Seòmar agus comataidhean

I suppose that there is quite a distance between crisis and arresting decline. Is arresting decline urgent enough?

I am sorry—I know that I said “Finally”, but I have just a tiny final question. Some of the things that you have spoken about tend to be geared towards the learner community. In the Western Isles, you will hear Gaelic in the shops and when people are working and doing things. Are the two communities coming together? They are maybe not separate. Do you know what I mean? Is there a mixture?

That is very helpful.

Professor Ó Giollagáin described the situation in traditionally Gaelic-speaking communities as being “in crisis”. This morning, Donald Macleod from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar spoke about the need to “arrest... decline”. Where does Bòrd na Gàidhlig sit between those two elements? How would you describe the situation for Gaelic?

At the moment, I am more interested in the perspective of people who live there rather than that of bodies or visitors. How would they know that their language was completely supported and protected? It is because they do not have to change their language. I do not go anywhere where I have to speak anything other than English—I do not even have to think about it. However, Gaelic speakers will have to change the language that they use—perhaps if they have to go to a medical appointment. Would being an area of linguistic significance mean that there were levers to improve that situation?

I have a couple of questions about the role of Bòrd na Gàidhlig. I want to ask your view on some comments that the committee received. These are not my words, but I will quote them:

“Bòrd na Gàidhlig is a small, underfunded public body that has little status or power in Scotland’s wider public realm.”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 1 May 2024; c 37.]

Do you think that the bill will sufficiently and appropriately strengthen the board’s position?

Mòran taing.

Yes. Thank you. We have heard this morning about youth work and opportunities to play sport and do art, drama and singing and speak Gaelic. Are such things important for embedding language, particularly for young people, so that it is not just about school, but about life?

Madainn mhath. How many are taking up the course via distance learning? We heard earlier that the offering from three to 18 is really important. Obviously, communities will have playgroups, Pàrant is Pàiste and all those things, but how many folk are taking up early learning qualifications by distance learning? Do you have any notion of which parts of the country they are from?

Is there any concern that trying to do a little bit everywhere is perhaps not the most effective way of lifting the language and protecting it?