Sir,
If the Scottish Government is (albeit unconvincingly, to me) serious about kick-
This would, I believe, go some way towards establishing a record of specific, and overall, accountability for the money which has been sunk (without trace? without traction?) in the language over that period.
Where success (or more commonly failure, I suspect) in investment has occurred, a comprehensive audit may indicate where possible routes for the future might lead.
I, a mere cog in what at times has seemed a rippling and rather convoluted wheel of Gaelic language involvement, would be only too happy to produce evidence of what resulted and was produced on the strength of a £3,000 writer’s bursary which I received from the then Scottish Arts Council in the early 1990s. In addition, I hold fairly detailed records of radio programmes I produced in broadcasting employment, other writings with publishers, and resources used in adult education classes, the qualifying diploma at Glasgow University for which I received assistance with fees from a section of the BBC, not under a directly Gaelic remit.
Therein lie the fairly peripheral, I’d say, in comparison to other seemingly quite extensive and significant areas of activity, reaches of my various Gaelic remit(s).
Finally, if ‘revival’ would seem too optimistic an approach, perhaps it’s time the
somewhat soul-
Mary Montgomery
Balallan
Isle of Lewis
Letters: Seeking a future approach for Gaelic
26 July 2024