Thurso meeting for Gaelic plan consultation
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CAITHNESS will host one of the eight public consultations which are to take place on the Highland Council’s consultative draft Gaelic language plan.
Sessions on the proposal, which was supported at a meeting of the local authority’s Gaelic committee in Inverness yesterday, will be held at various venues throughout the Highlands.
The first will be staged at Thurso High School at 7pm on Monday, October 24, followed by others at Portree, Ullapool, Inverness, Fort William, Dingwall, Aviemore and Golspie. The consultative meetings finish on Wednesday, November 2.
An update then will be given to the Gaelic committee on December 1 while a final draft of the plan is expected to go before members on March 8 next year. The full council will consider it on April 5 before it is submitted to Bòrd na Gàidhlig for final approval a week later.
The Gaelic committee, which includes Caithness councillors, backed the plan yesterday.
Wick councillor Graeme Smith gave his support to the proposal but stressed that there is a difference between heritage and culture. He said “one should not swamp the other”.
The plan aims to:
• Increase the number of speakers.
• Increase the range of opportunities for using Gaelic.
• Promote bilingualism in communities, in the home and in education.
• Sustain and strengthen Gaelic education, language and heritage.
• Maximise the economic benefits of Gaelic.
• Contribute to future growth within Gaelic arts, media and culture.
• Further raise the status and visibility of Gaelic.
Under the plan the Highland Council is committed to the principle of equal respect for Gaelic and English languages and “recognises the diversity of indigenous language and dialects within the Highlands”.
