St John's College Oxford, he established a branch of Plaid Cymru while he was a student.

Party triumphs

A committed Christian and pacifist, he refused to join the armed forces during World War II and was summoned to appear before a tribunal. He was unconditionally dismissed.

He was elected Plaid president in 1945 and would be at the centre of many of the party's triumphs and most hard-fought campaigns in the decades to come.


Mr Evans became the first Plaid voice in the Commons in 1966

In the 1950s, he fought but failed to establish a parliament for Wales. There was further defeat in his campaign to prevent Liverpool City Council flooding the Welsh-speaking Tryweryn valley near Bala to create a reservoir.

But the setbacks preceded a huge leap forward for his party and for the cause of nationalism in Wales.

In July 1966, he won the by-election in Carmarthen, called following the death of Labour MP, Dame Megan Lloyd George, the daughter of former Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

His victory was among the most unexpected in British political history, as Plaid Cymru won its first seat in Westminster.

Hundreds of supporters travelled to London to see him enter Parliament for the first time.

Speaking in the days following his election, he likened his position as a lone nationalist voice in the House of Commons to that of the Labour Party's first MP - Keir Hardie - more than 60 years earlier.

The Plaid president's starvation threat helped lead to S4C

Mr Evans said: "Keir Hardie was one man and he started something pretty big."

Three years later, Mr Evans lost his seat to Labour, but he returned to Westminster in 1974, this time with two more Plaid MPs - Dafydd Elis Thomas - now Lord Elis Thomas and presiding officer of the Welsh assembly - and Dafydd Wigley.

Hunger strike
But in 1979, the year Margaret Thatcher came to power, he lost his seat and although he did not stand in an election again he kept himself busy in Welsh politics.

Having campaigned during the 1970s for the establishment of a Welsh language fourth television channel, he began a hunger strike in 1980, saying he would fast to death if the then Conservative
government would not agree.

Against a background of other protests, the government gave in and S4C began broadcasting in 1982.

S4C's Chair Elan Closs Stephens said: "Gwynfor Evans realised the power of television to influence and change culture and language and he was determined that Welsh would have a proper place in the medium.

"He drew the world's attention with his dramatic stand."

The history of Wales was very important to Mr Evans, not only as a politician, but also as a Christian.

He wrote a number of books in both Welsh and English about Wales, his latest in 2001, Cymru o Hud in Welsh and Eternal Wales in English.

He also penned his autobiography, Bywyd Cymro (Life of a Welshman) in 1982 and in 1996, an English version, For the Sake of Wales.

By 1997, he had lived to see his dream being fulfilled, with a Yes vote in a referendum to set up of a Welsh assembly.

Fittingly, it all hinged on the final declaration in Carmarthen, which returned a narrow vote in favour.

Although he had graduated and trained to be a solicitor he worked as a commercial gardener in Llangadog until his retirement.

Mr Evans was married and had seven children, grand-children and great-grand-children.

=====================================================
Cofio'r 'cawr gwleidyddol'

Gwynfor Evans oedd Aelod Seneddol cyntaf Plaid Cymru Mae ffigyrau amlwg ym mywyd cyhoeddus Cymru wedi talu teyrngedau i Gwynfor Evans a fu farw ddydd Iau yn 92 oed.

Dr Evans oedd Aelod Seneddol cyntaf Plaid Cymru pan enillodd is-etholiad Caerfyrddin yn 1966.
Dyma grynodeb o'r teyrngedau i un o ffigyrau amlycaf gwleidyddiaeth Cymru.

Dafydd Iwan, Llywydd Plaid Cymru:

"Mae Plaid Cymru wedi tristáu heddiw o glywed y newyddion am farwolaeth Gwynfor Evans. Mae'r newydd wedi ei dderbyn â thristwch mawr gan bawb ym Mhlaid Cymru sydd wedi ei ysbrydoli gan Gwynfor dros y blynyddoedd i weithio dros Gymru ac i greu cenedl y gallwn
fod yn falch ohoni.

"I aelodau a chefnogwyr Plaid Cymru yn hen ac ifanc, roedd yn arweinydd ysbrydol a bydd yn parhau i fod. Mae'n amhosibl gor-bwysleisio cyfraniad unigryw Gwynfor i adeiladu Plaid Cymru i'r blaid y mae hi heddiw.

"Ef oedd pensaer y Blaid Cymru fodern ac fe drodd hi'n rym etholiadol credadwy pan gafodd ei ethol yn Aelod Seneddol yn 1966.

"Gwynfor oedd cynhaliaeth y Blaid yn ystod blynyddoedd llwm y 50au a'r 60au. Mae'n wir i ddweud heb Gwynfor wrth y llyw na fyddai Plaid Cymru wedi llwyddo mewn etholiadau ac ymgyrchoedd yn y blynyddoedd diweddar.

"Mae ei ddylanwad ymhell y tu hwnt i ffiniau gwleidyddiaeth bleidiol. Ni fyddai Cymru y wlad yw hi heddiw - yn wir mae'n bosib na fyddai yn wlad o gwbwl - heb waith a dyfalbarhad Gwynfor.

"Roedd yn ddylanwad enfawr ar fy naliadau gwleidyddol ac yn arweinydd cenedlaethol ymhob ystyr y gair. Bydd colled fawr ar ôlei ddoethineb a'i arweiniad ond bydd ei ysbrydoliaeth yn aros gyda ni am byth. Mae'n cydymdeimlad ni oll gyda'i wraig Rhiannon a'i deulu."

Dafydd Wigley, cyn-lywydd Plaid Cymru:

"Does gen i ddim gronyn o amheuaeth mai fo ydi'r cenedlaetholwr gwleidyddol mwya' erioed yng Nghymru a Chymro mwya'r ugeinfed ganrif.


Dafydd Wigley: "Cenedlaetholwr gwleidyddol mwya' erioed" "Dwi'n meddwl fod pobl mewn pleidiau gwleidyddol eraill oedd wedi brwydro efallai yn ei erbyn wedi dod i'w barchu oherwydd y modd yr oedd yn sefyll yn gadarn dros y blynyddoedd. Faint bynnag o erlid oedd arno fo, roedd yn sefyll dros ei egwyddorion a doedd o byth yn chwerwi.

"Mi ddaru fyw i weld y gweddnewidiad yn rhagolygon y genedl ac, yn sicr, mae yna ddiolch aruthrol ganddon ni oll o'r genhedlaeth sydd wedi byw trwy hyn iddo fo am ei arweiniad.

"Roedd yn un rhyfeddol i gydweithio ag o yn y Senedd - yn weithgar tu hwnt ... yn ysgrifennu llythyrau di-ri yn ei lawysgrif ei hun tan oriau hwyr y nos a'r ffordd roedd yn dehongli beth oedd yn digwydd yn wleidyddol.

"Ac roedd bob amser yn mynnu fod rhaid edrych ar bethau o berspectif cenedlaethol Cymreig.

"Dwi'n credu ei bod yn deg dweud fod ei ymrwymiad i heddwch o leiaf cyn gryfed os nad yn gryfach na'i genedlaetholdeb. Roedd hynny'n egwyddor sylfaenol iddo ac roedd yn gwbwl ddiwyro ar hynny. "

Prif Weinidog Cymru, Rhodri Morgan (datganiad ar ei ran):

"O glywed y newyddion mae'r Prif Weinidog wedi mynegi ei dristwch ac wedi disgrifio Mr Evans fel ffigwr da a bonheddig.

"Nododd ei fod wedi mynd i'r un coleg yn Rhydychen a gall gofio trafodaeth ddiddorol yn ymwneud â'i gysylltiadau teuluol â theulu Dan Evans yn y Barri.

"Aeth ymlaen drwy nodi er nad oedd ei berthynas ag ASau Llafur bob amser yn gadarnhaol, does dim modd gwadu ei gyfraniad anferth i fywyd cyhoeddus yng Nghymru, yn arbennig wrth godi proffil Cymru a materion Cymreig a thrwy ei yrfa hir yng ngwleidyddiaeth Cymru a Phrydain."

Yr Arglwydd Roberts o Gonwy (cyn-AS Ceidwadol):

Wrth sôn am ei fygythiad i newynu i farwolaeth dywedodd: "Roedden ni (y Blaid Geidwadol) wedi gwneud addewid yn 1979 y byddai sianel ar wahân ac, yn anffodus, doedd gwireddu'r addewid ddim yn dibynnu arnon ni yn y Swyddfa Gymreig ond ar y Swyddfa Gartref ac mi ddaru nhw fradychu'r addewid.


Yr Arglwydd Roberts o Gonwy: 'Cyfraniad sylweddol dros ben'

"Fe ddaeth Gwynfor, drwy ei fygythiad i newynu, â ni yn ôl at yr addewid gwreiddiol hwnnw.

"Dwi'n credu fod yr hyn wnaeth o yn sicr wedi dylanwadu ar y llywodraeth yn y pen draw ac wedi eu hargyhoeddi nad oedd yn ddoeth iddyn nhw beidio â chyflawni eu haddewid.

"Felly mae'r cyfraniad wedi bod yn un sylweddol dros ben."

Yr Arglwydd Roberts o Landudno:

"Dwi'n cofio Gwynfor gydag anwyldeb mawr. Roedd o'n un o'n harwyr ni ac ymhlith cewri'r ganrif yma yng Nghymru.

"Dwi'n ei gofio fel bonheddwr, bob amser yn bwyllog a chadarn, ac roedd gen i edmygedd mawr ohono, nid yn unig fel Llywydd Plaid Cymru ond Llywydd Undeb yr Annibynwyr yng Nghymru...roedd yn ddyn arbennig iawn."
"Mi fuaswn i'n meddwl ei fod wedi cadw Plaid Cymru yng nghanol y frwydr. Os oes ganddoch chi arweinydd cadarn, mae'n gwneud cymaint o wahaniaeth ac roedd yn gawr o ddyn yn wleidyddol."

Yr Arglwydd Elystan Morgan o'r Blaid Lafur ond a fu hefyd yn aelod o Blaid Cymru:

Mae pennod fawr yn hanes Cymru wedi dod i ben gyda'i farwolaeth. Mae ei gyfraniad dwi'n credu wedi bod yn aruthrol o fawr.

"Does na ddim pobl fel Gwynfor Evans ar ôl yng ngwleidyddiaeth heddiw."

Prif Weithredwr S4C, Huw Jones:

"Dwi'n meddwl y byddwn i'n cytuno na fyddai yna S4C heb gyfraniad Gwynfor. Rhoddodd ffocws cwbl unigryw drwy ei safbwynt ddramatig, ffocws oedd yn denu sylw'r byd i gyd a gorfodi pawb arall i ystyried dilysrwydd y penderfyniad yr oedden nhw wedi ei wneud. Roedd ei
gyfraniad yn gwbl allweddol.

"Mae Gwynfor Evans yn mynd i gael ei ystyried yn un o ffigyrau mawr yr 20fed ganrif yng Nghymru.

"O ran ei safiad yng nghyd-destun S4C, roedd yr hyn yr oedd yn bygwth ei wneud yn cael ei gymryd o ddifri oherwydd ei onestrwydd a'i ddidwylledd oedd wedi cael ei fynegi yn ystod ei yrfa fel gwleidydd. Roedd pawb yn ei adnabod a'i barchu.

"Dwi'n meddwl y bydd pawb yn S4C a'r diwydiant yn teimlo yn wylaidd oherwydd y cyfle i ddarparu gwasanaeth sydd wedi deillio o'r hyn a wnaeth Gwynfor.

"Ond mae ei ddylanwad yn mynd ymhellach gyda'r sianel ac yn enghraifft y mae gwledydd eraill wedi ei mabwysiadu yn eu tro. Mae Cymru wedi arwain yn hyn o beth."

Meri Huws, Cadeirydd Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg:

"Yn sicr roedd ei gyfraniad o ran ymgyrch i sefydlu'r sianel yn aruthrol o bwysig, ymgyrch ochr yn ochr ag un Cymdeithas yr Iaith.

"Mae cael sianel deledu yn rhoi cyfrwng modern i iaith ac wedi creu nifer o siaradwyr ac yn dal i gynnal y siaradwyr hynny boed yn bobl ifanc, yn rhiant neu yn henoed erbyn heddiw."

Dr Richard Wyn Jones, Sefydliad Gwleidyddiaeth Cymru, Prifysgol Cymru Aberystwyth:

"Mae o wedi bod yn gyfangwbl ganolog i hanes cenedlaetholdeb yr 20fed ganrif. Roedd o'n flaenllaw yng nghynadleddau'r blaid rhwng 1937 a 1997. Does 'na ddim llawer o ffigyrau gwleidyddol wedi cael effaith dros gymaint o amser.

Richard Wyn Jones: Bu Gwynfor Evans yn weithgar am 60 mlynedd "Fe wnaeth o ddominyddu ei blaid bron iawn yn gyfangwbl am gyfnod pur faith. Roedd o'n ysgwyddo'r baich bron iawn yn gyfangwbl ei hun. Fo oedd yr wyneb cyhoeddus a fo oedd y blaid i raddau helaeth iawn. Rhoddodd hygrededd i'r blaid ac roedd ei ymroddiad i'w ryfeddu.

"Dyma hanesyn byr sy'n dweud llawer am faint y dyn. Fe es i'w holi ryw dair blynedd yn ôl ac roedd ei iechyd wedi torri. Wrth i mi gael y sgwrs fe ddaru'r ffôn ganu ac wedyn mi wnes I fusnesu ac roedd o'n sôn am docynnau raffl. Fe ges i wybod mai fo oedd ysgrifennydd cangen y pentre lleol o Blaid Cymru.

"Mae hyn yn dweud llawer - yn arwr i filoedd yng Nghymru, yn uchel ei barch, llywydd y blaid, ffigwr amlwg iawn, ac ar ddiwedd ei oes yn gwneud y gwaith mwya di-ddiolch, ysgrifennydd cangen leol.

"Faint o wleidyddion amlwg eraill a fyddai'n fodlon gwneud hyn? Roedd ei ymroddiad i'w gredoau yn gyfangwbl anhygoel ac yn beth prin iawn."

Emyr Price, hanesydd:

"Yr hyn oedd yn ei yrru oedd dau beth, ei heddychiaeth a'i gariad. Dywedodd o wrtha i ei fod o wedi syrthio mewn cariad efo Cymru yn y 1930au.

"Roedd elfennau yn ei gymeriad oedd yn amlwg iawn - y dycnwch, dyfalbarhad a'r ystyfnigrwydd weithiau.

"Ac roedd ganddo stamina gwleidyddol anhygoel. Cafodd nifer fawr iawn o broblemau yn ystod ei arweinyddiaeth, siomedigaethau lu ond daliodd ati.

"Efallai bod ei gasineb at y Blaid Lafur wedi ei atal ar rai adegau rhag estyn allan at y bobl oedd yn pleidleisio at Lafur.


Emyr Price "Llwyddodd Gwynfor i newid meddwl Margaret Thatcher" "Roedd ei gyfraniad i siâp Plaid Cymru yn ddi-os. Yn y 1920au a 1930au doedd y blaid yn ddim byd o dan Saunders Lewis ac roedd yn blaid adain-dde Gatholig.

"Gwynfor arweiniodd ei blaid i gyfeiriad democrataidd modern a'i gwneud hi'n gredadwy fel mudiad gwthio.

"I Gwynfor, roedd 1979 yn un o siomedigaethau mwya ei fywyd ac roedd yn teimlo i'r byw nad oedd rhan o'r Blaid Lafur wedi cadw addewid i Gymru dros ddatganoli.

"Roedd yn ddyn o syniadau heddychol, ar y chwith, efallai hyd yn oed yn fwy o heddychwr nac yn genedlaetholwr.

"Fe wnaeth waith hynod iawn yn y 1930au, 1940au a'r 1950au dros heddychiaeth, rhywbeth amhoblogaidd iawn yn ystod y rhyfel.

"Roedd pobl yn ei gysylltu â Phlaid Cymru ond daliodd i gredu yn ei heddychiaeth. Bu yn Fietnam yn y 1960au ac yn flaenllaw iawn efo CND yn y 1970au a'r 1980au. Roedd ei heddychiaeth yn ei nodweddu ac yn un o'r elfennau oedd yn ei wneud y dyn yr oedd o.

"Roedd Gwynfor yn allweddol i sefydlu S4C. Pleidiau gwleidyddol eraill oedd yn gefnogol i'r sianel ac fe wnaeth Cymdeithas yr Iaith gyfraniad cwbl amhrisiadwy.

"Fe ddywedodd Mrs Thatcher: "The lady is not for turning" ond fe lwyddodd Gwynfor Evans I sicrhau fod Mrs Thatcher a'i llywodraeth hyd yn oed yn newid eu barn.

"Roedd y penderfyniad i lwgu yn eithriadol o anodd i Gristion fel Gwynfor. Does dim dwywaith - yn y diwedd fyddai S4C ddim wedi cael ei sefydlu oni bai am safbwynt di-ildio Gwynfor Evans.

"Roedd ganddo olwg arbennig ar hanes Cymru a chyhoeddodd nifer fawr o lyfrau ar hanes Cymru a rhoi gerbron y cyhoedd lyfrau cofiadwy, yn arbennig Aros Mae."

Steffan Cravos, Cadeirydd Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg:

"Mae Cymdeithas yr Iaith yn diolch am fywyd Gwynfor Evans - am ei arweiniad a'i gefnogaeth bob amser i Gymdeithas yr Iaith a'r frwydr dros y Gymraeg. Rhoi diolch yw'r unig air a gweithred sy'n gweddu ar hyn o bryd."

Archesgob Cymru y Gwir Barchedig Barry Morgan

"Cyfrannodd Gwynfor Evans yn sylweddol iawn at lunio bywyd gwleidyddol, crefyddol a sifil Cymru yn ystod yr ugeinfed ganrif.

"Y sylfaen i'w fywyd cyfan oedd ei ymrwymiad, nid yn unig i heddychiaeth ond hefyd, yn anad dim arall, i Efengyl Crist.

"Bu'n byw yr egwyddorion hynny yn ei fywyd bob dydd ac yn arbennig felly yn ei ymwneud â'i gyd ddynion.

"Bu ei gyfraniad i fywyd sifil Cymru yn aruthrol. Bu'n allweddol yn sefydlu S4C a brwydrodd yn hir am Senedd i Gymru nid dim ond Cynulliad.

"Fel yr awgryma teitl un o'i lyfrau, ni roddodd Gwynfor y gorau erioed i "Frwydro dros Gymru", ond roedd wastad yn ŵr bonheddig wrth frwydro ac yn gyson gwrtais, yn ogystal â bod yn benderfynol - nodweddion sydd weithiau'n llai nag amlwg yn nhirwedd gwleidyddol y presennol."
Hefin Jones, Llywydd Undeb Annibynwyr Cymru:

"Fe wnaeth o'n harwain ni fel Annibynwyr i sylweddoli fod Cristnogaeth a chenedlaetholdeb yn cerdded gyda'i gilydd.

"Dywedodd dro ar ôl tro bod yr iaith Gymraeg a'r genedl Gymreig wedi datblygu ar yr un pryd ag yr oedd Cristnogaeth yn ennill tir yng ngwledydd Prydain.

"Braint o law Duw yw caru cenedl."

==============================================

Plaid pioneer Gwynfor Evans dies
Politicians pay tribute to Plaid statesman
Former Labour leader Michael Foot has added to the tributes to Gwynfor Evans, Plaid Cymru's first MP, as details of his funeral were announced. The veteran Welsh language campaigner and former Plaid Cymru president died on Thursday aged 92.

Mr Foot, 91, said: "He was the best ever advocate for decent Welsh nationalism. He put the case better than anyone I knew".

The funeral will be on Wednesday at Seion Chapel, Aberystwyth at 1330 BST.

Mr Foot, who was MP for Ebbw Vale and then Blaenau Gwent from 1960-92, campaigned unsuccessfully with Mr Evans for Welsh devolution in 1979.

He said: "I was so sorry that we were unable to carry through the devolution vote in 1979 but at the time I was given consolation by his great Welsh humour.

"I'm so sorry he's no longer with us".

Michael Foot was a political contemporary of Mr Evans

Politicians from all parties in Wales were quick to pay tribute to Mr Evans following his death on Thursday morning after a long illness.

His passing was also marked in the Scottish Parliament, on the same day as the Gaelic Language Bill was being passed, which gave Scots Gaelic "equal respect" with English.

Scottish National Party MSP Fiona Hyslop said he had played a "vital role" in campaigning for Gaelic.

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, praised Mr Evans, a committed Christian and pacifist, for his "significant contribution" to Welsh life.
"Gwynfor Evans did as much as anyone to shape the political, religious and civil life of Wales during the twentieth century," he said.

"Underpinning his whole life was a commitment not just to pacifism but also, above all else, to the cause of Christ's gospel.

Gwynfor Evans was Plaid Cymru president for 36 years

"He lived out those principles in his everyday life and particularly in his dealings with his fellow humans.

"As the title of one his books suggests, Gwynfor Evans never stopped 'Fighting for Wales,' but his fight was always gentlemanly and courteous, but determined - traits which are not always evident in today's political landscape."

Welsh historian Lord Kenneth O Morgan called Mr Evans a man of "great significance, great dignity, great distinction".

"He was a cultural nationalist primarily. He began by affirming the Welsh culture and Welsh language... but he was able to broaden its appeal," he added.

Former Plaid Cymru MP and AM, Cynog Dafis, said of his former party president: "I believed very strongly there was no use in making enemies.

"What you had to do was tread the common ground between you and the person you were addressing - and the common ground was Wales.

"What Gwynfor did was lead the party through the transition from being a smaller cultural group to being a political party, and he had the moral authority to do that.

"He was determined that Plaid Cymru must embrace the whole of the nation [including English-speaking Wales]."

Gwynfor Evans was born in Barry, south Wales, in 1912, but spent most of his life in Llangadog, Carmarthenshire.

Educated at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and then St John's College Oxford, he established a branch of Plaid Cymru while he was a student.

Hunger strike

In the 1950s, he fought but failed to establish a parliament for Wales. There was further defeat in his campaign to prevent Liverpool City Council flooding the Welsh-speaking Tryweryn valley near Bala to create a reservoir.
In July 1966, he won the by-election in Carmarthen, called following the death of Labour MP, Dame Megan Lloyd George, the daughter of former Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

Three years later, Mr Evans lost his seat to Labour, but he returned to Westminster in 1974 and remained there until 1979.

He began a hunger strike in 1980, saying he would fast to death if the then Conservative government would not agree to found a Welsh language television station. S4C was set up in 1982.

He wrote a number of books in both Welsh and English about Wales, his latest in 2001, Cymru o Hud in Welsh and Eternal Wales in English.


Posted by: WizardofOwls 26-Apr-2005, 07:32 AM
April 24, 2005

1) Ray of hope on Gaelic TV funding (Scottish Gaelic)
2) The living language (Scottish Gaelic)
3) Medals for Achievers in Manx Matters (Manx Gaelic)
4) Dewisyans Ow Tos! (Cornish)
5) An Achd: Hip hip, ho hum (Scottish Gaelic)

April 24, 2005

1) Ray of hope on Gaelic TV funding (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.whfp.com/1721/editor.html
West Highland Free Press. 22nd April, 2005.

Reports that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has finally come across with the promise of £250,000 for Gaelic television are scarcely enough to spark scenes of jubilation. But the development, when confirmed, will represent a significant step forward.

For the past five years, progress towards a Gaelic-led channel has been obstructed by the point- blank refusal of the DCMS to do anything. The terms in which this refusal was couched are significant in the light of this week's development.

They never said that they did not want to do anything which was certainly their true position. They asserted over and over and over again, in correspondence signed by ministers, that it was not open to them to do anything because Gaelic broadcasting was an entirely devolved rather than reserved responsibility of government.

That always was a fabrication which reflects no credit on those who were responsible for it, since the contrary reality was all along so straightforward to establish. That is the context in which this week's development - if, we repeat, it is confirmed - is genuinely significant.

Whether the sum is £250,000 or £250 million, the principle will be the same. The DCMS will have abandoned the pretence that it has no responsibility for funding.

This newspaper is not averse to criticising the Scottish Executive when it is warranted. But on this matter, the Scottish Executive has been right all along to make its own increased support for Gaelic broadcasting conditional upon movement from Whitehall. To have done otherwise would have been to yield an important and potentially expensive point of principle within the devolution settlement.

There are at least three reasons why DCMS's performance has been so deplorable. First, it has denied the opportunity for progress on a Gaelic channel over these five years, which is quite a long time in the life of a fragile minority language. Second, it has undermined those - like ourselves - who have argued in the wider context that it is important for broadcasting to remain a reserved function within the United Kingdom.

And third, it has perpetuated and exacerbated the relative injustice of how Gaelic is treated in comparison with the two other minority indigenous languages within the United Kingdom, Welsh and Irish. The same DCMS that tried to deny Gaelic a brass penny, using arguments that were simply untrue, is now contributing more than £90 million a year to the funding of S4C in Wales.

A Gaelic-led television channel is no panacea for the challenges facing the language. But the absence of one has been a significant additional handicap. When it eventually happens, there will be very significant employment and economic benefits, particularly in Gaelic-speaking areas, as well as the boost for the language which a decent, embryonic Gaelic service will assuredly bring.

The sum of £250,000 is modest indeed. But if it happens and if it is enough to break the impasse, then it will be highly significant. The Scottish Executive is, we understand, ready to restore the full value of the original Gaelic Television Fund and perhaps a bit more. The BBC, with the licence fee to underpin it for the foreseeable future, could certainly chip in a few million. STV and Grampian should be made to pay through the nose in return for abandoning their derisory commitment.

Put all of these ingredients together and there should just about be enough to get a satellite/digital channel off the ground - in tandem, for the foreseeable future, with terrestrial output on BBC. It has taken far, far too long to get to the point of lift-off. Let us therefore hope that, at very least, the reports are true and that there will now be no further delays.

2) The living language (Scottish Gaelic)
By Aonghas MacNeacail

http://www.sundayherald.com/49257
Sunday Herald (Glasgow)

With the last census registering less than 60,000 Gaels in Scotland, and no apparent halt in the declining number of speakers, it might reasonably be assumed that the language is on its last legs. John Stuart Blackie, Professor of Greek at Edinburgh University, predicted its demise within 50 years, unless something was done quickly. That was over a century ago.

But, though we are few, there are Gaelic politicians in both Westminster and Holyrood. BBC Scotland is led by Gaels. There are Gaelic-medium schools in most of our major cities, attracting children from non-Gaelic backgrounds as well as those of Gaelic parentage, though senior politicians in the island heartlands have demonstrated a disturbing complacency, frequently expressing satisfaction that as few as 25% of children in their schools were being educated through the language.

The reality is that Gaelic lives in a hostile world ? not in the sense of being surrounded by ill- will, but that the language pervading employment, leisure, the media, the street, and, very often, the home, is not going to be Gaelic. The situation was, if anything, worse in the later 20th century, with the minority of native Gaels who elected to study their own language taught by a fellow native speaker, through the medium of English. Yet that century saw the greatest flowering of Gaelic literature since the 18th century "golden age".

It began with Sorley MacLean, regularly mentioned in dispatches as a potential Nobel prizewinner . MacLean took the tradition he was steeped in and ? blending in his knowledge of European symbolism, John Donne, Ezra Pound and TS Eliot ? created a poetry that was both familiar and utterly new, rather as his 18th century counterparts had done in their time. He thus provided a model for other Gaelic poets, led by Derek Thomson, Iain Crichton Smith and Donald MacAulay, as his multilingual contemporary George Campbell Hay did for those writers who were not born to the language.

With the exception of Crichton Smith, those mentioned are exclusively poets, as were most of the next generation of literary Gaels, including the Montgomery sisters, the present writer, and initially, Maoileas Caimbeul, though other younger writers were venturing into prose fiction and drama, notably Norman Campbell, John Murray and Finlay MacLeod. By the end of the 1970s, Crichton Smith and Campbell had published novels and Murray a collection of short stories, but that was effectively it, as far as prose was concerned .

That there was always a community of poets is clear from Ronald Black's anthology of 20th century Gaelic verse, An Tuil (The Flood), containing works by 100 poets, many using traditional song forms that would have had them dismissed as "village poets" by previous anthologisers. Black's timescale didn't enable him to pick up on names like Kevin MacNeil, whose South Uist (Catholic)/Lewis (Presbyterian) background has produced an overtly Buddhist perspective. Others whose recognition post-dates Black include the Canadian Iain Mac a Phearsain (Albertan by birth but of Gaelic descent), Murdo MacDonald from Lewis, Skyeman Angus Macleod and Rob MacIlleChiar from Argyll. MacNeil apart, this generation hasn't appeared in book form yet, but the quality is there.

There are others, of course: music-loving art teacher Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh, who defines himself as a "Calvinist poet" and has proved a bold neologiser from science and astronomy; multilingual Christopher Whyte, better known as a novelist in English who brings a Mediterranean dimension to Gaelic (he taught in Italy for 10 years and has translated Croatian verse). While poetry has prospered, fiction in Gaelic has had a much more irregular history.

The early 20th century saw a couple of attempts at novels, neither highly regarded today. Then that bright flowering in the 1970s was followed by another relatively fallow period, until the Gaelic Book Council, supported by the Scottish Arts Council, underwrote the new publishing venture, Ur-sgeul, which has opened the third millennium with a blast of creative excitement.

The quality of prose in the series can perhaps be measured in Angus Peter Campbell's epic first novel being numbered among the "100 Best Scottish Books" and, more seriously, shortlisted for a Saltire Award, while Martin MacIntyre's short stories actually won the Saltire First Book Award. While the books completed to date are steeped in the vernacular tradition, they are the products of thoroughly contemporary awarenesses.

Poetry, on the other hand, travels, because it's manageably translatable. But all Gaelic writers in the early 21st Century, whether rooted in tradition or altogether innovative, are united in the continuing belief that we have something to say, a vehicle for saying it which has its own qualities, and the right to say it, as best we can.

Yet, when issues relating to Gaelic, or any other marginalised language or dialect (it's equally true of Welsh, Scots, or Scouse), are discussed in the mainstream media, there's always a perception that we are somehow "different", that our native ? or acquired ? language is really just a hobby. We observe a kind of "monoglot mentality" that may happily accept a foreign language, but seems incapable of recognising any legitimacy in the indigenous vernaculars.

Gaelic still lacks its own comprehensive "Oxford Dictionary" (Dwelly's, our most comprehensive, is almost 100 years old), or Encyclopedia Goidelica. The only translations of major works, apart from the Bible, are a version of the Odyssey and a collection of Grimm's tales. Yet we occupy the same world of satellite broadcasting, internet encyclopedias and international booksellers as other literatures.

Gaelic poetry has been heard with approval around the world . Gaelic poets are translated into, and translating from, many languages, with no axes ground. While, at home, a persistent sense of "but" leaves its currents of unease, we continue to express our thoughts in the language those thoughts demand, and with a creative energy that demonstrates there's life in this old linguistic dog yet.


Poet Aonghas MacNeacail is at the Gaelic Tent, King's Lawn on Saturday May 14 at 4pm. For full details of the Gaelic Programme at Word 05, turn to page 28

24 April 2005

©2005 newsquest (sunday herald) limited. all rights reserved

3) Medals for Achievers in Manx Matters (Manx Gaelic)

http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1143&ArticleID=1002049
IoM Online. 18 April 2005

YOUNG people with an interest in all things Manx are being sought for the North American Manx Awards.

The awards are presented annually on behalf of the North American Manx Association for outstanding achievements in five categories.

The association launched the awards with an investment of $1,000 to commemorate the millennium of Tynwald in 1979.

Silver medals have been commissioned and minted for the winners.

The categories are Manx music, arts and crafts, Manx language, outstanding contribution to Manx culture and outstanding contribution to the community or overcoming disability.

Nominees must be under 18.

Their names and details of their achievements should be sent to the Department of Education, St George's Court, Upper Church Street, Douglas, by May 7.

4) Dewisyans Ow Tos! (Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 11:00 - 19 April 2005

Dydh da. Heb mar ty re glywas bos dewisyans kemmyn ow tos. Yma geryow y'n gerlyvrow rag an partiow politek ytho prag na klappya a-dro an dewisyans yn Kernewek.

Of course you have heard there's a General Election coming. There are words in the dictionaries for the political parties so why not discuss the election in Kernewek.

Yma Parti Lavur, Parti LivWer, Parti Gwithysi mes gwell yw genev An Party Rudh, An Parti Melyn ha'n Parti Glas. Kyns ri liwyow dhe UKIP, Mebyon Kernow, Green Party hag erell yma edhomm dyski an liwyow erell.

There is Parti Lavur, Parti LivWer, Parti Gwithysi but I prefer the Red Party, Yellow Party and the Blue Party. Before giving colours to UKIP, Mebyon Kernow, Green Party etc. there's a need to learn about the other colours.

Gwyrdh yw green yn Sowsnek mes nag yw rag taklow yn fyw.

Gwyrdh is green in English but not for living things.

An gwels yw glas mes Crème de Menthe yw gwyrdh.

The grass is glas but Crème de Menthe is green.

Martin Luther King o den du.

Martin Luther King was a black man.

Morel yw du yn tien po jet black yn Sowsnek.
Morel is completely black or "jet black" in English.

Leth yw gwynn mes martesen treylyans gwell yw magnolia.

Milk is white but perhaps a better translation is magnolia.

Kann yw gwynn yn tien po brilliant white yn Sowsnek.

Kann is completely white or "brilliant white" in English.

Mordardh yn howlsplann hag ergh yw kann. Kann yw pur wynn.

Surf in sunshine and snow are "brilliant white". Kann is very white.

Owraval, mombresi gwyls ha'n para peldroes iseldirek yw rudhvelyn.

Orange, wild mombresia and the Dutch football team are orange.

Barbie, glus-hwythell ha blancmange yw rudhwynn.

Barbie, bubble gum and blancmange are pink.

Pent rudh kemmyskys gans pent glas a wra pent purpur.

Red paint mixed with blue paint makes purple paint.

Pent gwyrdh kemmyskys gans pent rudh a wra pent gell.

Green paint mixed with red paint makes brown paint.

Kommol leun a law yw loes.

Cloud full of rain is grey.

Hippi yw Davydh gans y lavrek purpurwynn.

David's a hippy with his lilac trousers.

Yn Gwariow Olympik yma medalow owr, arghans ha brons.

In the Olympic Games there are gold, silver and bronze medals.

Mes piw a wra kavoes medalow owr, arghans ha brons y'n dewisyans ma?

But who will get the gold, silver and bronze medals in this election?5) An Achd: Hip hip, ho hum (Scottish Gaelic)

Murchadh Macleòid

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm

Scotland on Sunday
Sun 24 Apr 2005
Gaelic

The newest chapter in the history of Gaelic and the Gaels has just begun with the Gaelic Bill having passed through the Scottish parliament.

Although the Scottish Executive makes far too much use of the word, this time they were right, this was a historic day. We have the first law in many years which is connected to Gaelic. And differently from other Gaelic-connected laws, this one - at least in theory - is trying to help and protect us rather than wipe us out.

We should be thankful for the small mercies, and they do not come much smaller than this. It would have been more honest for the government to have called this law the Gaelic Board Act, because that is what we have. There is no word of the rights of Gaelic speakers, or where they can use their language, rights which are basic in other countries.

We are still unsure whether we are allowed to speak our language in court. There is still not the same kind of safeguards for Gaelic education as there is for English-language schooling.

And we are still in the situation where the Executive thinks that it is perfectly acceptable for government ministers to head for the Western Isles, the Gaelic heartland, and speak to the English-language media while not addressing the Gaelic-speaking locals in their own language.

There is no word on broadcasting. There will be some who will say that there could have been no such section because broadcasting is a matter reserved to London with the Scottish parliament having no say on the matter. But that is simply a problem with the Scotland Act which established the Scottish parliament, and Act which was drawn up in 1997 and 1998, and not before the foundations of the earth were laid. The powers of the Scottish parliament to protect our language are restricted precisely because those who are now in power allowed them top be
limited.

Am I just too hard and cynical?

This was a bill which was promised to the Gaels in 1997. We had to be patient because the honourable members had to look to more important things, such as building a £440m palace for themselves and debating fox-hunting.

And look now at what we have.
The Gaelic Board is established in law. A good thing they have a duty to produce a language plan. A good thing. They have the task of increasing the numbers of Gaelic speakers. Another good thing.

And it is also a good thing that they will have a role in education and that they will be able to public authorities and direct them to draw up a Gaelic policy, instead of waiting for a word from the organisations.

But wait a minute.

These two elements are only there because they were added to the bill after the Gaels went mad with rage at how weak and pathetic the first draft of the bill was.

So that is the criticism. Is there any way that the law can now work?

The way the new law is formed, much depends on how energetic the new Gaelic board is and how willing they will be to ask searching questions and refuse to accept excuses.

It can work if the board is energetic and refuses to accept any nonsense from public authorities. And they have to start at the heart of the Gaelic-speaking areas. Are they convinced that the Western Isles Council Gaelic policies, and those of the local health board are all they could be? Is enough being done to make sure that the elderly people of the areas get home helps who speak their own languages, for example?

They have to be noisy and pushy, they have to show that they will not accept poor excuses from anyone. And in addition to the public authorities in the islands, they also should be harder on how the Scottish Executive deals with and informs the Gaels.

When government minister appear each day on English-language radio and TV programmes, it is an absolute disgrace that they refuse Scotland's Gaelic speakers the same chance to get the information in their own language. Each time an official speaker appears to give information in English it means that Gaels are deprived of the chance to get knowledge from their own rulers.

I am not saying that every member of the Scottish Executive ministerial team must learn the language. But what I am saying is that there should be the brain-power in the Executive to deal with this issue. Is it that they could not care less or that they just think that we should have to listen in in English to get things straight.

I am dubious about whether this new law, and the board, will have the teeth to address these lacks. In contrast to the Welsh situation, the board will not have the final word in laying down to organisations that they must deal with the rights and needs of Gaelic speakers. The final word will be with ministers, and there is no guarantee that they will always show goodwill toward the language.
I for one hope that it will not emerge that we shall need to campaign for a new bill in a couple of years time.

But I have my doubts.

©2005 Scotsman.com

Posted by: WizardofOwls 06-May-2005, 08:46 PM
May 1, 2005

1. Why Our Distinctive Voice Is What Makes Us Who We Are (Scottish Gaelic)
2. ?The climate is right for deserved recognition of the Irish language in the North of Ireland? say POBAL (Irish Gaelic)
3. College to facilitate Gaelic training (Scottish Gaelic)
4. Irish language on the agenda as Ahern goes to Madrid (Irish Gaelic)

May 2, 2005

5. If you haven't already... (Scottish Gaelic)

May 3, 2005

6. New musical celebrates Gaelic champion (Scottish Gaelic)
7. Immigration leads to incidents between the Welsh and the English (Welsh)
8. Just What Is Official Version of Cornish? (Cornish)
9. Peacock: Don't sit back (Scottish Gaelic)

May5, 2005

10. Immersion is vital to save sinking Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic)

May 1, 2005

1. Why our distinctive voice is what makes us who we are (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/37911.html
Ruth Wishart. The Herald. April 25 2005

Well they did it. As of last week, Scotland's Gaels now have legislation enshrining the status of the Gaelic language, and a statutory board which will promote its use, pull together all sources of funding and require every public body based in Scotland to examine what services they offer in
the language.

Not bad going, considering the 2001 census identified fewer than 60,000 fluent speakers of the tongue rising to about 100,000 if you include those with an understanding of it. For some Scots, this represents another important building block in the revitalisation of Gaelic; for others, it's merely a political benediction on a language in near terminal decline.

As a Glasgow-born Scot, passionate about the retention and promotion of the Scots tongue, I used to be fairly agnostic on the Gaelic question. But the more you learn about languages the more you begin to understand their potency in terms of defining who and what we are, and where we came from. "A people without its language is a people without its soul," says the old Gaelic proverb, or, as Alan Campbell, chief executive of the Gaelic Language Board, has it: "Culture springs from the language. If you lose the language, you've lost the wellhead."

It is extraordinary to reflect that, until local government reorganisation gave us a Western Isles Authority, Gaelic was essentially taught as a foreign language, despite the fact that in those days it would be the language spoken first by many children in the family home. How policies like that would accelerate language loss is self evident, but the problem didn't just lie with officialdom. Just as with the Scots tongue, many parents would dissuade their children from using their natural voice, believing it would impair their social and career prospects. If the classroom insists on "proper" English and the home becomes its accomplice, children can hardly be blamed for feeling confused about their linguistic identity.

Yet what seems to have happened - in Wales as well as Scotland, incidentally - is a sort of second and third generation rebellion, a recognition by those discouraged from using their native tongues in their own childhood, that the loss has to be stemmed. Just as it is Lowland Glasgow which housed the first Gaelic-medium school, with another on the way, it was the more Anglicised parts of Wales that fuelled the astonishing growth of Welsh language schools.

It's a recognition, however belated, that language hotwires us to our roots in a special way. Watch kids tune into the Scuil Wab, where they can now get screen-based access to Scots, and you see a flowering of recognition. Encouragingly, you also learn that they're adept at fashioning contemporary Scots words to deal with the 21st-century world they inhabit. Scots is a living
language.

If you had any doubts that language, culture and identity are inextricably intertwined, look at the spectacular growth of the Feisean movement - the children's Gaelic festivals that have sprouted from a standing start on Barra just under 25 years ago to a 35-strong network involving thousands of kids. That, says Malcolm Maclean of the Gaelic Arts Agency, is evidence of local communities voting with their feet. Look at the Doric festivals in the north-east. Listen to the palpable enthusiasm of youngsters responding to the increasing introduction of traditional Scots music and song into the curriculum and the leisure circuit. Consider the runaway success of Celtic Connections which has celebrated 10 years of being an annual event where the age spectrum has a very healthy and growing input from the under-25s.

These are powerful arguments for the belief that nourishing language through cultural events is at least as important a route as the educational one. (It's a lesson that should be well absorbed by some of the purists, too. Bizarrely, when the Manic Street Preachers unveiled a Welsh language banner celebrating pop success, a Welsh language society felt impelled to correct their grammar.) Europe's Endangered Language Fund, financially underpowered as it is, is at least an acknowledgment that linguistic diversity is important, not least in a world in danger of being dominated by a single language shorn of nuance by imperfect translation and its own inherent limitations.

Professor David Crystal, among whose scarier works is a slim volume starkly entitled Language Death, argues that we are liable to lose half of the world's languages in the course of this century unless the current generation gets its act together. It's already too late for some languages, he says, but intervention and revitalisation can still work for others. How much does it matter? Quite a lot, you suspect. Native languages aren't just a means of communication, but a re-affirmation of your sense of self.

I have an abiding image of children in the Baltic states immediately after their independence, standing with their national flag and singing their national anthem. Word perfectly, so far as you could detect, despite the imposition of Russian during the Soviet era. It wasn't just their language; it was their heritage and their inheritance. That's not a site-specific phenomenon; history is littered with examples of conquered or colonised nations for whom their language became an imperishable symbol of their national character; the only cultural artefact they could still use together, however privately. Such is the perversity of humankind, the very denial of language use by governments kept the grassroots flame alive.

In twentieth-century Scotland you got the belt for speaking the "wrong" language or dialect in school. In nineteenth-century Wales they had a piece of slate or wood with WN carved on it, short for Welsh Not. It got hung round the neck of any child ill-advised enough to try to speak his or her own language in class. Maybe it's that history that ultimately made the principality so very bolshie about official Welsh language use. People can and do make the argument that in a globalised world it is a waste of resources to encourage children in languages which are only of use in their own backyard. And it sounds entirely rational.

Conversely, the Gaels have long argued that a facility with two languages as a young child increases the talent for acquiring more. That may or may not be true. But I am now persuaded that the debate is about much more than preserving a tongue: it's about reinforcing identities and ensuring that we don't deny each generation ready access to its ancestral heritage. I am persuaded, too, that a new-found confidence in our assorted linguistic identities in Scotland paves the way to making us better international citizens.

How much easier to respect the culture and customs of every nation and ethnic group if we honour, respect and understand our own.

2. The climate is right for deserved recognition of the Irish language in the North of Ireland" say
POBAL (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net
Michelle Nic Phaidin, Baile Atha Cliath 4/24/2005

Janet Muller, Chief Executive of the umbrella group for the Irish language in the North of Ireland, POBAL, believes that the time is right for an Irish Language Act.

Last week, speakers of the Gaelic language in Scotland had cause to celebrate when the Gaelic Bill in Scotland was passed. In Eire the Irish language is promoted by a Language Act and protected by the Constitution. The Welsh language enjoys legislative protection because of the Welsh Language Act, which may be be strengthened in the near future.

Janet Muller believes that a language bill in the North is the next step in the process to promote Irish and that the onus is on the British Government to accommodate it.

"This would give Irish speakers the rightful recognition that they deserve. The Government would have to act according to this Bill and recognise the rights of these people."

POBAL will be publishing their proposals for an Irish Language Act soon. The proposals stem from a meeting that was held in Belfast in November 2004. They have also sought and received the help and counsel of international language experts in preparing the draft plan, which they believe will ignite debate in the North and pave the way for a language bill.

(Eurolang ©2005)

3. College to facilitate Gaelic training (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.buchanie.co.uk/archived/2005/Week_17/news/college_gaelic.asp
The Buchan Observer. 28/04/2005

BANFF and Buchan College has established a new partnership agreement with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture.

Under the terms of the agreement, the College will facilitate any requests it receives for Gaelic language tuition by passing these onto its dedicated contacts within Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

College Principal, Robert Sinclair, is delighted that the new link with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig has been formalised.

"We recognise that there is a relatively small - but growing - amount of interest in Gaelic language studies in this area," he said.

"Although Gaelic language provision is not our core business, we feel that it is important that Banff & Buchan College attempts to meet this identifiable need.

"Our new agreement with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is the most cost effective means of providing top- quality Gaelic language courses to learners within our local marketplace."

As part of the new initiative, Banff & Buchan College will carry marketing materials and other forms of literature regarding the course provision available at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

Those who are interested in pursuing a course will be able to do so via supported distance learning, provided by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, or by attending enjoyable short courses on-campus.

4. Irish language on the agenda as Ahern goes to Madrid (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5009Baile Atha Cliath 4/28/2005, by Eoghan Ó Neill

Dublin's request for Irish to be recognised as an official language of the EU is on the agenda as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern travels to Madrid today to meet Spanish premier, Jose Luis Zapatero.

The Taoiseach recently told the Dáil that while Spain does not oppose the Irish request the Spanish are insisting that it's "regional" languages must also be given greater recognition by the
EU.

Mr Ahern stressed that when the Irish Permanent Representative in Brussels had raised the Irish proposal at a meeting of COREPER it had been well received.

Subsequently, however, he had personally spoken to Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel of Austria to reassure him on concerns which he had raised.

In relation to Spain the issue was more complex according to the Taoiseach. "The Prime Minister of Spain, Mr. Zapatero, and his Foreign Minister, Mr. Moratinos, are fighting a separate battle that feeds into our issue, namely, that of regional Spanish languages gaining recognition...That issue, which is connected with ours, although I will not call it unhelpful, does not make life easier since it opens the question of regional languages in other countries...Spain does not oppose the Irish proposal by any means, but we need to consider how we can process the two issues separately because the legal base is different for each of them........we have to be mindful of the Spanish position as we try to find a resolution to our issue."

Ireland is anxious to resolve the issue during the Presidency of Luxembourg as it is perceived in Ireland that Luxembourg is understanding of the Irish situation.

One Irish government MEP, Seán Ó Neachtain, has expressed concern that the issue would drag on into the British Presidency of the EU and that there would be less support for the Irish case under a UK Presidency.

It is significant that the Irish Taoiseach himself has taken on the role of persuader on the issue of status for Irish.

Bertie Ahern has long had a reputation within Ireland as an accomplished negotiator and indeed it was his formidable negoatiating skills which were vital in the rise of coalition government in Ireland in recent times. His sensitive negotiating during the Irish Presidency of the EU last year was also widely hailed. (Eurolang © 2005)


May 2, 2005

5. If you haven't already... (Scottish Gaelic)

Cuir d'ainm air an ath-chuinge!
To: The Scottish Football Association

We, the undersigned, call upon the Scottish Football Association to proudly display the Scottish national name, "Alba," along with its equivalent, "Scotland," on the national football team's shirt.

http://www.petitiononline.com/alba777/

May 3, 2005

6. New musical celebrates Gaelic champion (Scottish Gaelic)

http://northtonight.grampiantv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=6444
Grampian TV. 30/04/2005 10:25

The life of an American who championed the Gaelic language is to be celebrated in a ground breaking musical with a cast of a hundred Highland children. Margaret Fay Shaw, dedicated her life to recording the culture of South Uist in the 1930s.

Possibly the first ever Gaelic musical, Taigh Mairi Anndra tells the story of the life of a woman responsible for chronicling the heritage of South Uist.

Margaret Fay Shaw's photographic records of the Hebrides, records of song and folklore are credited with preventing a way of life from being lost to future generations.

Her achievements are all the more amazing given she was born in America and it's thought had no direct link to the Hebrides.

One hundred pupils from the gaelic unit at Central Primary School in Inverness will star in the musical, which will be performed at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness on May the fifth.

Margaret Fay Shaw passed away in Fort William last year at the grand old age of one hundred and one. It's hoped the musical will educate youngsters about the importance of her work and help her legacy live on.

7. Immigration leads to incidents between the Welsh and the English (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd Meirion, Penygroes 4/29/2005

The incidents of crimes between Welsh and English people in north Wales is on the increase says deputy chief constable of the area. According to Deputy Chief Constable Clive Wolfendale, an Englishman who has learnt Welsh, this is partly due to immigration into Wales. He added that a quarter of race-hate crime was caused by animosity between the groups.
"About 15 per cent in north Wales overall and in the western area which is about 80% Welsh- speaking], about 25% of race-hate crime is Welsh-English activity. It is about 50/50 in terms of Welsh people having a go at English people and English people having a go at the Welsh," says Mr Wolfendale. "It is a phenomenon that applies throughout Wales, but particularly in the north. It is people attacking or abusing somebody because of their Welshness or Englishness."

Mr Wolfendale added that "north Wales has an ethnic minority immigrant population which is very low, between one and two per cent, but there are some Welsh people who would say, actually, that the immigration population is 50% because there are all these English people that have come here who are undermining our communities and pinching our housing and so on. So this is a more complex situation in north Wales than it is elsewhere in Britain."

According to the police, race-hate crimes - of all kinds - have risen in north Wales from 80 in 2000 to 337 in 2004.

Cymuned, the pressure group that campaigns for the Welsh-speaking heartlands, welcomed Mr Wolfendale's comments.

"We welcome the fact that the DCC realises that moving so many people from England to Wales does have an impact and that it should be considered by the [British] Home Secretary Charles Clarke as part of the government's immigration policy," says Aran Jones, chief executive of Cymuned. "The Welsh Assembly needs to act to ensure that people living in Wales learn Welsh or at least have the courtesy to try and understand that we have our language and culture."

Mr Wolfendale says that much of the increase is due to the fact that the police are actively encouraging people to come forward and report hate crime of all types, not just race crime. (Eurolang © 2005)

8. Just What Is Official Version of Cornish? (Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 11:00 - 28 April 2005

Speakers of the centuries' old Cornish language are demanding fair play as efforts are made to reach agreement on a single written form of Cornish.

The Government approved the recognition of Cornish as a regional or minority language under the European Charter three years ago.

Since the 1980s, hundreds of people have become competent Cornish speakers and thousands of students are being taught the language.

However, there is a long way to go to achieve cultural harmony on the ground, with three different Cornish language groups using their own spelling forms.
There have even been disputes, with Cornwall County Council accused of having already made a decision to adopt "Common Cornish".

Visitors entering New County Hall, Truro, see a mat inscribed Dynnargh, the Common Cornish for "welcome" with two n's. But a council information screen in the entrance hall, reads Dynargh, the Unified Cornish version of "welcome" containing a single n. Advocates of Late/Modern Cornish don't appear yet to have a "welcome" sign at County Hall but if they did it would read
"wolcum".

The sensitivity surrounding the Cornish language was raised at a recent county council meeting by Cornish councillor Tamsin Williams, of Penzance. Tabling a question to the council, she warned: "The development of the Cornish language is a crucial issue that will be prominent in the work of the new council over the coming four-year term."

She said one priority of the Cornish Language Strategy was to "initiate inclusive discussion and debate aimed at establishing, in the longer term, the way forward on how Cornish is to be written in official documentation and formal education, specifically a single written form of Cornish."

Ms Williams asked the council leader John Lobb: "Can you categorically state a commitment to this and confirm that all language groups, Agan Tavas, Cussell an Tavas and Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek, will be actively involved in this process and any decision will be based on consensus and agreement?"

Coun Lobb, an English-speaking Cornishman, replied: "It is our intention to involve all the language groups.

"Some members will have received messages accusing the council of having decided to adopt one form of Cornish, Kemmyn (Common).

