Cuach na Cloinne goes across The Minch for the first time
Issued by CnaG
Laxdale Primary School are the winners of the Cuach na Cloinne 2015 trophy, taking the trophy across the Minch for the first time. Following six regional competitions held across Scotland over the past month, Laxdale Primary School beat Portree Primary School in the National Final, which was held in Inverness yesterday, 27 May.
Cuach na Cloinne is a football competition for P4-7 pupils going through Gaelic medium education, and in this year’s competition 49 teams from 24 schools took part. Regional competitions were held in Lewis, Uist, Skye, Inverness, Oban and Glasgow with the successful teams from these regional competitions all meeting at the national finals in Inverness.
The Cuach na Cloinne trophy was presented to the winners by Inverness City Deputy Provost Bet McAllister. Councillor McAllister said: “Cuach na Cloinne is a very well established national Gaelic event on the youth sporting Gaelic circuit. I’m delighted that the event is so successful and creating a tournament which is held entirely in Gaelic supports and enhances the young people’s learning experience beyond the class room. It also provides an excellent opportunity for young people to use their linguistic skills through extra-curricular activities.”
She continued: “The Highland Council is delighted to support the event which develops the young people’s linguistic skills and also helps to create positive relationships across Scotland’s Gaelic schools. The level of participation by pupils in Schools across the Highlands was excellent and my best wishes to everybody who took part in the competition.”
Councillor John A Maciver, Chair of the Gaelic Plan Implementation Committee at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar said: “I would like to congratulate Laxdale Primary School on doing so well in winning this competition. With almost 50 teams taking part in the competition, they did wonderfully well to come out on top. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is delighted to support Cuach na Cloinne, a competition that gives young people from across our islands the opportunity to compete in a national sports competition held entirely in Gaelic.“
He continued: “This illustrates that teams from our islands can compete with schools from across Scotland in sports activities and it is important that we create opportunities for them to do so, and we are delighted to welcome the cup to the Western Isles for the first time.”
Donald MacNèill, Ceannard of Comunn na Gàidhlig, which organises the competition said: “Cuach na Cloinne has built up a good reputation and is now firmly established in the school calendar, with the children all looking forward to playing in it. We had a highly successful competition this year with over 300 young people taking part in it. The quality of football was of a high standard but what is more important is that those taking part enjoy the experience and are provided with an opportunity to enjoy sport, make new friends and all this in their own language.”
Cuach na Cloinne 2015 was funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and The Highland Council and organised by Comunn na Gàidhlig.