• Agenda

Minutes of Meeting of the Gaelic Select Committee held in Committee Room 1, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday 14 September 2006 at 2:00pm.

 

 

 

Mr H Fraser in the Chair

 

Preliminaries

 

1.          Apologies for Absence

 

Apologies for absence had been intimated on behalf of Mrs S Slimon, Mr A M Millar, Mr J Laing and Dr M E M Foxley.

 

2.           Highland 2007 - Air Splaoid

 

Donella Beaton, Director of Cànan and Rachael Alcorn, Marketing Director of Cànan, attended the meeting and outlined to Members details of a project with the title ‘Air Splaoid’ aimed to provide members of the public across Scotland and further afield, with the opportunity to learn the Gaelic language. Air Splaoid would also give access to introductory, every day, Gaelic information about Highland culture and Highland 2007 events through an interactive web site - www.airsplaoid.co.uk.

 

She explained the ethos of the programme and the sequence of events that would take place to encourage interest throughout  2007 and beyond, commencing with the presence of  a cartoon character at the launch of Highland 2007 on 12 January 2007, as a representative of the Air Splaoid ‘gang’ who would feature throughout the year on the site. Air Splaoid would be a major marketing initiative for 2007 and funding was now in place for the £388,000 campaign.

 

The Select Committee, in welcoming the initiative to encourage people to learn the Gaelic language, felt the Air Splaoid designs should be a common theme throughout all of the 2007 marketing campaign, NOTED the presentation.

 

3.          Bord Na Gaidhlig – Draft National Plan for Gaelic

 

There had been circulated Report No GSC 14/06 by the Gaelic Development Officer which advised Members of the publication of the draft National Plan for Gaelic by Bord na Gaidhlig which had a strategic overview for the advancement of Gaelic and its culture in Scotland. The report informed Members of the consultation procedure regarding the Bord’s National Plan and its subsequent publication; the process and timescales for the development of a Gaelic Language Plan for the Council’s area as one of the first six organisations to take part, and a formal invitation to develop such a plan.

 

The report also set out a number of development projects for consideration and prioritisation for submission to Bord na Gaidhlig for funding.  During discussion it was emphasised that:

 

·        the projects submitted needed to be ‘ready to run’ as the Bord had funds available;

·        there was a need to co-ordinate the various projects to ensure that duplication did not occur;

·        key themes should be identified;

·        there was a need for an ‘events organiser’ to put the various projects together and ensure implementation; and

·        details of the projects to be put forward should be submitted to the meeting of the Select Committee in November.

 

The Select Committee NOTED the report and AGREED to:

 

i.              consider the Council’s response to the draft Plan at the Gaelic Select Committee meeting in November; and

ii.            consider the details of the projects to be submitted to Bòrd na Gàidhlig for implementation in the current and next financial year.

 

4.          Gaelic Place Names Committee

 

There had been circulated Report No GSC 15/06 by the Gaelic Development Officer which informed Members of the proposal within the Gaelic Names Liaison Committee to establish a formally constituted body, Ainmean Àite na h-Alba (AÀA) (Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland) to establish an on-line place names gazetteer as a central point for preserving and promoting the use of Gaelic place names and requesting the Council to be a Partner.

 

The Select Committee AGREED to recommend that the Council be a partner of Ainmean Àite na h-Alba and that the Area Manager, Lochaber, continue to represent the Council.

 

5.          Highland – Nova Scotia Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

 

There had been circulated Report No GSC 16/06 by the Area Manager, Skye and Lochalsh which outlined the outcome of the projects which had taken place under the MOU with Nova Scotia during Summer 2006, including:

 

·        Gaelic Speaking Student Placement, based at the Highland Village, Cape Breton in which a student from Sabhal Mor Ostaig had organised youth activities and assisted with the Feis Eilean na Nollaige;

·        Four members of Dannsa, a Highland based group, had visited Cape Breton Island during which they had learned local dances and participated in dance activities.  The dances they had learned would be taught in the Highlands;

·        Joella Foulds, joint Director of Celtic Colours had visited Highland to attend the Blas festival and share her experience in its organisation;

·        Dr Richard MacKinnon, University College Cape Breton had visited in May and met Sabhal Mor Ostaig staff to discuss expanding the already established links between the two colleges;

·        Discussions had taken place to establish links between Nova Scotia and Lochaber in connection with the Royal National Mod to be held in Lochaber in 2007 possibly with a view to having a Nova Scotian Day at the Mod and other events to link the communities; and

·        The principal event had been a visit over the summer of a group from Lochaber to demonstrate the success of Gaelic Medium Education in Highland Nursery and Primary Schools.  This had been well received and had attracted positive feedback from those involved and excellent and appreciative coverage in the local media.

 

The report concluded by indicating that projects for 2007 would be the subject of a further report to the Select Committee.

 

The Select Committee NOTED the report and asked that their appreciation be conveyed to all those involved in the organisation of the summer programme of events in Nova Scotia.

 

6.          European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) Conference

 

There had been circulated Report No GSC 17/06 by the Gaelic Development Officer, giving details of the recent EBLUL Conference held at Sabhal Mor Ostaig from 29 June -1 July 2006. 78 delegates had attended with some 26 lesser used European languages represented.

 

The Conference had concluded with a resolution that emphasised to national governments of the expanded EU the importance of continuing to strengthen, by all legal and practical measures, the protection and promotion of lesser used, regional or minority languages (RMLs).  The resolution also required the European Commission to create a legal basis for RMLs and strengthening their position by explicit mention of their inclusion in EU programmes.

 

During discussion the following points were raised:

 

·        many excellent contacts were made in other areas with RMLs;

·        there had been general appreciation of a well organised conference;

·        many other parts of Europe had become aware of the existence of the Gaelic language; and

·        an excellent resolution supportive of RML’s had been agreed.

 

The Select Committee NOTED the report and expressed their appreciation for the excellent arrangements of the conference made by the Area Manager, Skye and Lochalsh, his staff and the Bilingual Development Officer and thanked the Chairman for his major contribution to its success.

 

 

7.           Update Report

 

There had been circulated Report No GSC 18/06 by the Gaelic Development Officer which informed Members of the progress of current issues.

 

The report informed Members of the following:

 

·        Gaelic Language Training Courses for Members and Staff;

·        Gaelic Media Service;

·        Màiri Mhòr Gaelic Song Fellowship;

·        Royal National Mod;

·        ‘Leabhar nan Gàidheal Òga’ – Youth Book;

·        CLÌ Gàidhlig - ’S Math Mo Chuimhne;

·        ‘Alba’ on Football Shirts;

·        Scottish Arts Council – Gaelic Arts Seminar; and

·        Gaelic Learning Festival 2006 & Gàidhlig Air-Loidhne.

 

The Select Committee NOTED the report and AGREED that a letter of appreciation be sent to the Scottish Football Association expressing appreciation of the addition of ‘Alba’ to the national team strips and that a letter be sent to Scottish Rugby Union making a request for ‘Alba’ to be used in a similar way.

 

The meeting ended at 3.40 pm.