"I am happy to place on the record that no such decision has been made, nor is it our intention to do so in the future.

"Where Cornish is used in our publications, the spelling system tends to depend on who has provided the translation.

"We have a pluralistic approach to the question of different versions of the Cornish language."

John Angarrack, director of the Cornwall 2000 Civil Liberties group, has written to Kerrier District Council calling for caution in its use of Cornish.

He said of the dual signage and letter headings that some of his members were concerned that Kerrier might have made an "administrative error" and asked how the council intends to treat all three Cornish language groups fairly.

9. Peacock: Don't sit back (Scottish Gaelic)
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=466192005

Scotland on Sunday
Sun 1 May 2005
Gaelic

Peacock: Don't sit back

You will get a rest from the election in this column, but there will be no let-up from the matters arising from the Gaelic Bill.

We gathered as Gaels in Suits last week in an Edinburgh hotel to mark the passing of the Gaelic bill through the Scottish parliament. The minister for Gaelic, Peter Peacock, was too polite to criticise this column for its words on the weaknesses of the new bill. He instead dealt with the much more important subject of what do we do now for the language.

People should not doubt Peacock's support for the language and its case. Although he does not come from the Highlands, or speak the language himself, he does want the language to succeed. He has been fighting and lobbying for the language much more than he would strictly need to, given his other roles and responsibilities, and sticking up for the language amid ministers and officials who are not always supportive of us. He did strengthen the bill, while some in the establishment where trying to get off with murder, and he is trying to deal with the problems in Gaelic education.

There is an effort going on to get to grips with the holes and needs in education. As we all know, there is a damaging lack of teachers. There are a good number of teachers who have the language but who are not qualified to teach through Gaelic, but who would like to be able to do so. But many of the courses have been in unsuitable locations or times. What was the point of year-long fulltime courses in Glasgow when many of those who would want to make use of them lived at the other end of the country? But, bit by bit, we are managing to get to grips with the problems and the holes in the system. New technology is being used in order to get around some of the problems.

Dear oh dear. I am going soft in my old age. I am praising the minister. Must be one of those award-related things. But one must admit that he had a few points when he addressed us. He made the point that we have a lot to do in order to protect the language and get it growing again.

As he said, we can't sit back. We as Gaels have been too willing to sit back and wait for the state, or some kind of authority, to come along and help us out. The mocking tale is told about the two militant Gaels who wanted to emulate the Welsh and set fire to outsiders' holiday homes as part of their fight for a TV channel in our language. But their plan came to nothing because they wanted to apply for a government grant.

When people talk about a lot needing to be done, we have to look to ourselves. We are not as up for speaking our own language as we should be. We are not good at making sure we teach to younger people, we are poor when it comes to choosing resources and books published in our own language.

When churches cut back on Gaelic services, what do we do about it? I'm not calling for wars to be started in communities, but are we trying to find ways to keep things going in the language? Aren't we just too willing to roll over and give in to the other language, and assume that we must speak English to everyone under 10 years of age?

Are we too willing to accept pathetic excuses to dutch the language? How often have we heard sniping at the "Gaels in Suits", saying they were only into the language in order to get money out of it.

But so what? We spent decades being told that we had to give up on our heritage in order to make money in this world. If am age has now begun where some people are able to make a living for the language they why criticise them? No-one cites the example of some people who make a living from the English language as some kind of reason for the rest of us never to speak English
again.

Are we too fussy? Are we too ready to say that certain things are worthless unless they are in our own dialect? There are not enough of us around any more to battle about who has the best dialect. Are we too ready to forsake the language just because there was one moment in our lives when something available in Gaelic was not quite as good as something in English might have
been?

We have to acknowledge that some things just cannot be addressed. There is no way on earth that all the Gaelic books and school materials will be as good or as plentiful as they are in English. They have new materials coming out almost every day. But the same problem applies to the French, the German, and the Russian languages, let alone Gaelic. But what is available nowadays in Gaelic is getting better and a lot of it is much better than what we had in English in school.

These things are getting better. But even if they never become as good as the English stuff, would any English-speaker, French-speaker, or Welsh-speaker abandon their language for ever just because a few textbooks were not as shiny, or new, or as fast to arrive as those in other languages?

Sometimes we have to live with the fact that things will not be on tap for the minorities. That is an argument for minorities to battle for things to become better and not to give up on the fight.

©2005 Scotsman.com

May5, 2005

10. Immersion is vital to save sinking Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic)

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=475172005
The Scotsman
Wed 4 May 2005
Gaelic

TED BROCKLEBANK

GAELIC will get official status when the Queen signs off the new Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill in July. But how will this new-found "respect" save the language from extinction?

The bill's attempts to revive Gaelic are commendable if wrong-headed. It would be nice if Dumfries and Fife and the Lothians could be persuaded to have Gaelic language policies. But the hard fact is that, with Gaelic facing wipe-out, this well-meaning but ultimately impotent bill is likely to be as helpful in saving the language as a cough drop for a pneumonia patient.

I commend the excellent work already being done to teach Gaelic by certain local authorities. But scarce resources should be directed where they will do most good. Only two things will save Gaelic - education and broadcasting. The Scottish Executive pays lip service to a digital Gaelic TV service in Scotland, but when it comes to paying for it, its response is lukewarm at best. Its proposed £11 million a year towards the annual £20 million that the channel will cost is merely indexing the Tories' original £8 million to set up a Gaelic TV service.

But if the Executive is lukewarm, the attitude of Tessa Jowell's Department of Culture, Media and Sport is positively chilly. Tessa has reportedly come up with £250,000 a year for the new service; compare that with the £100 million a year for the Welsh channel. Talk about "respect".

On education, if Gaelic is to survive, it will only be by using the methods successfully implemented in Ireland, Wales, Catalunya and elsewhere - in other words, by making immersion education compulsory in its remaining heartlands of Skye, Lewis, Harris and the Uists.

Until 1971, Welsh speakers in Wales were in decline. Following the immersion education strategy, there has been an 80,000 increase in Welsh speakers over the same three decades in which Scotland has lost 50,000 Gaelic speakers. The vast majority of parents in Wales are
delighted their children are bilingual. The figures in Ireland are even more dramatic. In 1926, only 500,000 spoke Irish Gaelic. Now it's 1.5 million.

If and when Gaelic were revived in its heartlands, it could be spread from a position of strength to adjoining local authorities and then to other areas that might be sympathetic.

The Scottish Parliament had a real chance to launch a fightback to save Gaelic. Sadly, I see nothing in the bill that will stop it becoming a mere cultural and academic curiosity - the linguistic equivalent of Marjorie Kennedy Fraser's four-part harmonies of orain mhora, big songs doomed to be mouthed phonetically by kilted lowlanders at Mods in perpetuity.

Mairi Mhor nan Orain, big Mary of the Songs, lambasted the English for muzzling Gaelic in the 19th century. It had nothing to do with the English and everything to do with the Scots. With this bill, I believe a new generation of Scots is finally killing it off.

? Ted Brocklebank is a Conservative list MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife.

©2005 Scotsman.com

Posted by: WizardofOwls 19-May-2005, 04:55 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/
This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

May 9, 2005

1. Gaelic website launched (Scottish Gaelic)

May 10, 2005

2. Gaelic TV training course gears up for digital era (Scottish Gaelic)
3. The Gaelic Act: Bòrd na Gaidhlig must be tough(Scottish Gaelic)
4. MORGOW- LESENN LAS YN PINTA HSD (Cornish)

May 11, 2005

5. U.S. Govt. Seeking to Preserve Dying Languages (Languages, General)

May 14, 2005

6. Return of the native (Scottish Gaelic)
7. Scottish Football Association refuses to use Gaelic "Alba" (Scotland) (Scottish Gaelic)

May 9, 2005

1. Gaelic website launched (Scottish Gaelic)

http://heritage.scotsman.com/news.cfm?id=479942005
Scotsman.com
Wed 4 May 2005Heritage & Culture
News

CONSERVATION group Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) launched its first Gaelic website today in a bid to brings news of its work to a wider audience.

Many of the body's Gaelic and bilingual publications are now available on the website, including the Gaelic versions of the corporate strategy, Scottish Outdoor Access Code and the Uist Wader project newsletter.

"We look forward to increasing the amount of Gaelic content on our website in the near future as part of our increased use of the language in SNH communications," said Mairi Gillies, SNH's Gaelic officer.

Development of the site also forms an integral part of SNH's Gaelic policy, which was first introduced in 2000.

The launch comes as SNH prepares to relocate its headquarters from Edinburgh to the Highland capital of Inverness next year. The building project remains on schedule to be handed over to SNH on 1 March 1 with a view to staff moving in from 31 March.

SNH is the Scottish Executive's statutory advisor in respect to the conservation, enhancement and sustainable use of the natural heritage.

This article:
http://heritage.scotsman.com/news.cfm?id=479942005

Last updated: 04-May-05 13:07 GMT

On the web

Scottish Natural Heritage
http://www.snh.org/

©2005 Scotsman.com

May 10, 2005

2. Gaelic TV training course gears up for digital era (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.whfp.com/1723/top2.html
West Highland Free Press. Friday 6 May 2005.

The Gaelic Television Training Trust, based at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye, have purchased £182,000 of new equipment, which will ensure that students and the course are ready for the new digital era in broadcasting.

The course has been run since 1991 in which time it has undergone several changes in order to keep up with the evolving world of Gaelic television and other media. The course, the Diploma in Gaelic Media, has a proud record of graduates not only securing work but achieving lasting success.

The new equipment - to which Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise and the Western Isles, Skye and Lochalsh Leader+ programme contributed £88,252 and Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig a further £40,000 - means that students record, edit and view their material in a digital format. This is something which will increasingly become the industry norm.

Four digital cameras for filming on location have been purchased, as well as three new digital cameras for studio filming. The viewing screens in the studio's gallery are now capable of taking a digital feed; and there are four new computer workstations where students can view and edit their digital material.

Neil Fraser, director of media training at SMO, said: "In addition to the new equipment, the course itself was streamlined last September in order to meet the changing demands of the students and industry alike. The course was shortened from two years to a year - six months training at the college and six months on work placement. There were a number of reasons for this: in most cases graduates do not want to spend another two full years without a full-time salary; and also there is a new emphasis on multi-skilling in the digital age where the new technology will help to address the depth of technical knowledge that is required to make programmes."

Sabhal Mòr director Norman Gillies said: "In a recent QAA review of Teaching and Learning for Sabhal Mòr's courses, which included the Diploma in Gaelic Media, we were graded as 'exemplary'. However, we, and the assessors, felt that the equipment the media students were using was in danger of becoming obsolete in light of changes in the industry. I am pleased that this upgrade will mean that our students will now be working with the latest technology. The cameras, workstations and monitors will then be moved to a new studio in Fàs - the college's new centre for creative and cultural industries - which is to open in 2007.

"We are particularly pleased that this technological upgrade was so generously supported by Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise; Western Isles, Skye and Lochalsh Leader+; Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig and the industry in general. Our students will now be well trained and equipped to assist in the development of a new digital era."

Stuart MacPherson, head of skills development at Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise, added: "This development undertaken by the Gaelic Television Training Trust has dramatically improved the training and learning infrastructure that is available to participants on the course. Support from Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise and the Western Isles, Skye and Lochalsh Leader + Programme has enabled the purchase of the new technology and equipment - to a quality and standard that is in keeping with the high quality of the course content, the vocational delivery, and the completion rates.

"Creative and Cultural industries are diverse and have potential to be relatively high earning. Young people who are learning about the industry through the course delivered by the GTTT at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, have
excellent employment prospects."

3. The Gaelic Act: Bòrd na Gaidhlig must be tough(Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.whfp.com/1723/editor.html
West Highland Free Press. 6th May, 2005.

Almost unnoticed amid the hubbub of the General Election campaign, the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 has sailed through the Scottish Parliament. It will receive royal assent and be cemented into law before the end of this month.

We have already aired our concerns about the limitations of this legislation, about the weight of the burden placed upon Bòrd na Gaidhlig and about the absence of certain key legal rights for the language and its users. Those concerns are still relevant, but the time to repeat them has gone. There is now - and we can raise two-and-a-half cheers for this - a Gaelic Language Act, which is more than could be said at the beginning of last month, last year, or the last millennium.

Bòrd na Gaidhlig is staffed, chaired and directed by good and experienced people. That is fortunate, for the organisation has now a terrific job to do. It has been given by the Gaelic Act the function of being virtually the sole advisory body to the Scottish Executive on Gaelic affairs. It has hardly any authority of its own, but its guidance to ministers will in the immediate future be crucial. The first piece of guidance should be that it needs more money; there is already more than a whiff of suspicion that  "delivery' organisations are seeing their money cut, in order to pay for Bòrd na Gaidhlig itself.

We hope above all that Bord na Gaidhlig will be tough. Duncan Ferguson and his people face - as they should already know - formidable opposition in areas of Scottish government. Barely a single MSP will speak out in public against Gaelic. That is, fortunately, no longer fashionable. But hostile attitudes persist, particularly within the civil service, and will have to be confronted. In offering its advice to the executive, Bòrd na Gaidhlig must constantly be aware of the fact that within Holyrood ministers will be in receipt of contrary, negative recommendations.

The Bòrd must tolerate no shilly-shallying from recalcitrant public bodies. Its remit to get each and every one of them to produce a Gaelic plan should be pressed remorselessly. Many will co- operate willingly, some will do their duty, but others will wish to have no part of this scheme. The latter must be brought quickly to heel, through ministerial pressure and through public exposure.

The one major change between the Gaelic Bill and the Gaelic Act has been the introduction of a clause on education. This is to be welcomed - although once again, it offers no more than an advisory role to Bòrd na Gaidhlig.

We obviously hope that Bòrd na Gaidhlig will take this opportunity to press for an urgent expansion of Gaelic-medium education, throughout the Gaidhealtachd and in the rest of Scotland. This is required not only in primary schools, but also in the secondary sector.

For too long the steady rise of successful primary Gaelic-medium units has obscured the fact that secondary-level GMUs have been neglected. There are at present roughly 2,000 children in primary GMUs throughout Scotland. But there are less than 300 in secondary GMUs. The current course of events means that six out of every seven children who have been educated in Gaelic up to the age of 12, will after progressing to high school be denied it.

That is, to put it mildly, unsatisfactory. And it is not entirely due to a shortage of suitable teachers. Scottish Executive figures tell us that there are over 100 secondary school teachers in the country who are capable of teaching in Gaelic. Just 26 of them are presently doing so.

Bòrd na Gaidhlig's job under the new Act is not only to highlight such inadequacies, but to make sure that they are corrected. Even with the backing of the first Gaelic Act in history, they have an enormous job to do. Our hopes go with them.

4. MORGOW- LESENN LAS YN PINTA HSD (Cornish)
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall.11:00 - 03 May 2005

Yma towlenn rag Konsel Keryer kavoes moy arwoedhyow yn Kernewek ha Sowsnek - pur dha! Mes dres an wiasva www.cornwall24.co.uk James Staughton, Omwereser Bragti Sen Ostell a leveris bos hemma skoell a dermyn hag arghans.

There's a plan for Kerrier District Council to have more signs in Cornish and English - very good! But through the website www.cornwall24.co.uk James Staughton, manager at St Austell Brewery, says that this is a waste of time.

Ev a bes: "I'm all for the Cornish language being recognised but I don't think this is a good way of spending money."

Mes Asda, B &Q ha McDonalds a dhevnydh Kernewek rag avonsyans aga askorrasow. Y hyllir prederi askorrasow teythyek kepar ha korevow kernewek, an HSD marthys da y'ga mysk, a via moy gwiw rag usya Kernewek.

But Asda, B &Q and McDonalds make use of Kernewek in order to promote their products. One would think that local products such as Cornish beers, including the marvellous HSD, would be more suitable for using Kernewek.

"We have to be looking at the world in 20 years' time rather than 20 years backward."

Dhe wul yndella y tal Mr Staughton mos dhe www.bluejellyfish.com.au
Ena ev a yll dyski 27 yeth yn furv kevres a e-lyvrow.

Fleghes ha tevogyon yn Ostrali hag an Statys Unys a dhysk yethow yn fordh ma lemmyn. Ha'n nowyttha yeth dhe vos dyllys gans Blue Jellyfish Press yw???Kernewek.

To do so Mr Staughton should go to www.bluejellyfish.com.au

There he can learn 27 languages in the form of series of e-books.

Children and adults in Australia and the United States learn in this way now.

And the newest language to be published by Blue Jellyfish Press is???Kernewek.

E-lyvrow yn Kernewek yw an termyn a-dheu.

E-books in Kernewek are the future.

Tybyansow koynt James Staughton yw, yn hwir, 20 blydhen dhe lergh.

James Staughton's ideas are indeed 20 years backward.

Morgowlesenn las yn pinta HSD - blue jellyfish in a pint of HSD.

For Cornish language classes in East Cornwall, call Maureen Pierce on 01579 382511 or e-mail: mpierce@caresawgrym . freeserve.co.uk; in Mid Cornwall, call Pol Hodge on 01726 882681 or e-mail: [email protected]; and in West Cornwall call Jori Ansell on 01736 850878 or e-mail: [email protected]

May 11, 2005

5. U.S. Govt. Seeking to Preserve Dying Languages (Languages, General)

[yahoonews http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/endangered_languages ]

WASHINGTON - Thousands of languages are threatened with extinction, and the U.S. government is trying to help save some of them, from the one used by Cherokee Indians to a language spoken by a small group of people in Tibet but never written down.

The project awards $4.4 million to 26 institutions and 13 individual scholars to investigate the status of more than 70 languages among the 6,000 to 7,000 in the world.

About half of those languages "are threatened with oblivion," according to the two U.S. agencies involved in the project.

Organizations in Germany and Britain as well as the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization have similar projects.

Every two weeks, on average, the last speaker of a disappearing language dies off, said James Herbert, an adviser to the U.S. project.

"Language is the DNA of a culture. ... A lost language is a lost culture," said Bruce Cole, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The agency is working with the National Science Foundation on the current project.

For more than a decade, the endowment has helped pay for the writing of a dictionary of ancient Aramaic. Many Christians believe that Jesus spoke that language, which is related to Hebrew. Modern versions of the language are spoken in a few Middle East villages and used in the services of some Christian denominations.

Science knowledge also can pass when a language dies. For example, Herbert said psychologists can learn something about brain processes from an endangered language of Brazil's Amazon River area called Piratapuyo. The language is one of the few that reverses the order of words, putting the subject of a sentence at the end rather than the beginning.

Cherokees in the United States claim a population of about 350,000, mostly in North Carolina and Oklahoma. Of these, 22,000 are said to speak the language, written in a script of 86 symbols, each representing a syllable. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee N.C., will get a grant to digitize, translate and assess the written material in the Library of Congress.

One nearly extinct South African language is called N/u. The "/" sign stands for a clicking noise that cannot be represented by the alphabets of America and Europe.

Scientists from Cornell University and Northern Arizona University will collect information on how the unusual sounds of this language are produced by the 13 people who still speak it fluently.

Some experts think that such clicks and sucking noises are left from the first languages spoken by humans, tens of thousands of years ago. Surviving languages that use these sounds are concentrated in South Africa. Herbert said experts will puzzle over the question of why the only such language known anywhere else was one in Australia and is now extinct.
___

On the Net

National Endowment for the Humanities:
http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20050505.html

May 14, 2005

6. Return of the native (Scottish Gaelic)

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/critique.cfm?id=522012005
MORAY WATSON. The Scotsman. 14th May, 2005.

FOR OBVIOUS REASONS, IAIN Crichton Smith's writing in Gaelic hasn't received the international attention the rest of his work commands. But given that it constitutes almost a third of his literary legacy, that it includes much of the most innovative writing in the language in the last century, it is equally obvious that Crichton Smith - who died in 1998 - should also be the first writer honoured by the inaugural Gaelic Word Festival.

Although born in Glasgow, he grew up in Lewis, speaking only Gaelic until he went to school. His father died when he was an infant and his mother was left to look after her three sons alone. The absence of the father figure and the subsequent importance of the mother figure are common motifs in his writing. The island, Lewis, is a recurring feature, as is the Gaelic language, either as a vehicle that allows him to explore his ideas of communication and interpersonal relationships or as a feature of his own cultural identity that is under threat.

In many of his short stories, such as "An Coigreach" (1960) or his 1966 play Chùirt, which prefigures his novel Consider the Lilies, Crichton Smith uses features of the Gaelic language to add depth that would be impossible in English. In many cases he often seems to be switching between his two languages to find out which one best suits the story.

In An t-Aonaran, probably the best Gaelic novel ever published, he uncovers a theme that also haunts much of his poetry - how the educated Gael, through having had to learn another language, becomes alienated from his own community. The poems at the end of An t-Eilean agus An Cànan (1987), his last collection in Gaelic, also show this. He sees the spread of English as a positive thing, just as he accepts modernisation, new technology and increased opportunities for travel as positive things. However, he also sees the potentially negative, in that each of these things can dominate and then suffocate the smaller, less widespread cultures.

This collection also provides a solution to the question of why he stopped publishing as much Gaelic in his last decade. There are some practical reasons, as well as what we can read into his work. As a full-time writer, it would have been difficult to make much of a living out of Gaelic books, poems, stories or plays. The Gaelic population is very small, dropping from around 80,000 in 1981 to under 60,000 in 2001, of whom a third cannot read the language.

A more subtle problem for someone trying to make a living from writing in Gaelic is that the literature was slow to modernise. Genres such as the Gaelic novel and short story did not emerge until the 20th century; even then, their development was sluggish and not always well received. But while such factors were no doubt at work, none of them explain why this was Crichton Smith's last sizeable Gaelic work, more than ten years before his last English books appeared.

I would suggest that An t-Eilean agus An Cànan was the moment at which Crichton Smith finally confronted the influence that his Lewis upbringing and his Gaelic heritage had had on him. In it, he uses the island as a metaphor for isolation, and language is the bridge that is meant to overcome that isolation. And, although language is never quite adequate to overcome this metaphorical isolation, the island and the language nevertheless become inextricably linked to one another. Place, and the language of that place, take on characteristics of one another, to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish them fully. So, in poem 17 of the "Cànan"section, Smith writes: "Seo mo chànan fìor, // am fear a fhreagras air an talamh seo, air a' / mhòintich, / am fear a nì còmhradh ionadail" - "this is my true language, the one that suits this land, the one that makes local conversation".

Gaelic, therefore, is the language appropriate to the island. Smith, however, no longer lives on the island: as a result, he is no longer in a position to choose Gaelic. The poem tells us that there is a gap in the land: this gap is caused by the split which necessitates the choice for the bilingual. The bilingual must constantly choose between two languages or else choose one over the other once and for all.

This choice, therefore, stands in the way of fulfilment, according to these poems. When Smith writes "Seo mo chànan fìor" - "this is my true language" - he then leaves a gap in the poem, just like the gap in the land that isolates him from his home. Gaelic is his true language, but it is not the language he can choose, because he cannot choose to be an islander. If the language and the land are infinitely bound up together, choosing one also means choosing the other. What An t- ilean agus An Cànan tells us is that, given the free choice, Smith would choose Gaelic. But, because place and language are woven together both societally and psychologically, he does not have the free choice.

* This is an edited extract from the lecture Moray Watson will give at the Word Festival this afternoon.

7. Scottish Football Association refuses to use Gaelic "Alba" (Scotland) on team shirt (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5020

Glaschu/Glasgow 5/13/2005 , by Martainn MacLeòid

The Scottish national football team, more often in the news because of its poor performance internationally, is currently attracting media controversy of an entirely different nature in a Gaelic related row.

Language campaigners are calling upon the national team to make more use of Gaelic in Scotland's most popular sport through a petition and letter writing campaign. The online petition, which was created by Gaelic learner David Wilson, calls upon the Scottish Football Association (SFA) to display "Alba", the Gaelic name for Scotland alongside its English equivalent on the national team's shirt. Some activists have also been calling for the use of the language on electronic score boards.

In addition to the support which the petition has attracted from hundreds of Gaelic speakers and football fans, the campaign has also been supported by former Scotland and Glasgow Celtic player Murdo MacLeod. MacLeod who played more than 20 times for the national team and who is now a football commentator argues that the language should appear on the strips due to its historical importance to Scotland.

To date, however, the Scottish Football Association has shown little sympathy with the aspirations of the Gaelic community.

In a letter to one language activist, Chief Executive of the SFA, David Taylor stated that "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I have to inform you that the SFA has no intention of introducing Gaelic in its signs and publications."

"We welcome support from all parts of the country, but it is not our intention to conduct our business in any language other than English, which almost everyone in this country - including yourself - understands."

Mr Taylor's attitude has proved controversial. According to football journalist and broadcaster Ailig O'Hianlaidh: "I don't think it is asking too much to put four letters on the Scotland team strip and from the inquiries I have made with kit suppliers, it wouldn't necessarily cost that much either. Wales have no problem putting the words Cymru on their football and rugby strips, so why can't we do the same in Scotland?

"On a wider point, this would appear to be an early test case for the new Gaelic Bill and Bòrd na Gàidhlig, because if a public organisation like the SFA can simply wash its hands of any responsibility towards the language, it sends out a strong signal to other public bodies that they can follow suit. So, it will be interesting to see what action, if any, the Bòrd and or the Executive take over this issue."

Although Gaelic does not seem set to gain greater visibility in the Scottish game in the near future, the campaign for the use of Gaelic on the Scotland football shirt has also inspired a petition calling for the use of the Irish language on the strip of Ireland's national
soccer team. (Eurolang © 2005)

Posted by: WizardofOwls 21-May-2005, 01:04 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

May 15, 2005

1. YN CHRUINNAGHT READY TO BURST INTO SONG, MUSIC AND DANCE (Manx Gaelic)
2. RAISING THE PROFILE OF THE MANX LANGUAGE (Manx Gaelic)
3. Subject: CPG - Scots Leid - letter fae the Executive (Scots)

May16, 2005

4. CelticRadio.net (All Celtic Languages)

May 15, 2005

1. YN CHRUINNAGHT READY TO BURST INTO SONG, MUSIC AND DANCE (Manx Gaelic)

http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=870&ArticleID=1026598
IoM Online. 14th May, 2005.

YN Chruinnaght will burst into song, music and dance again this July, in the annual celebration of Manx traditional culture.

It will take place from July 16-23 and will be based in a marquee on the Peveril Plot in Ramsey.
This year marks the centenary of Albert Road School and Yn Chruinnaght is pleased to be associated with it.

Festival committee spokesman Bob Carswell said: 'Albert Road School has an important place in Manx cultural life.

'Great support has been given to Yn Chruinnaght by the school through its teachers and pupils since the revival of Yn Chruinnaght by Mona Douglas in 1978.

'It was with the children and their teacher, Philip Leighton Stowell, that Mona Douglas worked to give life to her notes on Manx dancing. The dances were first shown in Easter of 1929. Youngsters from Albert Road School went on to demonstrate Manx folk dances at the Royal Albert Hall in London on a number of occasions in the 1930s.'

Centenary celebrations will take place on Wednesday, July 20. During the day, the pupils will be entertaining their parents and other guests and in the evening, there will be a special gathering of former pupils in the marquee.

After Wednesday, the marquee will once again be the venue for the festival.

A full programme of events will be released shortly.

2. RAISING THE PROFILE OF THE MANX LANGUAGE (Manx Gaelic)
http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1143&ArticleID=1024281

IoM Online. 12th May, 2005.

THE Manx language is going from strength to strength, the Manx Heritage Foundation's Manx language officer has said.

Adrian Cain was speaking after a Manx language training day held at the International Business School.

The event was attended by people from government departments and local authorities.

Talks were given on language developments and the ways in which Manx can add value to organisations. Lessons in Manx were also on offer.

It was the second course of its kind organised by the Manx Heritage Foundation, with the aim of raising the profile of Manx and informing public debate about the Island's culture and identity.

Mr Cain said there was an increasing amount of support for the language and gave the success of the Manx Gaelic School, at St John's, as an example.

'The MHF hopes that the whole Island can take pride in these achievements and can also help demonstrate to the world community the uniqueness and independence of the Island,' said Mr Cain.

3. Subject: CPG - Scots Leid - letter fae the Executive (Scots)
Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 09:39:54 +0100
From: "SLRC Office" <[email protected]>

The follaein letter wis sent oot fae the Executive ti Matt Rodger, a Scots leid activist. We're pittin it roon for yer information.

Wi guid will

Scots Language Resource Centre
A K Bell Library
York Place
Perth
Tel: 01738 440199
www.scotsyett.com

Education Department
Cultural Policy
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh EH6 6QQ

Telephone: 0131-244 0343
Fax: 0131-244 0353
[email protected]

http://www.scotland.gov.uk

Your ref:

Our ref: 2005/0011077OR

4 May 2005

Dear Mr Rodger

Thank you for your emails of 3 and 6 April to the First Minister and Scottish Ministers regarding the newspaper article about the schoolboy, James Blackwood and his positive experience of the Scots language. I have been asked to reply.

Scottish Ministers' were very encouraged to learn of James Blackwood's experience, which highlights the need for the continuing support on the part of the Scottish Executive, Learning and Teaching Scotland, and the Scottish Qualifications Authority which is designed to assist schools in making their pupils aware of the richness and diversity of language, including Scots, in
introducing them to a range of Scottish literature, and in encouraging them to develop ability to understand and to communicate effectively in forms of Scots.

The Scottish Executive appreciates the valuable work carried out by the "Itchy Coo" Project. Indeed, the Executive has seen samples of the wide ranging, imaginative and colourful materials for use in schools.

The Scottish Executive considers the Scots language to be an important part of Scotland's distinctive linguistic and cultural heritage. It appreciates that Scots is a language many children bring to school and advocates the inclusion of Scots in the curriculum. However, The Executive considers that resources for the language are best provided through the education system in the teaching of a proper awareness and appreciation of the language, rather than through any specific programmes.

It is not, however, the responsibility of the Scottish Executive or Scottish Ministers to standardise the Scots language. The Executive appreciates that it is a point of weakness that the language does not have a standard written form, but different people obviously have different views. This is not a matter in which Government, not even a Scottish Government, should set about promulgating rules and laying the law.

Scottish Executive guidance for local authorities and schools advise that pupils should learn to understand and appreciate Scots language and texts in Scots. There are numerous opportunities for pupils in Scottish schools to learn Scots at all stages, including Higher English, and a wide range of learning and teaching resources have been produced to support this. Scottish Executive guidelines on initial teacher training and on teachers' Continuing Professional Development are similarly non-prescriptive.

The curriculum in Scotland is not prescribed by statute. Scottish Executive guidelines advocate the inclusion of Scots literature in the curriculum and Learning and Teaching Scotland produce teaching material in support of this inclusive policy. Guidance which the Executive gives to schools and teachers is that pupils should be encouraged to understand and appreciate writing in Scots language, whether in the classics of literature or in contemporary newspapers. They should be encouraged to develop their abilities to express themselves, whether in English or Scots.

As you will appreciate, there are a number of Language Communities in Scotland and their profile and needs vary considerably. The Scottish Executive is aware of this situation and is sympathetic to the needs of the Language Groups. For this reason the Executive has sought to address this situation in its Policy document "Partnership Agreement for a Better Scotland".

In this document the Executive agreed to develop a new focus on Scotland's languages, to introduce a National Languages Strategy to guide and develop Scotland's Languages and give Local Authorities a responsibility to draw up a Language Plan that reflects the Communities they serve.
We are aware of the support which the Northern Ireland Assembly gives to Ulster Scots and that this has resulted from a particular set of circumstances that is present in Northern Ireland. May I assure you that matters relating to Scots will be considered within the context of the Languages Strategy.

Indeed, the Executive is committed to the introduction of a National Language Strategy during the course of this Parliament which will take account of the distinctive position of different languages used in Scotland. The approach to Scots in the future will form part of that strategy. Along with other Government Departments, we shall report to the Council of Europe in June 2005 on progress to date.

I hope this letter is helpful to you.

Yours sincerely

LINDA ROBERTS

4. CelticRadio.net (All Celtic Languages)

a h-uile duine,

This site has messageboards in several Celtic languages:

http://www.celticradio.net/php/forums/index.php?showforum=53

Posted by: WizardofOwls 21-May-2005, 06:41 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

May 17, 2005

1. Council to Tell Ec Experts of Gaelic Development Problems (Scottish Gaelic)
2. MSP Launches Wee Book for Gaelic Festival (Scottish Gaelic)
3. Conference Celebrates Bilingual Milestone (Scottish Gaelic)
4. First Masters Degree Offered (Scottish Gaelic)
5. Word festival puts Scotland on the line (Scots)
6. Heed a Word to the wise (Scots)
7. Get subscription for Cornish World Magazine - or lose it! (Cornish)
8. Support from Gaelic Cousins and Other Skeet! (Manx Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic)

May 17, 2005

1. Council to Tell EC Experts of Gaelic Development Problems (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=d
isplayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12455048
ANGUS MACDONALD.
Press and Journal. 09:00 - 16 May 2005

Highland Council is to invite an expert committee from the European Commission to meet officials to hear about the problems encountered trying to develop Gaelic in the region.

The move follows growing concerns among councillors that evidence given through the Scottish Executive may be filtered before it reaches the EC officials, leaving them unaware of the serious hurdles facing the development of the language.

The committee met various public bodies, including the council, in 2003 to examine how the UK was complying with its obligations to Gaelic under the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Afterwards, it recommended that Gaelic medium primary and secondary education should be made available where the language is still used, that progress in Gaelic-medium education should be monitored, and that the Government should establish and finance a Gaelic television channel.

Councillor Hamish Fraser, chairman of the council's Gaelic select committee, said: "We must not let the executive or the Westminster Government get out of their obligations under the charter.

"Neither must they claim as their successes what we have done in the Highlands.

"We have spent a lot of our own money supporting Gaelic and we have got a lot of initiatives under way, yet we still can't get the BBC's Gaelic radio service in parts of the Highlands and Islands.

"There is no sign of a Gaelic TV service, although the committee of experts said in their report in 2004 that this should be a priority. We must be honest with the committee, even if it means that the Government gets another roasting for not fulfilling their obligations."

Council vice-convener Michael Foxley said the local authority had to get its message across early in proceedings.

He said: "When the committee was here in 2003 they complimented the council on a number of the initiatives we had taken.

"They were extremely critical of the executive over pre-school education throughout Scotland, problems within primary Gaelic-medium education and particularly serious problems in providing Gaelic-medium secondary education.

"They also criticised the way Gaelic is treated in the media, often with contempt, and the lack of knowledge of Gaelic and Highland history in the curriculum Scotland-wide.

"We have made progress on some aspects, but there is still no progress on getting more secondary Gaelic-medium teachers."

He said the council would take a twin-track approach to providing evidence to the committee.

He added: "We will send evidence through the executive, where it will almost certainly get filtered.

"But we will also get in touch with the committee and offer to meet them with written evidence, either in the Highlands, or in Brussels, if necessary.

"We need to give them information in advance so they can take that into account when they are discussing the fulfilment of the charter obligations with the Government."

Mr Fraser said he wanted the committee to be fully informed about what had been done and what was still required.

He said: "We need more resources and the Government has promised that they will fulfil their obligations.

" We are still waiting for some of these resources. We are concerned that the committee might not have got the full picture the last time they were here.

"Even now there are executive statistics on Gaelic teachers which we find questionable.

"We feel very strongly about this and we see the charter as a way of addressing our concerns."

2. MSP Launches Wee Book for Gaelic Festival (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12455025

This is North Scotland
in association with
The Press and Journal


ANGELA TAYLOR

09:00 - 16 May 2005

The first Festival of Gaelic made its debut in Aberdeen on Saturday, with the launch of the Wee Book of Gaelic.

It is the first book published by Wordprints, a new imprint of Aberdeen University's Word Festival, dedicated to publishing works by young people,

The Wee Book, inspired by the Great Book of Gaelic, was launched by Aberdeen Central MSP Lewis MacDonald.

The book is dedicated to the late Bob Ballantyne, who survived the Piper Alpha disaster.

His widow, Pat, was presented with a signed copy by Mr MacDonald.
It was born out of a school's project run at last year's Word Festival when Gaelic writer Anne Lorne Gillies and artist Simon Fraser worked with students from Gilcomstoun and Hazlehead primary schools' Gaelic medium units.

Ms Lorne Gillies said: "It is fantastic to be publishing a book in the Gaelic language in the north-east of Scotland.

"The students we worked with produced work of an extremely high standard inspired by the quality of the drawings and writing that had been displayed in An Leabhar Mor, The Great Book of Gaelic."

The programme for the fifth Word Festival featured an impressive line-up of some of the finest writers from Scotland, the UK and beyond, participating in a packed programme of readings, lectures, debates, children's workshops, panel discussions, visual arts exhibitions and film screenings.

The first Festival of Gaelic made its debut in Aberdeen on Saturday, with the launch of the Wee Book of Gaelic.

It is the first book published by Wordprints, a new imprint of Aberdeen University's Word Festival, dedicated to publishing works by young people,

The Wee Book, inspired by the Great Book of Gaelic, was launched by Aberdeen Central MSP Lewis MacDonald.

The book is dedicated to the late Bob Ballantyne, who survived the Piper Alpha disaster.

His widow, Pat, was presented with a signed copy by Mr MacDonald.

It was born out of a school's project run at last year's Word Festival when Gaelic writer Anne Lorne Gillies and artist Simon Fraser worked with students from Gilcomstoun and Hazlehead primary schools' Gaelic medium units.

Ms Lorne Gillies said: "It is fantastic to be publishing a book in the Gaelic language in the north-east of Scotland.

"The students we worked with produced work of an extremely high standard inspired by the quality of the drawings and writing that had been displayed in An Leabhar Mor, The Great Book of Gaelic."

The programme for the fifth Word Festival featured an impressive line-up of some of the finest writers from Scotland, the UK and beyond, participating in a packed programme of readings, lectures, debates, children's workshops, panel discussions, visual arts exhibitions and film screenings.

3. Conference Celebrates Bilingual Milestone (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12455046

This is North Scotland
in association with
The Press and Journal
09:00 - 16 May 2005

The growth in Gaelic education in the Highlands and Islands is to be celebrated at a conference held in Inverness and Nairn later this year.

Highland Council is organising the event, which is expected to take place in September, to mark 20 years since Gaelic medium education first started in the region.

Central Primary School, located close to the centre of Inverness, was the first school to provide a Gaelic class, with one teacher and 10 pupils in 1985.

Later the same year a bilingual primary one class was started in Portree, and in 1986 it became a Gaelic medium unit serving primary one and primary two pupils.

In the following years, Gaelic medium education was established across the region, and in the late 1980s Gaelic nursery education was also set up.

The first secondary schools catering for the language were Portree High School and Millburn Academy in 1992.

The 20th anniversary conference is also being organised to mark the enactment of the Gaelic Language Bill, due to occur this month.

A draft programme of the conference schedule includes a presentation from two people who have gone through Gaelic medium education and are now in teaching and further education.

The council's head of education, culture and sport, Bruce Robertson, will give a presentation on the last two decades of Gaelic education, while workshops will be held on Gaelic as a mother tongue and the cultural context of the language.

Plans for the conference were approved in the same week that Highland Council approved proposals to build a new Gaelic primary school at Slackbuie in Inverness.

The site will be designed to cater for up to 150 pupils.

4. First Masters Degree Offered (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12455049

This is North Scotland
in association with
The Press and Journal
09:00 - 16 May 2005

Students are being recruited for the first Masters degree being delivered through the medium of Gaelic.

The new postgraduate Master of Arts in Material Culture and the Environment offered by Sabhal Mor Ostaig on Skye has now been formally validated. The course will now run part-time from September and is available throughout the UHI network. It will be available online so students in remote areas can have access.

Individual topics could be studied instead of the entire course or students could leave after four modules with a postgraduate qualification. The material culture aspect examines the artefacts, objects, material and functional items which are held in museum collections.

5. Word festival puts Scotland on the line (Scots)

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=531052005

The Scotsman
Mon 16 May 2005
Top Stories

A BOOK FESTIVAL that begins with Richard Holloway and ends with Irvine Welsh promises something for everyone. Now in its fifth year, Word, the festival based at the University of Aberdeen, has what may be its richest programme ever. What's more, artistic director Alan Spence again worked some magic with the Aberdeen weather, and the old quadrangle of Kings College was bathed in spring sunshine.

The sun filtering through the long windows of the main auditorium seemed to encourage a relaxed atmosphere. University Principal Duncan Rice found to his surprise that he was wearing a tie with butterflies on it. No fewer than three writers burst into song at the podium.

More importantly, in a world where book festivals are becoming a literary milk round for promoting new titles, many writers felt sufficiently comfortable to read from unpublished work, often for the first time.

One of these was not Richard Holloway, whose lecture was remarkably similar to the one with which he closed last year's Edinburgh Book Festival. Nevertheless, it was new to this audience, who appreciated it for what it was, a sparklingly erudite analysis of the kaleidoscope of religious paradigms in the postmodern world, and the possible ways in which we approach them.

The former Bishop of Edinburgh, now head of the Scottish Arts Council, spoke of those dissident thinkers - once called "heretics" - who "disinfect society" by asking difficult questions and challenging prevailing paradigms. Perhaps he is one of these himself, coming from a unique place of theological knowledge and ecclesiastical experience, to challenge religious complacency with his own brand of transcendent humanism.

A dissident of a different kind was celebrated by the poet and professor of creative writing Robert Crawford, in a similarly erudite lecture which sought to "reintroduce" the work of Hugh MacDiarmid. While MacDiarmid's name is still a legend in Scottish literary circles, Crawford pointed out that the poet's work is barely in print today. A figure associated with nationalism, chauvinism and parochialism, he has fallen out of fashion, "a dusty icon, or an icon killed with iconoclastic respect".

Crawford suggested looking beyond the MacDiarmid of his later years, the belligerent nationalist who listed "Anglophobia" among his recreations in Who's Who. Instead he brought us MacDiarmid in his twenties and thirties, deeply aware of European modernism, a poet with an international outlook who wrote bewitchingly tender lyrics in Scots, while introducing the readers of the Montrose Review to Woolf, Eliot and Joyce.

These two bristling intellects established a powerful theme for the festival, that of taking a step back to offer a clearsighted analysis of our culture and ourselves. Andrew O'Hagan has done this in his fiction and journalism, writing about Scotland, sometimes critically, from a base in London. At Word, he read a new story set in Glasgow, full of humour and insight, which was recently published in the New Yorker. Colm Toibin looks at the distant world of Henry James in his Booker-shortlisted novel The Master, drawing us into it with his quietly lyrical prose.

David Mitchell, another Booker-shortlist author, read for the first time from his forthcoming novel Black Swan Green. In contrast to Cloud Atlas, which bridged centuries and countries with scintillating accomplishment, this concentrates on a single year in the life of 13-year-old Jason Taylor, growing up near Malvern in 1982. There was a surprise, too, for readers of AL Kennedy's work when she read for the first time from her next novel, set in a former prisoner-of-war camp in the aftermath of the Second World War, which contrasts markedly in its subject matter to her previous books.

The organisers of this year's Word excelled themselves in the thoughtful pairing of writers whose work chimed with and complimented one another: David Mitchell with friend and fellow prose virtuoso, Hari Kunzru; AL Kennedy with another writer as visceral and perceptive, Jenny Diski; Anne MacLeod, whose new novel The Blue Moon Book deals thoughtfully with love, life and language, with Sian Preece, whose warm clear-eyed fiction often looks back at her homeland of Wales, though it is written in Aberdeen.

None were better matched than Tom Leonard and Bill Duncan, a pair of dissidents who, in different ways capture elements of the Scottish psyche. Leonard is a master of the Glaswegian demotic, and a great experimentalist with language. In fine fettle, he read from new, unpublished work dealing with issues of terrorism and personal freedom, angrily political but balancing that with moving personal poetry and sharp humour. Meanwhile, Duncan, with a wry humour, brings us in The Smiling School For Calvinists and The Wee Book of Calvin, a new vision of Dundee, blending the real and the fantastical.

6. Heed a Word to the wise (Scots)

DAVID ROBINSON

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=534302005

The Scotsman
Tue 17 May 2005
S2 Tuesday

IMAGINATION, Baudelaire once said, is really just a matter of establishing the secret links between things. So, he could have added, is a book festival, and so are its most fulfilling events. Take, for example, the full moon Bernard MacLaverty spotted one summer afternoon in the blue sky above Co Antrim when he was making Bye-Child, his directorial debut film which he showed and talked about at the Word Festival in Aberdeen. He told his camera crew to put it in tight focus for a long shot, and just to keep filming.

That shot's there at the end of his powerful film about an irreparably damaged childhood, overlaid with the sound of the Apollo 15 astronauts chattering away to Houston. All at once the moon is transformed: it's no longer distant, but almost reachable. In his story of human depravity set in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, MacLaverty needs a symbol of how far all that is from what man is capable of. So that daytime moon comes into shot, overlaid with astronauts' techno-talk, making the point perfectly.

After the film, MacLaverty read to a hushed auditorium the poem by Seamus Heaney on which it was based. It has haunted his mind for decades. And if you want more secret links, they're webbed all over between the poem and the film, in what was possibly the starkest reminder of poetry's condensed power.

True, there was a lot of competition in Aberdeen last weekend. Festival director Alan Spence's own haikus, distilling moments of seasonal change, came close. John Burnside's poems inspired by paintings, real or imagined, have the same soft grace. Robin Robertson read poems whose diamond-drilled descriptive precision ("the sound of coals unwrapping themselves like sweets") are matched by huge emotional depth.

Not all such experiments in opening up the Word festival beyond the written word itself succeeded. Jackie Kay's poetry, especially the intensely personal poetry in her latest collection, Life Mask, already has such direct power that accompaniment by the Spontaniacs' improvised jazz seems pointless. Lucy Kendra's free-floating vocals only occasionally enhanced Kay's own delivery, but perhaps that's a fault of form not ambition: anyone improvising music to turn poetry into song in front of a live audience deserves medals for courage, but perhaps the more precise the poetry, the easier it is for such a project to fail.

Although inevitably nowhere near as widely international as its big brother festival in Edinburgh, Word does an excellent job in exploring both literature's potential and different aspects of Scottishness.

On Saturday, for example, in a discussion on the 100 best Scottish books, Andrew O'Hagan made the case for John Galt's Annals of the Parish with compelling eloquence. Galt, he said, deliberately set out to keep record the birth, in the 1830s, of a new kind of Scotland, saying goodbye to the old with the same kind of valedictory spirit Sunset Song showed a century later.

In that same hall just a day later, talking about the Lowland Clearances, Tom Devine could have used Galt to make the same point. Talking about the "mystery" of why the Lowland Clearances had been virtually forgotten, even though the scale of dispossession of land was far greater than in the Highlands, only at the end of his talk did he mention a couple of salient facts. For one thing, the cottars cleared from the land had jobs to go to and the wages they could get in doing so were higher. So what's the mystery about the fact they took them?

Devine didn't mention fiction at all, but there was plenty of traffic the other way, not least in an interesting session in which James Robertson and James Meek talked about writing fiction set in the past. Both agreed writing without the scaffolding of dates and places was harder - a conclusion Jennie Erdal agreed could apply to writing her own novel rather than being ghostwriter for someone else (in her case, the egregious publisher she calls Tiger but everyone else knows is really Naim Attallah).

My only regret is there's a whole 12 months to get through before Word 06.

©2005 Scotsman.com

7. Get subscription for Cornish World Magazine - or lose it! (Cornish)

http://www.cornish-language.org/English/ViewNews.asp?view=151

Warlinnen
News in full
Friday, May 13, 2005

This year is a bit of a crunch year for Cornish World. The magazine is run by a charity and the powers that be have said that the publication must break even this year.

Losses have fallen from £25,000 in 2003, to £8,000 last year; so we're on the right track. However, this year it must be no losses - or else. So we're looking for another 200 subscribers.
This year editor Nigel Pengelly is attending various events and handing out back issues of Cornish World with special offer letters (subscribe now and get five issues for the price of four plus a free Kernow car sticker and a Cornish car aerial flag).

If you know of any meetings, events or occasions that he could hand these back issues out at, or know of any ways that he could entice a few more subscribers then please let him know. Cornish World is Cornwall's best magazine but not quite enough people know about it. This year is the year that people must get to know about Cornish World before it's too late.

Website: http://www.cornishworldmagazine.co.uk/

8. Support from Gaelic Cousins and Other Skeet! (Manx Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic)

Perhaps you have already seen the material written in the papers about the journey Phillie and I made to Inverness. We stayed three days there and really enjoyed our time in Scotland.

This was the first time I have visited the area and I can say that it is a place I would like to visit again in the future. We stayed with Roy Pederson, who had invited us to stay after meeting him at a place name seminar held at the museum before Christmas.

Roy is a fan of the Island and he thought it would be a good idea to arrange a trip to Inverness to speak to people who are working on behalf of Scottish Gaelic.

We met up with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. It is important now to make certain that a great deal will come out of our visit and this is something we have under way at the present and I am certain that there will be assistance available from the Manx Heritage Foundation for future links between Manx and Scots Gaelic speakers.

The immersion course will be held this month. This is a course arranged by the foundation which will help teachers to learn more Manx. There will be five teachers on the course - they speak Manx already but hopefully they will speak much more by the end of the week!

A training day was held at the Business School a month ago. There were 40 people present - people who work for the government. They learned some Manx, found out about the history of the language, the Bunscoill and all the work presently under way to keep the language thriving.

The Lewis Crellin stories will be published shortly. I would like to thank Stewart Bennett for his sound recordings. We want to get a small book with a CD of the recordings published together. It is important now to get more work published, which will be appropriate to both beginners and fluent speakers.

There will probably be 42 children at the Manx School in September and even though I know that not every one in the Island is a committed Gael, I am sure that the language will prosper in the years to come.
For more information on the work of the Greinneyder, contact me on 838527 or at
[email protected]

Adrian Cain

Posted by: WizardofOwls 24-May-2005, 07:48 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

May 18, 2005

1. Braid Scots Leet (Broad Scots)

May 19, 2005

2. Fèis Rois Youth Music Initiative (Scottish Gaelic)
3. Gaelic Careers Seminar (Scottish Gaelic)
4. Hundreds to Gather in Skye to Debate Europe's Lesser-used Languages (Scottish Gaelic)
5. Gaelic place names - advance and retreat (Scottish Gaelic)

May 21, 2005

6. Robert Burns worth £157m a year to Scots (Broad Scots)

May 22, 2005

7. Just look at a map, but don't think at all. (Scottish Gaelic)

May 18, 2005

1. Braid Scots Leet (Broad Scots)

Fit like?
A'v juist resurrectit the leet for Scots Leid. The wabsteid is here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ScotsLangage/

Benisons,
Croman

May 19, 2005

2. Fèis Rois Youth Music Initiative (Scottish Gaelic)

Issued by The Highland Council on behalf of Fèis Rois.

Use: immediate
Issued: Tuesday, 17 May 2005

A Youth Music Initiative organised by The Highland Council and Fèis Rois in Ross and Cromarty has proven so successful at Kiltearn Primary school that pupils recently put on a concert for their friends and family to demonstrate their achievements.

Kiltearn Primary School staged a concert on Thursday 12th May as part of the Youth Music Initiative. Kiltearn Primary is one of over 50 schools in Ross-shire benefiting from The Highland Council's delivery of the Youth Music Initiative, which is providing a dynamic new programme of music tuition to primary children.

Youth Music Initiative is funded by the Scottish Executive and administered by the Scottish Arts Council. In the past two years, The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Service has worked with Highland Fèisean to deliver a new programme of traditional music visits to every Primary School in the Region. The Youth Music Initiative scheme aims to `ensure that by 2006, every primary school pupil should have access to at least one year's free tuition by the time they reach Primary Six.

Fèisean will continue their delivery in the forthcoming academic year and all Highland primaries will also receive additional input from other new schemes which are awaiting funding approval at the moment.

Fèis Rois co-ordinate the YMI scheme in Ross-shire, Caithness, Inverness and Nairn, where schools are offered four week blocks of tin whistle, group work, Gaelic song or children's song. This term alone has reached over 1500 pupils with even more schools poised to benefit in the next four weeks.

Kiltearn Primary's block of `children's song' was so successful that friends and family were invited to attend a small concert in the school. The children sang a number of playground songs that had been taught to them by tutor Lilian Ross. The performance incorporated skipping and games traditionally associated with many of the songs.

Fèis Rois Education Officer, Chris Rasdale, said: "The Youth Music Initiative has had a fantastic response from everyone involved. It's amazing to see the enthusiasm of the children and how quickly they pick up these traditional songs."

For more information please contact Chris Rasdale, Fèis Rois Education Officer on 01349 862600 or Norman Bolton, Music Development Officer for Highland Council on 01349 863441. -ends-

Date Last updated : 17/05/05

3. Gaelic Careers Seminar (Scottish Gaelic)

USE: IMMEDIATE
ISSUED: Wednesday, 18 May 2005

A seminar is being held today (Wednesday 18th May, 2005) at the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness to promote the career opportunities available in Gaelic.

Organised by The Highland Council and co-hosted by Careers Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the seminar is aimed at careers advisers to ensure that they are aware of the increasing career options available now in Gaelic.

Catriona Eagle, Director of Careers Scotland (HIE Area) is chairing the event and speakers include: Allan Campbell, Chief Executive of Bòrd na Gàidhlig; Donnie MacDonald, Highland Council's Head of Education, and D J MacLeod, Highland Council's Quality Development Officer (Gaelic), who will be speaking about the strategic context of Gaelic in employment.

Discussing careers in education will be: Christina Walker, University of Aberdeen; Boyd Robertson, Strathclyde University; Donella Beaton, Cànan & Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (UHI); and for broadcasting and the arts Margaret Mary Murray, Gaelic Department, BBC Scotland; Donald Iain Brown, Managing Editor, Production Talent, BBC Scotland; and Malcolm MacLean, Pròiseact nan Ealan will be speaking.

Catriona Macintyre, Early Years and Childcare with The Highland Council will talk about careers in caring services and Alasdair MacLeod, Culture & Youth Development Manager with HIE will talk about economic and political development and Flora MacLean on Tourism.

Finally, Morag Anna MacLeod, Highland Council's Gaelic Development Officer and Alastair McCallum with the Scottish Parliament will talk about careers in national and local government.

The seminar initially grew out of a request by Highland Council's Gaelic Select Committee to help address the shortage of Gaelic Medium teachers.
Around thirty delegates are attending the seminar including 11 teachers from Highland and 2 from the Western Isles representing Culloden Academy; Plockton High School; Ardnamurchan High School; Gairloch High; Portree High School; Millburn Academy; Lochaber High School; Nicolson Institute; Inverness Royal Academy; Tain Royal Academy; Sgoil Lionacleit; Dingwall Academy; and Ullapool High School. The other delegates include representatives from Careers Scotland and ScottishJobs.com.

-ends-

For further information please contact: D.J. MacLeod, Quality Development Officer, The Highland Council, Education, Culture and Sport Service, (01349) 868214

4. Hundreds to Gather in Skye to Debate Europe's Lesser-used Languages (Scottish Gaelic)

ANGUS MACDONALD

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12481146

This is North Scotland
in association with
The Press and Journal

09:00 - 19 May 2005

Around 200 delegates are expected to descend on Skye next year to attend the annual forum of the European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages.

Councillor Hamish Fraser is attending this year's forum in Gorizia in Italy to deliver the formal invitation but the bureau has already indicated it will hold the meeting at the Gaelic College, Sabhal Mor Ostaig, in Skye.

The bureau brings together representatives of the 40m people in the European Union who speak a minority language and it advises the European Commission on policies to promote linguistic and cultural diversity.

Councillor Fraser said there were a range of benefits to be gained from holding the forum in Skye next year.

"There will be an obvious economic benefit from having around 200 people coming into the community. They will also get the chance to see Gaelic being used in the south of Skye. In fact if it wasn't for Gaelic, this part of the community might well be devoid of people now, but the community is in fact thriving.

"They will learn more about the language and about the problems we face in getting support for it, particularly in the important sphere of education," he said.

He said that his own trip to Italy would also help raise the profile of Gaelic in advance of next year's meeting.

"There is still work to be done to inform people about Gaelic, that it is a living language and an important part of the culture of Scotland. As delegates change and new countries come into the EU, it is important that people learn about the language, because some of the delegates at the forum last year, were unaware that Gaelic still existed in Scotland.

"It also helps to mark out the Highlands and Islands and indeed the whole of Scotland as distinct regions of the EU.

"Our hope is that through these contacts we can get help from other delegates in generating more support from the EC for the language," he said.

5. Gaelic place names - advance and retreat (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5025
Glaschu / Glasgow 5/19/2005 , by Martainn MacLeòid

The use of Gaelic place names in signage and other official matters has seen both advance and retreat in recent days.

A new report commissioned by the Scottish Executive, "Review of First Impressions of Scotland: Report to Ministers" recommends that bilingual welcome signs should be erected at main points of entry to the country such as major ports, airports and railway stations where appropriate.

According to the study, bilingual signage would show tourists and other travellers that they are entering a unique country with a strong heritage. It is believed that measures such as this would encourage more people to visit Scotland. The Executive have agreed that they will encourage the development of such signs as recommended. It is unclear at this stage, however, how many bilingual signs will be erected and where.

Two local authorities in the Highlands have also taken recent steps to encourage Gaelic names in official use. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the council serving the most strongly Gaelic-speaking area, has recommended that new council wards in the Western Isles should have Gaelic names when local government boundaries are re-drawn. In the Highland Council area, more Gaelic signs are to be erected as a result of their new Gaelic plan.

The new Gaelic plan encourages bilingual road signs, street signs and signs on council buildings and schools throughout the council area. When old signs are replaced, monolingual English signs are to be replaced with new bilingual signs.

Although the council has strengthened its Gaelic policy, however, there is a significant loophole. Local area committees of the council may opt-out of Gaelic signage if they feel that the cultural history of the area has "less of a Gaelic base". To date, Caithness has voted against Gaelic signs and the Inverness Area Committee have made it clear that they only wish to see Gaelic signs in the city centre. There are also signs that the Nairn area may opt out of Gaelic signage.

The Highlands' main road the A9, which runs from Perth to Inverness and Thurso, has also been a cause of controversy. Despite being the most important and busiest road in the Highlands, the Scottish Executive have refused permission to erect Gaelic signs. The Executive's policy stages that on trunk roads, bilingual signage should be erected only where roads lead to west coast ferry ports and or go through Gaelic communities. This decision has angered language activists and many councillors.

These decisions and the absence of an overarching strategy have left a very uneven situation with regards to Gaelic signage in the Highlands.

According to place-names expert and language activist Iain Mac an Tàilleir, "Given that so many local councils and public bodies suffer from a lack of impetus and self-esteem with regard to Gaelic signage, there's a real need to prepare and implement a national language policy and plan, including the use of Gaelic place names, and therefore Bòrd na Gàidhlig's presence is to be welcomed. Scotland has a great deal to learn from progressive, civilised countries like Wales, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland vis-à-vis signage and accepting its heritage".
(Eurolang © 2005)

May 21, 2005

6. Robert Burns worth £157m a year to Scots (Broad Scots)

ANGUS HOWARTH
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=555142005

The Scotsman
Sat 21 May 2005
Scotland


ROBERT Burns is contributing £3 million a week to the Scottish economy more than 200 years after his death, experts said yesterday.

They have calculated his brand value at £157 million a year. Two-thirds of that comes from tourism, with Ayrshire getting most of the benefit.

The Moffat Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University was commissioned to prepare the study on how the 250th anniversary of the poet's birth could be used to boost tourism and encourage Scots to return to Scotland.
The report says: "It is clear that the potential for 2009 is significant, yet Robert Burns has to be embraced by a population who remain distant from their national literary figure."

But that could be overcome by effective marketing and a "realistic" sequence of events.

©2005 Scotsman.com

May 22, 2005

7. Just look at a map, but don't think at all. (Scottish Gaelic)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=560122005

Scotland on Sunday
Sun 22 May 2005
Gaelic

Murchadh MacLeoid

They hadn't a clue.

The creation of the Argyll and Clyde Health Board was proof number 1,823 that men in suits in their Edinburgh and Glasgow castles just don't understand the Highlands and the Gaels.

They saw on the map that Argyll and some of Inverclyde and Renfrew looked near to each other. By the way, it is interesting to examine those place names and then reflect on the fact the Gaelic language was never in those areas, but that is something else altogether.

Anyway, they looked near to each other an so they were lumped together. It did not seem to matter that places which were as diverse as Tiree and Paisley now belonged together. It didn't seem to matter that the people of Argyll looked to Glasgow for public services much more than they looked to Paisley.

It was always a strange blend. If anything, the change that happened last week should have taken place a long time ago. the situation was madness.

An example: Oban is on the northern tip of the Argyll and Clyde boundaries, and the Board thought of closing Oban hospital.

Fort William is at the southern tip of the Highland Health Board area, and the Highland Board thought about closing the local hospital, the Belford.

The people of Oban would have had to travel 80 miles to Dunbarton to get to a hospital. The people of Fort William would have had to go 65 to get to Raigmore in Inverness.
As it happened, the two remained open after the communities created uproar over the proposed closures.

But it now looks as if Oban will be a part of the new extended Highland Health Board, and that the Oban and Fort William hospitals will be merged together, still keeping the two buildings - still with facilities in the two towns - but with some services split between the two.

This is what the government never seemed to grasp during the election when they wondered why the people of the Highlands were so [deaf] to their refrain about "schools and hospitals and public services."

When Mr Blair would appear on television to tell how he had to raise the level of National Insurance in order to pay for the health service, all he did was enrage people in the rural areas. Because the taxes are all being paid, we suffer with crazy prices for petrol, while ministers tell us that we should be thankful for how generous they have been in bestowing such goodness upon us for our benefit.

There was no word of the fact that the "schools and hospitals" which they were on about were being cut.

But what happened with the Board will cause many to worry. Highland Health Board is not exactly drowning money and they have been considering cutting down on services in Caithness and Sutherland. If the Highland board does not receive the extra money to deal with its new duties it will soon encounter more troubles.

At least they should be a little more familiar with the sort of area they will be dealing with. Although Inverness and Tiree and very dissimilar at least many of the areas serviced by the Highland board are much like Tiree than they are like Paisley.

But a lot of damage has already been done.

Take Lochgilphead for example. Although a new hospital is being built there, the new development will not make up for the cut in provision for the elderly in the town.

The new building will not have the capacity of the old one for the elderly, meaning that elderly people needing care will have to travel much further.

There will be concern now about which board might be next to fall into the same crisis as happened to Argyll and Clyde.

But the biggest question has to be over what now for health boards and can they continue to exist in their current form.

Is it right for a government, which is elected, to body-swerve decisions about health and hospitals and leave it to teams of people who have not been elected?
I am not saying that I know that answer. There is little attractive in the plans from some to have elected health boards. We have European elections, Westminster elections, Holyrood polls, council elections and even votes for community councils. Do we really need more?

In a few days the heath minister Andy Kerr, will appear before the media to talk about all the efforts being made to tackle waiting lists and waiting times. If he manages to make any progress, he will expect praise. He will have earned it.

But just how correct is it that ministers and senior officials in the health service can avoid all responsibility for how rural health services are being cut back?

It is not good enough to try and portray ministers as riding to the rescue to save the people from the health board enemy who was doing little other than fulfilling policies which have been drawn up for them.

They are elected to deal with policies. They should be taking the responsibility for what happens.

©2005 Scotsman.com

Posted by: WizardofOwls 25-May-2005, 08:37 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

May 23, 2005

1. Festival Countdown (General)
2. Gaelic's boom can continue 'if teacher shortage is resolved' (Scottish
Gaelic)
3. Welsh Language Society wants new Act to help locals buy homes (Welsh)

May 23, 2005

1. Festival Countdown (General)

Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 06:05:36 +0100
Subject: Festival Countdown
From: "Festival Team" <[email protected]>


With just 12 weeks to go till the biggest party the islands have ever seen, we hope you've booked your tickets to the Hebridean Celtic Festival 2005.

Booking opened on 3 May and already we have sold over 60% of capacity. The first day of sales saw tickets winging off to far flung places such as Alaska, Japan, South Africa, all around Europe, US and Canada, an overwhelming response but deserved we feel. The islands have a special attraction around the globe and we look forward to welcoming all to the 10th Hebridean Celtic Festival.
In true celebratory fashion we have just put the finishing touches to a fabulous compilation CD that will be available shortly from www.hebceltfest.com or from the festival shop. A fine selection of past performers featuring stars such as Runrig, Hothouse Flowers, Afrocelts, Mary Smith, Slàinte Mhath, La Bottine Souriante, Dòchas and many, many more. With 17 tracks this compilation will be a fine addition to your collection. More news of that soon.

And finally, news just in. We've just heard that Loganair are laying on an additional flight on Sunday for festival-goers who have to be back for Monday morning. If you haven't booked your flights yet check out www.ba.com.

Slàinte

The Festival Team
[email protected]
www.hebceltfest.com

2. Gaelic's boom can continue 'if teacher shortage is resolved' (Scottish Gaelic)

http://news.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=561362005
The Scotsman
Mon 23 May 2005
Education

JOHN ROSS

THE growth of Gaelic education has been faster than anyone predicted and can improve further if it is promoted properly and a teacher shortage is resolved, it has been claimed.

Boyd Robertson, senior lecturer in Gaelic at Strathclyde University, made the claim amid plans to mark the 20th anniversary of the first classes taught in Gaelic with a conference organised by Highland Council.

The first Gaelic medium education (GME) units opened in Inverness and Glasgow in 1985 with just over 20 pupils.

This year, 2,008 children are being taught through Gaelic in 61 primary schools and 307 in 18 secondaries, with another 638 youngsters in 60 pre-school nurseries.

Scotland's only all-Gaelic primary, in Glasgow, expects to have a roll of 200 next session, while a new school for three to 18-year-olds will open in the city next year. An all-Gaelic primary is also planned for Inverness to cater for 150 pupils.

Mr Robertson said: "I don't think many people would have predicted in 1985, when the first GME units opened, that there would be almost 3,000 pupils in Scottish schools being educated in Gaelic within a 20-year period.

"There may be some disappointment that the rapid growth in the early years has not been maintained for a variety of reasons, such as a failure by some local authorities to promote GME and a difficulty in recruiting teachers in areas of the Highlands. But it is worth noting that the development of GME has taken place within a context of falling school rolls, particularly in recent years."

Mr Robertson said GME has succeeded because it was and is a grass-roots, parent-led and parent-driven initiative. "The system can continue to develop at all levels providing measures are taken to address the teacher recruitment issue and authorities become more proactive in promoting and marketing the brand," he added.

"There is great scope for extending the provision of GME at secondary level into new geographical areas, into a wider range of school subjects and to a wider range and higher level of SQA examinations."

©2005 Scotsman.com

3. Welsh Language Society wants new Act to help locals buy homes (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5029

Penygroes 5/23/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion

According to Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society), it is essential to have a Property Act to alleviate the problem of a lack of affordable houses in Welsh speaking areas. Recently, Cymdeithas yr Iaith launched a public consultation period on the contents of its Property Act policy document. Over the last few months, its Policy Group has reviewed the contents of the document giving attention to recent developments in the fields of housing and planning across Britain. House prices in Wales, on average, are five times the average wage.

The document deals with every aspect of the housing crisis in Wales, and attempts to offer answers to problems such as sky-high prices, lack of housing for rent and housing developments that are harmful to the language.

"Since the Property Act document was first published [first in 1992 and revised in 1999], we have seen numerous schemes and policies being offered with the aim of trying to respond to the challenge of offering affordable housing to local people," said Huw Lewis on behalf the society's Property Act Group. "We are confident that Cymdeithas' activities in this field has contributed to such developments. But, the biggest weakness in all these plans is that none of them offer any measure of control over the housing market, as well as over the harmful effects of that market on the Welsh language."

Amongst the measures offered in the document are the proposal to freeze house prices and to give priority to local people. Such an act would require local authorities to carry out research to see what properties are available and to assess the housing needs in their areas. Cymdeithas yr Iaith wants the Welsh Assembly to give money and power to local authorities to enable them to buy properties and to formulate a local housing strategy. The Property Act would, according to the society, establish a three band system; one for local people, for semi-locals and open. Priority would be given to locals so that they could compete in the local housing market and to stay in their communities. Cymdeithas yr Iaith wants property to be offered to local authorities before being offered to people from outside the area.

"The aim of a Property Act would be to offer a measure of control over the housing market, so that will be possible to satisfy the needs of the people of Wales for housing, a therefore contribute to securing the sustainability of local communities and the Welsh language," added Huw Lewis.

"We cannot escape from the effects of the housing market. Therefore, if we are serious about offering answers to the housing crisis that our communities face, we must ensure a reasonable and balanced discussion on the suitability of extending an element of control over this market. By launching this consultative period on the contents of a Property Act, we hope that we can promote such a discussion."

Copies of the booklet were sent to every Welsh member of the British Parliament and to all the members of the National Assembly. The society wants the Assembly to introduce a Property Act for Wales so that the Welsh speaking communities can be protected. The Assembly cannot pass any Property Act - or any other act at the moment, although there is pressure on the Labour Party, which rules both the British Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, to give more powers to the Assembly. It would be necessary to gain the support of the Labour Party in the Welsh Assembly for such an act and then ask the British Parliament to pass an act, either specifically for Wales or for the whole of Britain, as a number of other areas in Britain suffer from a lack of affordable housing for locals - although the language is not an issue in these areas.

Although there is support for a Property Act within Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats, because the Labour Party is mainly an urban-based party it is not much concerned with this problem, and the Conservative Party opposes any such act as it believes that it is the free market that should determine house prices.

The consultation period on the contents of the Property Act document will last until the end of July 2005. (Eurolang © 2005)

Posted by: Siarls 27-May-2005, 11:36 AM
Sorry if I'm replying in the wrong place, but I just want to respond to this news about the Property Act.

Near my area, a housing village was recently opened. It was firstly opened to locals only or decendents of locals. They would get a low price for the houses on Britain's first "area of outstanding natural beauty (AON)", the Gower peninsula. They had to prove the eligibility for the houses and those left over were sold to whomever.

When the remaining houses were sold, the other owners realised how much their homes were actually worth and ended up selling their homes to "foreigners" anyway. Making a huge profit, they have left the Gower and Gower still remains to be an English resort.

Posted by: gwenynen 27-May-2005, 04:35 PM
Traitors. Some people do anything for personal gain.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 27-May-2005, 06:02 PM
QUOTE (Siarls @ 27-May-2005, 01:36 PM)
Sorry if I'm replying in the wrong place, but I just want to respond to this news about the Property Act.

Hi Siarls! Posting here is fine! Actually, its great! biggrin.gif I've been posting these news items for a while and your's is the very first comment I've ever gotten on one! I was starting to get a little discouraged, wondering if anyone was reading them at all!

Posted by: Siarls 28-May-2005, 03:30 AM
I thought maybe it was a news only section and have been tempted to reply before, but the lack of replies discouraged me. I'll go read some more, make some more comments!!!!!!!!!! biggrin.gif

Posted by: WizardofOwls 28-May-2005, 09:06 AM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

May 27, 2005

1. Scottish Gaelic in decline in rural and urban strongholds (Scottish Gaelic)
2. 5th Partnership for Diversity forum underlines added value of lesser-used
languages (Languages, General)
3. Council Fears over Bord Na Gaidhlig (Scottish Gaelic)

May 27, 2005

1. Scottish Gaelic in decline in rural and urban strongholds (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5035
Glaschu/Glasgow 5/25/2005 , by Martainn MacLeòid

The position of Scottish Gaelic is weakening significantly in both town and country according to two newly released research papers.

The first of these reports, produced by the Western Isles Language Plan project, investigates the position of Gaelic in the Outer Hebrides using both census data and a large scale language use survey of the population. The results provide a detailed picture of the language skills of island residents, of the actual use of Gaelic in the family and community and of the views of residents on present provision for and future development of the language.

The study shows that the proportion of Gaelic speakers in the islands has declined from around 70% in 1991 to just under 60% in 2001. Gaelic has significantly weakened in the family with 8 out of 10 of the children of respondents mainly or always speaking English to each other. Levels of intergenerational transmission are very low and only 27% of residents with school age children had chosen schooling through the medium of Gaelic. In the community too, a decline of the level of Gaelic usage was apparent amongst respondents with Gaelic being used "frequently" by respondents only 30% of the time on average. On a more positive note, however, the survey identified very positive attitudes towards Gaelic and found that over half of non-speakers were interested in learning.

The Western Isles Language Plan project, which is a partnership between Gaelic agencies, the local authority and Lews Castle College amongst others, aims to use the research findings to develop a language use strategy, marketing campaign, language learning strategy and to expand Gaelic education. Through doing so, they aim to strengthen Gaelic in the family and community and to increase the number of Gaelic speakers.

According to language activist and parent Kirsty Lamb from North Uist, the disturbing findings of the report are justified: "There is no doubt that the Gaelic language in the Uists (particularly North Uist) is in a precarious state. It is imperative that the relevant bodies recognise this. In my opinion the first step towards this is to ensure that more support is given to Gaelic-medium Education in pre-school and primary school years. The language will only survive if our children can speak it."

Only 12% of children on the island attend Gaelic medium education at present and pre-school provision is currently under threat due to a lack of premises.

A recent research report by Dr Wilson McLeod of Edinburgh University on the position of Gaelic has painted a similarly bleak picture of Gaelic use in Scotland's capital. This study, based on a questionnaire study of fluent speakers, shows very low levels of use in the family, of intergenerational transmission and of language use in the community in Edinburgh.

In the family, 84% of respondents who were in a couple had a non-Gaelic-speaking partner. Over 40% of the children of respondents were not Gaelic speakers and a large majority of the school age children were not being educated through the medium of Gaelic. While 37% used Gaelic every day, as many as 17% used Gaelic only once a week or less frequently. Public and social opportunities to use the language were few and infrequent.

According to Dr McLeod: "Like the recent research in the Western Isles, this research shows that Gaelic is in a seriously weak state. Unfortunately, there is no plan or strategy to try to deal with these problems here in Edinburgh, unlike in the Western Isles where they have an important initiative to implement changes based on what they've learned from their research. We urgently need a strategic initiative of this kind here in Edinburgh." (Eurolang © 2005)

2. 5th Partnership for Diversity forum underlines added value of lesser-used languages (Languages, General)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5033Gurize/ Gorizia/ Gorica/ Görz 5/24/2005 , by Davyth Hicks

The 5th Partnership for Diversity (PfD) forum was held in Gorizia in the multilingual region of Friuli over the weekend. The forum, which facilitates the growth of trans-European partnerships, concentrated on the added value and social capital benefits of lesser used languages.

The forum gathered a host of experts from across Europe to a region unique in its multilingualism, where Friulan, Slovene, Italian and German are spoken. The Mayor of Gorizia, Vittorio Brancati, spoke how the region had made "multiculturalism its flag".

Roberto Antonaz, regional councillor for Culture and Education, highlighted how Gorizia, divided by a state border, was like a "living workshop on language minority issues", which gives birth to new ideas. He emphasised how "minority languages gave the region added value" and that "diversity and bilingualism are a great opportunity in the new Europe going against the European project merely being based on the requirements of banks."

The Mayor of Nova Goriza described how linguistic diversity helped to "dilute the border" and that the area is an "European laboratory for cross border cooperation."

EBLUL President Neasa Ní Chinneide echoed the other speakers underlining the value of true linguistic diversity and how the continent was "not just a Europe of banks" and that "creativity was needed everywhere." She added how EBLUL's role in that respect was to "link together people from across Europe to give them heart and strength to face the challenges ahead."

Speaking in Friulan, Pier Carlo Begotti, pointed out how "before language had been used to divide people in Friuli. Now to defend a language is to defend the community of mankind."

German-speaking representative Velia Plozner pointed out that German used to be despised but now their language is seen as a wealth.

Several speakers such as Giorgio Brandolin, president of the province of Gorizia, criticised the lack of progress with the implementation of Italian language law 482, but that he remained optimistic. He described how Gorizia "was multicultural but events and tragedies in World War One and Two had destroyed years of multicultural best practice. The border had gone through the middle of the city, through gardens, through cemetries. Both sides were to blame. Linguistic minorities suffered because of the negligence of Italy and Yugoslavia". He emphasised how "everyone belonged to a single culture - the culture of Gorizia... Difficulties are driven by the fear of the administration at the state level to language diversity", adding that "now these fears are being defeated".

He concluded that "our area is a bridge and language communities are a bridge. This is an important element for a united Europe."

Plenary speaker Meirion Prys Jones from the Welsh Language Board discussed the pre-eminent importance of engaging young people in the language regeneration effort and the Board's efforts to encourage this. He described how language communities need to be proactive and interventionist in their efforts and that in some domains a lesser used language may not be
self-sustaining at all in the way that majority languages are. He emphasised the importance of the music scene for Welsh and the infrastructure that goes with it. He pointed out that in majority language areas "young people don't open night clubs, old people do", underlining the need for language communities to intervene where necessary.

The Forum continued with workshops and debates in Gorizia and Nova Goriza. Friday saw a talk on the ongoing success of the Interreg III project in the area with Maurizio Tremul, president of the Italian Union in Slovenia and Croatia, highlighting the positive effects that these programmes are having on language, culture and cross border relations in the face of "fast food and globalization which was threatening minority culture".

The Occitan Lengua Olimpica NGO outlined their case for Occitan to be have maximum visibility at the Winter Olympics - for which the Forum gave them a resolution of support.

The Forum concluded in the Friulan capital Udin (Udine) where the provincial President Mr Strassoldo described Udin's ongoing re-Friulisation effort taking on a group of Friulan, but also Slovene and German speaking staff, to promote the languages. They aim to increase the use of Friulan in administration, on signage, and are currently sponsoring a news programme in Friulan "Telefriuli".

The forum, organised by EBLUL's PfD chief Johan Haggman, moves to Sabhal Mor Ostaig on the Isle of Skye, Scotland next year. (Eurolang © 2005)

3. COUNCIL FEARS OVER BORD NA GAIDHLIG (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12523757
The Press and Journal. 09:00 - 26 May 2005

Highland councillors have expressed concern that the Gaelic development agency Bord na Gaidhlig will not be able to fulfil the responsibilities placed on it by the Gaelic Language Act 2005.

Councillors have questioned if the bord will have enough personnel and finances to oversee Gaelic-medium education, an educational function which, uniquely for Gaelic, has been removed from the local authorities.

The council wanted this function to be an express responsibility for ministers, but instead, the act places the oversight of Gaelic-medium education in the bord's remit.

Council vice-convener Michael Foxley said: "The council tried to amend the bill to ensure that Gaelic education and a national Gaelic education strategy should be the responsibility of the minister. He declined to accept that and despite our best efforts, responsibility now lies solely withBord na Gaidhlig.

"There is concern that this is too big a task for the bord. It will mean joining the pre-school sector all the way up to the careers service, including schools and guidance teachers, and higher and further education. This would ensure that there is a cohesive education strategy which would for example solve the problem of the complete lack of Gaelic-medium secondary teachers."

Posted by: WizardofOwls 04-Jun-2005, 07:18 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

May 28, 2005

1. Focus (Scottish Gaelic)
2. New Cornish Language News Website (Cornish)
3. Bill Findlay (Scots)
4. Skye Poet Wins International Award (Scottish Gaelic)
5. New Book and New Portrait (Scottish Gaelic)
6. Scottish Gaelic in North America (Scottish Gaelic)

May 28, 2005

1. Focus (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.whfp.com/1726/focus.html
West Highland Free Press. 27th May, 2005.
By Brian Wilson.

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for the 'Guardian' about the status of Gaelic and, in particular, the case for a Gaelic television channel equivalent to S4C and Telefios na Gaelige in Wales and Ireland respectively.

The house style of the 'Guardian' is to carry an email address at the foot of the article. This can be something of a nuisance. I have woken to find 500 email messages awaiting me from parts of the world that have received the paper on-line before Britain has had its breakfast.
On the other hand, it is a great way of getting feedback from people you would not normally hear from. My article on Gaelic received about 100 responses, most of them sympathetic and a few of them worth sharing with a wider audience in order to confirm that interest in, and support for, the language is by no means confined to its own back yard.

In practical terms, the best outcome resulted from the director of the National Extension College in Cambridge, Alison West, being moved to respond. The article, she said, had pricked her conscience for she knew that the college used to offer a distance-learning Gaelic course but had ceased to do so some years ago. Maybe it was time to start again.

Actually, I remember the National Extension College course and particularly the use made of it by the late Jake Macdonald. So I put her in touch with Sabhal Mor Ostaig and, the last I heard, agreement had been reached between these two bodies to resume delivery of a Gaelic learners' course through the National Extension College.

I also discovered that the Liverpool Mathematical Society "is just about to publish its latest Roadshow CD complete with everything in Scots Gaelic as well as Welsh and French". Actually, they need a small amount of money to complete the project and Dr Ian Porteous in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Liverpool University would be pleased to hear from you - whether mathematician or benefactor - at [email protected] .

Then there is the Gaelic language group for Spanish speakers run by Luis Sebastian Stuart- ennington who wanted to translate and distribute my article among his list of learners. The group's motto, which should apply equally in Scotland or to any language, is: " 'S fhearr Gaidhlig bhriste na Gaighlig sa chiste". (Better broken Gaelic than Gaelic in the coffin). They can be contacted at [email protected] .

Micheal Klevenhaus sent me an email from Bonn describing his work as "the only Gaelic teacher in Germany" running a school where around 60 people are now learning the language. For the past three summers, he has taken his students to a summer school in South Uist and he also broadcasts from Germany for Radio nan Gaidheal. He can be contacted on multidrop@schottish- aelisch.de .

"There should be more such politicians to give support to one of the oldest and richest languages in Europe," said Micheal. As an ex-politician, I couldn't agree more! Of course, the 'Guardian' being the 'Guardian', there were a few erudite readers who were less sympathetic and indeed not satisfied with my description of Gaelic as "an indigenous language" worthy of support. "Gaelic was imported from Ireland and replaced the indigenous Cymric," I was informed by Julian Cheyne.

In Scotland, he continued, the Scottish Celts from Ireland "caused the demise of the culture and people who preceded them. Gaelic in Scotland cannot be compared to Gaelic in Ireland where it really is an indigenous language and represents, in historical terms, the core community". So Gaelic might be old and rich but for at least one 'Guardian' reader not old and rich enough to count as an "indigenous language"!
Maybe I can tag on to this resumé the unrelated matter of my correspondence with the European Commission office in Edinburgh. Last year, I wrote to the Commission's representative in Scotland, Elizabeth Holt, pointing out that her counterpart offices in both Wales and Ireland make extensive use of the indigenous - sorry, Julian - Celtic languages in their signage and literature.

Her own office, in contrast, does nothing. In light of the forthcoming Scottish Parliament legislation on Gaelic, I asked politely, would she arrange for the Edinburgh office of the Commission to make similar arrangements for the use of the language?

By February, I had received no reply so I wrote again. This time, I got an emailed response from Ms Holt's secretary at the European Commission office in Edinburgh "sincerely apologising" for the delay in replying and promising: "We will get back to you shortly." On 5th May, I ceased to be an MP so I reckon that I have even less chance of getting the courtesy of a reply now if I was unable to elicit one before that date.

Elizabeth Holt is doubtless so overburdened with work -isn't Edinburgh just one long round of cocktail receptions these days? - that she could not possibly find time in the space of nine months to answer a civil inquiry of this kind, far less do anything about the substance of the matter. But just in case anyone feels like reminding her, her e-mail address is [email protected] .

Nice to think that she would be annoyed by at least as many emails as I was pleased to receive in response to a pro-Gaelic article in the 'Guardian'!

2. New Cornish Language News Website: (Cornish)

http://www.cornish-language-news.org/

3. Bill Findlay (Scots)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/39759.html
MARTIN BOWMAN. The Herald. May 23 2005

Bill Findlay, translator and scholar; born June 11, 1947, died May 15, 2005.

When Bill Findlay died on May 15, he left an enormous legacy to Scotland. For a quarter of a century, he worked both as a translator and critic and made an unparalleled and unique contribution to Scottish theatre.

Born the fifth of six children in Culross, Fife, Bill attended Dunfermline High School and left home in 1965 to begin work as a civil servant in London. He returned to Scotland in 1970 to attend Newbattle Abbey College, spending two years there before going on to Stirling University, where he graduated with a first class honours degree in English in 1976.
Bill and I met in Edinburgh in 1978 when we were both postgraduate students at Edinburgh University. Professor John MacQueen, my adviser at the School of Scottish Studies, suggested that I should meet the other student who was researching John Galt, the Scottish novelist and Canadian colonist. That student was Bill Findlay. What drew us together then was our shared interest in the Scots language.

We met on a November evening and walked about Edinburgh, settling finally to a meal at the Falcon Pub in Bruntsfield. It was at our very first meeting that the project to translate Quebec plays into Scots began. We talked that night about language and national identity in Scotland and Quebec. Bill asked me if there was a play we might translate from Québécois French into Scots. I said there was, and we set about to translate Michel Tremblay's ground-breaking play, Les Belles-Soeurs, which we called The Guid Sisters.

Although an excerpt was published in Cencrastus, the Scottish literary magazine that Bill co- ounded in 1979, the play languished in the offices of Scottish theatres until 1987, when Tom McGrath presented a reading at the Edinburgh Fringe. Professor Ian Lockerbie of Stirling University then invited Bill and myself to speak about the translation at a conference on Theatre and Cinema in Scotland and Quebec. As a result, Michael Boyd, then director of the Tron Theatre, mounted a production at Mayfest in 1989, the first of many to come.

"Bill found a release and a voice for himself in the work of Michel Tremblay and in return, he gave Tremblay his finest voice outside francophonie," said Boyd.

"In the process, Scotland gained a major playwright, and a renewed confidence in its own indigenous theatrical vocabulary." Between 1989 and 2003, eight Scots Tremblays were produced at such theatres as the Tron, the Traverse, Perth Theatre and the Royal Lyceum. It was a source of great pride to Bill that these Scots translations travelled to London, Long Island, Toronto, and, most wonderfully, to Montreal, where the Tron's production of The Guid Sisters went home to play at the Centaur Theatre as part of the city's 350th anniversary celebrations. Two of these plays, The House among the Stars and Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer, had greater success in Scotland than in Quebec. John Linklater, then at The Herald, wrote of The House among the Stars: "This play speaks intimately to the Scottish soul."

Bill and I translated three other Quebec plays, one of which, Jeanne-Mance Delisle's The Reel of the Hanged Man, was produced by Stellar Quines in 2000. Additionally, Bill adapted a number of other plays into Scots, among them Gerhart Hauptmann's The Weavers, a co-production of Dundee Rep and Glasgow Tramway.

Bill was awarded his PhD in 2000 and held a readership in the School of Drama and Creative Industries, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh. His contribution to Scottish theatre studies was substantial. He edited and contributed the first chapter to The History of Scottish Theatre (1998). He also edited Scots Plays of the Seventies (2001), Frae Ither Tongues: Essays on Modern Translations into Scots (2004), and (with John Corbett) Serving Twa Maisters: An Anthology of Scots Translations of Classic Plays, which was published on May 20 as the annual volume of the Association of Scottish Literary Studies.
Bill had an encyclopaedic knowledge of and a passionate interest in all aspects of Scottish culture, but he never failed to look beyond national boundaries to understand and interpret the Scottish experience. This is most evident in his theatre translations where he exploded the myth that Scots language can only be used to present a Scottish world. He demonstrated the capacity of the language to go beyond the particularities of Scottish life to embody the common human experience. He is survived by his wife, Jessica Burns, and his daughters, Hannah and Martha.

4. SKYE POET WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/smo/naidheachd/fiosan/robduais_b.html
Sabhal Mor Ostaig News Release.

A Skye-based writer has won a major prize at an Irish international poetry competition.

Rob Kerr (Rob MacIlleChiar), a former writer-in-residence at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, scooped the top award in the Gaelic verse category of the 16th Annual Féile Filíochta organised by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

The competition attracted over 6000 entrant poems in nine languages, including Irish Gaeilge, English, French, German, Italian, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.

Rob beat off strong competition to take the first prize of 800 Euros in the Gaelic section, notably from Meg Bateman, who took second place, and former Scottish Writer of the Year Aonghas Macneacail, who finished in the bronze medal slot.

These results confirmed Sabhal Mòr Ostaig's established connections with this award - Bateman is a lecturer at the Gaelic College and Macneacail is also one of its former sgrìobhadairean (writers-in-residence). Indeed, since the Scottish Gaelic category at the Féile Filíochta was first introduced seven years ago; only one winner has not been linked to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

Kerr's winning entry, 'Àiteachadh' ('Dwelling'), is in its author's established style of shorter verse. As well as his own individual work, Rob Kerr has also specialised in translating the poetry of other languages into Gaelic. Most recently a visit to the north-west of the United States introduced him to the poetry of the River Indians of Washington State.

"With the help of phonetic dictionaries I was able to make translations of their work," he says. "As ever, there were clear links between Gaelic and world poetry. In the case of the River Indians, their regard for the salmon - upon which they depend to survive - was strikingly similar to the old Celtic mythology of the wise salmon.

"There are such primal links between people worldwide, which expresses itself in their verse. I have been fascinated by similar connections with Gaelic and old Chinese and Irish poetry."

The 800 Euros, he says happily, "just about paid for travelling to Dun Leary to receive the award! It was a wonderful experience."

Sabhal Mòr's writer-in-residency is funded by the Scottish Arts Council. Gavin Wallace, Head of Literature at the SAC, said: 'The Scottish Arts Council's Writing Fellowship scheme is intended to give writers an opportunity to develop their own work as well as nurture writing in their host communities, and we are delighted at Rob Kerr's ongoing success.'

Rob Calum MacIlleChiar followed in a long and distinguished line of literate Gaelic speakers - both native and taught - to have held the post of sgrìobhadair, or writer-in-residence, at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. His predecessors included the great poet Sorley Maclean, Aonghas Macneacail, Angus Peter Campbell and Rody Gorman.

He was born in Kames, near Tighnabruaich (where "my grandparents were Gaelic-speakers but my parents had lost the language"). He attended school at Strachur and Oban before joining the Forestry Commission. A growing interest in rock-climbing led him on to work for Nevisport in Glasgow, Fort William and Aviemore, before "in my mid-20s I decided to get some education".

Rob did a mathematics course at Langside College in Glasgow, which in turn led him into the computing industry as a programmes analyst. But a disruption in his personal life sent him north again: to Kinlochleven - "close enough to a land I felt at home in" - to work as a climbing instructor... and to a Gaelic language immersion course being run at An Aird in Fort William by Inverness College.

"Then I spotted an advertisement in the West Highland Free Press," he continues, "for a course here at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. I took it up, and that led to a BA course in Gaelic Language and Culture."

5. NEW BOOK AND NEW PORTRAIT (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/smo/naidheachd/fiosan/leabhar_dealbh_b.html
Sabhal Mor Ostaig News Release.

A new Gaelic book was launched and a new portrait of Sorley MacLean was unveiled at a literary evening in Sabhal Mòr Ostaig last week (10.05.05). There is strong link between book and portrait, for the book's publisher is Clò Hallaig, a new press established by Ishbel MacLean, Sorley's daughter. The book, Rìoghachd nan Eilean, (The Kingdom of the Isles) is based on a TV series of the same name broadcast by BBC2 in early 2003. Ishbel played a major role in the project and it was she who did the preparatory work and who also produced the series.

The book itself was written by Dòmhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart from Back in Lewis. It covers 1000 years of the history of the Gael from 550 to 1550. It was supported by The Gaelic Books Council, Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig and Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig.

Also on show was the portrait: it was donated to the College by the artist Peter Edwards from Oswestry, Shropshire. Mr Edwards has painted many portraits of people such as Sir Bobby Charlton and poets Douglas Dunn and Adrian Hendri. The painting itself is over 8 feet in height and shows Sorley standing on the shore at Peinachorrain in Braes, with Glamaig in the background. Mr Edwards personally presented the College with the painting.

Professor Norman Gillies thanked Mr Edwards on behalf of the College and Alasdair MacRae spoke on behalf of The Sorley MacLean Trust. Part of the Trust's remit is to encourage original work from new writers and it was therefore highly appropriate that students from the College and children took part. Seumas Greumach and Kirsteen NicDhòmhnaill sang beautifully and Coinneach Lindsay from Loch Awe and Màiri NicLeòid from Carabost recited interesting short stories. The young poet Teàrlach Quinnell read some new poems. Liam MacIlledhuinn started off and completed the last part of the night with a recital on the pipes. All those named are students at the College, a great encouragement for Gaelic singing, music and literature.

It was also good to see children reading a story they had written themselves. Màiri and Steaphanaidh Chaimbeul read a very amusing story that won first prize at last year's Royal National Mod. Their father, Angus Peter Campbell, was host for the evening.

6. Scottish Gaelic in North America (Scottish Gaelic)

There's an interesting article on the situation of Scottish Gaelic learners in North America here:

http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol1/1_1/newton_1_1.pdf

Posted by: WizardofOwls 05-Jun-2005, 06:21 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

May 31, 2005

1. Teachers to be released from the classroom to learn Welsh (Welsh)
2. Councils told: take Gaelic seriously (Scottish Gaelic)
3. Revamped Mod Circuit Comes under Fire from North Councillor (Scottish Gaelic)

June 2, 2005

4. Terracelt: Welsh and Irish languages help farmers to sell their produce (Welsh, Irish Gaelic)
5. Petition (Welsh)
6. Radically New & Exciting Ways Of Learning Languages (Scottish Gaelic)


May 31, 2005

1. Teachers to be released from the classroom to learn Welsh (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5039
Penygroes 5/28/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion

Teachers in Wales will be able to take three months out of the classroom to learn Welsh, so that they may teach subjects through the medium of Welsh. The National Assembly of Wales announced a £2m pilot scheme to release teachers to improve their skills in the language and therefore increase the number that can teach subjects through the medium of Welsh. In some areas of Wales, there are insufficient numbers of teachers who can teach some subjects, especially mathematics and science, through the medium of Welsh.

The Assembly has not yet released the full details, but it is expected that 160 teachers and lecturers from further education colleges will start on the pilot project in January 2006. Initially, it is those that can already speak some Welsh who will be going on the course, so that they may have more confidence in the language and become fully bilingual. The intention is, if this pilot scheme is successful, that every non Welsh speaking teacher in Wales will be given the opportunity to follow such a course to enable them to teach their subject through the medium of Welsh. Every child in Wales, up to the age of 16, is taught Welsh in school. But in some schools the subjects themselves are taught through the medium of Welsh. There are numerous Welsh schools throughout Wales - a combination of 'naturally Welsh' schools in the Welsh speaking heartlands and Welsh schools that have been established in largely English speaking areas - where all or nearly all the subjects are taught through the medium of Welsh.

A spokesperson on behalf of the National Assembly said that "the Assembly is currently working with a range of partners to develop a Welsh Language Sabbaticals Pilot Programme which meets the needs of foundation, primary and secondary school teachers and post-16 practitioners. The pilot will, initially, focus on those teachers who have some Welsh language skills but who lack the confidence to teach in a Welsh medium or bilingual setting. The sabbaticals will last for three months and will include follow-up sessions for trainers to reflect on and consolidate their learning."

Generally, the pilot scheme has been welcomed by teachers. Moelwen Gwyndaf, general secretary of Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru (Union of the Teachers in Wales), said that the union welcomed the Assembly's scheme, but added that it is essential that there is sufficient money for the scheme. "This money [for the scheme] has to be extra money," she said. "Schools cannot pay for supply teachers to do the work whilst teachers are away for three months learning to use the language."

She added that there was not enough teachers that could teach through the medium of Welsh. "There is a scarcity of teachers to teach some subjects in secondary schools," she said, "whilst there is a scarcity of primary school teachers in some areas [mainly in English-speaking areas]. But there is one successful scheme already in existence. In the capital Cardiff, athrawon bro (peripatetic teachers who teach through the medium of Welsh) teach Welsh to other teachers. This scheme has been successful and it needs to be expanded."

Ms Gwyndaf was confident that teachers would have the necessary skills to teach through the medium of Welsh after the three month course. "After all, it is gong to be an intense course. There is already an example of this method being very successful, where members of the Assembly have, after following immersion training techniques, been able to do Welsh language interviews on radio and television. But what is important is that there will be support for these teachers after the three months, and that they have plenty of opportunity to practice using the language." (Eurolang © 2005)
2. Councils told: take Gaelic seriously (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/40301.html
DAVID ROSS, Highland Correspondent.
The Herald (Glasgow)
May 31 2005

THE Scottish Executive will not tolerate tokenism from public bodies in their commitment to promoting Gaelic, the minister responsible for the language warned yesterday.

Peter Peacock, whose portfolio covers education and young people as well as Gaelic, said he would be prepared to order any recalcitrant body to comply by use of ministerial direction, but only as a last resort.

He was speaking in Inverness yesterday after the launch of Highland Council's strategy for Gaelic. Under the terms of the recent Gaelic Language Act, all public bodies are required to prepare such a document or persuade the authorities that it is inappropriate in their case. Highland
Council is the first to unveil its efforts.

It sets out how the council proposes to increase the number of Gaelic speakers in the Highlands, particularly through education, although it comes at a time of a chronic shortage of Gaelic secondary teachers. It also promises to enhance the use of the language and culture within the council itself.

Mr Peacock said the new body responsible for Gaelic, Bord na Gaidhlig, had powers to make sure that the different agencies were taking the preparation and implementation of their strategy seriously.

"If they are not being taken seriously, the bord will refer the matter to ministers. Ministers in turn have powers to direct public bodies if necessary, but we would hope this would not be necessary.

"The whole spirit is to encourage. But the act does make clear that when the bord asks for a plan, the public body has got a duty to provide that plan and implement it. So there is a clear legal force at work."

Mr Peacock, praising Highland Council for being the first in the preparation of its plan, said: "The Gaelic Language Act was a milestone for the future of Gaelic - but it was just the start. Language plans, like Highland Council's, will help to give people the chance to use Gaelic in their daily lives.

"Only by ensuring that people can both learn and use the language can we give it a sustainable future in a modern Scotland. I look forward to Highland Council developing their plan further in due course to meet the guidance Bord na Gaidhlig will issue." Mr Peacock also made clear his expectation that Highland Council would encourage the use of bilingual road signs throughout the area.
This was a reference to councillors in Inverness, Nairn and Caithness who have expressed opposition to such a move. But the minister said the single most important issue was supply of Gaelic-medium teachers, in order to expand the success at primary level into the secondary years.

"I am waiting for a report from a working party on this subject, which is due out later this month. It is looking at the impediments to more people going into Gaelic teaching and how we encourage more."

Highland Council's strategy commits it to responding positively to the demand for Gaelic medium education in the pre-school and primary years " . . . subject to viable pupil numbers (approximately four per year, with evidence of a sustainable roll) and to availability of accommodation and of Gaelic speaking staff".

In addition, "it will endeavour to provide as much Gaelic medium subject teaching as possible in secondary schools." Dr Michael Foxley, vice-convener of the council, said yesterday: "Things are improving in primary and we are producing 11-year-olds enthusiastic and committed. Secondary is where the huge challenge is. We need 15 Gaelic-medium subject teachers in Lochaber, for example, but we only have four . . . in fact, we are only producing one or two a year for the whole of Scotland."

3. Revamped Mod Circuit Comes under Fire from North Councillor (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12545935
EILIDH DAVIES. Press and Journal. 09:00 - 31 May 2005

Organisers of the Royal National Mod yesterday revealed the new circuit for staging the annual Gaelic festival - and Aberdeen could potentially be on it.

But a Highland councillor criticised the plan, claiming An Comunn Gaidhealach had not gone far enough.

From 2008, the event is to be rotated around a set number of locations, based on the five regions of Scotland where An Comunn Gaidhealach has its membership base.

An Comunn branches within each region will now bid against each other, whereas previously branches from all over Scotland bid against each other.

With Mod 2005 set to take place in the Western Isles, Mod 2006 in Dunoon and Mod 2007 in Fort William, the first opportunity to host the Mod under the new system will fall to An Comunn branches in the south-west of Scotland region for Mod 2008.

The planned Mod circuit will then return to Argyll in 2009, northern region in 2010, Western Isles in 2011, Argyll in 2012, northern region in 2013, and to the south-east region in 2014.
Mod promotion manager Murdo Morrison said: "There's eight branches in the north region, including Aberdeen, Inverness, Dingwall and Fort William, and any of one of these branches could bid to hold the Mod when it's being held in the north region.

"The decision to have a circuit makes it a more formal basis to work from. It will help with funding issues and it means local authorities can plan ahead to budget for the Mod."

An Comunn Gaidhealach president Angus MacDonald said: "It is something that our members wish to see happen."

But Lochaber councillor Michael Foxley said Highland Council must get a commitment from An Comunn that the Mod will be held in the Highlands twice every six years.

Mr Foxley said: "We have said we would give £40,000 towards each Highland Mod if it is held in the Highlands twice every six years. We want to get away from the bidding process and not have two areas in the Highlands bidding against each other."

He said the council had been involved in an exercise to identify areas which could hold the Mod in the Highlands. "We discovered places like Inverness, Aviemore and Fort William were suitable venues, but places such as Dingwall and Portree weren't suitable. However, with new schools being built in the latter two towns, it is likely that in the future they may well be suitable for hosting the National Mod."

4. Terracelt: Welsh and Irish languages help farmers to sell their produce (Welsh, Irish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd meirion, Penygroes 5/31/2005

An initiative using the latest technology to improve business opportunities and incomes for farmers in Wales and Ireland has been announced. Terracelt is an internet-based project which aims to provide farmers, rural businesses and the general public with a host of services all available on a single site, featuring Welsh, Irish and English languages.

A joint project between the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA), Terracelt has received a grant in excess of £350,000 (500,000 Euros) from the European Union's Interreg fund. The name Terracelt is derived from terra - the Latin name for earth or land - and celt, an abbreviation of Celtic.

"Being a trilingual site - using English, Welsh and Irish - it was felt a name was needed that could be readily understood by people of all languages and Terracelt fitted the bill," said FUW President Gareth Vaughan. ICSA President Malcolm Thompson added that "this is a site that is rooted in the Celtic lands of Ireland and Wales, and has a logo that is both stylish and modern reflecting contemporary life in both countries."
The site logo incorporates abstract symbols of both countries - the 'T' includes an extended highly stylised Welsh dragon wing while the 'C' embraces an Irish shamrock.

The Terracelt site will include video case studies of farmers who have successfully diversified in a variety of ways. It's hoped that other farmers will gain inspiration and also diversify to improve farm incomes.

An extensive marketing campaign will be organised to coincide with the Terracelt site going online later this summer. The intention is to make the Terracelt logo one of the most instantly recognisable symbols in Welsh and Irish farming.

Work on the site is already underway, and the finished project will be unveiled at the Royal Welsh Show in Wales and the National Ploughing Championships in Ireland. (Eurolang © 2005)

LINKS
www.fuw.org.uk/ Farmers' Union of Wales
www.icsaireland.com/ Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association

5. Petition (Welsh)

To: English Country Cottages

We find it deeply offensive, and an insult to our nation's pride, that your company is marketing holiday cottages in Wales as English Country Cottages, and marketing Wales, and aspects of Welsh history in it's brochure, as part of England, and England's history.

Wales is a nation, not a region of England, with a distinct history, language, and identity. To appropriate the history and geography of our nation is a gross act of colonialism that will be vigourously resisted by all those who care deeply for the future of our country.

We therefore demand a full public apology from English country cottages, and that the offending brochure is withdrawn immediately, to be replaced by a separate brochure and website for Wales, as is currently accorded France, Ireland and Scotland.


Yr ydym yn ffeindio'n atgas y tu hwnt, a sarhad ar falchder ein cenedl, fod English Country Cottages yn farchnata tai haf yng nghymru fel tai haf Seisnig, a farchnata Cymru, ac agweddau o hanes Cymru, yn ei lyfryn fel rhan o Loegr, a hanes Lloegr.

Cenedl yw Cymru, nid ardal Lloegr, gyda diwylliant, iaith ac identiti hollol unigryw. I gyrmyd meddiant ar hanes a thir ein gwlad yw weithred gwladychiaeth y fydd yn cael ei wrthwynebu'n gryf gan y rhein i gyd sy'n gofalu am ein gwlad ac ei ddyfodol.

Felly mynnwn ar ymddiheuriad cyhoeddus llawn gan eich cwmni, a fod y lyfryn sarhaus hyn yn cael ei dynnu'n nol yn syth, i gael ei ailosod gan lyfryn a safle wê sy'n adnabyddu Cymru fel cenedl ar wahân, yn yr yn modd a Ffrainc, Iwerddon ac yr Alban.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/ecc/petition.html

6. Radically New & Exciting Ways Of Learning Languages (Scottish Gaelic)

Today in Scotland there are some 56,000 fluent Gaelic speakers.

Notwithstanding, Fionnlagh M. Macleoid the CNSA Chief Executive declares that given the wherewithal, there is absolutely no good reason why there cannot be an extra 80,000 Gaelic speakers in Scotland by the year 2030.

This optimistic assertion comes not only from Fionnlagh Macleoid, but also from the growing number of students seeking places on the new "Total Immersion Plus" (TIP) courses. Added to which, the expanding body of evidence regarding the new "TIP" language learning methodologies also makes the above claim easily achievable.

Fionnlagh Macleoid further asserts that within a 5, 6, 8, 10, or 20 week time frame: given the degree of intensity of student input, they can become conversationally fluent in Gaelic, well within 200 hours; radically different from the 2000 plus hours it presently takes.

It is no exaggeration to say, based on the above fact, that Gaelic language learning by way of the "TIP" methodologies, are helping Gaelic into taking a major leap forward; probably the first in several decades.

With regard to the ultimate objective, Fionnlagh Macleoid will personally conduct a series of 30 related meetings around Scotland, as well as taking the message overseas in some ten similar type meetings, over the coming year. The purpose of which is to raise the profile, explain and make understood "TIP" methodologies.

To conclude, Fionnlagh Macleoid also points out that the "TIP" methodologies travel very easily and therefore, have much to offer many other minority languages found throughout the World.

If any of this interests you and would like to discuss it further please contact Fionnlagh Macleoid on (.+44 (0) 1463-225469.

For further information regarding the above press release please contact Fionnlagh M. Macleoid:

Home (.+44 (0) 1542-836322
Work (.+44 (0) 1463-225469
Mob (.+44 (0) 7789826934
Email: [email protected]

Posted by: WizardofOwls 07-Jun-2005, 11:25 AM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

June 5, 2005

1. Recruitment drive to end Gaelic teacher drought (Scottish Gaelic)
2. 100,000 visit the largest youth festival in Europe (Welsh)
3. Royal Mail Cash Boost for Gaelic College (Scottish Gaelic)
4. Manx Lesson for Teachers (Manx Gaelic)
5. New head for Welsh language TV channel (Welsh)

June 6, 2005

6. Inverness Gaelic Forum express disappointment at Highland Council Gaelic Plan (Scottish
Gaelic)
7. Who is the real Highland Council? (Scottish Gaelic)
June 5, 2005

1. Recruitment drive to end Gaelic teacher drought (Scottish Gaelic)

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=608992005
Edinburgh Evening News. 3rd June, 2005.

A SHORTAGE of Gaelic teachers in Scotland has sparked moves to make it easier for students to learn the language.

Better career prospects, new routes into Gaelic teaching and courses to help student teachers develop their language skills are on the cards. Education Minister Peter Peacock told the annual Gaelic teachers' conference in Aviemore that the shortage must be addressed to meet demand.

The Gaelic Medium Teachers' Action Group, established earlier this year to consider recruitment and retention issues, will report to the minister later this month.

Mr Peacock said: "In recent years, we have seen massive improvements in the provision of Gaelic medium education. More and more parents are choosing to have their children taught in Gaelic. But this growth and success has brought with it problems - we need more teachers."

2. 100,000 visit the largest youth festival in Europe (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5048
Penygroes 6/3/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion

Since it was established in 1924, the Urdd Eisteddfod for young Welsh speakers has almost exclusively been held in a large field with the competitions taking place in a large marquee, this year, however, the Eisteddfod will be held in the Wales Millennium Centre. Around 100,000 visitors and 15,000 competitors come to the Urdd Eisteddfod every year, the festival being the largest youth festival in Europe and one where everything is held in the Welsh language.

The competitions - which vary from singing to folk dancing, to pop singing to disco dancing - will be held in the new Centre which opened at the end of 2004 at a cost of £104m, and where the Urdd has a 150-bed residential centre for young people visiting the capital. A nearby cinema will be used to hold preliminary rounds which will, for the first time, be broadcast all week on S4C Digital as will all the main competitions.

"It is one of the most fantastic locations in the Eisteddfod's 80 year history," said the festival's director Siân Eirian. "As well as the competitive programme in the Millennium Centre itself, the whole of Cardiff bay will be part of the Eisteddfod experience, offering a feast of exciting possibilities for a great family day out. We have tried to make the best use of the Eisteddfod's superb location. With some of the roads surrounding the Millennium Centre closed off and stalls set up on the streets, this year's Maes [Eisteddfod field] is an experimental and innovative one, very different from the usual set up. Over the last few years the Urdd Eisteddfod has beenconstantly growing and developing while experimenting and innovating in numerous ways. This year is the perfect opportunity to try our hand at a totally different format."

The week-long festival is held in different areas every year, alternately in the north and south of the country, but if this year's experiment in Cardiff is successful, the Urdd hopes to return to the capital every four years.

Whilst it is the competitions in the Millennium Centre that are the main focus of the Eisteddfod, there are other activities on the Maes varying from plays and pop concerts to the opportunity to play football or rugby - and all through the medium of Welsh.
Although the festival was originally established for young Welsh speakers, by now a large number of the competitors and young visitors are those that are learning or have learnt the language, with many of the parents that accompany them not being able to speak Welsh. The Eisteddfod is therefore an opportunity for them to see the language at its best; they see that the language is relevant to Welsh life and that it is possible to hold modern activities through the medium of Welsh.

The main ceremonies in the Millennium Centre are the awarding of the chair and crown for literary excellence, but over the years the Learners' Competition has also become important. A medal is awarded to the young person who has learnt the language in a short time. This year 17 year old Harriet Petty was the winner. She was born in England but moved to north-east Wales, an area where the language is not strong, and learnt the language in four years. Her parents and younger sister is also learning the language.

"I think it is important to learn the language of the country you live in and to speak that language with the people," says Harriet. "I also hope it will help me obtain a job in the future."

But it isn't just the 15,000 that perform at the Eisteddfod that take part in the competitions. Since the beginning of the year, over 40,000 children and young people have been competing in regional eisteddfodau, and it is the winners from amongst these that compete in the Eisteddfod.

As well as the activities, there are also stalls around the Maes selling everything from Welsh books and records to T-shirts with Welsh slogans on them, and the Urdd Eisteddfod is one of three events that are the highpoint of the year for these companies; the other two being the National Eisteddfod which is held every August and Christmas.

And the festival is also an opportunity for protest movements to draw attention to their campaigns. At the beginning of this year's Urdd Eisteddfod, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) held a protest against the closure of small rural schools, which they say will be to the detriment of the language. (Eurolang © 2005)

3. Royal Mail Cash Boost for Gaelic College (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayConte nt&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12578297
The Press and Journal. 09:00 - 04 June 2005

Royal Mail Group is again supporting the Gaelic college Sabhal Mor Ostaig with a £5,500 cash boost to ensure Gaelic courses and projects are run in local communities of Skye and Lochalsh.

An innovative course for fluent speakers of Gaelic, Cuir Peann ri Paipear (Put Pen to Paper) is now running in Portree, with tutor Gilleasbuig Ferguson, in partnership with Inverness College's Skye and Lochalsh FE Centre. This course, which was initially funded by Highland Adult Literacies' Group will soon be offered in other locations, subject to demand, with Royal Mail's funding.
Gaelic learning workshops for parents of Gaelic medium pupils will also be offered with Royal Mail support-including opportunities for family learning on the Sabhal Mor campus, in partnership with Highland Council, Bord na Gaidhlig and other agencies.

Alison Dix, head of lifelong learning at Sabhal Mor Ostaig said: "We are delighted that Royal Mail have again agreed to provide funding for Gaelic learning initiatives in Skye and Lochalsh, both for local people and for learners from other areas of Scotland. This has enabled us to expand our community provision and increase learning opportunities for fluent speakers, in particular.'"

4. Manx Lesson for Teachers (Manx Gaelic)

http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1143&ArticleID=1044360
IoM Online. 02 June 2005

PUPILS at the Manx language school in St John's became teachers last week as they helped staff from other schools learn more Manx.

Teachers were given lessons in how to use the language in practical classroom situations with the help of staff and students at the Manx language school Bunscoill Gaelgagh and the Manx Heritage Foundation.

Foundation Manx language officer Adrian Cain explained: 'It's a course for training teachers who work in schools in the Island who speak Manx, but don't teach it.

'The idea is to encourage more teachers to learn more Manx and to use it in some shape or form in their school.'

During the five-day programme the teachers were given instructions in the language, had to ask for refreshments using Manx and were taught Manx songs and rhymes by children.

They also sat in on lessons to familiarise themselves with the terminology and learn how subjects such as maths and geography can be taught using Manx.

Mr Cain hopes the course will forge links between the Manx language school and other schools and that the teachers will become ambassadors for the language.

5. New head for Welsh language TV channel (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd Meirion, Penygroes 6/4/2005

The Welsh language television channel Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C) has appointed a new chief executive. Iona Jones is presently S4C's Director of Programmes. She succeeds Huw Jones who is leaving at the end of this year after almost twelve years in the post. Ms Jones is S4C's first female head and only the fourth chief executive in its 23-year history.

Iona Jones, 41, began her career in broadcasting as a journalist with BBC Cymru Wales, later becoming editor of current affairs strand Taro Naw and daily news programme Newyddion, produced by the BBC for S4C. She first joined S4C in 1995 as Director of Corporate Affairs before moving to ITV Wales in 2000, where she represented Carlton, the owner of ITV Wales and other regional companies throughout Britain, on the Communications Bill discussions and on other strategic matters.

She returned to S4C in September 2003 as Director of Programmes, restructuring the programme department and devising and implementing an innovative programme strategy that has placed an emphasis on creative excellence.

"It is an honour to be chosen as S4C's next chief executive and a privilege to be asked to lead the channel into the digital age," says Ms Jones. "Changes are already underway at S4C and within the sector at large and I look forward to working with all our partners to deliver results for the benefit of viewers and the creative industries in Wales."

Iona Jones was born in south-west Wales before moving with her family to Cardiff at the age of six. She attended the Welsh-medium schools Ysgol Gymraeg Bryntaf and Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari and later studied Economic and Social History at Exeter University. She completed a Post- raduate Diploma in Journalism at Cardiff University's Centre for Journalism Studies. She is married and has three children.

"The S4C Authority has found in Iona the strategic and creative leader needed to take the channel forward into the digital future," said Elan Closs Stephens, S4C's Chair. "She has had wide- anging experience and success in the broadcasting world and in her current role she has won the respect of the independent production sector as well as other major stakeholders. We look forward to an exciting and innovative future for the Channel under her leadership."
(Eurolang © 2005)

Link : www.s4c.co.uk/S4C

June 6, 2005

6. Inverness Gaelic Forum express disappointment at Highland Council Gaelic Plan (Scottish Gaelic)

5 June 2005

NB ? A Gaelic language version of this press release will be posted on the website www.inbhirnis.org this week.
For immediate use

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis (Inverness Gaelic Forum) today expressed their deep disappointment at the recently-launched Highland Council Gaelic Language & Culture Plan, describing it as being desperately unambitious and a missed opportunity for the revival of Gaelic in the Gàidhealtachd (Highlands & Islands).

The local authority's Gaelic Plan was launched last Monday (May 30th) by the Education Minister Peter Peacock, with a commitment to increase the numbers of Gaelic speakers in the Highlands, and to support and promote Gaelic as a community language in the Highlands, but there is some doubt over whether the plan itself can actually go about achieving this.

Inverness Gaelic Forum Development Officer, Brian Ó hEadhra said, "While we welcome the publication of a plan which seeks to increase speaker numbers and secure Gaelic's future as a community language, I simply fail to see how this plan will go about achieving these ends."

There is concern amongst Gaels that the plans falls down in a number of key areas. Firstly, the plan fails to set any measurement criteria against any of its objectives, "although the Council has published a four-year plan committing the local authority to increasing speaker number and promoting Gaelic as a community language in the area, such commitments are almost meaningless platitudes if there area no targets against which we can assess whether or not the Council has failed or succeeded against these aims. We would ask questions such as how many speakers and which communities?" said Brian.

The Council has also been criticized for its lack of ambition in the education sector, where it appears that the only exposure most schoolchildren in the Highlands will get to the native language of the area will be a the showing of brief video on the subject. Inverness Gaelic Forum felt this to be totally inadequate. "We recognise the importance of Gaelic Medium Education and are surprised and disappointed the council has failed to take this opportunity to make it the medium for all primary school education in areas such as on the Isle of Skye. For the vast majority of schoolchildren in the area though, it is desperately sad to think that yet another generation growing up in the Gàidhealtachd will have very little knowledge of the culture and language of the area in which they are growing up. I would go as far as to say that most of the schoolchildren in the Gàidhealtachd are being disenfranchised in this respect."

The council have also been roundly criticised in failing to take the lead on the introduction of bilingual signage across the area raising the language's visibility and profile in a simple but effective way. The Plan commits the local authority to introduce Gaelic road signs unless there exists 'no Gaelic cultural base', but the mention of such a condition has met with some surprise. "The local authority is Gaelic name is Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd, translated as the land of the Gaels (the Gaelic-speaking people). It is our strong Gaelic 'cultural base' which defines this area as culturally distinctive from regions in the Scottish Lowlands and it seems to me bizarre to say that area within the Gàidhealtachd have no Gaelic heritage, one can see from looking at census statistics for example that Gaelic-speaking communities survived even in parts of Caithness until into the 20th century."

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis (Inverness Gaelic Forum) is a community group based in Inverness which seeks to represent the voice and the views of the Gaelic community in the city.
Contact:
Brian Ó hEadhra

Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis
5 Caolshràid Mhìcheil,
Inbhir Nis, IV2 3HQ

Fòn: 01463 234138

Post-d: [email protected]
www.inbhirnis.org

7. Who is the real Highland Council? (Scottish Gaelic)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=616802005
MURCHADH MacLEÒID. Scotland on Sunday. 5th June, 2005.

THERE is a lot of reason for encouragement in the new Gaelic language plan from the Highland Council. In addition to the aim of increasing the number of speakers of the language in the Highlands, the plan also promises Gaelic education where there is demand and gives a definition of what demand means.

Of just as much interest is the fact that the council will enter into contracts with outside bodies, such as the Pre-School Association (CNSA) to provide intensive Gaelic tuition for very young children, and a variety of other services such as after-school clubs.

The attitude seems to be a very Roosevelt-style "Whatever works" approach. Which is very far removed from the traditional bureaucratic antipathy towards the language which insisted that the public sector must provide everything or it would not happen, and if the public sector did not have the resources then nothing could go ahead.

Where many Gaels will have a problem is less with the plan than with the question of Highland Council's identity crisis. The authority's committee for Sutherland has recently, and bizarrely, voted against Gaelic road signs for the area, amid dubious claims that signs in the language might be dangerous. This is a region of Scotland where Gaelic is still spoken as a first language by some locals.

Inverness, too, has decided that while it likes the money that Gaels spend in its shops, the Gaels' language is not good enough for signs across the city.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 15-Jun-2005, 07:26 PM
Hello everyone! Here is the latest installment of Celtic Lnaguages in the News. Please note that I have managed to get behind once again, so in order to get caught up, today's news will be posted in several posts (probably at least 3). Also, since I want ot get thses out quickly, they are not going to be as "tidy"as usual, isnce I'm going to post them "as is". Enjoy!

Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

June 8, 2005

1. Open Source Goes Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic)
2. Skwardya release new CD (Cornish)
3. COUNCIL AND MOD COMBINE FOR CD (Scottish Gaelic)
4. Gaels of laughter at no-can-doo (Scottish Gaelic)
5. GAELIC GROUP RAPS COUNCIL BLUEPRINT FOR THE LANGUAGE (Scottish Gaelic)

June 9 2005

6. Conference calls for Charter to guarantee higher education in minority languages (Minority Languages)
7. ARCHIVE RECOGNISES THE FATHER OF CORNISH REVIVAL (Cornish)
8. Highland Council set a good example (Scottish Gaelic)


June 8, 2005

1. Open Source Goes Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic)
1. http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/1234
By eGov monitor Newsdesk. Published Monday, 6 June, 2005 - 14:05

Scottish schools to access tailored open source office software


Open source office software which has been translated into Gaelic using
public funds is to be made freely available to schools in Scotland.

A beta version of the OpenOffice suite specially adapted to the Gaelic
language was launched on 2 June.
The open source software was said to have performed well in trials at a
school in North Lanarkshire, and the final product is due to be
distributed
to Gaelic language schools in the Autumn.

The translation project was funded by the Scottish Executive through the
education body, Learning and Teaching Scotland.

Chief Executive of LT Scotland, Bernard McLeary, described the move as "an
important stage in the development of the use of ICT within Gaelic
education."

"It will allow Gaelic teachers and learners to use a bespoke software
package that is specifically tailored to their needs", he added.

The free open source software application from Sun Microsystems offers
features similar to commercial products such as Microsoft Office,
including
a word processor, presentation manager, a spreadsheet program and database
tools.

While OpenOffice has been localised into various languages, it is the
first
time that the software has been available entirely in Gaelic.

"This is a very important step for Gaelic education", commented Mairead
MacDonald, Director of Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig, a Scottish
Executive-funded body which co-ordinates the production and
distribution of
teaching materials in Gaelic.

"By providing a Gaelic environment on the computer, OpenOffice.org has
added
an entirely new and welcome dimension to the resources available to
today's
students.'

Related Links
OpenOffice website: http://www.openoffice.org/

2. Skwardya release new CD (Cornish)
1. http://www.cornish-language.org/English/ViewNews.asp?view=154
Warlinenn. Sunday, June 05, 2005

Arta is the name of the new CD from Cornish language rock band Skwardya
(capital K for Kernewek the language). There is the language at the
heart of
this collection. Every song is written in Cornish and it is obvious that
every song was conceived in Kernewek. This is the real thing -
Kernewek with
brilliant guitar riffs.

Arta starts lively with Leun a Vri and Geryow Hweg has a C&W flavour.
Stenkys is influenced by the Blues and has a sound something like Leneord
Cohen. But for me the best is Hevva! Hevva! The drums are great on this
track and there is, I believe, pipes in the mix.

Simon Glanville sings with Mathi Clarke taking the Celtic tongue to newplaces but the playing of Brian Miller shines on this album. The
production
values are high - Radio Cornwall should be playing this - Cornish speakers
are part of Cornwall but Arta is a CD for everyone.

reviewed by Pol Hodge

The CD can be bought through Kesson http://www.kesson.com/, Gwynn ha Du in
Liskeard, and from Matthew Clarke by emailing him here.
[email protected]

3. COUNCIL AND MOD COMBINE FOR CD (Scottish Gaelic)
1. http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2005/jun05/gaelic_cd.html
Highland Council Press Release. Issue Date: Monday 6 June 2005

An Comunn Gaidhealach (The Highland Association) and The Highland Council
have come together to produce a CD featuring 68 of the Prescribed
Songs and
Literary Pieces for this year's Royal National Mod.

The CD, a follow-up to the successful CD entitled Seinn O Ho Ro Seinn
which
was prepared for Mod 2004, has been produced by An Comunn Gaidhealach. It
features the voice of Fiona Mackenzie, Mairi Mhòr Gaelic Song Fellowship
Officer with The Highland Council who sings some of the pieces with Mary
Ellen Stewart, Development Officer for An Comunn providing the spoken
words.

The CD, which is available priced £3, is intended to be used as a learning
aid for schools, choirs and solo competitors intending to participate
at Mod
2005 which takes place in the Western Isles from 14 - 22 October. A
third CD
will be available at Mod 2005 featuring the Prescribed Pieces for the
Dunoon
Mod 2006.

Fiona Mackenzie produced the first CD which proved to be extremely popular
and is delighted with the second production.

Councillor Hamish Fraser, Chairman of The Highland Council's Gaelic Select
Committee said: "The CD will be an educational tool which will
encourage and
facilitate the participation of young people in the local and National
Mods
regardless of their geographical location. I also welcome the fact
that the
production of such a CD will be produced annually."

Murdo Morrison, Promotion Manager for the Royal National Mod also welcomed
the new CD saying: "The first CD was very popular and there has
already been
some demand for the second. In addition to being a useful learning
resource
for Mod competitors, this has proved to be a very useful collaborative
project between An Comunn and The Highland Council through Fiona
Mackenzie."
Copies of the CD are available from the An Comunn Gaidhealach offices in
Inverness (01463 231226) and Stornoway (01851 703487) as well as from
Fiona
Mackenzie on 01349 868256.

ENDS

Contact Murdo Morrison (Mod Promotion Manager 07803 609774) or Fiona
Mackenzie (Mairi Mhor Gaelic Song Fellowship Officer on 01349 868 256)

4. Gaels of laughter at no-can-doo (Scottish Gaelic)
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=623462005
The Scotsman. 6th June, 2005.

WE SEE that the first-ever piece in Gaelic ran in the Herald at the
weekend,
although they had a problem trying to edit the copy when it arrived as
no-one in the office in Glasgow knew Gaelic.

It has been a long time coming. Our Gaelic editor, Ronnie Black, tells us
the Herald is only lagging about 80 years behind The Scotsman.

However, it cannot be said that The Scotsman has always had a smooth
run of
it in Gaeldom. Indeed, in the revered tome The Gaelic Otherworld,
edited by
our man Black, there is the tale of a Scotsman reporter being sent to
Tiree
in 1886, when the Duke of Argyll had called in the Marines to serve
interdicts on members of the Land League. As they landed on a
Saturday, our
reporter suggested to fellow newspapermen that they delay sending their
dispatches until Monday, so as not to offend local feeling on the Sabbath.
But on the Sunday, he sent off his report to the mainland by carrier
pigeon.
His sleekit behaviour was discovered when the pigeon was mobbed by
seagulls
and returned to the hotel at Scarinish, with the pages of The Scotsman
dispatch scattered across the island, much to the amusement of other
journalists.


5. GAELIC GROUP RAPS COUNCIL BLUEPRINT FOR THE LANGUAGE (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=d
isplayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12588578
EILIDH DAVIES. Press and Journal. 09:00 - 07 June 2005

An Inverness Gaelic group has criticised Highland Council's Gaelic Plan,
labelling it unambitious and a missed opportunity.

Inverness Gaelic Forum claims the plan fails to set any measurement
criteria
against any of its objectives, and they also believe it does not go far
enough in the education sector.

They also accused the council of not taking the lead on the
introduction of
bilingual signs.

The local authority's Gaelic Plan was launched recently by the EducationMinister Peter Peacock, with a commitment to increase the numbers of
Gaelic
speakers in the region, and to support and promote Gaelic as a community
language in the Highlands. But the Gaelic Forum claim there is some doubt
over whether the plan itself can actually go about achieving this.

Brian Ó hEadhra, Inverness Gaelic Forum development officer, said: "While
we welcome the publication of a plan which seeks to increase speaker
numbers
and secure Gaelic's future as a community language, I simply fail to
see how
this plan will go about achieving these ends."

"Although the council has published a four-year plan committing the local
authority to increasing speaker numbers and promoting Gaelic as a
community
language in the area, such commitments are almost meaningless
platitudes if
there are no targets against which we can assess whether or not the
council
has failed or succeeded against these aims. Questions like how many
speakers
and which communities are going to be targeted need to be addressed."

The forum claims that it appears that the only exposure most
schoolchildren
in the Highlands will get to the language will be the showing of a brief
video on the subject.

Mr Ó hEadhra said: "We recognise the importance of Gaelic medium education
and are surprised and disappointed the council has failed to take this
opportunity to make it the medium for all primary school education in
areas
like Skye."

The council have also been roundly criticised by the group for failing to
take the lead on the introduction of bilingual signage across the area to
raise the language's visibility and profile.

The plan commits the local authority to introduce Gaelic road signs unless
there exists "no Gaelic cultural base."

Mr Ó hEadhra said: "The local authority's Gaelic name is Comhairle na
Gàidhealtachd, translated as the land of the Gaels, the Gaelic-speaking
people. It is our strong Gaelic 'cultural base' which defines this area as
culturally distinctive from regions in the Scottish Lowlands and it
seems to
me bizarre to say that areas within the Gàidhealtachd have no Gaelic
heritage."

Michael Foxley, Highland council vice-converner said: "Some of the forum's
criticisms are valid and some are completely misplaced.

"I believe in two years time Highland Council will have made some very
impressive advances concerning Gaelic. I look forward to the Inverness
Gaelic Forum doing the same."


June 9 2005

6. Conference calls for Charter to guarantee higher education in minority
languages (Minority Languages)
1. http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5053
Kolozsvár/Cluj/Klausenburg 6/8/2005 , by Áron Balló

The First European Conference on Higher Education in the Languages of
National Minorities was held in Cluj/Kolozsvár and online with
participation
from all over Europe. They examined the possibilities of establishing or
extending higher education in the mother tongue of "national minorities"
based on the principles of the European Union and the Bologna Process and
they adopted a Charter of Higher Education in Minority-Languages in
Europe.

The virtual conference was held in a closed session on May 26th. Last
week,
at an on-line press conference, the organisers highlighted that the
initiative was the first of its kind and they are hopeful that European
institutions and governments will accept its recommendations.

The conference was organized by the Education Committee of the
Transylvanian
Hungarian National Council (CNMT, an NGO for the autonomy of the ethnic
Hungarians in Romania), the Bolyai Society (SB, an NGO for re-opening the
Hungarian-language Bolyai state university in Cluj) and the Hungarian
Students Union in Kolozsvár (HSUK, OSMC).

Many so-called "national minorities" from Europe with their language
established in higher education were represented at the conference: Welsh,
Basques, Catalans, Swedes from Finland, Germans from Italy, Albanians from
Macedonia and Hungarians from Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia and Romania.
Universities from Switzerland and Ireland that teach in minoritised
languages also participated.

The conference found that some ethnic minorities with a structure of
higher
education in their mother tongue were in a disadvantaged situation.
Examples
were the ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania (Romania) and Voyvodina (Serbia
and Montenegro), as well, as the Basques in France.

"Only 4.4% of those with a higher education degree were ethnic
Hungarians in
Romania, whereas this minority represented 6.6% of the total population",
conference Vice-President and teacher at the Babes-Bolyai University
in Cluj
(UBB) Péter Hantz told Eurolang. "At the same time, 6.7% of the population
had Hungarian, as their mother tongue. Only 4.3% of higher educational
students were ethnic Hungarians and only 1.6% of all students in Romania
were studying in Hungarian. No bilingual signs can be seen at the UBB,
which
likes to call itself a multicultural institution."

"The best solution to overcome this would be, according to a European
model,
a separate Hungarian-language university", conference Chairman and teacher
at the UBB Political Sciences Chair Barna Bodó added.

This could be best carried out by simply re-opening the Hungarian-languageBolyai University (UB), a state-owned and financed higher educational
institution closed down by the communists in Cluj in 1959. He pointed out
that in the context of the Romanian higher educational system adapting to
the Bologna Process, the reorganizing of the higher educational system
was a
great opportunity to re-open a Hungarian language university. He
criticized
the present ruling coalition in Romania for not even mentioning the
Hungarian-language state university in its government programme.

The conference found that almost all ethnic minorities consisting of at
least 200,000 people in Europe had at least one higher educational
institution. The only exceptions were the ethnic Germans in
South-Tyrol, but
in this case Italy financed their studies at German-language
universities in
neighbouring Austria.

The Swedish minority of Finland and the Catalans had the highest number of
universities in their native languages. Likewise, the
Hungarian-speakers in
Slovakia and the Carpathian Ukraine had independent universities. The same
went for the Albanians in Macedonia, but that they had fought hard for
their
Albanian-language university in Tetovo.

Serbia and Montenegro was one of the negative examples, because no
Hungarian-language university existed there, just a few courses at the
University of Novi Sad / Újvidék.

The conference adopted a draft Charter of Higher Education in
Minority-Languages in Europe based on the European Constitution and the
regulations of the Bologna Process. Originating in the principles of the
European Constitution which "respects cultural and linguistic diversity",
the Charter recommended that European states make it possible for all
those
traditional ethnic minorities that had at least 100,000 members to have
higher educational institutions of their own. These universities or
colleges
would teach in the language of the respective minority, in the state
language and in a worldwide language as well. The Charter enumerated the
possibilities on how to set up or develop a higher educational system in a
minority-language and it recommended legislative solutions for states
on how
to achieve these goals.

However, by setting a lower limit of 100,000 the proposed Charter would
exclude some lesser-used languages and make them even more minoritised
such
as Scottish Gaelic (59,000 speakers)- even though it is taught at Scottish
universities and has a dedicated Gaelic-medium campus at Sabhal Mor Ostaig
on Skye.

The Charter will be presented to the European Parliament (EP) by MEP Kinga
GÁL (Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Alliance, Hungary) in order to make the
European Ministers of Education adapt educational policies accordingly and
the EP to enact a European framework law. The Charter would also serve
as an
initiative for a resolution or recommendation of the Council of Europe
(CoE), at the next session of its Parliamentary Assembly.
A real conference, and not a virtual one, will be organized on the same
topic next year. (Eurolang © 2005)

7. ARCHIVE RECOGNISES THE FATHER OF CORNISH REVIVAL (Cornish)
1. http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
SIMON PARKER. This is Comrwall. 11:00 - 07 June 2005

Five eminent Cornish figures are among 140 names to be added to the latest
edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Henry Jenner, the
father of the modern Cornish language revival, along with his wife
Kitty Lee
Jenner, historian and Shakespeare scholar A L Rowse, slavery abolitionist
Mary Lloyd, and novelist William Golding have been included in the
60-volume
work detailing the lives of all those deemed to have made a
contribution or
impact on the life of Britain.

Cornish language speakers and enthusiasts have expressed their delight
that
Jenner, who was born at St Columb Major in 1848, has been included.
Credited
with having discovered one of the first written versions of the Cornish
language while studying as a student at St Mary's College in Harlow,
he went
on to champion the idiom for the rest of his long life. In 1870, he was
appointed as assistant in the British Museum's department of
manuscripts and
through his work he was soon rubbing shoulders with the likes of Dickens,
Ruskin and Gladstone.

He delivered his first paper, The Cornish Language, at the Philological
Society in 1871, and his book, A Handbook Of The Cornish Language,
published
in 1904, was crucial to its revival as a spoken and written form.

On his deathbed in 1934, Jenner said the whole purpose of his life had
been
to inculcate in the Cornish people a consciousness of their Cornish
identity.

Pol Hodge said: "Jenner is rightly regard as 'The Father of the Cornish
Language Revival'. Without his pioneering work Cornwall would not be
included in the Celtic family. The Celtic Congress, Celtic League, Gorsedh
Kernow, Lowender Peran, all the Celtic dance groups, as well the living
Celtic language of Kernewek, all spring from Jenner. What a culturally
impoverished place Cornwall would be if it had not been for the inspired
genius of Henry Jenner."

Jenner's wife, Kitty Lee, a poet and fellow linguist, is also included in
the dictionary. Kitty Lee Jenner (n??e Rawlings), an author and
artist, was
born in 1853 at Hayle Foundry. She studied art at the National Art
Training
School, South Kensington, and the Slade School of Fine Art. Her artwork
included European sketches and domestic watercolours, but greater
recognition came as a writer. The first of her six novels was A Western
Wildflower, and perhaps the most interesting was her last, When Fortune
Frowns. She was made a bard of the Welsh gorsedd in 1904, when shetook the
bardic name Morvoren.

Poet and Cornish language speaker Sir William Gerald Golding, who was born
at St Columb Minor in 1911, is best known for being the author of Lord Of
The Flies. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983.

His father was a schoolmaster who had radical convictions in politics
and a
strong faith in science. Golding himself started writing at the age of
seven. He studied natural sciences and English at Brasenose College,
Oxford,
and his first book, a collection of poems, appeared a year before Golding
received his BA.

Lord Of The Flies, set in the near future during wartime, was turned
down by
21 publishers, until it finally appeared in 1954. The book became an
immediate success in Britain and a bestseller among American readers
in the
late 1950s. It tells the gripping story of a group of small British boys
stranded on a desert island, who lapse into violence after they have lost
all adult guidance. Lord Of The Flies was followed by The Inheritors,
Pincher Martin and Free Fall. He died at his home near Truro in 1993.

A L (Alfred Leslie) Rowse was born in Tregonissey, near St Austell, in
1903,
the son of Dick Rowse, a china clay miner, and Annie (ne?? Vaston). His
parents were very poor and virtually illiterate, but despite this he
attended St Austell Grammar School and won a scholarship to Christ Church
College, Oxford, in 1921.

He had planned to study literature, having developed an early love of
poetry, but was persuaded to read modern history. As an undergraduate he
developed a reputation for his devotion to speaking precisely correct
English and for his candour about his homosexual behaviour. He graduated
with first class honours in 1925 and was made a Fellow of All Souls'
College, the first such Fellow from a working class background.

He published 105 books, his subjects ranging from history and
Shakespeare to
volumes of poetry about cats. With the appearance of the first volume
of his
autobiography, A Cornish Childhood, in 1942 Rowse became a celebrity and
travelled widely, especially in the United States. In 1952 he retired to
Trenarren, his Cornish home, where he stayed for the remainder of his
life.

Mary Honeychurch (later Lloyd) was born in Falmouth in 1795. At the age of
28 she married Samuel Lloyd, the owner of a colliery and iron foundry near
Birmingham and the couple had ten children between 1824 and 1839.

Despite this large family, Mary Lloyd found time to become a travelling
minister for the Society of Friends.

An active member of the Temperance Society, she set up a Provident Society
to encourage the poor to save for the future. But the campaign against
slavery was her main concern and she was a leading light in the Birmingham
Female Society until her death in 1865.

The latest additions are part of a continuing process of revising andupdating the Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography. The dictionary
currently consists of 63 million words and 50,436 articles telling the
life
stories of 55,257 people.

However, access to the archive is not cheap. Personal subscriptions to the
online edition ( www.oxforddnb.com) cost £195 a year (plus VAT) or £50
(plus
VAT) for three months. The 60-volume print edition costs £7500.




8. Highland Council set a good example (Scottish Gaelic)
1. http://www.whfp.com/1727/editor.html
West Highland Free Press. 3 June 2005

There are at least two remarkable and praiseworthy things about the
Highland
Council's new Gaelic Plan, which was published on Monday.

The first is that it is actually more progressive, imaginative and
exciting
than the Scottish Executive's Gaelic Language Act, which brought it into
being.

And the second is that this fine statement of intent has issued from the
same chambers in Inverness which were until a few short years ago home to
some of the worst anti-Gaelic prejudices in Scotland. Dochfour, where are
you now?

Highland Council's carefully-researched and well-presented bilingual
"Gaelic
Language and Culture Plan" was the first in the country to be launched. It
is not a bad model for the others to follow. Its originators deserve
praise.

Perhaps most notably, Highland Council has now committed itself to
delivering Gaelic-medium education units to every primary school in the
region where there is demand from a minimum of only four pupils.

That bold clause is qualified slightly by reference to "evidence of a
sustainable roll" and "availability of accommodation and of Gaelic
teaching
staff", but it is otherwise clear. Highland Council has pledged to
make good
one of the previously-significant gaps in its GMU policy: the provision of
Gaelic-medium education to the area's smaller primary schools.

These schools are frequently in districts and islands with a relatively
strong residual Gaelic culture, but which have until now been beyond the
reach of Gaelic-medium education, to the detriment of all concerned. The
smaller schools - indeed, any school with four prospective GMU pupils
- now
have the opportunity, by responding to the council's pledge, to add an
extra
stream, extra range, and probably extra teaching staff to their
faculty. It
is an opportunity not lightly to be dismissed.
Highland Council feels less able to deliver GMUs to order in secondary
schools, although we accept at face value its commitment to "provide
as much
Gaelic-medium teaching as possible" in that tier, with a target of one
language class and at least three general subject classes at secondary
level
which receive and cater for children direct from GMU primary education.

The council's other commitments are broad-ranging and impressive. The
involvement and encouragement of native Gaelic speakers in local language
projects; the support for pre-school Gaelic units; promotion of the Gaelic
arts; incentives for the use of Gaelic in the workplace (including, we are
pleased to note, a fresh look at reviving the old "Gaelic Essential" or
"Gaelic Desirable" qualifications in job vacancy advertisements). and of
course, a recommitment by Highland Council to the policy which has
done so
much recently to enlighten motorists in the north: fully-bilingual
place-name signage throughout the region.

It may be difficult to believe that such a positive and wide-ranging
statement of intent has issued from a body whose precessor three short
decades ago was campaigning viciously to prevent a single Gaelic road sign
being erected outside Portree. But it has. A sinner has returned to the
fold. We welcome it with open arms, and hope only that others will follow
Highland Council's example, and that their future actions can match their
excellent words.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 15-Jun-2005, 07:42 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

June 11, 2005

1. SOLEMPNYANS A'N YETH KERNEWEK - A CELEBRATION OF THE CORNISH LANGUAGE (Cornish)

June 12, 2005

2. Irish NGO, Pobal, call for Language Act (Irish Gaelic)
3. Two notes: (Breton)
4. Fight to save rural schools in Wales (Welsh)
5. Scots TV news set for regional split (Scottish Gaelic)
6. New at the Nova Scotia Archives site: (Scottish Gaelic)
7. Why do our schools neglect Scottish literature? (Scots)
8. Feis Ealain na Hearadh (Scottish Gaelic)

June 12, 2005

2. Irish NGO, Pobal, call for Language Act (Irish Gaelic)

CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

The Cornish language organisation Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek launched
its new design and image for the twenty-first century on June 1st
. The event, promoted as Solempnyans a'n yeth Kernewek (a celebration
of the Cornish language), the Cornish Language Fellowship event intended
`to mark the progress of the language and to promote a fresh and dynamicapproach to its use today'.

By re-branding, Kowethas, who were founded in 1979, intend to bring
Kernewek closer to the general public by encouraging more and more
people to use the language in their everyday lives. Dr Loveday Jenkin,
Chair person of Kowethas, said at the launch, held at the Hall for
Cornwall in Truro, that:

`Kowethas isn't just for those fluent in Cornish ?. Kowethas is for
everyone, whether they know a few words or only one ? we must get
them to use the Cornish language as much as possible and show them
that Cornish is fun'.

Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, a Cornish branch member who went along to the
event, commented that the launch of the new logo and brand illustrated
the growing confidence within the Cornish language community. The
evening was fun and lively and successfully reflected the message
that Kowethas want to convey for the Cornish language itself.

The following Saturday, Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek were out in Truro
selling Cornish language material and further promoting the language
to the general public.

(Prepared for Celtic News by Rhisiart Tal-e-bot - Kernow Branch)

J B Moffatt
Secretary General
Celtic League

10/06/05


The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the
western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation
between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political,
cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse
and monitors all military activity within these areas.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at
1. http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

June 12, 2005

2. Irish NGO, Pobal, call for Language Act (Irish Gaelic)
1. http://www.eurolang.net
Davyth Hicks, Bruxelles/ Brussel 6/9/2005

POBAL, the umbrella organisation for the Irish language in the north of
Ireland are calling for an Irish Language Act.

The NGO has been working for several months with advice and support frominternational language legislation experts, Robert Dunbar (University of
Aberdeen), Fernand de Varennes (Murdoch University, Australia) and Wilson
McLeod (University of Edinburgh) on a draft Irish Language Act for the
north. POBAL are now organising a series of consultation workshops for
Irish
speakers and the general public to discuss the proposals.

Chief Executive of POBAL, Janet Muller said: "We are organising the June
seminars in conjunction with local Irish language groups in Belfast,
Derry,
Omagh, Enniskillen and Strabane. In conjunction with Comhairle na
Gaelscolaíochta, we are also organising a special meeting for teachers and
those with a particular interest in education and the Irish language.

"At POBAL's consultation meetings, we will present the draft and then
invite
comments or amendments. This is a chance for the Irish-speaking
community to
have their say in this draft which we hope will lead the way on
legislation
for the Irish language in the north."

As well as the seminars, the public will get a chance to comment on the
draft in writing. POBAL 's draft is available on their website
(www.pobal.org) and the group will also be making written copies
available.
They will be inviting responses over the next two months up until 12th
August.

Janet Muller told Eurolang that: "In the autumn, we will launch our
completed draft. In Wales and Scotland there are Language Acts protecting
the rights of Welsh and Gaidhlig speakers. In the south, there is the
Official Languages Act 2002 and constitutional protection for the Irish
language. It is more than time that there should be a comprehensive Irish
Language Act for the north. POBAL is giving the Irish-speaking
community the
chance to lay down the law on what their needs are and how their rights
should be protected."

A public consultation meeting will be held on Monday 13th June at 8 pm in
the Cultúrlann, 216 Falls Road, Belfast. Pobal can be contacted at 028 90
438132. (Eurolang ©2005)



3. Two notes: (Breton)

TV Breizh denied terrestrial digital broadcasting once more
1. http://www.mercator-central.org/newsletter/newsletter14.htm#1
Mercator newsletter

The private television channel serving Brittany, TV Breizh, has again been
refused the possibility of terrestrial digital broadcasting by the Conseil
Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel, the authority which regulates broadcasting in
France. The political party Parti Breton has condemned the decision and
questioned the logic of making available in Brittany by terrestrial
broadcasting channels such as Télé Monte Carlo and Paris Première but
not TVBreizh, adding that the CSA appears to take an extremely biased position
against the channel.


Local Newspaper introduces Breton and English

Due to the increase of English immigrants to Ar Poc'her/Le Poher, a region
in central Brittany, the local paper has decided to include English
columns,
which were introduced in October 2004. In light of this, the paper has
also
decided to acknowledge the Breton language. Out of a population of 105,000
of the 80 communes of Ar Poc'her, about 15,000 speak Breton and about the
same number are English speakers. Thus about 14.5% speak Breton and 14.5%
are English speakers. The English and Breton material is published in the
back pages of the paper.


4. Fight to save rural schools in Wales (Welsh)

1. http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5057
Penygroes 6/10/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion



Many throughout Wales are worried that a number of small rural schools
will
have to close - with a detrimental effect on the Welsh language. The
councils say that a number of schools are too small to teach the pupils
effectively, but their opponents say that the closing of these schools
will
be to the detriment of the communities and since many of these schools are
in the Welsh language's strongholds that it will have an adverse effect on
the language.

The counties that are considering closing schools are Denbighshire in the
north-east, Powys in mid-Wales and Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire
in the
south-west. There is only a handful of children in some of these
schools and
according to the councils it is not possible to give them a complete
education in these, often one or two-teacher, schools. But the
opponents to
the closures say that report after report says that the children receive a
high standard of education, and the school's supporters say that any
gaps in
their education can be filled by teachers sharing their time between
several
schools.

Another of the counties' arguments is that these small schools are
expensive
to maintain and that a considerable amount of money is needed to spend on
them. But their opponents say that the schools should also offer their
facilities to the community in general, offering various courses and
becoming a focus for the village's activities.

Such was the opposition by parents in Denbighshire that the council has
reconsidered its plans to close or amalgamate 14 primary schools. Thechief
executive says that they are still reassessing the future of the county's
primary schools.

According to a Powys County Council document, 40 of its schools have
25% or
more vacancies. The council's aim is to reduce this to 15 schools with 15%
vacancies by 2007/8.

Already, the battle has been lost in Pembrokeshire, and the protesters
that
fought to keep Ysgol Hermon open have established a fund called Cronfa
Ysgolion Bychain Cymru (the Wales Small Schools Fund) to help other
schools
fight closure. They intend to offer not only practical help, but also some
financial help to fight their battles through the courts if necessary.
A new
society called Cymdeithas Ysgolion Bychain Cymru (Society of Small Schools
in Wales) has also been established which includes six societies
working in
rural areas and has a total membership of 65,000.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) has been fighting
to save small rural schools for a number of years, with its members
offering
assistance to pressure groups that have been established in the various
areas to try and save the schools.

It is in Carmarthenshire that the biggest battle is likely to take
place as
the council has up to 40 schools in its sights, most of them small rural
schools. Cymdeithas yr Iaith has already held a protest during the Urdd
Eisteddfod in the capital Cardiff at the end of May.

"It is possible that the first big battle will be on the future of Ysgol
Llansadwrn," said Ffred Ffransis, the society's education spokesman. "In
this small Welsh-speaking community, parents and governors are
standing firm
against the council's desire to close the school and to transfer the
pupils
to Ysgol Llanwrda. Cynically, the council has announced a substantial
investment in Ysgol Llanwrda for the following year, with the obvious
suggestion that the parents of Llanwrda will not get this investment
unless
Llansadwrn is sacrificed. The lesson of divide-and-rule was learnt from
Pembrokeshire County Council."

With the increase in Welsh language education in the Anglicised urban
areas,
it would be a great shame if the language would lose further ground in its
strongholds. That is what will happen say opponents of the plans, but the
councils' argument is that they will be offering the best education to the
children and that their plans will not affect the language. It is likely
that there will be a great deal of arguing over this subject throughout
Wales over the coming months. (Eurolang © 2005)

5. Scots TV news set for regional split (Scottish Gaelic)
1. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=3D637572005FERGUS SHEPPARD. The Scotsman. 10th June, 2005.

SCOTTISH viewers are to get regionalised news programmes within 18 months,
it was announced last night.

Scotland's two main ITV areas, Grampian and Scottish TV, will create local
sections within their flagship regional news bulletins in the early
evening.

STV's Scotland Today will divide along east-west lines, with different
items
being seen in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

In the Grampian region, different versions of the 6pm North Tonight
bulletin
will be seen by viewers in Aberdeen and Highlands and Islands, and
those in
Perthshire, Tayside and Fife.

The Glasgow-based Scottish Media Group (SMG), which runs both ITV
franchises
, was cleared to create the services as the telecoms watchdog Ofcom
set new
targets for quotas of Scottish-made programmes.

Both 6pm programmes will open with the most important story for the
Scottish
TV or Grampian region, switch to local opt-outs, and then return to
the main
transmission for sport. Only the main 26-minute evening programmes will be
localised.

In a separate development, Ofcom gave its approval yesterday for a
Scottish
version of the ITV 10:30pm news bulletin.

However, that prospect appeared to be fading last night, as SMG argued it
needed public funding to subsidise the =A33 million-a-year cost.

SMG has already held talks with ITN, the national news provider for
ITV, to
discuss the creation of a Scottish 10:30pm programme with the same
look and
feel as that fronted by Sir Trevor McDonald.
Ofcom says that it is unable to provide any subsidy and believes localised
news services are a higher priority.

The regulator also set a date of January 2007 for the launch of a new
digital channel for Gaelic programming.

In return for providing a contribution of between =A3300,000 and
=A3500,000 over
the next three years, SMG will be allowed to reduce the amount of Gaelic
programmes it shows in peak period on STV and Grampian from 26 hours a
year
to six.

By 2009, when the Gaelic channel is up and running, neither STV nor
Grampian
will be under any obligation to broadcast Gaelic programmes.

Ofcom said that STV and Grampian should both produce 5.5 hours of regional
news programmes a week. STV should also make 2.5 hours of non-news
programmes - for example documentaries and sport - every week, with
Grampian's 1.5-hour target reflecting its smaller transmission area.

Ofcom will also allow Scottish broadcasters to reduce the amount of local
non-news programmes they make, as Scotland starts the switchover to
digital
television in 2008.

Vicki Nash, Ofcom's director for Scotland, said: "Audiences tell us they
value programming that reflects the distinct identity, culture and
interests
of Scotland. We believe our proposals will meet that need."

Michael Matheson, the SNP's culture spokesman, said he welcomed the
creation
of a digital Gaelic channel.

However, he said: "I am concerned many people will not have access to
it in
rural parts of Scotland after switchover."


* The threat of further industrial action at the BBC faded last night,
after
talks between unions and Mark Thompson, the corporation's director-
general.Union leaders suspended the threat of strikes after the BBC agreed a
framework to discuss plans to cut 4,000 posts.


6. New at the Nova Scotia Archives site: (Scottish Gaelic)

Gaelic Resources: Goireasan Gàidhlig
1. http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/gaelic/
NSARM

In 1845, Jacob D. Kuhn, editor of the Sydney newspaper Spirit of the
Times,
petitioned the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for financial assistance to
publish an agricultural manual in Gaelic. He stated then that the language
was spoken by no less than 100,000 people in the colony.

One hundred thousand Nova Scotians may have been Gaelic-speakers in 1845,
but this was an age when literacy rates were low, regardless of the mother
tongue; as a result, very few - perhaps only remnant elders from the
immigrant generation - could claim fluency in reading the language. The
response coming from government to Kuhn's petition was, perhaps
understandably, less than encouraging: "however desirable it might be
that a
large portion of our population might be enabled to read such Works in
their
native language, yet the [Agriculture] Committee cannot recommend the
publishing of such work should be borne upon the general funds of the
province."

Sixty-five years later, the Dominion Census of 1911 enumerated 492,338
Nova
Scotians - of whom 145,535 listed Scottish as their ethnic origin; some
50,000 of them were still native Gaelic-speakers. In 1920, an enormous
petition was submitted to Premier G.H. Murray, noting that 29.8% of Nova
Scotians were of Scottish descent and claiming that "The great majority of
Nova Scotians belonging to the Scottish race still preserve the Gaelic
language and are deeply attached to the traditions embodied in its
literature." The petitioners asked that Gaelic be included in the
course of
study for secondary schools-but it was already obvious to government that
despite public interest in linguistic preservation, the number of
Gaelic-speakers in Nova Scotia was on the decline; providing
Gaelic-language
education services was not a priority.

By 1931, the number of Gaelic-speakers in the province had declined to
approximately 30,000. Nina Turner, writing in The Canadian Mosaic in 1957,
noted that by 1951 the number had dropped again, this time
dramatically, to
a mere 6789. With continued out-migration from the province and the
ever-increasing general assimilation of Nova Scotians into North American
culture, further erosion was inevitable.

A half-century later, a community-based initiative - partnered with
the Nova
Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage - carried out both a
survey and a series of public consultations to address issues aroundGaelic
culture and heritage. Their estimate for current Gaelic-speakers in the
province? Less than 500, many of them senior citizens.

Despite the decline of the spoken language in Nova Scotia, it was obvious
that traditions and culture rooted in the Gaelic connection have survived
everywhere - alive, vibrant, and enduring. One of the most significant
findings was the depth of community interest in linguistic
preservation. The
result of these consultations was a blueprint cultural document entitled
"Developing and Preserving Gaelic in Nova Scotia: Strategy for
Community-Based Initiatives" (2004). A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
recently signed between the Province of Nova Scotia and the Highland
Council, Scotland, takes the initiative a step further by providing "a
mechanism to facilitate sharing of resources, ideas, skills and experience
for the benefit of both areas."

Over the years, Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management has been a
quiet
leader in preserving, for future generations, a body of archival records
that document the province's rich Gaelic roots and the continuing culture,
heritage and traditions. The premier collection and most significant
research source held at NSARM is the Maclean, Sinclair family fonds,
acquired in 1953 from the estate of George Maclean Sinclair, Hopewell,
Nova
Scotia, and described then as "the finest collection of original Gaelic
material in Canada" (PANS Annual Report, 1954).

Other major sources for Gaelic research at NSARM include the Helen
Creighton
fonds, with its emphasis on folk heritage and over 4000 songs and ancient
ballads sung or narrated by Creighton's informants, many of them
Gaelic; and
the Cape Breton's Magazine fonds, a rich late-twentieth-century collection
of documents, folklore, music and oral history.

The virtual exhibit presented here is a preview of what we hope will
become
an expanded 'Online Guide to Gaelic Resources at NSARM'. The Dalhousie
Review, Sun Life Review and Canadian Mosaic articles provide introductions
to Gaelic culture in Nova Scotia. The selections of photographs,
documentary
art, music sheets and textual documents show various aspects of the
province's Gaelic heritage, focusing on communities, talented
musicians and
singers, and associations with the famous Gaelic bard John Maclean.
Additional published sources and textual records give examples of the
Gaelic
language and the struggle to preserve it in Nova Scotia through education,
poetry, and the press.


7. Why do our schools neglect Scottish literature? (Scots)
1. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/critique.cfm?id=640342005
CARL MacDOUGALL. The Scotsman. 11th June, 2005.

ARE WE THE only people in Europe who need to be educated about ourselves?
Nothing about us is good enough. Our language has been consistentlyundermined and denigrated and our literature is not considered suitable or
distinguished enough to be taught in our schools. Yet in Robert Burns we
have the world's most celebrated poet. James Hogg's Private Memoirs and
Confessions of a Justified Sinner is a masterwork of world literature.
Walter Scott invented both the historical and romantic novels. Conan Doyle
gave the world its most famous detective. Robert Louis Stevenson invented
the psychological novel. Hugh MacDiarmid was considered one of the
greatest
European writers of the 20th century; indeed, for more than ten years
before
MacDiarmid's death in 1978, two of Europe's leading writers were native
Scots, living in Scotland - he and Sorley Maclean. And Muriel Spark is
surely a candidate for the Nobel laureateship.

As if this wasn't enough, according to Edwin Muir our country's ballads
contain the greatest poetry Scotland has produced. "They bring us back
again
to the Scottish people and its part in the making of Scotland," he said,
"for it was the people who created these magnificent poems. The greatest
poetry of most countries has been written by the educated middle and upper
classes; the greatest poetry of Scotland has come from the people."

So we should stop giving prizes for Burns recitation then telling the
weans
to speak properly, or call it slang when they use the words they were
rewarded for saying so well. The present thinking implies that since
reading
standards have fallen it is a pointless waste of money sending books by or
about Scottish writers into Scottish schools. But, just as artists want
people to see their works and musicians enjoy playing to an audience,
writers would like to be read. Books by Scottish writers should be in
every
Scottish primary and secondary school. We not only need books by dead
Scottish writers, male Scottish writers, women Scottish writers,
middle-class Scottish writers or even muddled, crass Scottish writers, we
need the works of living Scottish writers to be made available so that
pupils can make informed choices, based on understanding rather than hope.

We have a language which for more than 250 years has been disparaged
by the
people who speak it. Supernational forces further threaten our voice,
because language is the last stand against globalisation. Scots has
miraculously withstood cultural onslaught from our neighbours and
generations of schoolteachers, but may not survive this present global
onslaught. Globalisation cannot deal with differences, it cannot
tolerate a
separate identity.

The real reason for using and encouraging our own voice, however, is
that it
can articulate things which cannot be articulated in English. Glaikit
doesn't just mean stupid, thrawn does not simply mean stubborn, nor does
scunner only express disgust - and driech does not mean dull.

The Scottish National Dictionary tells us the Inuit have more than 50
names
for snow. Consider then the following list of Scots words, in common
everyday usage: wastit, swacked, fozie, miroculous, craftie, hertie,
blootered, lumed-up, tosie, stotious roarin, tovie, steamin, chippit,
sappie, wambled, bleezin, soopie, swashed, blebberin, roarie mappie,
cornt,reezie, smeikit, stavin, styterin, fankled, molassed, troosert, drucken,
moidert, bladdert, drouthie, manky, bleezin, bellowses, fuddled, stotin,
slochened, mingin, swittlin, meisled, fleein, fankled, pished, minced,
poopin, boggin, blin, paloovious, legless, blitzed, niddle-noddled,
jakie'd,
guttered, capernoitit, fittered, galraviched, fu.

There are others - mashed, rubber-leggit, wreckit spring to mind - nor
have
I considered the lexicon of phrases in everyday parlance, such as
"Daein the
stiff-leggit walk", or "Waltzin the alkie two-step", a variety of
words and
phrases which not only describe the condition, but states of that
condition.

How can a language with such precision be useless? And it can describe
a lot
more. Wouldn't it be good if we could find 50 words for success or
more than
50 ways of raising the profile of an underused and underdeveloped national
resource, our national literary talent? Scottish children need to be
comfortable using and developing their own confident voice, and understand
that, where a Scottish accent or dialect is concerned, there is
neither left
nor right nor wrong. And there is no more direct route towards this
than by
raising - and in some cases restoring - their birthright, which is the raw
material that has been the legacy of every Scottish writer.


* Carl MacDougall is a novelist and short story writer. This is an edited
extract from his Writers' Manifesto, presented at the Scottish
Parliament at
this week's launch of the cross-party group on Scottish Writing and
Publishing.


8. Feis Ealain na Hearadh (Scottish Gaelic)

Magaidh NicAonghais agus Ali Napier anns an Talla Choimhearsnachd, An
Tairbeart, Na Hearadh, 23/6/05, aig ochd uairean.

£7/£5/£3

Maggie MacInnes and Ali Napier in concert in Tarbert Community Centre,
Harris, 23rd June at 8pm

Funding from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Scottish Arts Council

Contact: Chris E Lawson 01859520488

Posted by: WizardofOwls 15-Jun-2005, 07:52 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

June 13, 2005

1. VICTORY FOR IRISH LANGUAGE ACTIVISTS AS EU STATUS IS GAINED (Irish Gaelic)

June 14, 2005

2. Gaeltacht schools give in to English (Irish Gaelic)
3. Archdruid's resign call to Iwan (Welsh)
4. PARENTS-TO-BE URGED TO CHOOSE MANX NAMES (Manx Gaelic)

June 15, 2005

5. Ulster Scots 'needs more EC funding' (Irish Gaelic)
6. "Ya", a new weekly paper in Breton (Breton)

June 13, 2005

1. VICTORY FOR IRISH LANGUAGE ACTIVISTS AS EU STATUS IS GAINED (Irish Gaelic)

CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg today supported a proposal
which will give official and working status in the European Union
to the Irish language. It will now become the 21st official language
of the European Union. From 1 January 2007, all key EU legislation
will be translated into Irish. Plans to extend this to other legislation
will be reviewed in four years time.

The move has been welcomed by the Irish government. The Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, said it represented a particularlysignificant practical step for the language, and complemented the
Government's wider policy of strong support for Irish in Ireland.


However the real victory can be claimed by the many Irish language
groups who campaigned for the move in the face of a government initially
unwilling to act. As the Celtic League reported last year (Celtic
News No 1483 - EU LANGUAGE STATUS FOR IRISH). It was almost a 'Pauline
conversion' for the Irish government when it reversed an earlier stance
and agreed to seek full official status for the Irish language in
the European Union.

J B Moffatt
Secretary General
Celtic League

13/06/05


The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the
western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation
between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of
political,cultural
and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuseand monitors
all military activity within these areas.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at
1. http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

June 14, 2005
2. Gaeltacht schools give in to English (Irish Gaelic)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1650749,00.html
John Burns. Sunday Times. June 12, 2005.

THEY are paid to speak Irish, but the first official language has
disappeared from many Gaeltacht schools, a new study has found.

Although Gaeltacht teachers get an annual bonus of ?1,450, fewer are doing
their work entirely as Gaeilge. English is now the main language of
instruction in 40% of Leaving Certificate classes in Gaeltacht
schools, the
study found.

Some schools are not teaching in Irish at all, even though gaelscoileanna
receive a higher rate of funding from the Department of Education, getting
?155.50 per pupil compared with ?129.58 in English language schools.

"It is evident that teaching through the medium of Irish in Gaeltacht
post-primary schools is in a state of crisis," the report concludes.

The bizarre result is that many students leaving Gaeltacht schools, after
five or six years of being taught in Irish, are not able to speak the
language very well.

A quarter of pupils leaving primary schools in Gaeltacht areas have onlymiddling Irish, with about 10% having little or none. At Leaving Cert
level,
18% of students have only reasonable Irish, and one in 10 have little or
none.

The study concludes: "It would appear that the education system in the
Gaeltacht is better equipped to inculcate the use of English among
speakers
of Irish than it is to inculcate the use of Irish among first-language
speakers of English."

The academics from University College Galway and An Diseart who
compiled the
report warn that "it is likely very few primary or second level Gaeltacht
schools will still be teaching through Irish in 20 years' time". A
significant number of Gaeltacht schools "have already conceded defeat
in the
face of difficulties and have switched to teaching through the medium of
English". A number of others appear to be "wavering in their
commitment", it
said.

The findings are further proof that English is swamping the designated
Gaeltacht areas - in Galway, Kerry, Donegal, Mayo and west Cork - despite
huge subsidies from the public purse. Instead of helping to support the
language, Gaeltacht schools seem to be undermining it, the study
indicates.

English is not only used in the playground, it is also the dominant
language
in many schools in communications between teachers and parents, and as the
working language of the school board.

The study says that the definition of Gaeltacht schools is now
outdated, and
the status of the 143 primaries, with 9,556 pupils, should be examined.

The study was commissioned by An Chomhairle Um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus
Gaelscolaiochta, which advises the department. Muireann Ni Mhorain, the
chief executive, said the findings should be seen in the context of a more
multicultural Ireland, with a quarter of children in Gaeltacht schools
being
born outside Irish-speaking areas. She said extra staff were needed in the
schools, and better support for teachers.

"The question of teacher training has to be addressed," Ni Mhorain
said. "We
have to look at the low standard of Irish among teachers coming out of
colleges.

"Something must be done to help competency in Irish. Universities must
also
address this, because that is where post-primary teachers qualify."


3. Archdruid's resign call to Iwan (Welsh)
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4085042.stm
BBC NEWS. Sunday, 12 June, 2005, 12:03 GMT 13:03 UK
A former deputy president of Plaid Cymru has revealed he urged current
party
president Dafydd Iwan to resign over the extension of Pwllheli marina.

Archdruid of Wales Robyn Lewis said it would attract more non-Welsh
speaking
visitors and undermine the language.

Mr Iwan, the councillor responsible for development in Gwynedd, presented
the expansion plans to the authority.

But Mr Iwan said the language would not be threatened, and extra moorings
would bring "amazing income" to the council.

The redevelopment plans involve adding an extra 300 berths to the
council-owned marina.

Dr Lewis told BBC Wales' Maniffesto programme, broadcast on S4C, that the
decision to expand the marina was a stab in the back for the area.

Speaking on Maniffesto, Mr Iwan said Dr Lewis' fears were unfounded.

At their annual conference on Saturday, members of Cymuned, the Welsh
language pressure group, voted to condemn the decision by Gwynedd's
executive board and called on Dwyfor planners to refuse permission.

'Poor decision'

Like Dr Lewis, Cymuned fears expansion will attract more non-Welsh
speakers
to the area, to the detriment of the language.

Dwyfor's planning committee will consider a full application in September.

Cymuned chief executive Aran Jones applauded the Gwynedd councillors
who had
voted against the plans.

But, he added : "The council board has made a remarkably poor decision and
we are very supportive of the councillors who are calling for the decision
to be passed over to the full council.

"Report after report has shown that the proposed extension will not
create a
large number of jobs, and that the vast majority of the few jobs that will
be created will not offer a good enough salary to enable workers to
afford a
mortgage in Pwllheli.

"Quality jobs are what we need, not jobs looking after what is no more
than
a car park for wealthy people."

The proposed expansion of Hafan Marina has proved controversial.

Some people, however, have highlighted potential benefits. Pwllheli town
councillor Ian Roberts said the scheme would bring jobs and benefit future
generations.

"I support the development of Pwllheli marina for the simple reasonthat we
owe the future generation something to look forward to," he said.

"We owe them work at least. There are at least 30 young people learning
skills with the marina in Pwllheli at the moment - these people are the
future of the language.

"If they marry and have children and families, they are the future of the
language. There's no doubt about it."



4. PARENTS-TO-BE URGED TO CHOOSE MANX NAMES (Manx Gaelic)
1. http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=870&ArticleID=1041772
IoM Online. 1 June 2005

PARENTS-to-be are being encouraged to consider giving their child a
traditional Manx first name.

Manx National Heritage and the Department of Health and Social
Security has
produced a booklet which features boys and girls names of Manx origin and
what they mean.

The booklet includes the more popular names - such as Juan (well born)
for a
boy, and Breeshy (shining) for a girl - and less commonly used names
such as
Fintan (a little fair one) for a boy and Blaa (flower) for a girl.

Health and Social Security Minister Steve Rodan said: 'I am delighted to
announce this excellent initiative, which supports the promotion of
the Manx
language and culture and is a good example of government working
together to
improve public information.'

The DHSS will make the booklet available at the Jane Crookall maternity
unit, GP surgeries and at the neonatal unit.

Copies will also be available at parentcraft classes and from the Manx
National Heritage website. The booklet is available in large print and
audiotape on request.

The name guide was produced in 2003 by the Manx National Heritage library.

Librarian archivist Roger Sims said: 'Since it first appeared on the Manx
National Heritage website and in hard copy the booklet of male and female
Manx first names has proved very popular and has encouraged many
prospective
parents both on and off the Island to choose traditional Manx first names
for their children.
'All the names listed were carefully selected by Manx National Heritage
staff and it is very gratifying to see that the booklet is not only being
well used but is helping to promote this important aspect of our national
identity internationally also.'

All names in the booklet are acceptable for the purposes of modern day
civil
registration both on and off the Island.

Links: www.gov.im/mnh
June 15, 2005
5. Ulster Scots 'needs more EC funding' (Irish Gaelic)
1. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=646679
Belfast Telegraph. 13 June 2005

MP's call after £12m given for Irish TV

By Brendan McDaid

DUP MP Gregory Campbell today called for the European Commission to
match a
£12m award for an Irish language television and films by giving a similar
amount to the Ulster Scots community.

The EC has authorised the release of the cash for the Northern Irish
Language Broadcast Fund in the UK.

Mr Campbell said that in the interests of equality the same amount should
now be awarded to similar projects in the Ulster-Scots language.

He said: "This type of announcement highlights what some of us in the
Unionist community have been saying: that European moneys ought to be made
available and more efforts ought to be made apparent so that they can
avail
of moneys like this.

"There ought to be in Northern Ireland cultural terms moneys for
people with
a particular interest in the Ulster Scots identity and background and
in the
promotion of that identity."

The overall fund amount for the new EC project will be 17.7 million
euro for
the period 2005 until 2009.

The objective of the fund is to support the production of television and
film output in the Irish language.

Making the announcement an EC spokesman said:

"The Commission considers that since the aid aims to promote cultural
products and the Irish language, it can be authorised under EC Treaty
rules
that allow state aids for the promotion of culture."
EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes added:

"The fund fosters broadcasts for Irish language speakers and I am happy to
approve state aid which promotes cultural and regional identity."

To qualify for funding, a minimum of 60% of the spoken word within a
production must be in Irish and every production must be subtitled in
English.

It must further reach a substantial audience in Northern Ireland.

The Good Friday Agreement contained a commitment to seek more
effective ways
to encourage and provide financial support for Irish language film and
television production in Northern Ireland.

6. "Ya", a new weekly paper in Breton (Breton)
1. http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5061
Douarnenez 6/14/2005 , by Yann Rivallain

A few days after the Breton language day in Karaez, Breton speakers are
celebrating again today with the launch of a new weekly magazine in
Breton.

Around five hundred subscribers will find the first issue of the new eight
page newspaper called Ya (Yes) in their letter boxes today. This new
addition to a series of other existing monthly and quarterly magazines in
Breton (Bremañ, Brud Nevez, Al Lañv or Al Liamm), is of historical
importance for the language as there have been no weekly papers in Breton
for decades.

"Ya will focus on news from Brittany, from Nantes to Brest and the rest of
the world" explains Yann-Fañch Jacq, writer and manager of the Keit
Vimp Bev
association which already publishes three monthly magazines for
children and
teenagers in Breton. The new weekly is written in a lively form of Breton
which is accessible to everyone, particularly new speakers and
learners who
until now struggled to find suitable reading material.

With pieces on young people and cannabis consumption written by a tolerant
and respected Breton priest, a cartoon strip, a recipe for an Algerian
cake,
an interview with an actress from the Strollad ar Vro Bagan theatre troupe
as well as reactions to the recent Breton 'Yes' and French 'No' to the
European treaty referendum, the first issue fulfils initial expectations.

"We're trying to show that Breton is also a daily language for
thousands of
people, Breton can be used in all situations, not only for serious issues"
explains Onenn Beuzec, press officer for the launch of Ya. The first issue
definitely carries the sense of optimism and dynamism that its initiators
had promised subscribers.

Launching any new media, let alone minority language publications, is a
difficult task. For Ya, Keit Vimp Bev benefitted from the experience
of the
Setmana, a successful weekly paper in Occitan in print for over ten years.Like the Setmana, Ya will be printed in Jirona, in Catalunya.

Two young Breton speakers have been recruited by Keit Vimp Bev to
coordinate
the network of stringers which will gradually be built up. In the first
editorial column, Yann-Fañch Jacq invites readers to "send their comments
and suggestions for articles as a team as small will not be able to carry
all the weight on its shoulders only".

Beyond spontaneous contributions, the future of Ya is in the hands of the
thousands of people who speak or are learning Breton. The aim is to
have 800
subscribers by the end of the year. With hundreds of books in Breton sold
every year and thousands of pupils learning the language in bilingual
schools, Keit Vimp Bev can realistically count on a potential of 1,000
subscribers in the near future.

For more information contact "Ya", Keit Vimp Bev. 22, Grand Rue -
29520 Laz.
Telephone 02 98 26 87 12 or e-mail [email protected] .(Eurolang
2005)

Posted by: WizardofOwls 24-Jun-2005, 07:54 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

June 16, 2005

1. Cornish Language to Receive £240,000 Funding from the Uk Government (Cornish)
2. Bards Told of 'Momentous' Year for the Cornish Language (Cornish)
3. Quantity Rules Ok! (Cornish)
4. European Funding to Establish Links Between Young People in Wales and Ireland (Welsh, Irish Gaelic)
5. Digital Gaelic Channel or Not? (Scottish Gaelic)

June 18, 2005

6. MEPs react to EU Council language decision (Scottish Gaelic)
7. Expansion in Welsh language courses at universities (Welsh)

June 19, 2005

8. Gaelic's Other Revival (Scottish Gaelic)
9. Executive Acts to Recruit Gaelic Teachers to Meet Demand (Scottish Gaelic)

June 16, 2005

1. Cornish language to receive £240,000 funding from the UK Government (Cornish)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5064Brussel / Bruxelles 6/15/2005 , by Davyth Hicks

Cornish language activists have welcomed the news today that the UK Government is providing up to £240,000 of funding over the next three years to support Cornish language regeneration.

This will provide the match funding needed to support an application by Konsel Kernow (Cornwall Council) for EU Objective 1 funding, and according to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister "demonstrates the Government's commitment to the principles of recognition and support, under Part II of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. "

Today's announcement provides Government endorsement for the Cornish language strategy, developed in response to the official recognition of the Cornish language by the UK Government in 2002.

In a press release Phil Woolas, Minister for Local Government, said: "Languages are part of our history, our culture, and our identity. It is right that we should nurture the Cornish language. The Cornish Language Strategy provides a realistic and reasonable vision for the development of the language over the next 25 years, commensurate with the capacity of the language movement to grow. I am pleased to endorse the strategy as providing the framework for implementation of the Charter, and to be able to confirm funding to support the application for EU Objective 1
funding."

Referring to the wording in the ECRML he said : "I believe that today's announcement demonstrates the Government's commitment to the resolute action to protect and promote the Cornish language that the Charter seeks. We look forward to working with the local authorities and the Cornish language organisations, through the Government Office for the South West and in line with our Charter commitments, to take the Strategy forward. "

Mr Woolas also acknowledged the leading role that Cornwall Council are playing in the strategy work, alongside the voluntary language organisations which have achieved so much to bring the language to the position it has reached today. "In taking the Strategy forward, it will be crucial that the skills and knowledge of these organisations are harnessed to the full." He added.

A key action will be to appoint a dedicated Language Strategy Co-ordinator to develop detailed implementation plans and begin the hands on work. Today's announcement will enable work towards the appointment to take place.

Welcoming the news Eric Brooke, the Executive Member for Community Services on Cornwall Council said, "It is now our responsibility to take the language forward. On 17 September a conference will take place which will build on the good work already done."

"I hope over the coming years that the Cornish language will become more accessible, allowing those who want to learn Cornish to learn Cornish." (Eurolang © 2005)

2. Bards Told of 'Momentous' Year for the Cornish Language (Cornish)
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
DOUGLAS WILLIAMS. This is Cornwall. 1:00 - 14 June 2005

The year has been "momentous" for the Cornish, declared past Grand Bard George Ansell at the annual meeting of the Gorsedd at Truro. "The language has been brought, blinking from the shadows into the broad daylight, to take its rightful place at the centre of Cornish affairs and has started on the long process of development, with full official support," he said.

One aspect of the process was working towards how Cornish would be written in official documentation and formal education. There are currently hundreds of Cornish language speakers but there is controversy on the spelling forms.

"It is becoming clear that there is a will to grasp the nettle and attempt a settlement of the spelling debate," he said. "We shall be aiming at getting a consensus on a fair and open process for examining the issues and reaching a conclusion acceptable to as large a majority of the Cornish community as possible."

This theme was taken up by the Grand Bard, Rod Lyon. He said a huge amount of work had been done in order to agree a strategy for the future of the language and "to ensure its healthy development and to gain further recognition and financial support from central government".

Praise for the great efforts came also from bard and county councilor Bert Biscoe, who stressed that this progress should be fully recognised and acknowledged.

There are nearly 500 bards worldwide and this year's Gorsedd will be held at Wadebridge on Saturday, September 3.

Mr Lyon spoke of the progress achieved by bards to strengthen, maintain and protect Cornwall's distinctive culture and identity, demonstrating the wide expertise they possess.

One important venture is that of the St Piran Trust.

"A colossal amount of work has been done to protect and make available as a truly visible monument to the public the remains on the sand dunes at Perranporth, of St Piran's Oratory, the second church there, and the nearby Plen-an-Gwary at Rose," he said.

"This is a truly mammoth task deserving the support of all the bards of this college."

Other highlights included the visit to the Welsh and Breton Gorsedds, the Jenner Day at St Erth and Lelant, the splendid events throughout Cornwall on St Piran's Day - particularly the first procession in Penwith - and the huge Lowender Kernewek festival in Australia. The Gorsedd website was growing in stature each year and the annual calendar and cards were proving popular, he added.
"There is a colossal amount of work carried on by the bards which spans the whole year," said Mr Lyon. "I look forward to another year of progress in Cornwall in which Cornish bards will once again strongly feature."

The book contest classes had been expanded still further this year, said Ann Trevenen Jenkin, a past Grand Bard.

There would be seven awards for books published on a Cornish theme, plus the overall Holyer An Gof prize and the Literary Salver.

"This year, books have come in from Australia and Canada as well as publishers in England and Cornwall," Mrs Trevenen Jenkin said. "It emphasises the global strength of Cornishness."

The presentations will be in July and she thanked sponsors Ottakars and Eden for their support.

Australian-Cornish author Rosanne Hawke will be visiting Cornwall during July and speaking at several schools and at the Cornish Studies Library in Redruth.

There were reports also from honorary treasurer David Lindo and honorary secretary Barbara Shaw. With her husband Keith, and Mrs Trevenen Jenkin, she took part in the Gathering of Australian Bards in Australia last month.

Bards were also asked to support the Poetry Cornwall Festival at Chacewater village hall from September 30 to October 2, the proceeds from which will go to the Campaign for a Cornish Assembly.

3. Quantity Rules Ok! (Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall.11:00 - 14 June 2005

Dydh da dhy'hwi, fatla genowgh hwi? Da lowr my a wayt. Lemmyn lies dallethor a wra govynn orthiv vy y'm klassow Kernewek prag eus lytherennow dewbleg yn Kernewek - wel An Quantity Rules yw.

Now lots of beginners ask me in my Kernewek classes why there are double letters in Kernewek. Well it's the Quantity Rules.

Mes pyth a hwarva mar nyns yw da gans dha wuru Kernewek teythyek? Nyns o an Quantity Rules dismygys gans neb akademek yn 1980ow. Nyns yns dismygys gans jynn-amontya. Nyns yw nowydh an Quantity Rules dhe Gernewek.

But what if your local Cornish language guru don't "like the look of it?" Quantity rules were not dreamed up in the 1980s by some academic. They were not invented by computer. The quantity rules are not new to Kernewek:
Vocabularium Cornicum, c. 1200 y'n jeves
kanna for kanna can, tin
commisc for kemmysk mixture
Pascon agan Arluth c. 1350 y'n jeves
dijskynna for diysynna to descend (verse 4)
lemmyn for lemmyn now (verse 6)
Ordinali c. 1400 y'n jeves
war benn for war benn on the end (PC 136)
lemmen for lemmyn now (OM9)
Beunans Meriasek 1504 y'n jeves
mar mynnyth for mar mynnydh if you want (1592)
omma for omma here (1605)
Bywnans Ke c.1525 y'n jeves
a vynnas for a vynnas wanted (1.02)
kimmes for kemmys so much (2.28)
Tregear Homilies c.1550 y'n jeves
henna for henna this (1a)
omma for omma here (1a)
Gwreans an Bys 1611 y'n jeves
a vydn for a vynn wants (1951)
ha bannethe for bennath blessing (1946)
tha vabm for dha vamm your mother (1920)
ha thymmo for dhymmo to me (1942)
Dzh??an Tshei An Her, 1707 y'n jeves
me a vedn for my a vynn I want (2)
ybma for omma here (2)

Ytho prag y hwren ni kavoes an Quantity Rules yn Kernewek a hedhyw?
So why have these quantity rules in Kernewek spelling?

Agas gweles nessa seythun - see you next week.

4. European funding to establish links between young people in Wales and Ireland (Welsh, Irish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5063
Penygroes 6/15/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion

Urdd Gobaith Cymru has received a grant of £183,174 towards a project aimed at establishing "a joint cross-border initiative, which focuses upon the cultural co-operation between youth agencies in Ireland and Wales". The two movements involed are Ogras in Ireland and the Urdd in Wales.

The grant has been awarded by Interreg, and the project, Two Countries, One Age, will be formally launched over the summer. Urdd Gobaith Cymru has appointed a development Officer to run the project; Nia Meleri Roberts has already started in her new post, and Caoimhín Ó Cadhla has been appointed to a similar role within Ógras.

The objective of the project will be to foster links between Ógras and the Urdd, and to arrange study visits where experience and good practice will be exchanged on aspects of youth work. The links will be forged on a member-to-member level, volunteer-to-volunteer level, and staff to staff level. This will ensure the success of the project in the long term. The project further aims to encourage young people to gain skills in youth work.

The joint aims and objectives of the project are to share good practice of the two youth organizations, to learn about each other's cultures and traditions, to increase communication between two countries by learning about each other's traditions by attending each other's festivals and thereby promoting mutual understanding and respect for their own languages and other languages.

A study visit programme will be established between young people in Ireland and Wales. Each visit will be based around a series of themes based on the culture and language of Ireland and Wales respectively. There will be a focus on inclusion of young people from socially deprived areas. Young People with disabilities will also be encouraged to participate.

"The Urdd has 3,000 members and Ógras has 400 members over 16 respectively and the project is targeted towards this age group," says Efa Gruffudd Jones, chief executive of Urdd Gobaith Cymru. "However, the long term intention is that both organisations will have identified and trained, through this project, a group of young volunteer leaders who are willing to assist with the delivery of activities, and the setting up of clubs for the younger age groups. These young people will also have made strong links with Irish counterparts, so that the Irish/Welsh relationship will continue to the future. We look forward to working with Ógras and we intend to gain the support of other youth agencies working in Wales as the scheme develops therefore fulfilling this exciting project's objectives."

The project will concentrate on getting the young people of Wales and Ireland to work together, by establishing a long term relationship that will discuss such themes as the experiences of young people who speak a minority language.

The project will also encourage young people to learn new skills and to become interested in youth and community work so that they can develop as leaders of the future and to establish clubs for younger members. The young people will be taught about the culture and traditions of both countries, and there will be opportunities to visit festivals, such as the National Eisteddfod in Wales and Scleip na hOige in Ireland.

Understanding of and respect for their languages and other languages will be encouraged. The project also aims to discuss and to improve their understanding of environmental issues.

The project will be officially launched at the National Eisteddfod of Wales during the first week of August 2005. Then, 20 young people from Wales and 20 from Ireland will meet on study courses - five held in Ireland and five in Wales. There will also be a workshop on the Welsh Language, where the experiences of young people who speak a minority language will be discussed. Other workshops in Wales will be on the Arts and Welsh Culture, Welsh Traditions, the Media in Wales and Government in Wales.

Young people from Ireland will visit Wales for the first time as part of this project during the National Eisteddfod whilst the Urdd members will visit Scleip na hOige in November. (Eurolang © 2005)

5. Digital Gaelic Channel or Not? (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2005/jun05/gaelic_broadcasting.html
Highland Council Press Release. Issue Date: Wednesday 15 June 2005

At the end of last week OFCOM announced their plans for Gaelic broadcasting. They have given ITV permission to cut its commitments to regional TV programming. This means that Scottish Media Group will be broadcasting only 6 hrs of Gaelic programmes per year in peak viewing times instead of the present 26 hours.

OFCOM say that the best way to serve the Gaelic audience is through a dedicated Gaelic digital channel, instead of Gaelic programming on the standard channels. They agree that a new Gaelic channel should be set up by a partnership of the BBC and the Gaelic Media Service.

Councillor Hamish Fraser, Chairman of Highland Council's Gaelic Select Committee said: "We welcome a dedicated Gaelic digital channel, provided that the channel is adequately funded as the quality of Gaelic programming must be equal to that of main stream programmes. This requires realistic and sustained financial support. Gaelic broadcasting and multi-media services support the work of Gaelic Education and the cultural sector, as it brings the language alive for people of all ages; Gaelic is being used within cutting edge technology.

I am very disappointed that SMG will not broadcast Gaelic programmes in peak viewing times. We know from statistics supplied by independent audience, they are ignoring the number of people watching Gaelic programmes during peak times is substantial.

"When SMG (Grampian) cease to broadcast Gaelic programmes they will loose a substantial amount of audience support. They are ignoring the voice of the community that they serve.

"It is also important that the issue of equipment, required to receive a digital channel, is addressed and that there is a system in place to ensure that all those who wish to continue receiving Gaelic broadcasts are not financially burdened as a result of this change. It is equally important that the government address the issue of Gaelic radio transmission and reception throughout Scotland and fulfil the expectations of the Committee of European Experts, in relation to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, that all of Scotland can receive Radio nan Gàidheal."
Dr Michael Foxley, Vice Convenor of The Highland Council said: "It is obvious that OFCOM has ignored the input they have received from the Gaelic community, their own research findings, the recommendations of the Gaelic Media Service, which reports to OFCOM and also the views of Highland Council.

"To deprive the Gaelic audience of programmes during peak viewing hours before the switchover to digital television is an affront to the Gaelic community, especially when there is no assurance that an adequately funded digital channel is going to materialise. This is a particularly bitter message in the month that the Gaelic Bill received its' Royal Assent."

June 18, 2005

6. MEPs react to EU Council language decision (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5066
Brussel / Bruxelles 6/16/2005 , by Davyth Hicks

MEPs have broadly welcomed Monday's decision by Europe's Foreign Ministers to increase the provision for all 'official' European lesser-used languages in the EU institutions, and for Irish becoming an official and working language.

The deal, reported on Eurolang, stops short of giving Treaty status for these languages, the main difference being that legislation translated into these languages will not count as a legal authentic version.

The languages affected are only those with legal status in their member state and include Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Basque and Catalan, for example. It will exclude languages without legal status in their state such as Breton and Occitan.

Citizens will be able to correspond with the EU institutions in these languages, legislation adopted by co-decision by the European Parliament (EP) and the Council will be translated and publicised, and the languages will be used in debates at Council level - and eventually in the EP and the Committee of the Regions.

However, before the provisions can be implemented each member state has to give the go ahead.

Ms Jill Evans MEP, who has been leading Plaid Cymru's campaign for Welsh to become an official EU language, says that the deal opens the door for Welsh to have the enhanced status if the UK Government has the will.

While welcoming the news about official and working status for Irish Ms Evans said: "The UK Government must now take action during their Presidency of the EU and implement these rights for the Welsh language. Nothing stands in their way .. This could be a real and positive action for the UK Presidency.
"This deal sets a very important precedent and we in Plaid Cymru demand that the Welsh language gets the recognition it deserves in Europe."

Plaid's Parliamentary Leader Elfyn Llwyd MP added: "The UK Government has no more excuses on this - we expect to see urgent action to give the Welsh language the status it deserves in the EU. The major regulatory obstacles have now been removed and it is a question of political will. With the UK Government shortly to take over the Presidency of the European Union we expect to see an improvement in the status of the Welsh language in the EU over the next six months."

Eurolang spoke to Swedish MEP, Ms Ewa Hedkvist Petersen (PSE), who has Sámi speakers in her constituency, and where Sámi has official status. "I welcome it, I think its logical that if you can use Sámi in Sweden it makes sense that you can also use it in the European Union."

Catalan MEP Bernat Joan (EFA) considers it a positive step but insufficient. He said that "this represents a small step on a long journey. For my party anything less than full official language status is not good enough. But here we are, with today's agreement it becomes clearer that in this past year more has been done to improve the status of the Catalan language in Europe than in the past twenty years and that's very positive indeed. Also we have been able to highlight a real, legitimate problem which with today's agreement gains a certain recognition but is far from satisfactorily resolved."

Mr Joan pointed out that Monday's agreement is "in relation to the EU Council, but the battle at the European Parliament is not yet won and we must go on making the case for why our microphone should not be cut off when we address Parliament in our own language".

He added that "the implicit message once again in this negotiation is that if we as Catalans want to lead a full role in Europe we have to be a member state. If the Council believes that the official languages in Europe are those of the state, then it follows that what we now lack is a state of our own."

Scottish National Party MEP Ian Hudgton said : "In recent months I have been campaigning with SNP colleagues at Holyrood and Westminster for Scottish Gaelic to be given increased recognition in Europe. The Irish move gives those calls a boost."

Some press sources have mis-reported that the Council decision only applies to the Spanish co- official languages Basque, Catalan and Galician. However, an EU Council spokesperson confirmed to Eurolang on Tuesday that the Council conclusion does apply to all languages with 'official' status. The conclusion defines these 'official' languages, other than member state languages, as those that "have a status recognised by the constitution of a Member State on whole or part of its territory or of which the use as a national language is authorised by law". (Eurolang © 2005)

7. Expansion in Welsh language courses at universities (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd Meirion, Penygroes 6/16/2005

Pressure has been mounting over the years on Welsh universities to offer more courses through the medium of Welsh, with a number of students protesting about the lack of choice. Now two recently announced initiatives hope to expand the provision available.

The University of Wales Bangor will be spending an extra £50,000 next year on its Welsh language scheme. Over the past four years, the number of Welsh-speaking students at the University has risen by a quarter to a total of nearly 2,500. It is already the main provider in Wales of higher education courses in Welsh, delivering over 40% of the whole provision, and covering subjects in the Arts, Sciences, Education and Health.

"Despite the financial strictures upon higher education, the University is making a clear commitment to strengthening our Welsh Language Scheme and ensuring that we continue to develop Welsh language courses in Higher Education," said University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Merfyn Jones.

The latest discipline to start Welsh-language provision is the Department of Law, recognising the increasing importance of Welsh proficiency within the legal profession in Wales. The award of a Welsh-medium Teaching Fellowship to the department has enhanced the expansion of this provision. The policy has also been boosted by three new research scholarships aimed at attracting young academics to the disciplines of Music, Psychology and Biological Sciences.

The Welsh Assembly Government has set a target to increase the overall percentage of those higher education students following at least part of their course in Welsh from the current 3.4% to 7% by 2010. 1,070 are currently following at least some part of their course in Welsh in Bangor which is 10% of the total number of students. The University of Wales has announced ten graduate scholarships across Wales to promote Welsh language teaching. "The scholarships are awarded for four or five years and include an additional year of training for recipients once they have secured a doctorate to their relevant discipline," said a spokesman on behalf of the University of Wales.

Among the subjects where scholarships are offered are music, geography, history, French, biological sciences, psychology and sports science. (Eurolang © 2005)

June 19, 2005

8. Gaelic's Other Revival (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5067
Glaschu/Glasgow 6/17/2005 , by Màrtainn MacLeòid

Following many years of decline, serious attempts are now being made to revive Scottish Gaelic in the Gàidhealtachd (Gaelic- speaking) areas of Nova Scotia, Canada.

Scottish Gaelic became established as a community language in many areas of Nova Scotia during the 19th century following the migration of thousands of Gaelic speakers from the Scottish Highlands to Tìr nan Craobh (the Land of Trees) as a result of the Highland Clearances and of new economic opportunities in Canada. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Nova Scotia earned a reputation throughout the Gaelic speaking world for its Gaelic verse and Highland music and culture. To support the language, Gaelic courses were established in St Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, in 1891 and a Cape Breton Gaelic college was established in 1938.

Having been strong as a community language for many generations, however, intergenerational transmission of the language largely stopped from the 1930s onwards. Today it is believed that there are fewer than 500 native Gaelic speakers left in Nova Scotia compared with more than 50,000 in 1901.

Serious attempts to reverse language shift in Nova Scotia, particularly in Cape Breton Island, started around twenty years ago. Since then, the number of Gaelic classes has increased and a bilingual newspaper Am Bràighe has been established. Building on this progress, the Gaelic revival has taken many significant steps since the millennium. In the year 2000, the Highland Village museum, Cape Breton established a Gaelic language plan and in 2002, Nova Scotia Province, Canada and Highland Council, Scotland signed a memorandum of understanding to promote links between Gaels in the two countries. The Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage has also appointed a Gaelic Development Officer for the area.

A detailed academic report was published on the situation of Gaelic by the Department of Tourism and Culture in 2002: Gaelic - an Economic, Cultural and Social Impact Study by Michael Kennedy. Building on this, another report: Developing and Preserving Gaelic in Nova Scotia was written last year by a steering group from the Gaelic community with support from the provincial government. This report put forward strategic recommendations to develop the language in the community, to increase the number of Gaelic speakers, to increase confidence, to increase opportunities to use Gaelic and to achive legal protection for the language. A steering group is now working towards the implementation of the recommendation.

Like the situation of Gaelic in Scotland, there is also a severe lack of Gaelic tutors in Canada. For this reason, Fionnlagh M. MacLeòid, director of Comhairle nan Sgoiltean Àraich recently visited Canada to deliver tutor training using new Total Physical Response methodology. Gaelic can be learnt both quickly and effectively in the manner according to MacLeòid. That this course will provide a foundation for more Gaelic classes, training courses and language development in Nova Scotia.

Canadian Gaelic speaker Rob Dunbar, a specialist in language planning, recently visited Nova Scotia on behalf of the Gaelic Language Board Bòrd na Gàidhlig, of which he is a member. According to Mr Dunbar: "In 2004, Bord na Gaidhlig sent me to Nova Scotia to represent the Bord at the launch of the report 'Developing and Preserving Gaelic Culture in Nova Scotia'. As a descendant of Nova Scotia Gaels, I was honoured to be there. We recognised that Nova Scotia was the last place outside of Scotland where the language is spoken in communities, and that Nova Scotia Gaels have preserved a rich and unique linguistic and cultural heritage that is valuable to us all. It is encouraging that the Nova Scotia government is taking steps to support the language, and we in Scotland should do what we can to assist them, as Gaelic and broader Scottish culture has benefited a lot from these communities." (Eurolang © 2005)

9. Executive Acts to Recruit Gaelic Teachers to Meet Demand (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12660384
MOIRA KERR. Press and Journal. 09:00 - 18 June 2005

The Scottish Executive is taking action to address the national shortage of Gaelic teachers as the popularity of the language soars in Argyll and other areas of the country.

The roll of the Gaelic medium unit at Salen Primary School, on Mull, will go up to 32 in August.

But Argyll and Bute Council's efforts to recruit a second teacher to cope with growing demand have so far proved unsuccessful.

Over on Islay, the council has been advertising, without success, for a teaching vacancy which arose at Easter in Bowmore Gaelic medium unit.

A parents' group at Salen agreed at a meeting on Thursday night to write to Education Minister Peter Peacock, urging the Scottish Executive to address the problem.

Group member Jacqueline Bennett, of Lochdon, whose two sons attend the Salen unit, said: "We have 29 children at the unit and it is going to go up to 32 in August.

"It's a lovely school. The Gaelic teacher and the head are very supportive, but one of the main problems is that there is a national shortage of Gaelic teachers.

"Gaelic education is a victim of its own success, so many people are wanting it. Parents want their children to be bilingual because there is so much more happening with Gaelic now. There are more job opportunities."

Appealing to suitable teachers to apply for the Salen vacancy, Mrs Bennett stressed that Mull was a great place to live.

She said: "We are only 45 minutes from the mainland and we have good services - including an NHS dentist."

Islay councillor Robin Currie has suggested that greater incentives should be offered to attract Gaelic teachers to the isles.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said a Gaelic teachers action group, which was tasked with looking at ways of addressing the recruitment problems, was due to report back to the education minister shortly.

She said that a host of new Gaelic teachers would be graduating this summer.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 01-Aug-2005, 01:02 PM
Hello!

Because of some things going on in my personal life, I have been unable to keep this thread going. I have almost 60 news stories in my e-mail box that need to cleaned up and posted here. However, No one has e-mailed to ask about the News, so I am wondering if anyone is reading them. If so PLEASE let me know. Keeping these news stories posted is a lot of work for me. I don't mind doing it if someone is reading them, but if not then I am wasting a lot of time on it. I am going to psot everything I have in my e-mail box, and if I haven't heard from anyone by the end ot the week, this News thread will be closed.

Thanks!
Allen

Part 1

Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

June 22, 2005

1) Proud Gaelic poet Davitt dies at 55 (Irish Gaelic)
2) Gaelic bred?!? (Irish Gaelic)

June 24, 2005

3) Am Baile wins top award (Scottish Gaelic)
4) War Detectives (Scottish Gaelic)
5) Ireland's loss: Michael Davitt, Irish language poet, dies suddenly (Irish
Gaelic)
6) Sangschaw - Scots Cultural Competeition (Scots)
7) Making the Irish language work in Europe. (Irish Gaelic)
8) 3 articles ... (Welsh)
9) Braw idea for new chapter in Scottish children's literature (Scots)

June 22, 2005

1) Proud Gaelic poet Davitt dies at 55 (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.canada.com/
Associated Press
Monday, June 20, 2005

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Gaelic-language poet Michael Davitt, who led an influential 1970s literary movement in Ireland's native tongue, has died, the government announced Monday. He was 55.

"Michael Davitt has been described as the Bob Dylan of the Irish language. He was central to the transformation of the Irish language into a form which allowed true expression of contemporary Ireland," said Arts Minister John O'Donoghue. "The Irish language has lost a true champion and hero."

Davitt in 1970 founded an Irish poetry magazine called Innti that became synonymous with a new generation of writers committed to creating a modern poetic voice in Gaelic, a language that was overwhelmed by English in the 19th century. He incorporated aspects of 1960s American Beat poetry into his work alongside his own mixture of melancholy and political irreverence.

He wrote a half-dozen collections of poetry from 1982 to 1990. He also produced and presented Gaelic-language programs on RTE, the Irish state broadcaster, in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1994 he received the Butler Prize, the top literary award of the Irish American Cultural Institute.

The cause of death wasn't made public. No funeral arrangements were immediately announced.

© The Canadian Press 2005

2) Gaelic bred?!? (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/june05/gaelic210602.php
June 21, 2005

First Irish-language stand-up gig

Comics are planning what's thought to be the first ever stand-up show to be performed entirely in the Irish language.

On Friday, four comedians who usually perform in English will take to the stage of Belfast's Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, an arts centre on the Falls Road dedicated to keeping the Gaelic language alive.

One of them, Colman Higgins, pictured, said: "While there's been a thriving stand-up comedy scene in Dublin and Belfast for many years, this is the first time a show has taken place entirely in the Irish language.

"Like most people in Ireland, I couldn't stand the Irish language as a kid in school. But for year or two in the mid-Nineties I went to a group in Dublin who were into using the language as just a language, without the conservative or traditionalist connotations it usually has.

"I've been doing stand-up for years and was always interested in trying it in another language, so I jumped at this chance to give it a go. I've translated part of my set, but had to drop anything with puns. Higgins - who is taking a solo theatre show Bus-spotting to the Edinburgh Fringe - shares the Culturlann stage with Tiernan, Padraig Fox and Breda O' Donnell for the show, which starts at 8pm.

June 24, 2005

3) Am Baile wins top award (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/news_item.jsp?ID=23
Am Baile. News. 17 Jun 2005

The Highland Council Am Baile team were delighted to receive the Scottish Executive Delivering Excellence Award at the COSLA Awards 2005.

The Highland Council Am Baile team were delighted to receive the Scottish Executive Delivering Excellence Award at the COSLA Awards 2005.

Public Service Reform Minister Tom McCabe presented the award at the Executive sponsored COSLA Excellence Awards ceremony in Bishopbriggs. He said:

"I am happy the Executive is again associated with the COSLA Excellence Awards and congratulate all the winning projects. These awards allow us to celebrate particular achievements and overall delivery of high-quality public services to the people of Scotland.

"The winner of the Scottish Executive-sponsored Excellence Award, the website Am Baile, has opened up the history and culture of the Highlands and Islands to a worldwide audience. Much of the material on the website was hitherto unavailable due to the fragility of the historical documents and artefacts.

"More than 40,000 items were digitised with accompanying details translated into Gaelic by a team of dedicated staff. It has proven to be a huge success, and now receives over 19,000 visitors a month from users worldwide.

"It is the first project to use the Gaelic language in this way and represent the Highlands and Islands in such a way. It is delivering a successful, high quality public service to the benefit of Scotland and beyond.

"This is exactly the type of innovative public service that COSLA's Excellence Awards were created to honour. The Executive is committed to improving the delivery of public services in Scotland and these awards help celebrate the kind of standards we want to see in councils across the whole of Scotland."

Councillor Andy Anderson, Chairman of The Highland Council's Education Culture and Sport Committee, said: It is worthy recognition of the skill enthusiasm and commitment of the team and reflects the high quality of services we are providing in Highland."
Am Baile was established with initial funding from the New Opportunities Fund and is now funded by The Highland Council and managed as part of Highland Libraries.

The Council also won the COSLA's Securing a Workforce for the Future award for its pioneering in-house social worker training programme, Growing our Own, and the Convention's Health Improvement Award with its imaginative Ross-shire based Healthways exercise and healthy eating programme for people of all ages.

COSLA Excellence Awards are in their ninth year and it is the fourth year that the Executive has sponsored an award.

4) War Detectives (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/news_item.jsp?ID=21
Am Baile. 16 Jun 2005

Am Baile has received National Lottery funding to develop an exciting oral history project describing the impact of the Second World War on the Scottish Highlands.

Am Baile has received National Lottery funding to develop an exciting oral history project describing the impact of the Second World War on the Scottish Highlands.

Over the next few months, pupils from twelve primary schools throughout the Highlands will be acting as Am Baile's 'War Detectives'. These young investigators have already begun gathering evidence, interviewing local people who either lived in the Highlands during the war or who belonged to the Highlands and had to go away to work or serve in the Armed Forces. They are interviewing people in their language of preference, be it English, Gaelic or a local dialect.

Maggie Johnstone of Am Baile comments: 'This is a wonderful opportunity to create a lasting resource on the way World War 2 affected people in the Highlands. Both the children and the older people taking part are getting a lot from the experience.' Jamie Gaukroger, Am Baile's Content Co-ordinator, adds: 'Preserving the memories and reminiscences of those who experienced life at that time is proving to be tremendously rewarding and worthwhile and will be of great value for generations to come.'

The interviews are being recorded and edited versions will be available as audio files with transcripts on the Am Baile website later this year. Transcripts in English and Gaelic will also be displayed in all Highland Libraries. In addition, the interviews will be accessible through the War Detectives website, along with the war reminiscences of people from all over Scotland.

War Detectives is a unique e-learning initiative that gives Scottish children the opportunity to learn first-hand from older generations about their experiences of living and working during the Second World War. It encourages schools and community participants to create a legacy of online learning resources, by helping primary school pupils to become 'War Detectives' and tell the story of the Second World War in their local area.

War Detectives is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and administered in Scotland by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) and Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS). It is part of Their Past Your Future Scotland, led by the Scottish Museums Council (SMC), a year-long programme commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

War Detectives http://www.wardetectives.info/

Their Past Your Future Scotland http://www.scotlandswar.info/

5) Ireland's loss: Michael Davitt, Irish language poet, dies suddenly (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net
Eoghan O Neill, Belfast 6/21/2005

Many tributes have been paid to Michael Davitt, one of the most prominent and innovative Irish language poets, who died suddenly at the weekend.

Aged only 55, Davitt died at his home in Sligo and will be buried in his native Cork. Michael Davitt was one of a generation of young poets who revolutionised modern Irish language poetry.

Brought up and educated in Cork, Davitt was much influenced by the poet Seán Ó Ríordáin. While a student at University College Cork, Davitt was among those who in 1970 set up the immensely influential poetry magazine, Innti.

The journal became a catalyst for the modernisation of Irish language poetry and a forum for some of the most talented young voices in Irish poetry. Indeed it inspired almost a 'movement' of poets. Davitt himself remained one of the most dynamic and distinctive voices of Irish poetry over the last 35 years.

His seminal collection, Bligeard Sráide, (1983), with it's urban and traditional themes being presented in urbanised traditional Irish was particularly groundbreaking.

Davitt's work enjoyed critical and popular acclaim and while he penned six collections of original poetry over the last 30 years he was not the most prolific of poets. Even so his poetry was always thoughtful and accessible and more than any other Irish language poet in recent times he introduced contemporary expression and syntax into modern poetry in Irish.

Writer Alan Titley described Davitt as 'the driving force behind modern Irish language poetry.' Fellow poet Gabriel Rosenstock said of Davitt, "thugsé an fhilíocht amach as póirsí dorcha na n-ollscoileanna go dtí an tsráid agus na pubanna" (he took Irish out from the dark porches of the
universities, out into the street and to the pub).

And in his tribute Arts Minister John O'Donoghue referred to the fact that Davitt had been described as 'the Bob Dylan of the Irish language.'

Throughout his life Michael Davitt worked in the Irish language medium, first with Gael - Linn in the 1970's in promoting the arts in Irish and later working for RTÉ in the 1980's until his early retirement in 1988. In 1994 he was presented with the Butler Award for Literature by the Irish - American Cultural Institute. He was also a member of Aosdána, the affiliation of creative artists in Ireland set up by the Arts Council.
(Eurolang © 2005)

6) Sangschaw - Scots Cultural Competeition (Scots)
http://www.lallans.co.uk/sangschaw.html

Promotit bi the Scots Language Society

10.30 am til 7.00 pm, Sunday 30th October 2005

The Corn Exchange, Melrose

The idea o Sangschaw cam frae takkin pleisure in the Mod. Whaurbyes the Mod ruises Scots Gaelic cultur weel an promotes - throu language, leiterature, sang, pipes an clarsach - the hants an history o the Gaels o the Heilans an Islands, Lawlanders (Borderers amang thaim) haes thair ain heirskep tae, wi a reinge o muisic, sang an letters sib til thon content o the Mod. Fiddle, cauld wind pipes, Scots sang, prose and poetry shuid mean as muckle til oorsels as Gaelic-wrocht cultur sen we ar sae sonsie as hae three leids makkin up oor Scottish identity - Scots, Gaelic an Inglis.

This year, syne, sees us tak a first step wi this Sangschaw event, a gaitherin ti ruise the Scots cultural heritage. It is ane o the aims o the Scots Leid Associe ti help fowk win at thair best Scots, an this is reflectit in the walin o prose, poems an sangs, alang wi the muisical aspects o this new gaitherin.

Clesses ither nor thaim that's listit on the entry form micht be brocht forrit in future years, an the organisers wad be gled o onie thochts an suggestions. This year, for instance, it wis decidit no ti pit forrit set pieces for the instrumental clesses, sen a puckle o thaim is for sindrie instruments wi sindert repertoires; sae performers is latten wale whit o thair ain muisic micht best mell wi the aim o the competeition: ti foster interest in Scots heirskep. The organisers can aye mak suggestions anent muisical pieces gin fowk needs that. Sangschaw is mair aboot a wey o daein an growein, raither nor haudin til onie rule-beuk, aimin ti bring on self-expression throu Scots, ti neibour fowks' ither cultural ploys in Gaelic an Inglis.

7) Making the Irish language work in Europe. (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200506/1119439323.html
Released by: Clare Suttie
2005-06-22 06:22:03
Summary:

Irish has been recognised as the 21st working language of the EU. Atlas supply translation services in Irish - as well as Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Cornish!

For_Immediate_Release:

Making the Irish language work in Europe

While the arguments over the future of the European Constitution continue, London agency Atlas Translations is poised to benefit from a recent change to the list of languages used by the European Union (EU).

It was announced earlier this month that Irish, spoken by more than a third of Ireland's 4.1 million population, will become an official working language of the EU, the twenty-first language to be accorded this status.

This means that Irish can be used in communication within EU institutions, and translation of all the Regulations, Directives, and draft documents will be necessary. It is estimated that 2.5 million pages a year need to be translated for the European Commission alone.

Clare Suttie, Director of Atlas Translations, explained: "Legislation approved by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers will now be translated into Irish, and interpretation from Irish will be available at European Parliament plenary sessions." There will inevitably be a huge increase in demand for Irish translators. "Atlas can call on its database of freelance translators and interpreters to provide fast, accurate translation services," says Clare.

Atlas, who have more than 14 years' experience, have a staff of 10 in their Covent Garden office but are able to call upon over 6000 specialist suppliers with skills in all the languages of Britain and Ireland -- not just Irish but also Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Cornish -- not to mention those of the countries that joined the EU in 2004, including Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese and Polish.

Notes for editors

Journalists seeking further information should contact Clare Suttie on 0207240 6666 in the first instance.

Atlas Translations was established in 1991, and is an established, professional company, with an excellent reputation within the language, communication and translation industry. Atlas Translations is a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, the Association of Translation Companies and the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. These bodies monitor the qualifications and competence of members, and define codes of practice.
Services include translation, proofreading, subtitling, localisation, interpreting, BSL interpreting, voiceovers, telemarketing, copywriting, indexing, transcription, Americanisation, brand checking, typesetting, deaf and blind communication services, Plain English, fact-checking, research, cultural awareness training and much more.

Atlas is able to offer a complete range of high quality language, communication and translation services from start to finish. Teams of experts, who are specialists in their fields, work only in their mother tongue. Hence Atlas attract major clients in numerous fields - banking, pharmaceutical, marketing and PR, computing, charities, museums and airlines - from Microsoft to Glaxo SmithKline. Atlas work in all languages -from American English and British Sign Language to Xhosa and Zulu.

Released by Atlas Translations 22 June 2005

Atlas Translations Ltd
14a Goodwin's Court
Covent Garden London WC2N 4LL
Tel - 0207 240 6666 Fax - 0207 240 6996
www.atlas-translations.co.uk

8) 3 articles ... (Welsh)

a) Radical changes needed to stave off Welsh language crisis, warns academic

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Jenny Rees, Western Mail. Jun 23 2005

A RADICAL reappraisal of community education in rural parts of Wales is needed if the crisis facing the Welsh language is to be evaded, an expert will warn next week.

In the second of a series of lectures, Dwynwen Lloyd Raggett, head of Ceredigion County Council's Theatr Felinfach Community Education Centre, will take the podium during the Y Ffwrwm 2005 lecture series.

During the inaugural lecture, Prof Suzanne Romaine argued that mainstream education alone will not save a language.

Acknowledging the success of teaching Welsh as a second language in primary and secondary schools throughout Wales she warned that without the support of a strong social context these efforts could yet be in vain.

The Welsh-speaking heartlands of the west and north have been able to provide such a context. In the second lecture in the six event series Ms Raggett will argue that with the pervading economic, linguistic and cultural crisis threatening the very core of Welsh-speaking communities a radical reappraisal of community education in rural areas is required.
"Most rural schools in Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire are called community schools," said Ms Raggett. "With so many under threat of closure or amalgamation it is a particularly apt moment to be looking at the potential of these village or area establishments as educational, cultural and economic powerhouses on a 24/7 basis."

She added, "Community education in the west of Wales has traditionally been the Cinderella of the education service. Realising its potential as a pacemaker designed to help these communities to meet the challenge of survival will require that it becomes a full member of the family.

"Nothing less than a fundamental change in status is needed if we are to meet this challenge."

The role of community education in developing sustainable Welsh communities, the second lecture in the six event series, will be presented at Theatr Felinfach, Ceredigion, on Wednesday, June 29 at 7.30pm. Admission will be free.

B) Tanni tells tales to promote fun new resources for young Welsh learners

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Jenny Rees, Western Mail. Jun 23 2005

PARALYMPIC champion and award-winning Welsh learner Tanni Grey Thompson will be giving a Welsh storytelling session today.

The Sports Personality of the Year will be at the Wales Millennium Centre with her daughter Carys Olivia, three, to highlight the educational reading resources available to children through the medium of Welsh.

The event will promote resources published by CAA, Canolfan Astudiaethau Addysg/The Centre for Educational Studies - an educational publishing agency within the University of Wales Aberystwyth's School of Education and Lifelong Learning - which support learning Welsh as a second language.

Its latest resources include Camau Cwl, an innovative CD-Rom for Welsh beginners at secondary school level; Tipyn o G s, fun material for nursery and Key Stage 1 pupils, and Taith Iaith, multimedia resources for learning Welsh as a second language at Key Stage 3.

c)Death of leading Welsh guitarist

http://www.eurolang.net
Dafydd Meirion, Penygroes 6/23/2005

Wales and the Welsh language has lost one of its leading guitarists. Although Tich Gwilym was not a Welsh speaker, having been born in the anglicised south Wales Valleys, he contributed enormously over the years to Welsh language pop music as a guitarist and producer.
Tich Gwilym was the lead guitarist with Geraint Jarman a'r Cynganeddwyr, a band mainly of non Welsh speakers from south Wales who backed Welsh language poet Geraint Jarman - a band that helped to raise the standard of Welsh pop during the 1970s. Mr Gwilym was a great influence on young Welsh speaking bands of the time, which led to a resurgence in Welsh pop during this period.

One of the era's landmark records was the Cynganeddwyr's album Tacsi i'r Tywyllwch (A Taxi to Darkness), which heavily-featured Tich Gwilym's guitar work.

At the end of every Cynganeddwyr performance, Tich Gwilym would play the Welsh national anthem, Hen Wlad fy Nhadau, on his Fender Strat guitar, à la Jimi Hendrix's version of Stars and Stripes in Woodstock.

Y Cynganeddwyr, with Tich Gwilym, still made the occasional appearances, but over the last decade Tich Gwilym also toured Europe and Japan with folk singer Siân James. Not only was he interested in rock music, but he also had a small band playing Latin American music.

An evening of 1980s rock music in Caernarfon to launch a book on the subject at the beginning of July has now also become a night to remember Tich Gwilym 's contribution to the scene.

Mr Gwilym died in a house fire in Cardiff on 19 June, 2005. He was 54.
(Eurolang © 2005)

9) Braw idea for new chapter in Scottish children's literature (Scots)

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=697522005
FIONA MCGLYNN. EDUCATION REPORTER
Edinburgh Eveining News. 24th June, 2005.

A POPULAR children's author is spearheading a drive to encourage children to learn about their heritage by reading Scottish literature.

Edinburgh-based children's writer Joan Lingard has joined forces with other authors to launch the Braw project, urging schools to promote books written in Scotland to pupils.

Braw - which stands for Books, Reading and Writing - is the brainchild of Ms Lingard, the scheme's patron.

She dreamed up the project after she became concerned that reading Scottish literature was not being pushed enough by schools.

Ms Lingard said more must be done to make the country's young readers aware of Scottish writing.
And schools and the Scottish Executive must play a vital part in firing pupils' interest, she added.

Authors and writing exhibitions are expected to tour schools in every part of the country under the scheme, while books will be given away through the initiative, which was launched in the Capital this week.

The project is also set to promote writing as a worthwhile career which can be pursued in a Scottish child's own country, rather than hundreds of miles away in London.

Other authors involved in the Braw initiative include Keith Gray, Matthew Fitt, Nicola Morgan and Theresa Breslin.

Managed in conjunction with the Scottish Book Trust, Braw will be run from the company's headquarters in the Royal Mile.

Book Trust chief executive Marc Lambert said that it is "absolutely crucial" that more is done to make youngsters aware of the pleasures of reading.

Ms Lingard, who is based in the New Town, said that Scottish writing does not feature in classrooms enough.

"I feel that there has not always been sufficient support in Scotland compared to countries such as Eire and Norway," she said.

"I have found that many schools do not really know about half of the reading that is available.

"I would have expected it to be pushed more.

"A lot of schools use book forums from south of the Border and get a cut from them, which does not encourage children to read Scottish books.

"Perhaps more needs to be done as part of teacher training - maybe they should be made more aware about how they could offer support.

"It's important for them to be aware of the literature of their own country so that they can identify with it.

"It is part of their roots.

"I don't want them to be too narrow, but children should really be aware of their own heritage."

She added: "It could also encourage them to feel that they could be writers if they want to, and shows them that writers don't have to be based in London to be successful. The Scottish Executive should encourage Scottish reading too - I hope that it will give us some support.
"It is important that we go into all schools everywhere and not just in the central belt - this is essential."

The project is still in the early stages and a final programme has not yet been worked out.

However, it is expected to include authors' tours and exhibitions.

The Scottish Arts Council has provided lottery funding, while the Scottish Book Centre is supporting the project.

The group is now looking for further sponsorship from other organisations. Marc Lambert, chief executive of the Scottish Book Trust, said: "There is not enough Scottish materials in schools or libraries, we almost distance ourselves away from it.

"This is also about reading for pleasure and getting that message across at as early an age as possible."

Gavin Wallace, head of literature at the Scottish Arts Council, added: "Scottish writers are increasingly writing books that inspire and catch the imagination of young people.

"Braw will help to introduce more young people in Scotland to their work while also supporting writers' careers."

Posted by: WizardofOwls 01-Aug-2005, 01:39 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Part 2

June 26, 2005

1) HCF 10th Anniversary CD (Scottish Gaelic)
2) National Eisteddfod faces up to a tough future (Welsh)
3) Language demo at marina expansion (Welsh)
4) Language debate dominates Irish media (Irish Gaelic)
5) An end in sight for the high fares? (Scottish Gaelic)
6) Books round up (Scots)

June 27, 2005

7) Multiculturism and Irish official in the EU (Irish Gaelic)

July 1, 2005

8) Cur-Seachadan Samhraidh/Summer Activities (Scottish Gaelic)
9) In Ireland, few safe havens for an ancient tongue (Irish Gaelic)

June 26, 2005

1) HCF 10th Anniversary CD (Scottish Gaelic)

Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 17:03:31 +0100
Subject: HCF 10th Anniversary CD
From: "Festival Team" <[email protected]>

The Hebridean Celtic Festival Trust are delighted to announce the forthcoming launch of their 10th anniversary CD Imeachd : Odyssey.

Reflecting the amazing and creative odyssey of the Hebridean Celtic Festival over the last 10 years, this fabulous compilation CD features many major artists who have performed at the Festival:

Runrig, Capercaillie, Cliar, Hothouse Flowers, Instinkt, Waterboys,Afrocelt Soundsystem, Slàinte Mhath, Finlay MacDonald, Dòchas, Mary Smith, Dougie MacLean, Shooglenifty, La Bottine Souriante, Mary Jane Lamond, Baka Beyond, Sharon Shannon.

Available from 1 July exlusively to festival fans for the next month, this fabulous collection is priced at £12.99 plus shipping. Preorder now from http://www.hebceltfest.com/merchandise or pick up your copy during this years sell-out festival.

Slàinte

Kind regards,
The Festival Team
[email protected]
www.hebceltfest.com

2) National Eisteddfod faces up to a tough future (Welsh)

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Gareth Morgan, Western Mail. Jun 25 2005

THE National Eisteddfod must tread a careful line between "selling out" and gathering important funds to safeguard the future, marketing experts have warned.

John Jewell, a lecturer in advertising and consumer society at Cardiff University, is among those warning that it must try to keep its integrity in the face of mounting money pressures.

Yesterday the Welsh Language Board met to discuss the cultural event's financial situation, looking at the Grant Thornton report into Eisteddfod funds.

The report reveals that the National Eisteddfod of Wales (NEW) has a funding deficit of £111,000 and needs an additional £188,000 a year to survive. At the meeting in Caerphilly, the board heard that the festival needs a major increase in public funding and an agenda for future discussions was set out.
Last year, the Eisteddfod made a loss of £291,000 after the event was held in Newport, while the 2003 National Eisteddfod in Maldwyn generated a surplus of just £3,000.

Public sector funds are vital for the Welsh cultural event, but are not unlimited.

Private sector cash could also be key - as long as it is handled sensitively.

"A huge company like Coca-Cola could wipe out the Eisteddfod's debts immediately but it would then be asking - what are we getting out of this?" said Mr Jewell last night.

This year's event in North Wales will already be the most branded Eisteddfod in history.

Record levels of private sponsorship have been attracted for the festival in Eryri - this income will stand at £400,000 compared with £300,000 last year.

A record number of stalls have also been attracted to the Maes - more than 400, exceeding the previous record of 327.

"The Eisteddfod does of course need sponsorship in today's corporate climate, but it is rather alarming that it has to submit itself to market forces," said Mr Jewell.

"It is the same with football teams and stadiums - like when Arsenal move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium, or the furore over White Rock in Swansea.

"I see it as an unfortunate dilemma, to survive without further dilution, but marketing companies would say that you cannot stand apart.

"Even charities have to adapt."

Alastair Croft, head of client services at Cardiff PR company Golley Slater, agreed.

He said, "From Coke to Mini, if it were going to be sponsored it would have to fit the Eisteddfod audience. And these companies would want their pound of flesh.

"It could become the 'Something Eisteddfod' with a brand name inserted.

"But whether commercialism goes with all that is great about the Eisteddfod, is another thing."

Despite the recent drive towards more sponsorship, the Eisteddfod is currently aiming its thoughts towards the public sector.

Elfed Roberts, director of the National Eisteddfod, said, "The Eisteddfod in Eryri this year promises to be the most successful ever. The local fundraising target has already been met, and we have attracted record levels of private sponsorship.
"I now look forward to working with the Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh Language Board to secure long-term, sustainable funding for the Eisteddfod."

The WLB said it would want further meetings after considering the Grant Thornton report.

Meri Huws, chair of the board, said, "It is positive, because we now have a clear financial picture. It will set out the agenda and we have the facts in front of us, instead of lots of emotional debate and shifting figures."

More public sector funds could be on the way with the Welsh Local Government Association also discussing the Eisteddfod yesterday.

Alex Aldridge, WLGA leader, and Meryl Gravell, presiding officer, said the 22 councils had unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to the festival's long-term future.

3) Language demo at marina expansion (Welsh)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4621821.stm
BBC NEWS. Saturday, 25 June, 2005, 11:19 GMT 12:19 UK

Police were called to a demonstration blocking the entrance to Pwllheli marina in north Wales on Saturday.

Around 20-30 members of Welsh language pressure group Cymuned took part in the action.

Cymuned opposes Gwynedd council's decision to add an extra 300 moorings at the council-owned site.

The protest ended at around 1200 BST, and police said that a handful of protestors were to be reported for alleged obstruction.

At the same time as the Cymuned's action, there was a counter protest from people who support the plans, which they say will bring 20 new jobs for local people.

Earlier this month, Cymuned's annual conference voted to oppose the plans over its fears that non-Welsh speakers will be attracted to the area.

The scheme, which has been backed by the board of Gwynedd council, is due to go before the full council on Thursday.

A police spokesman said vehicles had been used to block the entrance of the marina.

Richard Evans, the chairman of Cymuned's executive committe said that reports had shown "the damage the extension would do".
"We now feel we have no choice but to take action in order to reveal the real depth of feeling on this matter," he said.

"We are prepared to protest in this manner over and over again in the coming months."

Dwyfor's planning committee will consider a full application over the scheme in September.

Last-minute decision

Backers of the scheme include Pwllheli town councillor Ian Roberts, who said the scheme would bring jobs and benefit future generations.

"I support the development of Pwllheli marina for the simple reason that we owe the future generation something to look forward to," he said.

The development was proposed at the council meeting by development portfolio leader and Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Iwan. Plaid made a last-minute decision to back the scheme.

It is believed that 22 of Plaid's 28 Gwynedd Council members had initially rejected the proposals.

However, all but four are thought to have decided to support the expansion after an extra £1.5m to ease the impact of the development was proposed.

4) Language debate dominates Irish media (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5074
Belfast 6/25/2005 , by Eoghan O Neill

Despite the Irish language being somewhat neglected by journalists and commentators in Ireland in the past, it is at present one of the hottest topics in the media. The campaign for official status for the language in Europe, the cost of implementing the Official Languages Act, and the decision to affirm the Irish language name of a popular holiday resort as the sole official name, are presently the stuff of much controversy and debate.

While last week saw much reporting and congratulations after the success of the language in Europe, this week it was the implementation of the Official Languages Act which was under the spotlight. A front page article in the Irish Times questioned the cost of implementing elements of the Official Languages Act.

Under the title 'O Cuív's language Act set to eat into public body budgets' the article predicted a cost of millions of euro a year for the 642 public bodies who will be obliged to produce Irish language versions of their advertisements.

The story was of a similar nature to other media reports in recent times which have questioned the cost of having an Official Languages Act to guarantee services in Irish to citizens who speak Irish. The fact that this report made it to the front page of the influential Irish Times however ensured a period of claim and counter-claim.

The Irish Times article quoted a spokesperson for the national airline, Aer Lingus, as saying that the costs involved 'were not a small amount of money. We are in a competitive environment...this is not an anti-Irish language issue for us, it is far from that but is an issue that adds to our costs and not our competitors.'

In it's editorial the newspaper suggested that Minister Ó Cuív's approach to the issue risked alienating people from the Irish language. A message which prompted Seosamh Mac Donnacha, head of the Irish language promotion body, Foras na Gaeilge, to publicly defend the Act.

Mr Mac Donncha expressed the view that the way the newspaper had covered the story revealed a basic misunderstanding of the importance of the Act to Irish speakers, and to the implications of implementing the Act.

He reminded the Irish Times that the Irish language was afforded status as the first official language in the Constitution and that the state as such had a responsibility to support it. And he further stated, 'The cost of implementing the Act can be significantly reduced by making the best
use of staff already available in the civil service, by evaluating Irish language competency when recruiting and by making the best use of bilingual design techniques when producing forms, reports etc."

And as a final thought, "It would appear from today's negative coverage that there is an opinion amongst The Irish Times editorial team that although the Irish language is valuable the State should not afford it any extra protection." A controversy, which is set to run.

The decision of Minister Ó Cuív to designate An Daingean as the sole official name of a town in County Kerry which was previously also known as Dingle has also fuelled the talk shows, the letters pages and the commentators. The designation is a result of the implementation of the Place Names Order (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) 2004 which gives legal status for the first time to Irish language versions of place-names in the Gaeltacht.

The issue has split locals in An Daingean, which is in the Gaeltacht, with some of them arguing that the town has been branded internationally for 30 years as Dingle and that the loss of that name would be detrimental to
tourism.

Others welcomed the move which they say will emphasise the town's Gaelic identity and attract tourists. It's not clear as to which of the two camps are in the majority but the Minister is certainly not for turning, pointing out, "It's An Daingean, full stop. If you are in the Gaeltacht, one would imagine the first brand you would sell is the Irish language. The Irish language brand is the brand."

He emphasised that many visitors to Ireland come specifically to experience a culture and life which is distinct and different and that affirming the name An Daingean would enhance this.

While the various controversies rumble on English and Irish-speaking tennis fans have had a meeting of minds. It is the general consensus of all those who admire Wimbeldon that TG4's scoop in getting the broadcasting rights in Ireland is a fantastic bonus. In previous years Irish followers of Wimbledon have been somewhat discomforted by the British channels fixation with the British hopefuls and their constant references to Henman Hill. Cnoc Henman is rarely mentioned in TG4 reports. (Eurolang © 2005)

5) An end in sight for the high fares? (Scottish Gaelic)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=704032005
MURCHADH MacLEÒID. Scotland on Sunday. 26th June, 2005.

Who has not heard the old saying: "The only politicians which ever did us any good was the one that went down with the bottles of whisky?"

But maybe the Scottish parliament and the Executive is about to do something else which will make a big difference for good to the Highlands and Islands with their scheme to help bring down air fares to the Highlands and to have them run services more frequently and at more suitable times.

Which of us did not encounter people in the Lowlands who were shocked at how rarely planes fly to the area and also the fares which are charged? Some cost more than a pound per mile. You would think that you were driving them along the M25 under Alistair Darling's scheme to impose road-charging.

The most-commonly touted scheme is a plan which would see airlines given some subsidies in order to run services to the Highlands and Islands. And in order to get the financial support they would have to agree to deals about the fares and how often their services would run. Another possibility would see extra cash given to bring down landing charges.

It is claimed that the scheme would cost about £12m and that it would bring benefits of about three times that to the Highlands and Islands.

The only thing which it has against it is that the civil servants are dubious about the scheme and that they think that it would cost a lot more than the £12m which have been mentioned.

Yeah right.

They were the ones who told us that the new Scottish parliament building would "only" cost £40m, and who allowed the project to go out of control.

They were the ones who were years opposed to the good of the Highlands and the Gaels. The ones who told Sarah Boyack that she could not allow Gaelic road-signs to be erected in the Highlands lest they would kill us all. Those who attempted to water down the Gaelic bill. The ones who said from the very beginning that there was no need for there to be a Gaelic officer in the shiny new Scottish parliament. They are the ones who are unwilling to have civil service jobs moved to the north.

They were the ones who told Donald Dewar that he could not remove the tolls on the Skye Bridge. Who now insist, that we must, absolutely must, place the Cal-Mac routes out to competitive tender.

They should not know all about projects which will not work. If they tell you that something will not work, then it is probably an indicator that it will be just fine.

Obviously, there are questions about the fine detail of the scheme. Should the services between Stornoway really be subsidised given that there are now a large number of connections between the Lewis and Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness? There are two companies battling it out on the route to Edinburgh, and there are two airlines and a ferry service competing for custom to Inverness. Might it not be better to save the money for Stornoway and instead use more of it for services to Uist, Islay, Tiree, and Orkney and Shetland instead of using it for an island where competition seems to be working reasonably well? One thing I can never understand is the reluctance to have a service to connect Lewis to Inverness, Edinburgh, or Glasgow later on a Saturday. One thing about the people of Lewis, they don't mind working very late on Saturday.

But the people of other islands should mind very much about how difficult it is for them to travel to the cities and then get back on the same day. If we can afford ministerial cars so that those who tell the rest of us to walk all the time instead of being lazy can be ferried around, then there should also be some way of keeping air services going to some of our most isolated communities. Other countries manage to get away with it. Indeed, the rules actually allow countries to designate isolated areas so that their air routes can be subsidised to support the communities.

There are some looking for other ways to use the financial support. Some wonder whether it might be better to use the cash for marketing and for resources at the airport - something like the scheme which operates to attract foreign airlines to Scotland.

But that would be little other than a waste of money. No-one needs to be told that the services exist, the problem is how expensive they are and how seldom they operate.

There is also the idea of using the money for cash-back schemes for islanders to give them money back when they buy the tickets to cut the cost of travel for them. But that would be a very difficult scheme to administer and the money could run out quickly, and it would do nothing to attract tourists to the Highlands and Islands. It would be an invitation to fiddle the system, who would decide who deserved the cashback? And moreover, if the people of Glasgow and Edinburgh are stumping up for this through their taxes why on earth should they not receive some benefit in the form of cheaper travel to their own country? It is only sensible and fair.

The reason that the subsidy for airfares or landing charges makes more sense than the other schemes is because it would give the airlines the incentive to push on and try and make more money by attracting more passengers. It would work just as Caledonian MacBrayne receives a lump sum and is then free to make extra money through it operations.

The people of the Highlands and Islands have been too long without the benefit of the travel revolution. It is time that changed, and changed quickly.

6) Books round up (Scots)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/review.cfm?id=702672005
STUART KELLY.Scotland on Sunday. 26th June, 2005.

SERVING TWA MAISTERS

ASLS. John Corbett and Bill Findlay, eds

This excellent volume contains five classic plays in Scots translation, ranging from Robert Kemp's Molière in the 1940s to Peter Arnott's Brecht in the 1990s.

The great virtue of such an undertaking is the extent to which a Scots version can reveal aspects of the original lost in a standard rendering.

For example, we have Douglas Young's Aristophanes, recapturing some of the exuberant wordplay and wildly diverse registers of the Athenian original, and Victor Carin's adaptation of the Venetian demotic of Carlo Goldoni.

Rather than appearing a dry academic exercise, these plays crackle with vigour.

Also try: James Robertson, Fae the Flouers o Evil

June 27, 2005

7) Multiculturism and Irish official in the EU (Irish Gaelic)

In a message dated 6/27/2005 5:34:44 A.M. Central Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

De:: Carmen Rodríguez <pirrakon@...>
Fecha:: vie jun 24, 2005 3:29 pm
Asunto:: Multiculturalidad e Irlandés oficial en la UE pirrakitas
Sin conexión Sin conexión
Enviar correo-e Enviar correo-e
A chairde,

La oficialidad de la lengua irlandesa en el marco de la UE está dando lugar a no poca controversia en Irlanda. Envío como información y reflexión esta carta aparecida en el Irish Times de hoy. Tá súil agam go mbeidh sé suimiúil daoibh(espero que sea de su interés).

Beir bua agus beannacht
Carmen

[email protected]

A Eagarthóir, a chara,

As members of a group of Irish-speaking immigrants to Ireland, iMeasc, we wish to strongly dispute the insinuation in the Irish Times' editorial of June 20th that English, to the exclusion of Irish, will be the sole language of choice for immigrants to Ireland. Our recently formed group currently has over twenty highly-fluent Irish-speaking immigrants as well as Irish citizens with at least one immigrant parent on its list, and we are in the process of actively collating further members. Almost all of our group are working at a professional level with the Irish language in areas as diverse as teaching, community work, translation, journalism, broadcasting, an Irish- anguage cafe, IT, retail, universities, drama, street theatre and puppetry. It is also worth noting that a number of our group were highly fluent or at least had some fluency in Irish prior to ever settling in Ireland.

Lest our efforts be tiresomely and patronisingly dismissed as "trying to be more Irish than the Irish", iMeasc was formed directly out of deep concerns as to where repeated attempts in the national media to use immigrants as a weapon against the Irish language, and on a lesser level, native Irish culture, could lead. The immigrants in our group are all working extremely hard in their diverse contributions to Irish-language life and culture in Ireland and deserve not to be dismissed as bizarre and slightly amusing, but on the whole irrelevant, aberrations, but taken seriously as a growing reality within modern Ireland.

Is mise le meas,

Ariel Killick (Cathaoirleach)
Alex Hijmans
Henry Leperlier
Andreas Vogel
Tony Pratschke
Chantal Kobel
Cóilín Ó Floinn
Déirdre D'Auria
Gearóid Ó Maelearcaidh

609 South Circular Road
Kilmainham
Dublin 8
[email protected]
086 3440 668

July 1, 2005

8) Cur-Seachadan Samhraidh/Summer Activities (Scottish Gaelic)

Lorgaidh sibh fiosrachadh an cois am post-d seo mu thachartasan òigridh (Inbhir Nis) air an cuir air adhart bho Chomhairle na Gàidhealtachd an t-samhraidh seo.

Please find attached information on Inverness Gaelic youth activities offered by the Highland Council this summer.

Cuideachd...

Sgoil Shamhraidh Mhealanais, 3-5 Lùnastal (August) 2005

Mu dheidhinn

The Sgoil Shamhraidh is a three-day teaching event for adults and children held in Melness, North West Sutherland offering workshops, evening activities and a tutor/participant cèilidh on the Friday night. The summer school is open to both adults and children, offering to adults all day Gaelic classes with intermediate and advanced students getting the opportunity to learn some of the local dialect through informal cèilidhs with local speakers as well as using taped material. Come along and enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, plenty of Gaelic and friendly people!

Cosgaisean
For three days tuition the costs are £35, or £7.00 a session for adults. £25 for children for the three days.

Cuspairean air fad

Gaelic (beginners and intermediate) - Roddy MacLeod
Gaelic Duthaich Mhic Aoidh (upper intermediate/advanced) -Brian Mearns
Pipes/chanter - Sandy Forbes
Accordion - John Sikorski
Whistle - Marissa Melville
Gaelic Singing, adults and kids classes- Deirdre MacTaggart
Ceilidh & step dancing - John Sikorski
Drama - Ruaraidh Nicolson
Group work - Rhona Sutherland
Airson barrachd fiosrachadh, feuch is cuir fios gu Catriona NicLeòid
air 01641 561 255 neo cur post-dealain gu: [email protected].
Applications to be recieved by July 1st.


Brian Ó hEadhra - Oifigear Leasachaidh
Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis
c/o 5 Caolshràid Mhìcheil,
Inbhir Nis,
IV2 3HQ

Fòn: 01463 234138
Facs: 01463 237470
Post-d: [email protected]
Làrach-lìn: www.inbhirnis.org

9) In Ireland, few safe havens for an ancient tongue (Irish Gaelic)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/oirish;_ylt=AlHcvSuAi4Iz27Y.nrQiQ4qs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-

By Ron DePasquale, Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
Thu Jun 30, 4:00 AM ET

INIS MEÁIN ISLAND, IRELAND - On this tiny, wind-swept island at Europe's western edge, a shopkeeper makes a proud gesture toward the radio, which blares the midday news in an ancient, dying language.

Irish Gaelic is still the native tongue of some 55,000 people who live mostly along the west coast. But it is under siege. Even Inis Meáin, one of three Aran Islands off the coast of County Galway famed for old-fashioned ways, is no longer a safe haven.

"Irish is in trouble," says Cuomhán Ó Fátharta, Inis Meáin's sole shopkeeper. "When I was young, you had to learn English in school because there was no TV. I couldn't really speak English until I was 12, but now the kids are all picking it up young."

As Ireland's mother tongue struggles to survive, the government has stepped up its contentious efforts to save the language, known here simply as Irish.

The European Union (EU) gave Irish a symbolic boost when it recognized it as an official language on June 13, three decades after Ireland joined the union. Road signs in the scattered Irish-speaking towns and islands - known collectively as the Gaeltacht - have posted place names exclusively in Irish since April. And new Gaeltacht housing developments must reserve homes for Irish speakers.

Critics call these tactics costly shenanigans that only engender resentment against a language that schoolchildren must study for 13 years. The minority who become fluent have little chance to speak Irish outside the Gaeltacht.
"For the majority of students, the Irish language now exists for the sake of perpetuating its own death grip on the school system," columnist Louise Holden wrote recently in The Irish Times.

Yet on Inis Meáin, Mr. Ó Fátharta says the road sign kerfuffle won't last. Tourists will adapt, he says, and such forceful government action is essential to sustain the language. He points to the success of state-supported Irish-language radio and TV, which have grown in popularity, and the invasion of students who come to County Galway to study Irish every summer.

"People want to learn the language," he says. "That's why they keep coming."

In mostly English-speaking Galway City, pubs serve as a place for people to speak Irish. At Taffees, where traditional Irish bands play every night, an encouraging sign at the bar says, "Irish spoken here." Yet many native Irish speakers feel uncomfortable speaking their language outside their hometowns, a self- consciousness that experts say prevents the spread of Irish as a spoken language.

Irish has been declining for centuries, since families hoping to better their prospects made children speak English instead of Irish. Hoping to reverse that trend, the nation's founders made Irish the primary language and a core school subject after independence from Britain in 1921.

Yet today, just 43 percent of Irish citizens say they can speak the language, and only 1.4 percent are native speakers.

Michael Faherty, who rents bicycles to tourists on Inis Meáin, says he is realistic about the language's hold on the young. "They're turning to English now," he says as he fixes a bicycle to a background of traditional Irish music. "It's more fashionable."

Irish language activists want a bilingual nation. Some blame a curriculum that focuses on grammar and rote memorization, rather than teaching conversational Irish. Others say that the complex language must be modernized, following Israel's success in reviving Hebrew.

The growth of Irish-language schools, or gaelscoileanna, has lifted hopes for the language's survival. Outside Gaeltacht areas, 52 Irish-language elementary schools have been created since 1993, bringing the number to 120. And more books are being translated into Irish; students can now read Harry Potter in the old language.

The lucrative field of official Irish translation is also booming, thanks to a law passed two years ago that requires all government documents and services to be provided in Irish. The new EU designation created a need for dozens more well-paid Irish speakers to translate EU documents and interpret at parliamentary and ministerial meetings. Yet the government says it can't find enough to keep up with the work.

An elderly woman on Inis Meáin, wearing a traditional long dark skirt and shawl, spoke wistfully about her native language.
"I don't know who will speak the Irish after the old people are gone," says the 80-year-old woman, who did not give her name. "The youngsters are all learning English, too much English."

Copyright © 2005 The Christian Science Monitor

Posted by: WizardofOwls 01-Aug-2005, 02:20 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Part 3

July 3, 2005

1) British Government has"no current plans" for UK lesser-used languages to be used in Europe (All Celtic Languages)
2) Report recommends Scots language support (Scots and Scottish Gaelic)
3) Gaelic MP calls against English only rule in UK Parliament (All Celtic Languages)
4) Microsoft has Gaelic LIP on (Irish Gaelic)

July 5, 2005

5) Dodds furious at money for Gaelic (Irish Gaelic)

July 10, 2005

6) A bilingual Wales is a step closer, says Welsh minister (Welsh)
7) The schoolchild who forget to do his homework (Scottish Gaelic)

July 11, 2005

8) CORNISH LANGUAGE CASH BOOST (Cornish)

July 12, 2005
9) History of the Celtic Languages (All Celtic Languages)

July 3, 2005

1) British Government has"no current plans" for UK lesser-used languages to be used in Europe (All Celtic Languages)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5082
Brussel / Bruxelles 7/1/2005 , by Davyth Hicks and Màrtainn MacLeòid

The UK Government has stated that it has "no current plans" to allow the usage of the Britain's lesser-used languages in the EU institutions despite a recent EU Council ruling giving the go- ahead. In contrast, Catalan, Basque and Galician can be used because Spain has already given its assent to the new provisions.

On Wednesday Angus MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar, SNP) tabled a written question in the UK Parliament asking "whether the Government will implement the EU linguistic regime, agreed at the General Affairs Council of 13 June, with respect to any of the UK's languages in addition to English."

Douglas Alexander, Minister for Europe, replied that : "The General Affairs and External Relations Council of 13 June adopted conclusions, on a proposal from Spain, for a degree of official recognition in the EU of all languages that have official status in member states, either through their constitutions or national law. This means that member states may enter into administrative arrangements with the EU institutions over which languages may be used in relations with them, with the member state meeting all the direct or indirect costs incurred."

He continued that : "Member states have agreed that any such arrangement should not have any effect on the otherwise efficient functioning of the institutions or on the legal status of the existing official languages of the Union. At the moment, Spain is the only country to have requested such arrangements for its regional languages. The Government have no current plans to make similar provisions for UK languages."

In the Scottish Parliament SNP MSP Rob Gibson tabled a similar written question to on Wednesday asking whether the Scottish Executive would be asking the UK government to implement these new provisions.

Scottish Minister Peter Peacock replied that : "The EU Council of Ministers has recently adopted a set of conclusions about the administrative arrangements which might be made to facilitate the official use of lesser-used languages. Scottish Ministers will be seeking further clarification on the practical implications of such arrangements in order to establish whether they would offer any practical benefits for Scottish Gaelic speakers and how the potential of diverting scarce Gaelic language resources to such activity would impact on other Gaelic development priorities."

Commenting on the Scottish Government's more ambiguous response, Rob Gibson told Eurolang that: "The Scottish Executive, in contrast to the UK government, does not rule out the possibility of Gaelic gaining the same status as Catalan, Basque and Galician for use in the European
institutions.

"However the priorities for using scarce resources for Gaelic should be removed by providing sufficient cash to meet both domestic and international development of Scotland's oldest tongue," he added.

Questioned on the issue Sinn Féin (GUE) MEP Bairbre de Bruin told Eurolang: "I was glad to see that the Spanish government requested administrative arrangements with the EU institutions over which languages may be used in relations with them, in respect of Basque, Catalan and Galician, although I would also have supported these languages being given the same status as Irish.

She added that "I feel that, at the very least, the British government should now seek to make the same arrangements for Welsh speakers and speakers of Gaelic in Scotland."

Speaking to Eurolang, Aran Jones, leader of the Welsh NGO Cymuned, said that the move displayed "an arrogant attitude towards the lesser used languages of Britain," he questioned whether the UK statement was "legally acceptable under the 1993 Welsh Language Act," which gives equality of status of Welsh with English in Wales.

Mr Jones stated that : "Cymuned calls upon the Government to re-think this issue at once, and calls upon the Welsh Assembly Government to publicly declare that this government decision is both wrong and immoral."

Currently the UK state holds the European Presidency, it will be of interest to see if it can display some European credentials and at least seek to match the Spanish initiative with its lesser-used languages. (Eurolang © 2005)

2) Report recommends Scots language support (Scots and Scottish Gaelic)

www.eurolang.net
Màrtainn MacLeòid, Glaschu / Glasgow 6/29/2005

A high powered Scottish Executive appointed taskforce has recommended enhanced status for Scotland's indigenous languages Gaelic and Scots.

The Cultural Commission, which reported last week, was charged with reviewing Government support for culture in Scotland. The review took a broad view of culture, investigating areas as diverse as the arts, creative industries, architecture, libraries, museums and the languages of Scotland.

The group's final report "Our next major enterprise?" makes a series of recommendations including a £100M increase in culture spending, a Culture Bill by 2007, and the creation of a new cultural agency, Culture Scotland, and new Culture Fund.

The Commission refers to Gaelic and Scots as "national treasures" which both strengthen the Scottish identity and the distinctiveness of Scotland internationally. To protect and develop the languages, the establishment of an Institute for the Indigenous Languages of Scotland is recommended to provide coordination on language initiatives, to provide information about Scotland's languages and to stimulate research and develop language policy. The institute would be charged with preparing a National Indiginous Language Strategy for the development and promotion of Gaelic and Scots.

In the field of education, it is suggested that all schools in Scotland should encourage awareness of Gaelic and Scots and respect for linguistic diversity.

While the report makes recommendations for both languages, those relating to Scots are by far the more radical. The Commission states that the Scots language should receive the same level of funding as Gaelic. At present funding for Scots can be measured in thousands whereas Gaelic funding comes to several million.

It is also recommended that a question relating to Scots be inserted into the census in order to formally measure the number of Scots speakers. The status of Scots should also be enhanced by key institutions and bodies making use of the language in a variety of physical and virtual spaces through signage, websites and publications. (Eurolang © 2005)

Links: The Cultural Commission - www.culturalcommission.org.uk

3) Gaelic MP calls against English only rule in UK Parliament (All Celtic Languages)

www.eurolang.net
Màrtainn MacLeòid, Glaschu/Glasgow 6/28/2005

Angus Brendan MacNeil MP has called for the relaxing of rules which prohibit the use of languages other than English in the UK Parliament. The recently elected Scottish nationalist Member of Parliament for the Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) constituency is unhappy that he may only use a few words of Scottish Gaelic in Parliament at present before parliamentary rules dictate that he must turn to English.

Mr MacNeil, a native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Barra, used a few short sentences in the language in his maiden speech on 26th May in which he referred to Gaelic as the language that made Scotland a distinct entity and mentioned its close links with Irish and Manx Gaelic.

The nationalist member is now calling upon the UK Parliament to allow more substantial use of the language in its daily work as is already the case in the devolved Scottish Parliament where members may use Gaelic both in committee and in the chamber.

Mr MacNeil is asking Parliamentary authorities to consider providing simultaneous translation equipment to allow the use of Gaelic in committee, starting initially with the Scottish Standing Committees. If successful, translation facilities could then be provided in further committees and in chamber business.

It is intended that allowing the use of Gaelic would raise awareness of the UK's other indigenous languages amongst parliamentarians and would also encourage learners as well as native speakers to use the language in Parliament. At present Mr MacNeil is the only fluent Gaelic speaker in the House of Commons.

Any move to lift restrictions on the use of languages other than English in Parliament would also be likely to benefit the other autochthonous languages of the UK. The use of Irish and Cornish, like Gaelic, are currently not allowed in Parliamentary procedures. With Welsh the situation differs; its use is permitted in the Welsh Grand Committee, the Welsh Affairs Committee and in Parliamentary proceedings held in Wales. However, as is the case with Gaelic, the use of Welsh is not permitted in chamber. (Eurolang © 2005)

4) Microsoft has Gaelic LIP on (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/30/windows_for_gaelic_speakers/
By ElectricNews.Net. Published Thursday 30th June 2005 07:27 GMT

Users of Microsoft Windows and Office can now install an Irish Gaelic version of the software.

The Gaelic Language Interface Pack (LIP) can be downloaded from Microsoft's site or www.gaeilge.ie, free of charge. The packs are supported by Microsoft and Foras na Gaeilge, an agency responsible for fostering the use of Gaelic among the population in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Microsoft and Foras na Gaeilge developed the interface, localising over 600,000 terms across both products. The interface also benefited from extensive consultation with Gaelic speakers and community groups, who helped with vocabulary selection and testing processes. The software was launched by Eamon O Cuiv, the Republic of Ireland's minister for community, rural and Gaeltacht affairs.

"Under the Official Languages Act we made a commitment to ensure better availability and higher standards of public services through Irish," Minister O Cuiv said in a statement. "This initiative will aid that endeavour immeasurably making it easier for our public servants to work through Irish."

The Windows XP pack is available from Wednesday, but only for users who have installed SP2. The LIP that translates Office 2003 into Irish Gaelic will be available from the beginning of the academic year.

Microsoft and Foras na Gaeilge support the product and users can get support by calling 01-4502113 or emailing [email protected].

The initiative is part of Microsoft's Local Language Programme, which aims to increase access to technology to all by enabling people to work through their native language.

The Irish Gaelic version is not a full localisation. Users install the local language version on top of an English-language version of Windows XP and Office and approximately 85 per cent of the programmes are translated.

Ireland is one of Microsoft's localisation hubs and its European Product Development Centre (EPDC) is located in Sandyford in Dublin, translating more than 100 Microsoft products into 27 languages. Microsoft employs 1,600 people in Ireland.

Microsoft launched an Irish Gaelic spell-checking function for Office XP in 2003. The product was developed by Irish software firm Carlow Answers.

© ElectricNews.Net

July 5, 2005

5) Dodds furious at money for Gaelic (Irish Gaelic)

By Michael McHugh. Belfast Telegraph.
29 June 2005

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650441

A furious row erupted last night over an alleged imbalance in official funding for Irish and Ulster Scots bodies.

The DUP accused the Government of discriminating against unionists after it emerged the Irish language has received millions of pounds more in official aid.

Supporters of the Irish language point out that the body responsible, Foras Na Gaelige, has responsibility for a wider range of groups and speakers, whereas the Ulster Scots Agency is primarily concerned with a minority of speakers in Northern Ireland and border regions.

North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds has learned that since 2001, the Ulster Scots Agency received £5.9m as opposed to £14.5m for its Irish counterpart.

He said: "It is absolutely scandalous that there should be such an imbalance.

"It is a legacy of years of government giving priority to Irish culture. Now they are being challenged on this by the Ulster Scots community, the DUP and by the wider unionist community."

Some of the difference has been blamed on the relatively late arrival of Ulster Scots development bodies.

SDLP Irish language spokesman Patsy McGlone said the wider responsibilities of the Irish Language Agency justified the extra funding.

"The Irish language has a lot more speakers and has to cater for a well-established network of people across the island, whereas the Ulster Scots Agency has had to develop from scratch. Ulster Scots only caters for one of the provinces, whereas Foras Na Gaelige has to cater for all of them," he said.

"There is over-demand in terms of the Foras Na Gaelige budget. If you look at it per capita Ulster Scots is probably well enough catered for."

The British government pays a quarter of the funding for Irish with the Republic the other three quarters. The local administration provides three quarters of the budget for the Ulster Scots Agency.

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure said: "The difference of levels of funding for the Ulster Scots Agency and Foras Na Gaelige reflects the stage of development of both Ulster Scots and Irish," he said.

6) Second Annual Cornish Weekend in America (Cornish)

Forwarded Message: ---

When: Thursday, 4 August through Sunday, 7 August 2005
Faculty: Ben Bruch (Brogh) , Bard of the Cornish Gorseth, Harvard PhD in Celtic Languages and Literature, and KDL (Kernewek dre Lyther) North American faculty.
Where: Berkeley Springs, WV

Join us in the picturesque Appalachian Mountain resort town of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, for the second annual Cornish language weekend in America. The weekend will be led by Ben Bruch, Harvard PhD, Bard of the Cornish Gorseth, and North American faculty, KDL. The weekend will provide an opportunity for intensive review of Cornish through speaking and study, as well as Cornish music, food and fellowship with other students, all in a charming setting only two to four hour's drive from many north-eastern metropolitan areas. Please contact Ben at [email protected] for more information. A review of last year's weekend, both in Cornish
and English, and information about Berkeley Springs in English can be found at the links below.

Review:
(Kernewek/Cornish)
http://www.cornish-language.org/cornish/ViewNews.asp?view=127
(Sowsnek/English)http://www.cornish-language.org/english/ViewNews.asp?view=127

A-dro/About Berkeley Springs:
http://www.berkeleysprings.com

July 10, 2005

6) A bilingual Wales is a step closer, says Welsh minister (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=5091
Penygroes 7/8/2005 , by Dafydd Meirion

It has been "another great year for the Welsh language" according to Alun Pugh, the Welsh Assembly's Minister for the Welsh Language in a recently published report. He adds that "it shows that we have continued to make good progress in reaching our goal of a truly bilingual Wales."

The second annual report into the Welsh Assembly Government's Iaith Pawb [Language for All] strategy and the Assembly's own Welsh Language Scheme details the progress made to promote and sustain the language across the whole spectrum of Welsh life.

Although the 2001 Census figures showed the first increase for decades in the number of Welsh speakers throughout Wales, campaign groups say that while progress has been made, there has been a sharp decline in the language's heartlands.

"Who would have thought five years ago that Welsh would appear on the UK passport or that Microsoft Office would be available in Welsh," says Mr Pugh, who has himself learnt the language. "These examples show how the Welsh language is now featuring in our daily lives - a sign that we are moving closer to a bilingual Wales."

"We are also investing in education, from early years right through to higher education and adult learning, giving far more people the opportunity to learn a little or improve fluency throughout their lives. We want all people in Wales to be proud of the Welsh Language, knowing that we will only achieve a bilingual Wales if we promote the language positively to all."

According to the report, the highlights of Welsh Assembly Government's Welsh language initiatives in 2004-05 include: 19,476 registered adult Welsh learners (exceeding the target of 18,300), Welsh appearing on all UK passports from 2006 onwards, Welsh language interface packs for Microsoft Windows XP and Office 2003 launched, a 16% increase in sales of Welsh language books, Welsh now taught to all pre-school children in English medium settings, the Potentia initiative having helped create 250 jobs for Welsh speakers in 209 business start-ups, 212 Welsh medium early years' practitioners receiving training (exceeding the target of 150 by 2006-07, and on course for at least 450), a 99.7% take up by primary schools of free Welsh medium classroom materials as a result of an investment of £580,000, £3m to increase the numbers of Higher Education lecturers able to teach in Welsh, and 5,500 National Health staff having undertaken the Welsh Language Awareness Training Programme since its launch in Autumn 2004.
But the Welsh language pressure group Cymuned, although welcoming these achievements, says that if the heartlands of the language are not secured, then they are worthless.

"It is still the same old thing spouted by the Assembly Government," says Aran Jones, its chief executive. "Although we welcome the increase in the number of those learning Welsh, if the situation continues, there will be nowhere for them to practice their newly-acquired linguistic skills. We need measures to strengthen the Welsh-speaking communities, which are at present rapidly shrinking."

The report also outlines the Assembly's performance in relation to the commitments in its own Welsh Language Scheme, especially on corporate identity, publications and signage. These include, for the first time, place names in England being depicted bilingually on road signs in Wales, a new contract for pharmacists to ensure the provision of services in Welsh and the new local government performance framework to include a statutory indicator on Welsh medium education. (Eurolang © 2005)

7) The schoolchild who forget to do his homework (Scottish Gaelic)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=765842005

Scotland on Sunday
Sun 10 Jul 2005
Gaelic

Murchadh MacLeòid

Few of us can be so perfect that we do not recall the feeling when we have done the homework before we are asked to hand in an essay or assignment and the lesson is about to begin.

We hurriedly attempt to fill in a couple of questions and scribble down some sentences as we hope against hope that the teacher has not noticed that we exist. And then, just as we think that we have got away with it, the teacher's eye lies up on us and we are asked to answer the question without us being ready, or we have to hand in the half-prepared essay. And these patched-together last-minute essays will contain reams of words and information with little if any connection to the original subject. At least they fill in the page. But they do not answer the questions.

That is how you feel as you come to read the UK government's latest report on how they are dealing with their obligations under the Council of Europe's Charter on Minority Languages.

This really is something which has been thrown together. There is plenty of information which has nothing to do with the matters in hand inserted in order to make sure that there are enough words on the page. You have a feeling the whole time that this is a production put together in the hope that all the talk will make us forget how little has really happened.

You have be tough to get through this. Often you encounter reams of words which seem that they have been constructed especially to encourage you to fall asleep. Before you get through what the Scottish Executive is doing for Gaelic and for the Gaels, you plough through the history of the Scottish Office and an account of the restructuring of Scottish local government 10 years ago, you are told of how lawyers work in Edinburgh, and the fact that the Scottish Socialists and the Greens are represented in the new Scottish parliament. The Europeans will make little of this.

Moreover, the Europeans will make little of dismal way in which the officials have dealt with some of the points which were raised by the Council of Europe's team of experts two years ago after they had come to see how well the UK was dealing with the rights of the speakers of minority languages.

Two years ago, the experts were critical of the situation of the Gaels of Scotland. At the time, the government insisted that we should not place too much weight on the report because much had changed since the information underlying it had been gathered. Moreover, they said, the Gaelic Bill was now on the way and it was going to sort out everything just fine.

That was just government talk. The truth was that little had really changed. In addition, it was far from clear how the bill, an act as it now is, would deal with the gaps.

What is grimmest is that little has happened about many of the points which were raised two years ago. The experts were concerned how inconsistent and variable the provision of Gaelic education could be. The word they used was "patchy." The situation has improved somewhat in that there is now more Gaelic education available. But the point raised by the experts is still valid, that the service is still patchy and inconsistent.

Concerns were raised as to how few classes there are for people who have learnt some of the language. That is one of the problems faced by learners of all languages, but it is especially acute as far as Gaelic is concerned. There are very many people out there who have a smattering of the language. Fluent speakers who have never learnt to read it. Some who did a couple of years of classes.

There is nothing in the government's new report which explains what has been done to address this lack which was raised two years ago. The Gaelic Board is now here and examining this issue among a thousand other things. But this lack shows why we needed the Gaelic Board a long time ago.

There is nothing in the British government's report which explains how they are helping facilitate the training of Gaelic-language journalists. Although they were told two years ago that they were making no progress in this respect, they give no coherent answer as to what progress they are making in this regard.

They were asked two years ago to do more to boost the language in the written media and in newspapers. There has been some progress. But none of it is down to them. Quite apart from the question of how the government should be involved with the newspapers and the media - which is something they get up to anyway - it was the government itself which accepted the obligation to boost the language in the media, newspapers included.

Looking at the government's report, it is clear that there has been some progress. They deserve praise for what they have done. They are trying, they are making some real efforts, there is serious work going on to find more Gaelic teachers and train them to go into the schools. That is the most encouraging thing which emerges from this report. In another way, this report is like a scholar sitting an exam for which they are not ready. Some things are being done. The Board has not been around long enough to sort out all the problems. There might be a lot more progress to report after six more months or another year.

Maybe, but it is clear from reading this report that Scotland's Gaels are not being dealt with in a way that would be sensible or fair by international standards.

©2005 Scotsman.com

July 11, 2005

8) CORNISH LANGUAGE CASH BOOST (Cornish)

CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

The UK Government pledge of up to £240, 000 of funding over the next three years to support Cornish language regeneration, has led some in Cornwall to call for the standardisation of a written form of the Cornish language to ensure that public money is not wasted.

It is being argued that if public money is spent on supporting the different language organisations, each with their own spelling system, factionalism within the Cornish language movement will be exacerbated. Indeed, the Council of Europe has stated that "standardisation is a crucial step in the teaching of a language" and has, in the past, urged state authorities to "engage in a standardisation process" for fragmented languages.

Professor Ken Mackinnon has stated that standardisation must be completed before official usage begins and Professor Keith Atkinson has stated that this will never be achieved internally but will require the assistance of external experts.

The Cornish Branch of the League has experienced first hand how the lack of a standard orthography for the Cornish language, is used as an excuse by some to shirk their responsibilities. In their ongoing campaign to encourage Town and Parish Councils in Cornwall to use the Cornish language on public signs and in an official capacity, the Cornish Branch have received replies from Councils who have refused to act. Camelford and St Blaise Town Councils for example have responded by saying that they will not use the Cornish language until a standard orthography has been decided upon.

However, the vast majority of Councils, who have replied, have commented that they will use the Cornish language on new signs and whenever they need replacing. Kerrier District Council have recently sent a letter to all their local Council's advising that they propose a Cornish name where possible and feature this on the street sign, with the name in English underneath.

Some Councils on the other hand have replied stating they have no intention of using the Cornish language, for other reasons. Newquay Town Council (in Carrack District) for example, states that `dual language on signs ? is not conductive to driver or public safety' (Merrifield, MG, Deputy Town Clerk, Newquay Town Council, 8th June 2005, Re: Inclusion of the Cornish Language on Signs, Letter to R Tal-e-bot, Celtic League, Cornish Branch).

The Cornish Branch of the Celtic League support the use of the Cornish language, whatever spelling system is employed.

(Report prepared for Celtic News by Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, Kernow branch)

J B Moffatt
Secretary General
Celtic League

11/07/05

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at

http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

July 12, 2005

9) History of the Celtic Languages (All Celtic Languages)

Hallo, a h-uile duine,

I have added a new article to my website, "A Brief Summary of the History of the Celtic Languages," which can be found here:

http://groups.msn.com/CromansGrove/celtlanghist.msnw

Le beannachdan* Croman mac Nessa *
=*~-*~-*~ /|\ ~*-~*-~*=

"Goilfead go prap a's ní fá Dhia, acht Fionn, a's an Fhiann, gan bheith beó."
--- Oisín

http://communities.msn.com/CromansGrove/_whatsnew.msnw

Posted by: WizardofOwls 03-Aug-2005, 07:30 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

July 18, 2005

1) GAELS TAKE WALES BY STORM (General Celtic)
2) PC BID TO KEEP GAELIC ALIVE (Scottish Gaelic)
3) COUNCIL SUPPORT FOR ROYAL NATIONAL MOD (Scottish Gaelic)
4) SKIP THE SOWSNEK (Cornish)
5) Cornish language returns to Cornish mouths (Cornish)
6) Free CDs to raise awareness of Welsh language pop music (Welsh)

July 20, 2005

7) Announcing the 2nd Annual Gaelic Immersion (Scottish Gaelic)
8) Teacher stages remarkable recovery to write Wallace play (Scots)

July 22, 2005

9) New report strongly in favour of Agency for Linguistic Diversity and Language Learning (General Language)

July 18, 2005

1) GAELS TAKE WALES BY STORM (General Celtic)

http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2005/jul05/gaels_wales.htmlHighland Council Press Relase. Issue Date: Tuesday 12 July 2005

The small town of Llangollen in North Wales was last week taken by storm by a party of Scots participating in the prestigious International Eisteddfod Festival of Music, which was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

For the first time, the culture of the Gael was represented in both competition and in concert at the Eisteddfod, which attracted upwards of 60,000 visitors over the week. The Festival is and international and multicultural celebration of music in all its forms, classical, traditional and folk, and is in its 59th year.

Representing Scotland and Gaelic was the Gaelic vocal harmony group "Fionnar, a group of seven young Gaelic singers and musicians established by The Highland Council's Mairi Mhor Gaelic Song Fellowship.

The Mairi Mhor Fellow, Fiona Mackenzie from Dingwall, said of the trip: "Fionnar were absolutely delighted to be invited to go to Llangollen, by the Director, Mervyn Cousins. This is the first year that there has been a section for Celtic Music and we thoroughly enjoyed the chance to bring Gaelic music and song to the Festival. The girls, who come from Ross-shire, Inverness, Glasgow, Oban, Fort William and Ardrisaig have worked very hard over the past few months preparing for the trip and it was a great chance to experience the musical cultures of so many
countries."

The group were successful in the competitions which they took part in, taking two 1st places and two 3rd places. They won the Folk Song Group with a prize of an Eisteddfod trophy and a cheque for £500, against choirs from around the world including Georgia in Russia, India and the Ukraine. Eilean Green of Achiltibuie took 3rd place in the Celtic Instrumental Solo competition on Bagpipes and Fiona Mackenzie took 3rd place in the prestigious Celtic Vocal Solo competition which was won by Fionnar member, Davina Macintyre of Ardrisaig.

Fiona said: " To win at the International Eisteddfod has been a huge honour for all of us but more than that we are very excited just to have had the chance to perform on the massive stage that is the International Eisteddfod, Royal Pavilion. We were bowled over by the reaction of everybody to the group and their individual talents and how excited everybody was by our culture, particularly with our display of waulking songs. Everyone was keen to hear more about the Gaelic Culture and how involved our young people are. The Director would like us to return next year to represent Scotland in the Festivals 60th Anniversary year."

Also at the Festival representing the fiddle tradition of Scotland was the Kiltearn Feis Rois Fiddlers under the baton of Alpha Munro of Evanton. The group performed in the Celtic Massed Ensemble class and took 2nd place earning great praise from audience and adjudicators alike. They were also the stars of the Friday night concert in the Pavilion delighting the audience with pipe and fiddle sets.

Fiona added: " Both myself and Alpha were excited at being given the chance to take our traditions to Wales and hopefully the links between our Celtic cultures will be further strengthened by our visit. The Festival was a perfect example of how musical cultures can bring countries and peoples together in a spirit of friendship and harmony."

2) PC BID TO KEEP GAELIC ALIVE (Scottish Gaelic)

The Daily Record
Jul 15 2005
Hi-tech boost
By Magnus Gardham

Daily Record Friday, July 15, 2005 Page 32

THE world's first Gaelic word processor has been developed in a bid to bring the ancient language into the 21st century.

It includes a Gaelic spellchecker covering almost 20,000 words and a specially designed keyboard.

Graham Dunbar, whose Islay-based company IleTec Computer Solutions devised the package, said there had already been a lot of interest.

Graham, who was born and raised in London but whose Scots-born father spoke Gaelic, said the new word processor was called Sgriobh, which means 'to write'.

He added: 'We are aiming this at Gaelic speakers who compose and compile documents in their everyday life, particularly at the younger element because they are using this technology all the time.

'We hope it goes some way to making Gaelic relevant to 21st century life. I really don't think the language will exist for long if it does not embrace modern technology.

'A language like Gaelic which does not have this kind of facility is doomed. It will become simply an interesting historic and cultural aside.'

Graham, who runs his business in Bowmore on Islay, said: 'People seem to be excited and pleased that we are doing this and they believe the language can only benefit He added that the idea was first suggested to him at the National Gaelic Mod in Largs three years ago.

He added: 'We have had letters from MPs and MSPs who are very supportive of the idea.'

A spokesman for Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the Gaelic college on Skye, said yesterday: 'It is a very good idea and anything like that would be very useful to the language

3) COUNCIL SUPPORT FOR ROYAL NATIONAL MOD (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2005/jul05/mod.html
Highland Council Press Release. ISSUE DATE: WEDNESDAY 13 JULY 2005

The Highland Council is being recommended to back the Royal National Mod to the tune of £120,000 to ensure a sound financial footing for the event when it is held next in the Highlands ? in Lochaber in 2007 ? the year that Scotland celebrates Highland culture.

The Council's Budget Working Group is recommending that the Council set aside £40,000 in each of the next three financial years as a contribution towards the costs that An Comunn Gaidhealach (Mod Ltd) incur in running the prestigious event.

The 2007 Mod will see the introduction of a cyclical arrangement for areas to stage the Mod. The Council has led discussions with other local authorities and agreement has been reached with An Comunn for a six year cycle of venues. This will see the Mod held in the Highlands twice, in Argyll and Bute twice, in the Western Isles, once, and in other areas of Scotland, once.

The Mod will therefore take place in the Highlands in 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2116.

Councillor Michael Foxley, Vice-Convener and Chairman of the Budget Working Group, said: "We have worked with An Comunn to agree this cycle which will see the Mod in the Highlands every 3rd year. We have also offered assistance with resolving any problems with venues or
accommodation.

"This regular circuit of Mod venues will assist local councils and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise network to budget their support for the event and make it easier for the hosting communities to fund raise.

"The Budget Working Group is happy to recommend three-year funding, which will ensure a package is in place for the next Highland Mod, at Lochaber in 2007. The Mod is now a major international festival and will continue to grow and grow."

Councillor Hamish Fraser, Chairman of the Council's Gaelic Select Committee said: "I am very pleased that through this arrangement Highland communities will have the opportunity to host the Mod on a regular basis and benefit both culturally and economically from doing so.

"The Highland Council will work with An Comunn and the hosting areas to ensure that each Highland Mod is a successful and well organised event."

4) SKIP THE SOWSNEK (Cornish)

www.thisiscornwall.co.uk
THis is Cornwall. 11:00 - 05 July 2005

"ANYBODY who really believes that Cornwall would benefit from having a language of its own should spend a week in Aberystwyth - that will show them how complicated life becomes in such situations." - The Skipper, Packet Newspaper 11ves mis-Metheven GWRA prederi a-dro an milvilyow a beuns spenys gans Konsel Kernow war an yeth Sowsnek. An yeth ma yw fest gokki awos bos y lytherennans yw travydh dhe wul gans y leveryans ha tus yn Newcastle a lever aga Sowsnek yn furv dyffrans yn tien dhe dus yn Loundres. Den vydh yn Pow Sows a woer po a yll ewnverhe fatell dhe leverel an taves koynt ma.

Think about the millions of pounds spent by Cornwall County County Council on the English language. This language is so stupid because its spelling is nothing at all to do with its pronunciation and people in Newcastle pronounce their English in a completely different form to people in London. Not a single person in England knows or can agree how to say this strange language.

Lemmyn milvilyow a vydh spenys dyski an flows ma dh'agan fleghes ni yn agan skolyow yn Kernow. Hag ynwedh yma towlenn herdhya neb rannyeth vyghan a Sowsnek war agan fleghes henwys British English hag ena yma American English, Black English, Australian English, Indian English??? Ass yw skoell a arghans!

Now millions will be spent on teaching this rubbish to our children in our schools in Cornwall. And also there is a plan to force some minor dialect of English on to our children that's called British English and then there's American English, Black English, Australian English, Indian English??? What a waste of money!

Prag yth ov vy mar erbynn an yeth sowsnek? Wel, kepar ha The Skipper my a wrug kavoes tokyn rag lywya re uskis. Ow thokyn vy o yn Sowsnek heb ken ytho erbynn KK ov vy spenya diner war Sowsnek. Mar kwrons dyski Sowsnek yn skolyow kernewek ow gwiryow mabden a via difolys yn-dann lagha europek.

Why am I so against the English language? Well, like The Skipper, I had a ticket for speeding and my ticket was only in English - so I'm against CCC spending a penny on the English language. If they teach English in Cornish schools my human rights will be violated under European law.

For Cornish language classes call Maureen Pierce on 01579-382511, Pol Hodge on 01726-882681 or Jori Ansell on 01736-850878.

5) Cornish language returns to Cornish mouths (Cornish)

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=2408&Itemid=32&lang=en

Truru / Truro, Saturday, 16 July 2005 by Davyth Hicks

The Cornish language took a small but significant leap forward this week with the publication of the Gerlyvrik.
Gerlyvrik is Cornish for "mini-dictionary", but the book contains 4,000 Cornish words and phrases and 4,000 English translations ? all in a format not much bigger than a matchbox.

The dictionary is published by Yoran Embanner of Brittany and Cornwall's Kesva an Taves Kernewek (The Cornish Language Board) and is a fine example of the two Celtic countries renewing and strengthening old friendships.

It also contains a hundred new words from the recently discovered 16th century miracle play Bywnans Ke, making the publication the most up to date Cornish dictionary.

The dictionary costs £4, available from good bookstores now.

6) Free CDs to raise awareness of Welsh language pop music (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=32&lang=en

Ten thousand Welsh language CDs have been produced to raise the awareness throughout Wales of the wealth of talent that exists in the Welsh language pop music scene. These CDs will be distributed free throughout Wales over the next few months.

Ten thousand Welsh language CDs have been produced to raise the awareness throughout Wales of the wealth of talent that exists in the Welsh language pop music scene. These CDs will be distributed free throughout Wales over the next few months.

The songs on the CD, entitled Dan y Cownter (Under the Cownter) - by various bands and solo artists - were chosen by Huw Stephens, a DJ with both the BBC's Welsh language radio station, Radio Cymru, and the British BBC Radio One.

Dan y Cownter is the idea of the Welsh Music Foundation and the Welsh Language Board.

"It is very important that we and the Welsh Language Board create more awareness of Welsh language music amongst the potential audience, bearing in mind that research shows that it is lack of publicity and not talent that is the problem on the Welsh language scene," says Guto Brychan, Welsh Language Officer with the Welsh Music Foundation. "There are so many good events, clubs, record labels, promoters and performers that deserve to be heard, and that is the point of Dan y Cownter - spreading the news to every corner of the world."

There are dozens - probably hundreds - of Welsh language or bilingual bands and artists in Wales, very few of the them full-time, professional bands. There are about a dozen record labels, and the BBC's Radio Cymru plays mainly Welsh language pop. The Welsh television channel S4C features many Welsh language bands and solo artists in its various programmes and from time to time has pop music programmes.
The CD is available throughout Wales, through BBC Radio Cymru's C2 evening pop music programme, through schools, youth projects, the various language initiatives and the youth movement, Yr Urdd. Copies are also available by e-mailing: [email protected].
(Eurolang © 2005)

July 20, 2005
7) Announcing the 2nd Annual Gaelic Immersion (Scottish Gaelic)

October 15-16, 2005
http://www.tulsascots.com/gaelic.html

The Scottish Club of Tulsa, along with its Gaelic Studies Group, will host the Second Annual Gaelic Immersion Weekend October 15-16, 2005 at the University of Tulsa College of Law.

We are thrilled that Muriel Fisher, a native Gaelic speaker, has agreed to come back and teach the course for the second year. Muriel is a wonderful teacher, both knowledgeable about her subject and very skilled at conveying that knowledge in an effective and entertaining way. She grew up on the Isle of Skye and did not learn English until age six. She peppers her teaching with stories about her childhood, which adds an invaluable cultural aspect to the language course. She is not just a native Gaelic speaker, however, she is also an accomplished and sought after teacher. She is founder and director of the Tucson Gaelic Institute (established in 1983) adjunct professor of languages at the University of Arizona(1996-present) language instructor at Pima County Community College (1993-present); and instructor at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland's Gaelic College.

All those who speak Gaelic, are learning Gaelic, or are interested in learning Gaelic are welcome. Registration for the weekend is $90, which includes the registration fee, the course materials, and lunch on both Saturday and Sunday. Seats are limited, however, so send your registration form and fee in soon. Questions may also be directed to Chris Merle, [email protected]

[2005 Flyer (PDF)] [2005 Registration Form(PDF) ]

Note- As the time gets closer, we'll post information on places to stay. There is a cluster of hotels of various price ranges at 31st & Memorial where I-44 and US 64 (Broken Arrow Expressway) intersect.

8) Teacher stages remarkable recovery to write Wallace play (Scots)

CRAIG BROWN
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1647682005

The Scotsman
Tue 19 Jul 2005
Scotland

A FORMER teacher, who was left unable to read, write, speak or even understand conversation following a brain haemorrhage, is preparing to see her first play for adults staged.

Gill Bastock, 41, from Kippen, Stirlingshire, suffered the haemorrhage in 2000. After years of rehabilitation, her play Oor Wallace will be shown at the Smith Museum in Stirling next month as part of the events marking the execution of William Wallace.

Mrs Bastock was working as a teacher at Cullen, but while undergoing an operation to remove an arterial venous malformation, a condition in which blood is prevented from getting to the brain by a tangle of vessels, she suffered a haemorrahge and spent several weeks in the intensive care unit of Stirling Royal Infirmary.

"The first I became aware of the problem was when I tried to have a conversation with somebody," she said. "I thought I was using the right words and being very clear, but nobody could understand me because I wasn't able to string sentences together or use the right words."

She could not understand others either: "It was as if people were speaking Italian to me. It was particularly bad if there was a group of people talking. But even if it was just one person, it could be very hard."

Mrs Bastock also lost the ability to write. It was only with rehabilitation that she slowly began to regain her powers of communication.

"The speech therapist would show me a flash card with the image of an umbrella on it. I knew what it was, but for the life of me I couldn't tell her.

"I was saying that it protected you from the rain and other sorts of associations, but I just couldn't actually say what it was." Once home and with the help of her husband and sons, Paul, 15, and Steven, 18, Mrs Bastock pushed herself to regain her faculties. As part of her rehabilitation, she was encouraged to write poetry.

Having joined a creative writing group, Mrs Bastock moved on to writing short stories, before trying her hand at drama scripts. This led to two children's plays being staged at the Tollbooth in Stirling last year. She was then asked by the Friends of the Smith Museum, a civic group supporting Stirling's history and heritage, to write a script as part of its Wallace celebrations.

"I didn't accept it immediately, as I was terrified," she said. "But it's been fantastic. I've been involved every step of the way, from the casting to the costume choosing.

"I'm just obsessed with words nowadays and being involved in the literary world and the media, it's fantastic." If successful, it is expected that Oor Wallace will tour Scotland.

Dr Deborah Dewar, neurosurgeon at Glasgow University, said the brain has a large capacity to repair itself. "The brain is what we would describe as 'plastic'," she said.
"That means its cells can make new connections when old ones go wrong. This means that the undamaged parts of the brain can take up new roles."

PLOT THICKENS

WRITTEN in broad Scots, the plot of Oor Wallace revolves around a couple - William and Marion Wallace - who visit modern-day Stirling as part of a birthday treat. They spend their day learning about the history of the 13th-century rebel, which results in the couple having very different dreams about him.

Wallace's life is related to Marion by a barmaid who lived in his times. She tells Marion what Wallace is really like, from a woman's prospective, physically and mentally, portraying him as a romantic leader of men.

William's dream takes a much more traumatic line. He meets Alec, who fought in the battles of Stirling Bridge and Falkirk, and his recollections of Wallace are much darker, relating to his execution 700 years ago.

Below is an extract of Gill Bastock's script:

ALEC: Haw Willie, it's jist brilliant tae see a friendly face; brings back aw the guid times. (pause). Och, ah wiz in France. (Looking embarrassed)

WILLIAM: Ye were whit?

ALEC: (Recollecting) Aye, well ah wiz asked tae go wae some folk tae tell King Philip o' France whit Edward wiz up tae. (Very sincere) We dun it guid mind, we worked oot a treaty so thon Frenchies wid help us oot if the English attacked us and likewise. (He bursts out laughing). Haw William, huv ye no seen they French wummin?

The play runs on 29 and 30 September at the Smith Museum.

©2005 Scotsman.com

9) New report strongly in favour of Agency for Linguistic Diversity and Language Learning (General Language)
http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2410&Itemid=1&lang=en
Brussel - Bruxelles, Tuesday, 19 July 2005 by Davyth Hicks

A new Report published last week has come out strongly in favour of establishing an autonomous Agency for Linguistic Diversity and Language Learning. The feasibility study follows the almost unanimous backing from the European Parliament in 2003 for an Agency in a Resolution led by Michl Ebner MEP.
The study, based on 85 interviews with different NGOs, experts, state-run language organisations and civil servants, found that a total 74% of those consulted favoured an Agency. The next most favoured strategy was for a network of European linguistic diversity centres, but with only 16% of support. While both options would build on exisiting structures to avoid duplication of effort, most stakeholders felt that an Agency would be in a better position to deliver. The network solution was seen as a possible disadvantage for smaller language communities because it would rely on the more well established and powerful language groups.

Nearly all respondents agreed that the scenario for no action is not an option. Those most against an Agency were civil servants working for ministries in the EU 15 member states.

The main conclusions of the study found that the case for having an agency is strong noting the growing importance of language diversity across Europe. The study anticipates the cost of an Agency to be around 11 million euro per year.

The study noted the positive function of EBLUL, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the ECML in the field of European regional or minority languages. However, it pointed out how there has been little of no interaction between state-run language organisations, such as the British Council or Cervantes, with either regional and minority language organisations or the immigrant language sector.

The study showed some in favour of working for all languages in Europe, including immigrant languages, in contrast to those who favoured working for indigenous languages only. A smaller number wanted the Agency to cover state languages only, even though some of these last could be included as lesser-used and endangered languages (for example, Estonian and Maltese). Asking whether all languages should be covered, immigrant languages had the least support, with regional or minority languages gaining the most.

Respondents felt that the Agency should have a clear mandate as a centre of expertise and that it should work closely with the language communities.

The study pointed out the added value of an Agency; it would put language issues and conflicts into a European context and take them out of member state politics, giving the Agency, and thelanguage issue, a neutrality. This may be useful in conflict prevention, would lead to better cross-border cooperations and the easier integration of new member states. Overall it would underline the importance of linguistic diversity at the heart of European governance.

Some 21% of respondents identified a need for the Agency to be able to enforce linguistic human rights, such a function would be welcomed by speakers of threatened languages facing hostile member states.

The report concludes by pointing out that there are clear needs and gaps that an Agency would fulfil, and that while the Commission "may have realised important achievements in the field," it "is not in a position to provide solutions to all of these needs and gaps. Neither can it ensure the required continuous efforts in all policy domains to implement the Treaty provisions, due to the way it is structured."

It warns against previous achievements being lost if current structures working for linguistic diversity are dismantled of if the continuity of finance for organisations in the field are not guaranteed.

The study adds that : "While dedicated EU funded programmes such as Lingua are going to disappear in 2007, following the `mainstreaming' approach chosen by the Commission, there are no adequate structures in place to monitor this `mainstreaming'."

According to the study further justifications for an Agency are because : "There are signs of incoherence between the stated EU policy in favour of linguistic diversity and multilingualism and the de facto running of the work and funding of related operations."

It adds that : "There are signs of incoherence between EU supra-national policy and individual member states' policies and/or practices."

The study stresses the importance of continuity in language policies and planning in the face of short term decisions being made out of political reasons. It underlines the need for an Agency to ensure continuity, a pre- requisite in any reversing language shift effort. In this respect the proposed Agency would complement the continuity of the Commission's work to date.

The Commission hopes to respond to the study during September according to a spokesperson. Ongoing reaction to the study from language communities across Europe will be published by Eurolang over the summer. (Eurolang © 2005)

A FEASIBILITY STUDY: AGENCY FOR LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AND LANGUAGE
LEARNING

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/lang/key/studies_en.html

Posted by: WizardofOwls 05-Aug-2005, 07:17 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

July 24, 2005

1) KERNOW - AN GAN (Cornish)
2) A Hebridean book festival: an idea whose time has come? (Scottish Gaelic)
3) An audience with the aos dana of our contemporary society (Scottish Gaelic)
4) 800 YOUNGSTERS SPEAK MANX AT THE SAME TIME (Manx Gaelic)
5) An Daingean or Dingle? (Irish Gaelic)

July 24, 2005

1) KERNOW - AN GAN (Cornish)

www.thisiscornwall.co.uk
This is Cornwall.
11:00 - 19 July 2005

Dydh da dhywgh hwi. 'Ello to ee. Lemmyn mir orth hemma. Now aav a geek at this: Ow tremena Pons Tamer, y'n tiredh henhwedhel maMyghtern Arthur ha'y dus orth Dintagell

Gwrekk kellys yn tewes 'vel boekka.

Hemm yw Kernow, howlsplann ha mor

Kernow, ma hwans mos war neb kor, tre dhe Gernow.
Kalesbolgh hwath nag yw kevys yn dowrow Dosmari an poll

Dre Halfowydh ha Tavern Jamaka, Hag a-hys dhe'n Men-an-Toll.

Ty yn Kernow, howlsplann ha mor

Kernow, 'ma hwans mos war neb kor, tre dhe Gernow.

A welydh ta lestri fenishek ryb Porthia

Yth yw saw kast an golow, saw kast an golow, kler an nosow.

Klyw kri Tregegel alenna yn Marghasyow

Dhe Garrek Loes yn Koes, gwel marthys da

Dydh Furri yn tre Hellys, bejethow pur lowens dres nivera.

Ty yn Kernow, howlsplann ha mor

Kernow, 'ma hwans mos war neb kor, tre dhe Gernow.

Pan anallydh ta ayr kernewek, ty a vlas prysyow passys

Gwel gwikoryon frank ow mos erbynn an tonnow Atlantik

Ha travydh yw re uskis.

Ty yn Kernow, howsplann ha mor

Kernow, 'ma hwans mos war neb kor, tre dhe Gernow.

Ty yn Kernow, howsplann ha mor

Kernow, 'ma hwans mos war neb kor, tre dhe Gernow.

Pyth yn dhe ifarn yw oll a hemma? What in the hell is all this all about?

Kan pur dha yw skrifys gans Ken Mackrall a Gammbronn ha kenys gans Marc
Lloyd Ellery a Sen Ostell. Ynwedh yma unn furv performys gans Bond an
Dre Kammbronn. An SD re beu gwrys rag sevel arghans rag Karrklavji Ayr
Kernow ha RNLI Kernow.

It's a spot-on song written by Ken Mackrall of Camborne and sung by Marc Lloyd Ellery of St Austell. Also there is a version performed by
Camborne Town Band. The CD was produced to raise money for the Cornwall
Air Ambulance and RNLI Cornwall.

Klyw Kernow An Gan yn Kernewek ha Sowsnek - Hear Cornwall The Song in
Cornish and English - www.cornwall-the-song.co.uk

2) A Hebridean book festival: an idea whose time has come? (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.whfp.com/1734/focus.html
WHFP. 22nd July, 2005.

A few summers ago I was sitting with a couple of Lewismen on a London rooftop. As you do.

For reasons that have since escaped me, the talk got round to books, to the Hebrides, to book festivals and then to the idea of a Hebridean Book Festival involving the whole of the Western Isles and also possibly Skye.

This notion was simply and unashamedly founded on the Midsummer Football Tournament, which since the 1990s has migrated annually between its four participants ? Lewis and Harris, the Uists, Skye and Lochalsh and (these days) the exiles of Glasgow Island.

For the sake of a literary festival, we can forget about Glasgow ? it already has one of its own. But a peripatetic Hebridean book festival, which does the rounds from one island venue to another each year while retaining its unique identity, bringing with it a regular boost in income and interest to its host district? well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

It seems like an even better one now. It seems in fact like one of those ideas whose time has come. Which is why I was delighted to hear of a meeting in Stornoway last week which may prove to ignite such an event.

The meeting was between Roddy Murray of An Lanntair, Marc Lambert of the Scottish Book Trust (who happened luckily to be in the islands on holiday), John Randall of the Islands Book Trust, the journalist Torcuil Crichton and the writer Kevin MacNeil. Its intention was to delineate the basic framework of a Hebridean Book Festival, with a view to a further meeting of all interested parties in September. Given the line-up at last Tuesday's meeting, given the involvement of people like Roddy Murray, it is difficult to imagine that the project will not now
fly. It has the most perfect launching pad.

Writing from the Hebrides in Gaelic and in English has (as this column is lucky enough to reflect month after month) never been stronger ? or more generously acclaimed.

I am talking, crucially, of writing from rather than writing of the Hebrides. We have enough of our own writers to fill the itinerary of a top-quality festival. To list them all is probably unnecessary, as well as being fraught with the danger of missing one or two out.
But I'll give it a shot. Nobody alive and sentient in Scotland can in recent years have failed to hear of the Gaelic fiction of South Uist's Angus Peter Campbell. We have Lorn MacIntyre's tales from Mull, the works in Gaelic and English of the Lewismen Norman Campbell and Alasdair Campbell, the kids' books of Mairi Hedderwick, the creative writing of Donald S Murray, the genaeological and local history books of Bill Lawson in Harris and Frank Thompson in Stornoway, the Gaelic comedy of North Uist's Norman MacLean, the romantic fiction of new Skye writer Linda Gillard, the travel and fiction of Kylerhea's Alastair Scott, the historical work of Mangersta's Joni Buchanan, the bilingual work of Ronnie Black, the bestselling cookery books of Claire Macdonald and Shirley Spear, the ouevre of Kevin MacNeil? and that's without hardly making a dent on the poets, much as one would like to make a dent on the poets.

There is enough homegrown headline material there to fill any decent litfest. But literary festivals are not only about showcasing local talent. They ? the local talent ? provide its character and its continuity and its backbone. Any good-to-excellent book festival is recognised also by the visiting writers it attracts as guest stars.

As Torcuil Crichton says: "A Highland/Gaelic/Celtic festival is exactly what would be expected in the Western Isles, which is why I want to make sure it has a strong national and international flavour ?and not simply of international minority languages. What I would like is Monica Ali talking about the experience of writing a bi-cultural British novel, on the same stage as Kevin MacNeil talking about writing a bi-cultural Hebridean novel."

And here the Hebrides are in an immensely strong position. Think of the curiosity value; think of the international goodwill that could be tapped. Think of the Scottish, British, Irish and international authors who could be attracted to such an event in, say, the incomparable spring, summer or autumn of the Uists ? or Barra, or Harris, or Skye, or Lewis.

I am fully aware while writing this of the birth this year of Aos Dana, the literary component of the laudable Feis an Eilein in Skye ? as well, of course, of the hundred feisean and other events, some of which feature literary sideshows, which now light up the Hebridean calendar.

This notion is not to detract but rather to complement such ventures. It would ideally be a dedicated literary festival, lasting perhaps a week, with a complete morning-to-evening itinerary as varied, as witty, as lively and as irresistible as anything at Edinburgh or Hay-on-Wye.

The advantages of such a festival, successfully achieved, could be immense. It could boost the tourist economy during a quiet spell. It would attract considerable favourable press and television and radio coverage. It would naturally assist the growth industry of modern Hebridean writing itself.

I hope, finally, that if this project does go ahead, it may be possible to extend it beyond Na h'Eileanan an Siar. In so many ways Skye and the Western Isles have been separated ? through local government, two parliamentary constituencies and most public service providers.

But despite this, the instinct of their peoples is still to get together, to unite. This is evident from the football pitch to the marriage ceremony. When Uist footballers meet their cousins from across the Minch in an annual tournament, they are reaffirming a very old and deep-rooted connection.

And nowhere, I would argue, is this surviving link more evident or more valid or more valuable than in the written word. The Hebridean Book Festival may ultimately decide to go ahead without Skye. I hope, for reasons that go back far beyond that London rooftop meeting early in the third millennium, that it does not. I hope that in the near future, Sleat will pick up the phone to dial Stornoway.

3) An audience with the aos dana of our contemporary society (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.whfp.com/1734/misc.html
West Highland Free Press. 22nd July, 2005.

There's a fascinating new strand in this year's Feis an Eilein, which began in Sleat on Tuesday 12th July. It has the ancient Gaelic title Aos Dana.

In origin, the aos dana were the bards, reciters, genealogists, musicians, soothsayers ? in short, the intellectual and cultural leaders ? of the old clan system. According to the lexicographer Edward Dwelly, they sat among the great ones in the chief's high hall. They were respected for their learning and talents and feared for their satirical tongue, so they could get virtually whatever favours they asked for.

What might our own local contemporary aos dana have to say to us? I have been along to a number of their presentations to find out.

On the festival's opening day, Maggie Macdonald, archivist at the Clan Donald Centre, introduced us to the centre's collection. The archive comprises printed materials, estate papers, maps and photographs, some of which are incorporated in the museum's permanent display, together with the appropriate local census returns for the very first national census in 1801 and the 10-yearly returns between 1841 and 1901.

There are currently around 8,000 books in the collection. The earliest, dating back to 1642, is the delightfully-titled "The Scots Scouts Discovered by their London Intelligencer", recalling a time when the Scots and English spied on each other. (Fifty years later, Daniel Defoe of "Robinson Crusoe" fame, paid a visit to Scotland as an English government spy). Among other prize items are first editions of Martin Martin's "Description of the Western Isles of Scotland"; Boswell's and Johnson's accounts of their 1773 visit to the Hebrides; and the Welshman, Thomas Pennant's account of his trip the year before. There are also copies of the old (1790s) and new (1840s)
Statistical Accounts of the various parishes, usually compiled by the local ministers. A more recent account of Skye is the various editions of a Pocket Guide produced during the 1930s by the well-known Kyle chemist and photographer, Duncan Macpherson.

Surviving papers relating to the running of the Macdonald estates in Skye and North Uist include financial records, letters and rent rolls. These last show that right into the nineteenth century rent was still mainly paid in kind (corn, half a sheep, butter, cheese). The crofters struggled to pay up. But so did the big sheep farmers. The cheviots did not prove to be the looked-for panacea for the economic ills of the chieftains.

Another type of holding of considerable interest is the various maps. These go back to the pioneering 17th-century cartography of Johann Blaeu & Co of Amsterdam, and continue through to early commissioned Macdonald estate maps ? for example, Matthew Stobie's in 1764; John Blackadder's in 1811 (essentially a blueprint for the introduction of crofting); and an 1889 feuing plan for Portree. There are also plans for the restoration of Kingsburgh House, the Big House at Corriechatachan, and even Duntulm Castle. These were drawn up in the 1920s and '30s by Donald Macdonald Miller, an American whose Skye forebears went out to North Carolina in the 1770s. It was during the early decades of the twentieth century that Lt Col Macrae Gilstrap was carrying out the restoration of the castle on Eilean Donan. It would certainly have been interesting if someone had been able to fund Donald Miller's schemes for Skye!

A VERY DIFFERENT take on the Macdonald past was presented on Wednesday evening by Bryan Sykes, Professor of Genetics at Oxford.

Prof Sykes has excellent Skye credentials. Even his name is an anagram of Skye's! He now has a home here ? Somhairle Maclean's old house, no less. His two best-selling "popular" accounts of his work in genetics ? "The Seven Daughters of Eve" and "Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men" ? were largely written at Peinachorran, during which time his son, Richard, attended Portree Primary School.

Prof Sykes even hinted at a possible deeper Skye connection. He has traced his own lineage to "an original Mr Sykes", Henri del Sike of Flockton, West Yorkshire; but he is also a genetically identifiable descendant of Tara (one of the seven "clan mothers" of today's Europeans). Tara's descendants "are particularly numerous in the west of Britain and Ireland".

The construct of Eve's seven European "daughters" was established through a study of patterns in the mitochondrial DNA which we all inherit from our mothers. And it was on this mDNA that Prof Sykes focused in the first part of his talk. "As a geneticist," he told us, slyly producing a swab from his inner pocket, "my tools are DNA and a brush."

Prof Sykes explained how, around 10 years ago, he first came to use DNA to settle disputes about history and pre-history. Before that, DNA had been valued as a predictor, particularly of
genetically inherited disease. But, he believed, DNA evidence could also be used retrospectively. He first had to demonstrate that usable DNA could be retrieved from long-dead bodies. This he proved from skeletons from an archaeological dig near Oxford. Subsequently, by making use of techniques he and his team had developed, it was possible to show that a body, preserved in the Alpine ice and carbon-dated to 5,000 years ago, was definitely of European stock. It was even possible to find someone with matching DNA in modern Dorset!

Further afield, there was the unresolved issue of the provenance of the Polynesian islanders ? did their canoes three thousand years ago point westward from the Americas, as Thor Heyerdahl tried to prove with the Kon Tiki raft or, as others believed, eastwards from Malaysia? First, the mDNA of modern Rarotongans and, later, their Y chromosomes, passed down the male line, proved Heyerdahl mistaken. Perhaps an even bigger prize was being able to show that Neanderthalers did not evolve into Homo Sapiens ("whatever the mechanism and whatever the reason", they simply died out); nor are the majority of today's Europeans descended from technically superior incoming farmers from the Middle East. Instead, most of us still carry the persistent genes of the much earlier hunter-gatherers.

Appropriately for a talk given in the Somerled Room, adjacent to Armadale Castle, Prof Sykes devoted attention to the Macdonald clan progenitor. Two-thirds of the Sykeses of West Yorkshire who had offered a sample of their DNA for analysis, he pointed out, had been shown to have the same (or nearly identical) Y chromosome "fingerprint". Studies of other groups who share a surname had likewise shown the same tight association.

Would the five living chiefs of the branches of Clan Donald also bear a common Y chromosome? Would people today with the surname Macdonald (or the related MacDougalls and MacAlisters) share this chromosome with their chiefs? And, if so, could it be claimed that
their common ancestor was the great Somerled himself, a 12th-century warrior of considerable charisma, possessor ? like the illustrious Genghis Khan ? of a conspicuously "energetic" and successful male gene? Fascinatingly, the answer to all three questions was: Yes!

On factoring in the known average rate of genetic mutation over the generations, it seemed clear that the Y chromosomes of a surprising percentage of modern Macdonalds ? chiefs and clansmen alike ? converge upon a progenitor of around Somerled's date. Who else could it be but Somhairle Mor himself?

One further interesting result emerged from genetic analysis. Somerled's full name was "Somerled GilleBride". Somerled seems to be some sort of nickname ? Somerlidi, Norse for "summer traveller", a Viking reference, if ever there was. The other name implies a Celtic origin. Traditionally, he has been traced back to an Irish Celtic background ? maybe even Conn of the Hundred Battles. However, the genetic evidence, based on Y chromosomes prevalent in modern Scandinavia, points to an unambiguously Norse heritage.

Prof Sykes added that ? somewhat ironically ? there is evidence that the Macleod chiefs, who have proudly claimed descent from a Norse progenitor, Liotr, are in fact just as unambiguously Celtic in origin!

I have space for just one more of the many gems from this talk. Genetic data from the Northern Isles indicates that the Norsemen took their own womenfolk with them, rather than taking, by force or otherwise, Orcadian or Shetland wives. By contrast, from what we know of Skye, there are fewer examples of typically Norse rather than Celtic mDNA (the female marker), and rather more Nordic Y chromosomes (the male marker). This suggests that Skye's Viking settlers did, in
fact, wrest or woo the local women away from the local men.

"Who am I? Where do I come from?" are eternal questions. The answer to the latter illuminates the former. In the case of the old aos dana, your genealogy was in their memory. At Clan Donald Centre, it's in map, manuscript and microfiche. At Oxford Ancestors Ltd, Prof Sykes's own company, it's in your mitochondria and Y chromosomes. To judge by last week's two feis presentations, a strong interest in Skye genealogy has survived down the generations. This week, the poet and the musicologist get their turn.

John Swan

4) 800 YOUNGSTERS SPEAK MANX AT THE SAME TIME (Manx Gaelic)

http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?
SectionID=1143&ArticleID=1084883
IoM Online. 14 July 2005

CASTLE Rushen High School spoke out to help mark Manx national week last week.

Manx language officer Adrian Cain successfully persuaded 800 students to speak to each other in Manx.

He reckoned it was the first time for about 150 years that so many people had spoken Manx simultaneously.

During a week of events, Robert Kelly, president of the national North American Manx Association, spoke to humanities groups about Manx people emigrating and settling in Chicago, and his research into his family's origins in the Island.

A good-humoured group of students braved the Tynwald Day weather and took part in the schools parade, while a number of other pupils were involved in the uniformed organisations attending the ceremony.

On Friday a special assembly began with the Manx National Anthem and had the Lord's Prayer said in Manx, traditional music, bonnag sampling and a Manx dialect reading.

5) An Daingean or Dingle? (Irish Gaelic)

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2411&Itemid=1&lang=de
Baile Atha Cliath, Wednesday, 20 July 2005 Beigesteuert von Eoghan O Neill

The ongoing controversy as to the appropriate name for a county Kerry seaside town took a dramatic new twist this week when the Kerry County Council decided to organise a plebiscite on the issue.

On Easter Monday 2005, under the Place Names (Ceantair Gaeltachta) Order 2004, Minister Éamon Ó Cuív replaced the anglicised name 'Dingle' with An Daingean. The move fuelled controversy which has raged in the national and local media ever since.

Some local business people say that the move will damage the town's substantial tourist trade, a trade built, they say, on the brandname Dingle rather than An Daingean.

Other locals welcomed the move arguing that as part of the Gaeltacht it is appropriate that the town should be identified and marketed as An Daingean rather than Dingle.

At this week's meeting of Kerry County Council it was decided to ask the county solicitor to start a process to allow people in the town to have their say in a plebiscite.

A list of electors will be brought before the September meeting of the council and a date will then be set for the vote, probably in the autumn.

Should a majority favour the anglicised version, the council will then ask the government to change the name on signposts to Dingle. While the council do have the legal right to ask the voters their opinion on the issue the Government will have the final say. And Minister Ó Cuív appears to have set his mind on An Daingean rather than the anglicised form.

It is not yet clear if any vote would be confined to the town itself or whether the surrounding Gaeltacht areas on the peninsula will also be allowed to vote on the issue.

The plebiscite in An Daingean will be watched with keen interest in the other Gaeltachtaí. Within the next few years the criteria for inclusion in the Gaeltacht and the boundaries of the Gaeltacht itself are to be reassessed.

There is concern that a vote to demand Dingle rather than An Daingean would have an impact on the town's future inclusion in the Gaeltacht and on Gaeltacht funding which the area receives at present. This fear was voiced by mayor of Kerry, Toireasa Ní Fhearíosa, at Monday's council
meeting and it could yet prove to a major factor in the autumn vote. (Eurolang © 2005)

Posted by: WizardofOwls 06-Aug-2005, 05:17 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

July 24, 2005

1) Is it really too cold for T-shirts? (Scottish Gaelic)

July 26, 2005

2) Queen learns the Gaelic language (Scottish Gaelic)

July 27, 2005

3) I Can Not Be a Traitor (Scots)

July 28, 2005

4) A Newsletter From The Inverness Gaelic Forum (Scottish Gaelic)
5) Highland 2007 (Scottish Gaelic)

July 29, 2005

6) £1m for Welsh language courses at universities (Welsh)
7) Breton: "We can't wait any longer, we are losing 20 000 speakers a year, the house is on fire." (Breton)

July 31, 2005
8) Aos Dana II: The bard and the musicologist (Scottish Gaelic)

July 24, 2005

1) Is it really too cold for T-shirts? (Scottish Gaelic)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=1674872005
Scotland on Sunday
Sun 24 Jul 2005
Gaelic
MURCHADH MACLE`OID
SGRIOBHADAIR GAIDHLIG NA BLIADHNA

500 years ago it was written that there were two kinds of Scots, the wild ones and the tames one, the Gaels and the Lowlanders. We were strange, scary, and uncivilised in our clothing, our habits, and fighting style and our language. The Highlanders with the Claymores and the untidy hair, while they were tidy and ordered with their little shops and businesses.

But this is the day of the Cappuccino Gaels in the suits. Many of us have become part of the system as we try to make things work.

There is no doubt that there is more of a place for the Gaelic and the language in the system as it stands today, but that is not to say that we do not need the younger radicals campaigning for the language and the culture.

30 years ago, Gaelic students were setting light to copies of the Mod programme because it contained too little of the language. 20 years ago, some were campaigning outside broadcasting stations to call for TV in Gaelic. In addition, there were those who "defaced" English road-signs with paint. But in this day we have become well-mannered as a people. I recently chatted to a former university colleague about old times and he raised the subject of the students of today.

He said: "They are not even dressed in an interesting way. They are all the same way. There is nothing interesting about them any more." There is nothing unusual about remarking that things are not the way they used to be.

But this was a Free Church minister shaking his head about how quiet and orderly the students of today are.

One thing is for sure, if ministers in the Highland Presbyterian churches think that the students are not unhinged and disruptive enough then something has changed dramatically in recent years.

I do not mean that everything should be left only to the young radicals, but through the years their campaigns have added to the rights which Gaels have been allowed. Were it not for them it would be easy enough for the powers that be to have ignored the needs and the rights of Scotland's Gaelic speakers.Maybe we think that we no longer need to bother. When some were setting Mod programmes alight there was no system of Gaelic education. There was nothing on television or radio. We were the hidden minority. We were barely allowed to exist.

But now we have Gaelic schools, the government is making major efforts to increase the number of teachers in Gaelic education. We have a comprehensive radio service. What we do not have is a service on the television. As far as the state of rights and services in the language is concerned, we are basically where the Welsh were at the beginning of the 1970s.

But that is the point. The reason things do not seem so bad right now is that the situation was so wretched up to now. 30 years ago, things were better for the Welsh then they are for us now, and they were still on the streets campaigning, they were still heating up the holiday homes, and some were willing to go on hunger strike and lay down their lives for a television service in the language.

When the Gaelic television money was established 15 years ago, it happened because Gaels in suits were able to convince ministers and officials in suits that it was acceptable and fair for there to be Gaelic media and that there should be a certain amount of television in the language.

But all the time, those lobbying on behalf of the language could be sure that there would be young campaigners in their T-shirts out on the streets if they did not get what they were looking for from the government. The shadow of the demonstrators was always over any talks.

But where are they today? There are still conversations on-going about the place of Gaelic as the government and lobbyists discuss the possibility of setting up a digital channel in the language. These steps are going slowly. They are going far too slowly. They are years behind schedule. And Gaels suspect that the Department for Culture and Heritage is trying to quietly forget the policy and hope that we do not notice.

It damages the campaign for the language that ministers and officials do not need to worry about people being out on the streets protesting if there are no rights for the Gaels.

Because that is what we are talking about, the rights of the Gaelic-speaking people of Scotland who live right here right now. This is not about the state artificially resurrecting a language. This
is about people living in the UK and who have been here for generations, who want the same rights as would be normal in any other European country.

What has happened to us that we are so quiet at this time? There are plenty reasons still to campaign. Many in authority are still implacably opposed to us. Is the reality that every Gael is now a part of the system? So many of us now have jobs in the Gaelic world. Many of us rely on the state and on public funds for our incomes. We are no longer angry because we are happy with our money and our suits.

Or is the chilling reality that the campaigners are not there because we have too few young Gaels around?

One might quip that the Highlands and Islands are too cold for T-shirt wearing radicals. We still need them.

© 2005 Scotsman.com

July 26, 2005

2) Queen learns the Gaelic language (Scottish Gaelic)

http://northtonight.grampiantv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=7135
Grampian TV. 25/07/2005 16:22

It's emerged the Queen is learning the Gaelic language. Her majesty's interest's been welcomed by agencies fighting to secure its future. They say it's never to late to learn as we have been finding out.

The Queen seen here at St Andrews last month is said to have surprised a member of the Royal Protection Squad who has Harris connections and can speak Gaelic. In a visit earlier to the West Highlands she apparently turned to him and said: Ciamar a tha sibh - how are you?

Gaelic development agencies say it just goes to prove that we now have the Queen's Gaelic as well as the Queen's English. Other members of the Royal family have also given the thumbs up to the language. Prince Charles here giving his backing and support during a fact-finding visit
to Sabhal Mor Ostaig - the Gaelic College on Skye.

Officials at Western Isles Council say they would be pleased if the Queen used Gaelic at the State Opening of Parliament or even during her Christmas Day speech. Language promoters say this latest Royal patronage is to be welcomed and shows it's never too late to learn a new language.

Reporter: "Tha mi fhin ag ionnsachadh Gaidhlig cuideachd. Agus 's docha gum bu choir dhomh iasad an leabhar seo don Bhan Righ airson nuair a theid i an laithean saora gu Balmoral an ath-mhios."

(The above translates): I'm also learning Gaelic myself. And perhaps I ought to give a loan of this book to the Queen when she goes on holiday to Balmoral next month.

July 27, 2005

3) I Can Not Be a Traitor (Scots)

-----Original Message-----
From: Philip A (Andrew)

Announcin the stairt o a three-pairt series that will, at some pynt, braidcast ma version o a bit o Blin Hary in modren Scots (a hairt-brakkin romance and a bonnie fecht in Lanark, read by
schuil bairns fae the toun):

THURSDAY 04 AUGUST 11:30am - 12:00pm
(Repeated SUNDAY 07 AUGUST 5:05pm - 5:30pm)

BBC Radio Scotland

Mark Stephen explores the story of William Wallace, betrayed by a fellow Scot, studying the death of a man and the birth of a legend.

July 28, 2005

4) A Newsletter From The Inverness Gaelic Forum (Scottish Gaelic)


This is a newsletter (email) from the Inverness Gaelic Forum

We have a bilingual policy (Gaelic & English) but now and again info is sent to us in only one language.

www.inbhirnis.org
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If anyone is in doubt that Gaelic was ever spoke in Caithness, read this!

http://www.linguae-celticae.org/dateien/Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_22_April_2005-a.pdf
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Interesting Article:

I think this is an interesting article on the continuing struggle for equality for our language.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=1674872005
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Your chance to question language policy/discrimination in the UK . . .

22 July 2005

Dear Colleague,

THE EQUALITIES REVIEW

I am writing to let you know about work that is underway to examine the causes of persistent discrimination and inequality in British society. The Government has asked me, in a personal capacity, to Chair the Equalities Review Panel which will be undertaking this work. I am joined on the Panel by Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, Carol Lake, Nick Pearce and Sir Bob Kerslake.
We have been asked to produce a report for the Prime Minister in Summer 2006 setting out analysis of the long-term and underlying barriers to opportunity that face many individuals and groups in society, based on evidence of what works at home and abroad. Through this analysis and through practical recommendations, the report will improve the Government's ability to tackle issues such as the pay gap between different groups, and the disproportionate risk that some groups face of living in poverty or having a below average chance of educational success.

Our intention is to undertake detailed research and evidence gathering over the course of the next few months. The Panel is particularly interested in gathering evidence of successful approaches to reduce inequalities in, for example, education, employment and health (within the statutory, private and community and voluntary sectors) and will be collecting case studies of good practice as well as meeting with delivery and policy partners as part of a round of visits. Suggestions for visits by the Panel and/or the Review team as well as case studies should be sent to:

[email protected]

If you do not have access to email please send comments to:
The Equalities Review Team, Room 03.32, 22 Whitehall, London SW1A 2WH.
Tel: 020 7276 5436
Fax: 020 7276 1008

Following this work we intend to publish an interim report in the winter that sets out our initial analysis and proposals for full consultation. In the meantime we will publish information on the work of the Panel, including minutes of the Panel meetings, on our website www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk

The Department for Trade and Industry is leading a linked work stream that has begun in parallel to the Equalities Review. The Discrimination Law Review is considering the opportunities for creating a fairer, clearer and more straightforward equality legislation framework, which produces better outcomes for those who experience disadvantage. It is anticipated that this work and the recommendations of the Equalities Review will lead to proposals for the reform of the legislative framework for equality via a Single Equality Bill. The introduction of such a Bill during this Parliament was a manifesto commitment.

A wider reference group of equality stakeholders and experts, co-chaired by the Chair of the Disability Rights Commission and the Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission will provide independent advice and input to both reviews. The terms of reference and membership of this group are also enclosed.

Yours sincerely,

Trevor Phillips
Chair
Equalities Review Panel
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BLAS
2-10 September 2005

PRESS RELEASE ? For Immediate Use

11th July 2005

Momentum Building for the Blas Festival

Barely had the line-up for September's Blas Festival been finalised when it began to attract considerable interest from potential festival-goers both in this country and particularly from abroad. Significantly, the first tickets sold for Blas events were bought by a couple from South Carolina in the United States who, to mark a family celebration, are travelling to Talla Stafainn in Skye on 2nd September to see Dàimh, Dòchas and the Cèilidh Trailers.

Blas's programme, which features nearly forty events to be staged in different communities throughout Lochaber, Caithness & Sutherland, Ross-shire and Skye & Lochalsh, is brim full hugely talented exponents of Gaelic and Highland traditional music. As was envisaged from the outset, young musicians from the area are well represented in this programme. So also are performers from overseas whose cultural and musical traditions are complementary to those of the Highlands. They all meld together in an exciting programme which will entertain and inspire audiences while also giving them insights into Highland culture and the Gaelic language.

Festival managers were sure that Blas's particular blend of youth and experience with the strong emphasis on Gaelic and highland culture would prove very attractive and the wave of interest since the details of the Festival programme were released seems to bear this out. Enquires about the programme and individual events are flooding in with a considerable number of these from overseas. "We felt that what Blas offers audiences would be attractive", according to Artistic Coordinator, Brian Ó hEadhra, "but what we did not expect so soon was such a strong international response. We did anticipate that overseas visitors who were already in the Highlands would find out about Blas and attend performances. This will no doubt happen but it appears that many are already planning their trips to the Highlands to some extent at least around Blas events. "

Full details of the Blas programme can be accessed though the Festival's newly re-vamped website on www.blas-festival.co.uk

Editors' Note:

Blas is funded by the Highland Council and the Millennium Commission, through its Urban Cultural Programme. The Council has contracted Fèisean nan Gàidheal to develop and organise the festival.

Blas is an initiative to establish a new festival to celebrate Highland music and to promote interest in and the use of Gaelic. The festival will take place from Friday 2nd September until Saturday 10th September 2005. Blas takes it name from the Gaelic word meaning, among other things, flavour, relish and experience, all of which are essential ingredients for a successful and memorable festival. This initiative is particularly apposite at this time given that 2007 is to be the Scottish Year of Highland Culture, and it is expected that Blas will be one of the centrepieces of the 2007 events.

For further information on the Blas Festival contact:-

Brian: [email protected]
Cailean: [email protected] or 01478 612199
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Gaelic Summer Activities
Fun and games in Gaelic for young people age ten upwards.

Young people in the Inverness Area who are either fluent or learner Gaelic speakers are being offered a programme of Gaelic Summer Activities during the holidays

Organised by The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Service, with support from Bòrd Na Gàidhlig, the activities open to young people aged from 10 years upwards.

Activities include drama, mountain biking, canoeing, computing, first shinty, story telling, trampoline, arts and crafts, culminating with a family barbecue.

The activities are designed to cater for both fluent and learner Gaelic speakers. Young people, who are fluent in Gaelic, will attend sessions conducted entirely through the medium of Gaelic, but separate group sessions will also be available for young people who are learning to speak Gaelic.

Still to come in the activities programme are Canoeing at Loch Morlich Watersports near Aviemore on Thursday 14th July from 10am ? 12noon; and at Charleston Community Centre in Inverness First Shinty on Friday 15th July 10am-12noon, and Drama on Monday 8th, Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th August 10am-12:30.

The Gaelic Activities Programme will end with a family barbecue on Friday 12th from 7-9pm at a venue yet to be confirmed.

Anyone interested in attending any of the events should contact:
Dolina Grant on tel: 01463 724203 or e-mail: [email protected]
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Inverness Gaelic Playscheme

Camron Youth Centre, Planefield Road, Inverness

8-12 August 200510am-12pm. £1.50 per day. £1 for subsequent children.

There will be a Gaelic playscheme running again this summer for children about to enter primary 1,2,3, and 4. The Playscheme will have a varied programme of activities including arts and crafts, stories, games and baking - all carried out through the medium of Gaelic.

Dawn Morgan
01349 866785
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Just announced!

Lasair/Dana Residential Gaelic Drama Summer School

The three week long course aimed at 18/23 year olds is to be held in Connemara, Ireland from Monday 29th August to Saturday 17th September. All travel costs, accommodation costs and tutorial costs are borne by Lasair/Dàna so that the students don't have to pay a penny.

For further information on the course and details please contact Simon Mackenzie on

[email protected]

Mobile no. 0771-429-0902
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Gaelic Conversation Group

Blackfriars Pub, Academy Street, Inverness

Every Wednesday night at 9pm.

This is an informal group who meet for Gaelic conversation and fun. There is cèilidh dancing in the pub on this night as well.
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This email is from the Inverness Gaelic Forum. If you would like your name removed from this mailing list please return this email with 'Remove' written in the 'Subject' box. Many thanks.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Ó hEadhra - Oifigear Leasachaidh
Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis
5 Caolshràid Mhìcheil,
Inbhir Nis,
IV2 3HQ

Fòn: 01463 234138
Facs: 01463 237470
Post-d: [email protected]
Làrach-lìn: www.inbhirnis.org

5) Highland 2007 (Scottish Gaelic)
Do you have a suitable project for Highland 2007?

Is Gaelic at the heart of 2007? Chi sinn.

Highland 2007 ? Public Meeting: what is planned and how to apply for funding.

Tuesday 30th August, Town House, Inverness, 7.30pm ? 9.30pm

All are welcome to this public meeting to find out what is planned for Highland 2007 and how to apply for funding. There will be a series of brief presentations followed by an opportunity to ask questions.

· Introduction to 2007 - Alison Bell (Marketing and Communications Manager)

· 2007 celebrations: a brief on upcoming projects ? Cathy Shankland (Arts & Heritage Manager)

· Regional Programme ? Torquil MacLeod (Funding Manager)

· Community Programme ? Gavin Bowie (Capital Programme Manager)

· LEADER Plus ? Making the cash go further - Audrey Anthoney
---------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Ó hEadhra - Oifigear Leasachaidh
Fòram Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis
c/o 5 Caolshràid Mhìcheil,
Inbhir Nis,
IV2 3HQ

Fòn: 01463 234138
Facs: 01463 237470
Post-d: [email protected]
Làrach-lìn: www.inbhirnis.org

July 29, 2005

6) £1m for Welsh language courses at universities (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2418&Itemid=1&lang=en
Penygroes, Thursday, 28 July 2005 by Dafydd Meirion

The Welsh Assembly Government has announced a package of measures aimed at supporting the development of Welsh medium provision in Higher Education. This includes almost £1m over three years to expand the provision. Over the last three years, Welsh speaking students have been protesting at the lack of Welsh language courses at Welsh universities, and have been calling for a Welsh language federal college where all the courses would be in Welsh, being taught from various colleges using the latest technology.

The initiative includes developing the existing Welsh Medium Development Unit into an enhanced Welsh Medium Development Centre; supporting expanded marketing work through the Development Centre; training programmes for new and existing staff and induction training for new staff; an options appraisal of models for future sustainable Welsh medium provision; and a study of the costs of Welsh medium provision.

This package will be around £300,000 per academic year for the next three years, with the activities intending to support the Welsh Assembly Government's Reaching Higher target of 7% of students undertaking some element of their course through the medium of Welsh by 2010. This would double the present number.

"I am pleased to be able to announce further measures to support Welsh medium provision in Higher Education amounting to almost £1m over three years," said Jane Davidson, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning. "Our vision, set out in Iaith Pawb [the Assembly's language initiative], of a truly bilingual Wales is a bold one. Education at all levels is a key component for success and we are tackling both sides of the equation - supply and demand.

"Following the report by a steering group, I have agreed to proposals from the sector to strengthen Welsh medium teaching by supporting the establishment of a Welsh Medium Development Centre, building on the existing Welsh Medium Teaching Unit. This will support the continuing development of Welsh medium provision collaboratively across the higher education sector in Wales. Working with institutions, the centre will undertake wide ranging marketing activities as well as work to improve the staff capacity, develop learning and teaching activities and disseminate best practice. These elements are essential for the short and medium term growth in provision."

There will be a study into the costs associated with delivering Welsh medium provision, with this feeding into considerations of funding for such courses over the longer term.

"To date, Welsh speaking students have been able to benefit from pockets of Welsh medium excellence. The challenge for us all is to develop a more strategic approach towards developing and sustaining high quality Welsh medium teaching and learning," added Ms Davidson.

But students at one of the Welsh universities, Aberystwyth, have described the sum as "pitiful". "Obviously, any extra money is good news. But it is not enough," says Stephen Hughes of Undeb Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Aberystwyth [Aberystwyth Welsh Language Students Union]. "In a field where hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds are spent on higher education every year, an extra sum of £300,000 a year for Welsh education is pitiful, if not laughable. Welsh medium lectures of a high standard are available in all of Wales' higher education institutions, and we feel that co-operation between those institutions is the only way to improve the situation. The technology exists for students in numerous institutions to have lectures together via video link."

The Assembly Government's announcement follows an announcement made in November 2004of funding of £2.9m for Fellowships and Teaching Scholarships. "This is another step towards meeting the challenging targets set out for achieving our vision of Wales set out in Iaith Pawb. Taken together, these announcements mean almost £4m additional funding to develop Welsh Medium Provision in Higher Education," says Ms Davidson. (Eurolang © 2005)

LINKS

http://www.cymru.gov.uk/ National Assembly for Wales
http://undeb.aber.ac.uk/ Undeb Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Aberystwyth

7) Breton: "We can't wait any longer, we are losing 20 000 speakers a year, the house is on fire." (Breton)
http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2415&Itemid=1&lang=en
Kemper, Breizh / Brittany, Tuesday, 26 July 2005 by Yann Rivallain

After a number of lectures on media, culture, the Breton language, and popular culture, the final session of the Summer University of the Quimper music festival on Friday concentrated on the possibilities to support minority language and cultures through European integration. However, minds focused on the current situation of Breton which is facing a sharp decline in numbers of speakers.

Philip Blair, head of the regional and local democracy unit at the Council of Europe explained how the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) was now having a real impact in countries where it has been ratified. He also explained that the Charter had been an incentive to pass further national legislation to protect minority languages.

Several participants, including Bernard Poignant, MEP for the Westen circumscription of France, in which Brittany is incorporated, felt however that the prospect of a future ratification by France ? which implies a modification of the French constitution - was now extremely unlikely.

Kristian Guyonvarc'h, vice-president of Brittany's regional council agreed and added that "the constitutional court is not a legal court but a political one. The fact that they consider that the Charter is incompatible with the constitution and at the same time said nothing about the articles in the proposed European constitution which referred to regional languages and cultures is a clear proof that their conclusions are political rather than based on real legal terms".

Pointing toward Breton cultural organizations, such as the Cultural Council of Brittany, Bernard Poignant suggested that the struggle now moved to "the organization of a parliamentary debate on the regional languages of France, to call for a specific language law as in other European States".

Patrick Malrieu, President of the Cultural Council of Brittany shared the feeling of frustration of most participants, "We can't wait any longer, we are losing 20 000 speakers a year, the house is on fire".

Jean-Pierre Thomin, a regional councillor in charge of the Breton languages showed more optimism. He stressed that "customs in most cases preceded the law. If we keep bringing the language into new areas, show a clear determination, the law will finally adapt to the situation on the ground.

He explained that "while in danger, the value of the Breton language was increasing steadily in the population and in the economic sector, such as the building industry which is targeting Breton speakers to meet their needs."

On a European level, Jean-Pierre Thomin called for the establishment of a fund for endangered languages, on the model of the Regional Structural Funds, one of the success stories of the integration process. "We must push for a language FEDER fund to help the weakest languages converge towards the stronger languages".

Referring to the current Breton language development plan, Henri Giordan, an expert on regional languages in France said that "while Brittany deserves credit for setting-up the first language planning policy in a French region, such an institution cannot do everything. It can't do alone what the government should be doing".

He felt that French regions should adopt a much more targeted approach, selecting a few areas for action, such as huge marketing campaigns on the benefits of bilingualism and the value of those languages. "If we keep trying to do a bit of everything without the resources needed, the impact will remain minimal".

Henri Giordan also stressed that policies set-up by the European Union in the 90s to support minority languages had all been abandoned and that there was now "not a centime available for minority language projects", adding a degree of pessimism to an already bleak panorama.

Philip Blair stressed the importance of inter-regional cooperation at a European level to unlock the situation and go beyond institutional obstacles at national level. Most participants agreed that the European constitution, refused by the French and Dutch, could have helped minority language speakers.

The session concluded with a few proposals and a strong feeling of frustration among the public, mostly language activists. "Will we still be here in ten years referring to the same legal technicalities [ECRML, language laws?] as we were doing in the same room ten years ago?" Asked a disillusioned speaker of Breton.

"We cannot afford to be", replied Patrick Malrieu, "the clock is ticking and if nothing changes now it will all be too late". (Eurolang © 2005)
July 31, 2005

8) Aos Dana II: The bard and the musicologist (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.whfp.com/1735/misc.html
West Highland Free Press. 29th July, 2005.

JOHN SWAN reports on the talks given by Angus Peter Campbell and JohnPurser during Feis an Eilein last week

The organisers of this year's Feis an Eilein, which ran in Sleat from 12th-23rd July, threatened to end it with "howling pipes, guitars, a thundering bass and an almighty good rhythm". My own encounter with the festival was somewhat more sedate. I chose to focus on parts of the new aos
dana strand.

As I indicated in my report last week on earlier contributions by Clan Donald Centre archivist Maggie Macdonald, and the innovative geneticist Professor Bryan Sykes, I was well rewarded for the long journeys to Sleat. Last week's modern aos dana were the bard Angus Peter Campbell and the musicologist John Purser.

In the past, I've had the privilege of sitting in the presence of WH Auden, Ted Hughes, Sorley Maclean, Murdo Macfarlane and - more recently - Seumas Heaney. To these I now add Angus Peter Campbell. In every case, I have found it difficult afterwards to encapsulate the "message". I've concluded that - just as with their poetry, which cannot be satisfactorily "explained" in any other words than itself - where poets appear in person, the messenger is, in a very real sense, the message. So it proved with Angus Peter Campbell, whose presentation at the feis was very much a bardic performance, complete with fine musical contributions by his two young daughters.

Though my full appreciation was hindered by the limitations of my Gaelic, I felt that we were being taken behind the scenes, as it were, in the creative process. We were allowed to share the current concerns, frustrations, angers even of a man of whom the fear an tigh, Tormod Domhnalach, said in his summing-up: "It's not often you get the poet, novelist, critic and actor combined in the same person."

Angus Peter's talk wove together rich strands from the world's literature. He referred to the Cuban-born Italian novelist, Italo Calvino, whose early work included short stories based on his experiences as a resistance fighter during World War II. In time of war, everyone experiences their own drama; a war to end fascism leads to the rebirth of freedom of speech; and afterwards there is a craving to recount one's experiences. But - and this is the writer's dilemma, which seemed to me to be at the heart of what Angus Peter was telling us - it's one thing to remember, another to create. In trying to capture the memories through the creative process, you run the very real danger of destroying the reality of the memory. "The writer after writing is the poorest of all men."
Angus Peter's presentation included readings from his own Gaelic novels and poetry, including very recent work; from the autobiography of the Colombian novelist Gabriel Maria Marquez; and reference to the Nova Scotian novelist Hugh Maclennan. He also quoted Sorley Maclean's "Hallaig", which includes the lines: "Tha iad fhathast ann a Hallaig. Chunnachas na mairbh beo." ("They are still in Hallaig. The dead have been seen alive.") Here, if anywhere, is a successful poetic recreation of a past that has been swept away, but whose memory has been preserved in great writing.

Yet Angus Peter, towards the end of his talk, symbolically cast his text aside and called upon his daughters to play for us. Tellingly, this time, though it was a haunting shieling song that they performed, it was without the words, on strings only. Where words fail, we can always turn to music.

FITTINGLY, on the Wednesday evening, under the urbane guidance of musicologist John Purser, those gathered in the Clan Donald Centre's Somerled Room did just that. This modern member of the aos dana came armed with a CD player and a selection of discs, and we explored just a little of Scotland's music.

In his book of that title, published in 1992 by Mainstream and BBC Scotland in conjunction with a 30-part radio series, John Purser claims that "Scotland. has produced a music which is acknowledged and enjoyed worldwide. Be it the bagpipes in New Zealand, Auld Lang Syne in Moscow and Hong Kong, Gaelic song in Canada or country dance in the USA, the world still marches, laments, sings farewell and dances to our tune."

Though described by the evening's chairman, Norman Gillies, as "a Renaissance man and polymath", John Purser is a master of self-deprecation. "I don't even have a degree in music," he confided. Perhaps this was his saving grace. "The history of Scotland's music has no street cred whatsoever. Students have emerged from our music departments with doctorates but with no knowledge of Scotland's music." (His own doctorate is in English Literature.)

He recounted the genesis of the "Scotland's Music" project. In 1990, he reminded us, Glasgow was European City of Culture. Without this, he believes, BBC Scotland would never have commissioned the programmes. He paid full tribute to Neil Fraser and Martin Dalby who, on behalf of the BBC, allowed - indeed encouraged - the project to escalate from a series of half- our introductions followed by an hour's illustrative playing, first to 26 and then to 30 90-minute broadcasts in which commentary and performance were interwoven.

For those who didn't hear the series, there's good news: plans are afoot for a new set of up to 50 programmes for radio (John is a great proponent of the magic of radio). There may even be a short series of TV productions about Scotland's music. The new BBC Director General's forthcoming swingeing staff cuts are supposed to free up cash for more adventurous programme-making. Well - let him put his (i.e. our!) money where his mouth is.

John Purser is particularly happy with the opening of his book, where he quotes an 11th-century Gaelic text in support of the commonality among all living things. Classical and traditional music, jazz, even birdsong in his view are all part of a single pattern of sound. "Birds," he claims, "were the first musicians." His love of music appears boundless.

He enabled us to share just a little of his tastes when he let us hear, most memorably, a radio recording of the pipe tune "MacNeill is lord" played by John Burnet on the pink sands of Mingulay against a background of Atlantic combers. This piece, he informed us, would have been played to the islanders in the old days when their landlord or his agent came to collect the rent!

"Pibroch has to be listened to slowly - like the waves coming ashore," he maintained, adding: "There's not another instrument in the world that could contend with such waves."

John singled out a number of significant contributors to the earlier development of our music: Captain Tobias Hume, for one (in some ways a precursor of Bach); Sir John Clerk of Penicuik (who wrote outstanding cantatas and who attempted to court a new wife by cheekily sending her a flute with a risqué love poem inside so it couldn't play till she'd retrieved - and hopefully read - the poem); and General John Reid, who managed to compose fine flute sonatas in the midst of such adventures as fighting the Jacobites and the American secessionists. At the end of a long life, he left a bequest to Edinburgh University which was used to fund Scotland's first chair of music in 1839.

John Purser is currently working on a book about Erik Chisholm, conductor, virtuoso pianist, composer of the breakthrough "Pibroch Concerto" (of which we heard an inriguing extract), and ultimately emigrant to South Africa where he became Professor of Music at Cape Town because his home country, Scotland, could offer no post worthy of his talents.

Erik Chisholm died in 1965. Perhaps he would have stood a slightly better chance of recognition in Scotland today. If so, it would be in no small part due to the efforts of John Purser. It's worth noting that in the very week John gave his talk the BBC Proms in London featured James Macmillan's specially-commissioned work for organ and orchestra, A Scotch Bestiary, and are scheduled to celebrate Scotland's fiddle music in a performance by Blazin' Fiddles this Saturday.

Angus Peter Campbell's presentation ended with a poet invoking the power of music. John Purser's presentation on music ended with his reading his own very moving poem, "The confession of the organist to his mirror". Words and music; music without words; words about music. These were among the riches of the aos dana strand of this year's Feis an Eilein. Our aos dana have spoken - and spoken eloquently to us. Under this banner, the feis committee have instituted a highly-worthwhile series. The challenge will be to maintain this year's very high standard.

9) New Book Chronicles a Gaelic Life on Margaree Island (Scottish Gaelic)
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2005/29/c5797.html
INVERNESS, July 29 /CNW Telbec/ -

With the publication of "An Innis Aigh" My Life on Margaree Island, Duncan MacLellan provides a glimpse at a vanishing way of life while seeking to preserve for future generations the importance of Gaelic language and customs.

Mr. MacLellan is the last surviving child of Angus Y MacLellan who in 1912 accepted the post as lighthouse keeper on Margaree Island. He arrived on the Island with his wife Maggie and two children. Together he and Maggie raised a family of seven children in the splendid isolation of Margaree Island.

Lighthouse operations played a critical role in the economy and the safety of coastal Nova Scotia. The MacLellans were frequently cut off by weather conditions from the mainland. This fostered a strong sense of family, a reverence for nature and a passion for Gaelic songs and poetry within the family. These qualities are all reflected in the gentle and humorous stories Mr. MacLellan tells.

Angus Y MacLellan retired from Margaree Island to Inverness in 1946. He was well known in Cape Breton as a poet, songwriter and a fierce promoter of the Gaelic language. His work has been rendered into songs and recorded by famous Gaelic singers such as the Rankin Family.

Mr. MacLellan was inspired to write this memoir by a wish to preserve "the culture and family values passed from generation to generation across great oceans from the old world to the new world". In many respects the story of the MacLellan Clan is emblematic of many lives of families throughout Cape Breton. It makes a modest but important contribution to the social history of Nova Scotia and to the preservation of Gaelic within it.

"An Innis Aigh" is available through several Cape Breton distributors, including the Bear Paw in Inverness. Copies may be ordered by email linda.oliver @ns.sympatico.ca or from Margaree Island Publishing, PO Box 2010, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J-1T0.

For further information: Linda Oliver, 902-685-3873,
[email protected]

Posted by: Siarls 30-Aug-2005, 05:23 AM
I am pleased with the Welsh language funding in higher education, but feel that the focus of the Assembly should be on primary and secondary education, where technology and tactics really lack. Students are being taught Welsh by teachers who do not speak Welsh. My Welsh-medium secondary school is in fact due to close.

Posted by: WizardofOwls 13-Sep-2005, 02:15 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

This is the Celtic News part 1, posted on September 13, 2005.

Please note that several installments will follow this one as I have lots of news to catch up on. .

August 1, 2005

1. Anger at new rules aiming to 'simplify' German (Misc Language)

August 2, 2005

2. Ffaith, a new pressure group for the Welsh language (Welsh)
3. Breton language gets worldwide attention on BBC Radio 4 (Breton)

August 4, 2005

4. Book Launch for Reproduction of Famous Gaelic Song Book at Highland Village (Scottish
Gaelic)
5. Breton language policy launched in Wales (Breton)

August 6, 2005

6. No Welsh speaking communities by 2020, says language group (Welsh)
7. GAELIC LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES EXTENDED FOR ADULTS (Scottish Gaelic)

August 7, 2005

8. Multiculturalism: It was around a long time ago (Scottish Gaelic)
9. WELSH LANGUAGE LAWS CALL (Welsh)

August 1, 2005

1. Anger at new rules aiming to 'simplify' German (Misc Language)


http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1715392005
The Scotsman
Tue 2 Aug 2005
International

PALMA BENCZENLEITNER IN BERLIN

A RAFT of changes designed to simplify what Mark Twain once called "that awful German language" legally took effect yesterday across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, seven years after they were first introduced.

But the reformed rules have been bitterly disputed, with critics arguing that languages should be allowed to develop naturally and not be directed by bureaucrats.

Most schools and public offices have already been using the new rules, which were aimed at breaking up some of German's notoriously long words and eliminating excessive and confusing comma regulations.

They also changed some spellings and cut back on the use of the old German letter for a double "s", ß.

And some compound verbs that were previously written together are now split. For example, "radfahren", which means "cycling", is now written "Rad fahren".

But leaders in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia said they were waiting for clarification on the new grammar rules by the German Spelling Council before fully accepting the reforms. Germany's 14 other states and the bordering countries of Switzerland and Austria yesterday accepted the new language rules.

Schools and public institutions will now have to disregard old rules, which were scrapped in 1998.

The Nobel Prize winning Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek has signed a manifesto demanding that the reform be cancelled.

©2005 Scotsman.com
August 2, 2005

2. Ffaith, a new pressure group for the Welsh language (Welsh)

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2421&Itemid=1&lang=en
Penygroes, Monday, 01 August 2005 by Dafydd Meirion

With the Welsh Language Board being abolished in 2007, a language forum has been established to ensure that the Assembly Government of Wales - which will take over its functions - works for the benefit of the language.

The forum, called Ffaith (Fact), has members of all the opposition parties in Wales, and it intends to meet for the first time in the autumn. This meeting will discuss how the Assembly Government can increase the number of Welsh speakers.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas, Plaid Cymru's member for East Carmarthen and Dinefwr - one of the language's heartlands - says that it will be an "ideas powerhouse" and that it will be needed once the Language Board disappears. It is expected that people who are not members of the Assembly will also join Ffaith. The group intends to hold lectures and write papers on the situation of the language, and that members of the various parties "will set a non-political agenda to ensure that the recommendations in Iaith Pawb [Language for All - the Assembly Government's Welsh language policy] are carried out".

"At this stage it is difficult to see that the Assembly Government has any strategy to reach the target set in Iaith Pawb on increasing the number of Welsh speakers by 5% by 2011 [the date of the next Census]," says Rhodri Glyn Thomas.

Another member of Ffaith, Liberal Democrat Nick Bennett, says that a forum such as Ffaith is needed "to look for facts from all over the world to see what works in strengthening minority languages". He adds that the intention is not to criticise the Assembly Government "but to gather evidence and to raise the level of the debate on the Welsh language".

The next step is to ensure a source of non-political funds to pay for the work of Ffaith.
(Eurolang © 2005)

3. Breton language gets worldwide attention on BBC Radio 4 (Breton)

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2422&Itemid=1&lang=en
Boulvriag / Bourbriac, Sunday, 31 July 2005 by Yann Rivallain

Several million listeners of the prestigious "Today" programme on BBC Radio 4 got a taste of the Breton language and music on Saturday morning. The BBC crew were broadcasting live from Bourbriac, in the Breton-speaking Tregor area of Brittany. While the original idea was to cover the issue of the integration of hundreds of English-speaking newcomers to Brittany, the BBC journalists broadened the perspective by inviting several Breton and English participants to talk about Breton language and culture.

Roy Eales, a former journalist at The Economist, who has published several poetry books and now resides in Brittany, read a poem called Fest-Noz. This poem about the traditional Breton dance evenings and the Breton language was then read out to BBC listeners in Breton by Fañch
Perru, a Breton teacher and poet, making history as the longest text in Breton read to such a wide
audience.

As French radios were busy covering the huge traffic-jams that clogged French roads up on a busy holiday week-end, the BBC team alternated between breaking news on the London bombers and interviews in Bourbriac.

When asked about the feeling of the general public toward English-speaking incomers, as editor-in-chief of the magazine ArMen, (also our Eurolang correspondent and author of this article) explained that "the waves of newcomers is certainly a striking phenomenon, but to the vast majority of Bretons it is not a problem. Newcomers to Brittany, whether they are British, French or whatever are welcome here. If they respect and take interest in our Celtic identity, culture
and the Breton language, most will actually find that they are doubly welcome".

Most English-speaking people interviewed by the "Today" team said they had never experienced any hostility from Breton people, including those who staged a demonstration against speculation and empty second homes in Bourbriac a few months ago. Most people concentrated on the quality of life they enjoyed, while one English participant welcomed the new Breton language development plan and bilingual education.

While asking a participant to say "goodbye" in Breton, Carolyn Quinn, the presenter suggested that Breton education could be better integrated into the local community.

The very popular "Thought for the Day" item written by Rev. Rob Marshall, a Yorkshire man who lives in Brittany, also refered to cultural and linguistic diversity : "Cultural diversity was, of
course, always God''s purpose in creation. Many different peoples in a variety of lands. The gift of languages. The natural local world in all its splendour and diversity. Regional foods and delicacies to give real pleasure and enjoyment?"

The two hour programme, half of which concentrated on Britto-Breton matters, concluded with a two minute Breton gavotte, played live on the biniou (Breton bag-pipe) and bombarde (ancestor of the oboe) by the Cornic brothers, two young Breton speakers and acclaimed traditional
musicians.

As the well-known BBC beeps marked the end of the programme at 9.00 am, the pipes faded away leaving many participants thankful to the BBC for allowing a seriously endangered language such as Breton to become global for a short while. (Eurolang © 2005)
To listen to Roy Eales poem in English and Breton on today, click on the following link to the BBC Radio 4 web site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today3_poet_20050730.ram

August 4, 2005

4. Book Launch for Reproduction of Famous Gaelic Song Book at Highland Village (Scottish Gaelic)


At 2 pm on August 25th, the Highland Village Museum/ An Clachan Gàidhealach, will host a book launch celebrating the reprinting of An Òranaiche/ The Gaelic Songster. This extensive collection of popular Gaelic songs is well known to Gaels on both sides of the Atlantic. An Òranaiche was collated and first published by Archibald Sinclair, Glasgow, Scotland in1879. The book became a valued reference work for many households in Scottish Nova Scotia and well- worn copies of the original remain in use to the present.

Production of An Òranaiche in a second edition was undertaken by Antigonish Gaelic bookseller Trueman Matheson, owner of Sìol Cultural Enterprises, with contributions from volunteers who advised and assisted in text editing. Among the dedicated to this important project were Effie Rankin, Catrìona Parsons, and Dr. Kenneth Nilsen of St. Francis Xavier's Celtic Department.

The second edition of the Gaelic Songster is an impressive compendium of Gaelic songs enhanced by a CD giving examples of airs over twenty one tracks representing songs found in the book. Selections include melody settings from Nova Scotia and Scotland and are sung by local singers in traditional manner without musical accompaniment.

The Highland Village Museum will pay tribute to Archibald Sinclair and Trueman Matheson's second edition of An Òranaiche in the Tuning Room, backstage from 2 pm to 4 pm. Performing guests joining in the launch will include the Iona Gaelic Singers, Mary Jane Lamond, Jim Watson, and friends. This is a special event for all with an interest in Gaelic singing and this landmark collection of Gaelic songs now once again available to the public. Light refreshments will be served and all are welcome. Admission is free.

The Highland Village Museum/ An Clachan Gàidhealach is located in Iona overlooking the spectacular Bras d'Or Lakes. It is a part of the Nova Scotia Museum family. Ur beatha an Clachan.

Contact: Seumas Watson, Manager of Interpretation
Highland Village Museum/ An Clachan Gàidhealach
(902) 725- 2272 [email protected]

Shannon MacKenzie, Public Relations Coordinator
Highland Village Museum/ An Clachan Gàidhealach
(902) 725- 2272 [email protected]

Trueman MathesonSìol Cultural Enterprises
3841 Highway 316, P.O. Box 81,
St. Andrew's, NS, CANADA B0H 1X0
Phone/Fax: (902) 863-0416

http://www.gaelicbooks.com

5. Breton language policy launched in Wales (Breton)

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2425&Itemid=1&lang=en
Felinheli, Wednesday, 03 August 2005 by Dafydd Meirion

Today (3rd August) at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, the Breton Regional Council launched its language policy for the Breton language. At the meeting was Jean Pierre Thomin, a member of the Breton Regional Council with responsibility for language policy.

He was welcomed to the Welsh Language Board's unit at the National Eisteddfod by the board's chief executive Meirion Prys Jones. Mr Jones said that the Welsh Language Board had increasing contacts with Brittany and he emphasised how important it was for the two countries to co-operate.

M Thomin started his address in Welsh before turning to Breton with his comments being translated into Welsh by Iwan Kadored from Ofis ar Brezhoneg. He said that the Breton Regional Council was inspired by the National Assembly of Wales' language policy, and he added that the Breton language policy was the first ever document on a minority language to be accepted by the French Government. It was also the first bilingual document adopted by the Breton Regional Council.

He then gave a brief outline of the position of the Breton language and why a language policy was needed. He said that 60 per cent of the speakers were over 60 years of age, and that 10,000 speakers died every year. But he added that 10,000 children were learning the language in the schools, although the language was not being transferred within families to the younger generation. He added that there was not much Breton on radio and television.

But he was certain that there was a better future for the language. He said that the percentage of children learning Breton was increasing by 10 to 15 per cent every year - being ten times what it was ten years ago. He added that many societies were arranging activities in Breton.

He said that the need for a language policy arose during last year's elections, and when the socialists came to power a group consisting of 20 per cent of the councillors was formed to formulate a policy. Members of the group held meeting with societies and bodies who were promoting the language.

The language policy was accepted in December 2004, and it is seen as a historic step forward. Amongst the aims of the policy is to increase the official awareness of the language and for Breton to become one of the official languages of Brittany. The Breton Regional Council has also asked the French Government to sign the European Charter on Minority Languages. The policy has three objectives, said M Thomin, which are to keep the language alive and retain the number of speakers, give the people of Brittany the opportunity to use the language - spoken and written, and to give the Breton language the opportunity to be accepted in every part of society.

The policy also has the aim of increasing the number of children learning the language in schools from 10,000 to 20,000 by 2010. The Breton Regional Council will offer assistance to classes that teach Breton and also to teachers to train them to teach the language in schools. The Breton Regional Council, also, realises that it is important that children are offered the opportunity to speak the language outside school, and they will offer assistance to organisations that arrange activities in Breton.

M Thomin added that it was important that local authorities used the language in public life, and that there was co-operation between the Breton Regional Council and Ofis ar Brezhoneg to promote the language.

He said that little use was made of the language on radio and television, but that the Breton Regional Council was trying to persuade local independent radio stations to use more of the language. It will also work with television companies to produce more Breton programmes. The Breton Regional Council has already supported a weekly Breton magazine that was launched a month ago.

It is also aimed to make Ofis ar Brezhoneg an official body similar to the Welsh Language Board.

He added that the language policy had gone as far as was possible under the circumstances. Until fairly recently, some Bretons were ashamed of their language, said M Thomin. It was only recently that things had started to change, and he added that by now many activities were being held in the language.

Meirion Prys Jones added at the end of the meeting that he hoped Ofis ar Brezhoneg would become part of the Network of European Language Boards, as it was a powerful medium to help and promote languages.

The meeting closed with a rap in Welsh and Breton by Aneirin Karadog. (Eurolang © 2005)

LINKS

http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg
http://www.ofis-bzh.org Ofis ar Brezhoneg
http://www.cymru.gov.uk/ National Assembly of Wales
http://www.region-bretagne.fr The Breton Regional Council

August 6, 2005

6. No Welsh speaking communities by 2020, says language group (Welsh)


http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?d=0&option=com_content&task=view&id=2427&Itemid=1&lang=cy

Felinheli, Friday, 05 August 2005 Ysgrifennwyd gan Dafydd Meirion

There could be no Welsh speaking communities by 2020. That was the message from Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) during the National Eisteddfod in north-west Wales this week.

The National Eisteddfod of Wales is an annual festival celebrating Welsh culture and language.

Some members of the society went on a fast - some for the whole week, others a day at a time - to draw attention to the situation in which, although there has been an increase in the number of speakers, the percentage of Welsh speakers in the language's heartlands is declining, in some areas rapidly.

"During the Eisteddfod week, we have the freedom to live our lives using the Welsh language as a natural part of our daily lives," says Steffan Cravos, chairman of Cymdeithas yr Iaith. "However, should present trends continue, there is a real danger that by 2020 the Eisteddfod field will be the only place where this will be possible. Without a period of urgent campaigning by the people of Wales, it is possible that the Eisteddfod field will be the only Welsh speaking community left within fifteen years."

During the week, Cymdeithas yr Iaith members have been asking people to sign a national petition calling for a property act which would secure housing for local people and a language act that would give people the "right to use Welsh in every part of their daily lives." During a rally on the Eisteddfod field, members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith heckled Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of the National Assembly of Wales.

Mr Cravos added that, "We call on the Assembly Government to introduce these measures... We also call on local authorities and other public bodies... to begin to administer and operate through the medium of Welsh. This is a necessary step in order to ensure that the Welsh language is not simply seen as a language to be translated, but also as a medium that is central to the public life of the communities." (Eurolang © 2005)

7. GAELIC LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES EXTENDED FOR ADULTS (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2005/aug05/gaelic-learning.htm
Use: Immediate
Issued: Wednesday 3rd August, 2005

Adults who want to learn Gaelic in Inverness area will be able to enrol in a new series of language classes this month with classes starting in September.
Organised by The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Service and Inverness College, the classes are being funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Classes begin on 12th September, with students progressing through eight levels, or alternatively joining at an appropriate level. Five of these levels will be offered from September to December 2005 with a further three being offered between January and Easter 2006.

Highland Councillor Roderick Balfour, Chairman of the City of Inverness Area Education Culture and Sport Committee said: "I'm delighted that Margaret Mulholland our Community Learning and Leisure Officer who has special responsibility for Gaelic has organised Gaelic learning classes for people of all levels of ability, whether you are a complete beginner or someone that wishes to `brush up' on your language ability. This is exactly what is required for learners and it is also one of the many targets set out in the Council's Gaelic Language and Culture Plan, which was recently launched in the City. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Bòrd na Gàidhlig for their financial assistance and also Inverness College."

Iain MacGillechiar Lecturer at Inverness College said: "We are pleased to be working with Highland Council in putting together a co-ordinated range of learning opportunities for learners of Gaelic."

Donald Morrison, Bòrd na Gàidhlig's Development Manager said: "Gaelic learners feature as an important element within the Bòrd's strategic plan to expand the Gaelic speaking community. This scheme brings together a suite of linked classes that provides potential Gaelic learners and improvers with a clear progressive pathway towards the achievement of fluency. It is particularly fitting that Gàidhlig is, once again, accessible to allcomers in the Highland City of Inverness."

Level one will be offered on a Tuesday night at Charleston Community Centre led by tutor Brian O hEadhra, a Gaelic learner and well-known musician.

On Mondays at venue still to be decided - level two classes will be with tutor, Gwen Bowie who is a former Gaelic Medium teacher.

Level three classes will be on Wednesday nights at Hilton Community Centre. The tutor will be Mary Ellen Stewart from North Uist who is presently working with An Comunn Gàidhealach as a Development Officer.

Level five and level seven will be offered on Wednesday nights at Inverness College. The tutors will be Siùsaidh Hardy, the Director of Clì Gàidhlig and Iain MacGillechiar, Gaelic lecturer at Inverness College.

Classes for levels four, six eight will take place early next year at venues to be confirmed.

To enrol in any of the classes contact Inverness College tel no. 01463 273000.
-ends-

For further information please contact:

Margaret Mulholland, Gaelic Community Learning & Development Officer,
The Highland Council, Education, Culture and Sport Service, Town
House, High Street. Inverness IV1 1JJ tel: 01463 724203

Marketing Department, Inverness College, 3 Longman Road, Inverness,
IV1 1SA by telephone on 01463 273807 email: [email protected]

Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Darach House, Stoneyfield Business Park, Inverness
IV2 7PA
Tel: 01463 225454, Fax: 01463 716217, email: [email protected]

Date Last updated : 04/08/05

August 7, 2005

8. Multiculturalism: It was around a long time ago (Scottish Gaelic)


http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=1740912005

Scotland on Sunday
Sun 7 Aug 2005

Murchadh MacLeòid

It used to be said about the Communist world that the most unpredictable thing was always the past. You knew what the current situation was, you knew what was predicted for the future. But because of the ways that the views of the state chiefs changed, you never knew who is history it was safe to praise.

The same is happening in the Highlands. With all the views which are flying around one cannot be sure whether the Highland Clearances really did happen. All those empty villages in Rossshire and Sutherland must be things which I saw in my sleep. And don't even get me started on the places where it is now claimed that "there was never any Gaelic" such as Perthshire, Inverness, Sutherland, Lochinver, Stornoway, and Ross-shire.

The same lack of surety seems to have gripped David Davis of the Tories, along with many others, through recent weeks.

We hear that multiculturalism has gone and that it was nothing but 20 years of madness in which people lost their minds by thinking that people could all be different if they wanted to be.
In this new version of history, everyone in the UK was as identical as 50m herring. One language, one faith, one way of life one philosophy. We all know that it was not quite like that. Multicultural Britain is nothing new. What is new is the fact that those in authority acknowledge that there are different kinds of people in the country. British soldiers went to the Somme, British sailors went to Murmansk, and they came from a country which had many cultures.

They speak Gaelic, Welsh, Irish, and English as first languages. The officers had no idea what to do with the Free Kirkers or Free Presbyterians when it came to church parade. They belonged to a nation with many cultures, languages, and ways of life. And it worked.

Lewis boys went into battle with English who had no idea what the peat-cutting tool looked like, who had never tasted sheep's head soup, stuffed fish heads, salt herring, and who knew nothing of the Presbyterian Catechism. If David Davis believes that we should all be of one culture, then what does he mean with that? When will the British culture courses include information about St Columba, the differences between the various words used to describe various sorts of piles of peats, and how to make herring in oatmeal? I raise these point in order to show the flaws in many of the answers to the problems of radical young Muslims in the UK.

Those named in connection with suicide bombings had no lack of English. They were much more integrated with mainstream UK society than were the Gaels who went to the First World War.

And though the government wanted to get tougher on making sure that we were all of one language and culture, and the like, there is no guarantee that it would succeed. Government spent hundreds of years and millions of pounds trying to exterminate Gaelic, Irish and Welsh. In the words of John Major, We're still here.

And what kind of rage would our leaders create by dictating that the other languages and cultures would have to be wiped out? We never liked it when the people of Highlands and Islands were being taxed to pay for an education system which aimed to exterminate us as a people. It is hard for us to recall now, but until the situation for the Celtic languages got better, there were enough people who discussed violence as an option. The warring sides in Ulster and Bosnia spoke the same languages. Fat lot of good it did them.

This talk of forcing people to become more British will simply make the problem much worse. If radical preaching, the language of the old country, and the traditional culture are made into forbidden things then they will only become more attractive to unhinged young people. And in the world of the internet people cannot be stopped from connecting to these things. And which of us was not years being told about how bad cigarettes were for us? And millions smoke. It was claimed for years that the people in the old Communist countries knew nothing but the system they lived under and that they would not even understand the desire for freedom. And they struggled for freedom and for change despite the many years of oppression. People simply cannot be cowed or ordered as some of us would like.

The history of the Highlands also gives a lesson to those who will want to control Muslim places of worship to ensure that they preach what the government wants them to. 200 years ago, the government hoped to use the established church to keep the Gaels down by having them not oppose the Clearances and the oppression. All they did was strengthen the other churches. Again the internet will mean that those who want radical preaching can get it if they want it.

Many of the so-called solutions will make the problem worse. They will turn a few score fanatics into hundreds or thousands. Let us not forget the lessons of history.

©2005 Scotsman.com

9. WELSH LANGUAGE LAWS CALL (Welsh)

CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

A key member of the Welsh Language Board has called for a series of new laws which he says are needed to create a bilingual Wales. Professor Colin Williams called for language laws to be extended to include parts of the private sector including banks and insurance companies.

The move would complement steps in the public sector as since the 1993 Welsh Language Act, that sector has had to provide a bilingual service.

As usual when such calls are made critics of the move have said extending language legislation to the private sector would be "impractical" and in what must surely be recorded as the most patronising response the Conservative MP and AM for Monmouth, David Davies, said that calls to extend the Welsh language legislation in this way undermined 'goodwill towards the language among non-Welsh speakers'.

Mr. Williams made his call in a speech to the National Eisteddfod which is being held at the Faenol estate, near Bangor.

J B Moffatt
Secretary General
Celtic League

06/08/05

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleaguehttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

Posted by: WizardofOwls 16-Sep-2005, 07:53 PM
Here is the latest on Celtic Languages in the News.

I would like to acknowledge that these articles come from the following mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaelic-News/

This is an excellent news service and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in the Celtic Languages.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues relating to the preservation and advancement of the Celtic Languages. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

August 13, 2005

1. Call for Welsh police forces to co-operate on the language (Welsh)
2. CORNISH COUSINS TELL OF LIFE DOWN UNDER (Cornish)
3. AT THE ART OF MANX REVIVAL (Manx)
4. SKYE SET TO GET AN ALL-GAELIC DISTILLERY (Scottish Gaelic)
5. MOVES TO END SPLIT OVER GAELIC IN VILLAGE (Scottish Gaelic)
6. BLAS FESTIVAL GIVES GAELIC AND CHILDREN LEADING ROLES (Scottish Gaelic)

August 14, 2005

7. Sign language a problem! - says AGM (All Celtic Languages)
8. Gaidhlig College Director briefs Annual General Meeting delegates (All Celtic Languages)
9. Celtic TV in spotlight at Annual General Meeting (All Celtic Languages)


August 13, 2005

1. Call for Welsh police forces to co-operate on the language (Welsh)


http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2428&Itemid=1&lang=en
North Wales, Thursday, 11 August 2005 by Dafydd Meirion

North Wales Police have launched a CD on the Welsh language for prospective police recruits. On the occasion of the launch, the Welsh Language Board called for cooperation between North Wales Police and other Welsh police forces to develop a Wales-wide language strategy and to continue to work hand in hand with the Language Board.

The call was made by Meri Huws, chair of the Welsh Language Board, at an event held to discuss "Policing Through Minority Languages". The event, organised by North Wales Police, was also attended by Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales Police, Donall O' Cualain of An Garda Siochana (Irish Police) and Alun Puw, Minister for the Welsh Language, Culture and Sport in the Welsh Assembly.

Chief Constable Brunstrom, who has learnt to speak Welsh fluently since he joined the force in 1999, launched a CD that is to be placed in application packs distributed to all individuals who have expressed an interest in applying to become a police officer in the North Wales Police Force. "The CD launched today lists the basic Welsh language requirement that we will expect of all candidates applying to become police officers," said Mr Brunstrom. "There are two official languages within Wales, Welsh and English, and we as a police force have made significant steps to make North Wales Police a bilingual organisation and a Welsh language policy is already in place."

At present, about a quarter of the police in north Wales speak Welsh, whilst the proportion of Welsh speakers throughout the area is 36%, with much higher concentrations in the north-west. The aim of North Wales Police is for 36% of its officers to be able to speak the language. The force was the first in Wales to appoint an officer to try to recruit Welsh speakers.

Meri Huws, chair of the Welsh Language Board, congratulated North Wales Police on the launch of the CD and the work undertaken by the force with regard to the Welsh language. "North Wales Police are setting an example and as a board we want to congratulate them. I urge other
public bodies and businesses in the private sector to look at how North Wales Police work as they are leading the way." (Eurolang © 2005)

2. CORNISH COUSINS TELL OF LIFE DOWN UNDER (Cornish)

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/
This is Cornwall. 11:00 - 09 August 2005

At the beginning of September, as the Horner whets her lips to call the Bards of Gorsedh Kernow to their annual ceremony, this year at Wadebridge, a group of Australian-Cornish bards will meet at the Cornish Studies Library in Redruth to describe the life, events and experience of the Cornish-descended community in Australia. Each year the Gorsedh elects new Bards, chosen for their skill in Kernewek (the Cornish language), or to honour outstanding service to Cornwall and Cornish culture, or to recognise outstanding service to Cornish communities and identity elsewhere in the world.

As September approaches, Bards gather from all over the world.

In Australia the biennial Kernewek Lowender festival brings together people of Cornish descent from all over the country. Many travel to Australia to take part. This year former Grand Bard, Ann Jenkin, carried her unique message of "a modern global Cornish community bonded by culture and origin" to the festival.

She has invited her hosts to share their perceptions of Cornish life in Australia with Cornwall. The event in Redruth, billed as the Dehwelans Lecture 2005, will feature:

Lilian James, from Melbourne, who was recently awarded the Order of Australian Merit for her services to promoting the Cornish language in Australia.

Bill Phillipps, from Victoria, a leading member of the Australian federation of Cornish Associations.

June Parrott, from Victoria, who specialises in cultural activity and Celtic customs.

Rev Ted Curnow, who has been working as a minister in Hayle and St Ives for two years, will describe his impressions and experiences as a Cornish- Australian "coming home".

It's A Cornish Life - Down Under takes place at the Cornish Studies Library, Redruth, on Thursday September 1 at 7pm.

3. AT THE ART OF MANX REVIVAL (Manx)

http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1143&ArticleID=1111449
IoM Online. 11th August, 2005

THE arts have helped in the revival of Manx, but much work needs to be done.

That is the verdict of delegates who attended the International Celtic Congress in Oban, Argyll.

Supported by the Manx Heritage Foundation, 25 delegates from the Island joined those from Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Scotland and Wales at the event.

The Celtic Congress is a non-political organisation working to protect and develop Celtic languages and cultures.

Its latest meeting focused on the role of the arts.

Anne Kissack told how choirs and music groups played a part in the revival of Manx Gaelic and presented some of the poetry composed by children at the Manx medium school in St John's.

Mactullagh Vannin and Share na Veg performed at the meeting.

The Welsh delegates focused on drama and theatre, the Cornish on poetry and the people of Brittany looked at the use of the Breton language in advertising posters.
Brian Stowell said: 'The general message was that the art has to be of high standard and not just a vehicle to promote the various languages. As Anne Kissack said, the Isle of Man is generally behind the other countries as regards the use of our language in the arts, but we will catch up in many areas.'

4. SKYE SET TO GET AN ALL-GAELIC DISTILLERY (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12989200

SUE RESTAN. Press and Journal.

09:00 - 11 August 2005

A New all-Gaelic distillery is planned for the Isle of Skye.

One of the smallest whisky companies in Scotland is hoping to expand by converting a redundant farm building at a cost of over £3million.

And it is hoped that the new development, which includes a visitor centre, will attract around 60,000 visitors per year and create at least seven new jobs.

Skye-based Praban na Linne Ltd has applied for planning permission for change of use of an agricultural building on Cnoc Farm, Teangue, on the Sleat peninsula.

It has also applied for listing building consent as the dilapidated property, on a farm complex, carries a Grade C listing.

Praban na Linne, of Eilean Iarmain, Sleat, currently produces two blends and one malt under the title The Gaelic Whiskies, but the whisky is distilled, blended and bottled in Edinburgh.

Company chairman Sir Iain Noble explained that they now want to expand into distilling their own whisky.

He said: "This is a natural progression for us. It is also a good use for an old building that is otherwise in danger of becoming derelict.

"We would initially hope to employ seven people. However, if the visitor centre proved successful and we got involved in corporate entertaining, the figure could rise to 10 to 15 plus seasonal staff," he said.

The former merchant banker added that all their products were labelled in Gaelic and business was conducted in the language whenever possible. "Our ambition is that all staff at the distillery would be Gaelic speaking, in which case it would be the only Gaelic speaking distillery in Scotland," he said.

The company's agent John Sanders, of Simpson and Brown Architects in Edinburgh, said: "The existing farm complex at Torabhaig is considered ideal for a distillery. The building is in the form of a quadrangle, adjacent to a ruined mill building in a fine scenic site with a view to
Caisteal a Chamuis (The Old Castle).

"It has not been used for agricultural purposes since about 1975. To use it for a distillery would be an ideal way of rescuing a redundant farm building that is no longer suitable for agriculture."

It would also incorporate a display of the existing smugglers still, currently displayed at the company's specialist whisky tasting and sales centre at Eilean Iarmain. Mr Sanders added that the proposed design would ensure the preservation of the character of the old steading, which was built around 1800.

A Highland Council spokesman said the application was unlikely to go before the Skye and Lochalsh Area Committee before October.

5. MOVES TO END SPLIT OVER GAELIC IN VILLAGE (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149475&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149205&contentPK=12989198

KEN JONES. Press and Journal.

09:00 - 11 August 2005

The go-ahead will be sought today for the start of a formal consultation process to resolve a row over the future of a village's English and Gaelic units, which has already split a community.

Highland education bosses say there are capacity and accommodation issues at the Lady Lovat Primary School at Morar which must be resolved.

But they have already been warned there could be "irreparable damage" unless there is careful handling of the controversy over the school's minority 13-strong English stream and the 37-pupil Gaelic unit.

The council's education, culture and sport committee is being asked at its meeting today to set in motion formal consultations with councillors and parents.

It follows concerns by the schools inspectorate who, despite praising the quality of education, said there were "important weaknesses" in accommodation.

Since then informal discussions have taken place with parents and the wider communities of Mallaig, Arisaig and Morar over accommodation and capacity issues.
A steering group was also formed to "agree and present their aspirations and recommendations" with a view to a resolution being put in place for the new enrolment next January.

However, some parents admit there has been a "deep-rooted split" over some of the proposals.

Among them is the transfer of either the Gaelic unit or the smaller English stream to the primary school at Mallaig, where there is spare capacity.

However, the school's Comunn nam Parant Rathad nan Eilean group claims splitting the Gaelic unit would be detrimental to their youngsters' language and social development in an area with a strong Gaelic tradition.

They have voted not to split the Gaelic unit in any way or move it to Mallaig but to maintain the status quo at Morar.

English-stream supporters deny the village has a Gaelic tradition - and claim that those pressing for an all-Gaelic school are from outwith the village or incomers.

It is claimed a survey had shown that 91% of villagers, including English-stream parents, wanted the school to cater for both, not just Gaelic, as it had done so since 1915.

English-stream parents have voiced "huge disappointment" that the council has not made more money available to provide additional accommodation, enabling the school to be taken forward as a flagship for mixed English-Gaelic medium education.

They are also concerned that a 15-pupil maximum has been imposed on the number of English-stream pupils but not Gaelic learners, who come from Arisaig, Mallaig and Morar.

6. BLAS FESTIVAL GIVES GAELIC AND CHILDREN LEADING ROLES (Scottish Gaelic)

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149235&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149218&contentPK=12953840&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch
Press and Journal. 09:00 - 05 August 2005

A brand new music festival for the Highlands in which pride of place is given to tradition, youth and Gaelic is hitting the road next month.

The Blas Festival will feature some of the best acts from this country and from other complementary traditions, and by staging performances in many of the remoter villages of the area it will reach places others don't. It will feature nearly 40 different shows in 35 different
locations throughout the Highlands and is concentrated into what promises to be a great week of music, conviviality and crack.
The festival's new website www.blas-festival.com details performers and performances, provides useful links for those intending to travel to concert locations and, most importantly, has a facility for ticket purchase online, through the new HI-Arts initiative www.thebooth.co.uk
.

According to Brian O hEadhra, artistic director for Blas, the completion of the programme and the launch of the website are important and necessary steps in bringing to fruition the aims and aspirations for the festival.

He said: "From the outset Blas aimed to create a festival that celebrates traditional music in the Highlands and promotes interest in and the use of Gaelic.

Blas is funded by the Highland Council and the Millennium Commission, through its Urban Cultural Programme. The Council has contracted Feisean nan Gaidheal to develop and organise the festival.

August 14, 2005

7. Sign language a problem! - says AGM (All Celtic Languages)


Celtic League Press Information

The problem of road signage and public signage in general was the subject of several resolutions passed at the CL's AGM at Sabhal Mor Ostaig Gaidhlig College on Skye. Resolutions from the Cornish and Manx branches of the CL called upon the public authorities in the Celtic countries to recognise their duty to preserve and promote their national languages and the usage of them in signage. Delegates to the meeting expressed anger and irritation at the increasing propensity in some of the Celtic countries to crudely translate or, in some instances, rename areas and roads in English or French.

JB Moffatt, Secretary General

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas

For more information, telephone the General Secretary Bernard Moffatt on: 07624 491609
For comment in Manx, contact Mark Kermode on 07791302236
For comment in Welsh, contact Robat ap Tomos on 07765187557
For comment in Irish, contact Cathal O Luain on 00353 87248031

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league

8. Gaidhlig College Director briefs Annual General Meeting delegates (All Celtic Languages)

Celtic League Press Information

Iain Taramod Macleoid, Director of Sabhal Mor Ostaig Gaidhlig College on Skye, attended the opening session of the Celtic League Annual General Meeting held at the college and provided a
comprehensive presentation to delegates about the current work and role of the Sabhal Mor Ostaig college in promoting Gaidhlig across Scotland and around the world.

He stressed the collaboration ventures that were under way with other institutions throughout Scotland and internationally. Delegates were impressed by the facilities at Sabhal Mor Ostaig which are to be further enhanced and provide crucial support to the Gaidhlig language at this pivotal point in the language's development.

JB Moffatt, Secretary General

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas

For more information, telephone the General Secretary Bernard Moffatt on: 07624 491609
For comment in Manx, contact Mark Kermode on 07791302236
For comment in Welsh, contact Robat ap Tomos on 07765187557
For comment in Irish, contact Cathal O Luain on 00353 87248031

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

9. Celtic TV in spotlight at Annual General Meeting (All Celtic Languages)

Celtic League Press Information

The Celtic League Annual General Meeting held at Sabhal Mor Ostaig Gaidhlig College on Skye addressed the provision and extension of Celtic language TV programming across the Celtic countries. One resolution from the Breizh (Breton) branch called for the inclusion of TV Breizh on the French digital chanel TNT (Tele Numerique Terrestre).

In addition, a resolution from the General Secretarypledged the Celtic League's support to calls from political leaders and communities groups to extend all Irish TV broadcasting (including
TG4) to the Irish expatriate community in Britain. Both resolutions were unanimously endorsed.

JB Moffatt, Secretary General
The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of the western British Isles and Brittany. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas

For more information, telephone the General Secretary Bernard Moffatt on: 07624 491609
For comment in Manx, contact Mark Kermode on 07791302236
For comment in Welsh, contact Robat ap Tomos on 07765187557
For comment in Irish, contact Cathal O Luain on 00353 87248031

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league

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