Caithness slams Gaelic
Very interesting debate happening further north – it seems that councillors in Caithness think the Highland Council has its priorities confused, by earmarking £2.7 million for bilongual roadsigns across the Highlands, while schools are forced to drop teachers in cut-backs.
‘Gaelic’s being rammed down our throats’
THE ONLY way to stop the imposition of bilingual signs in the Far North is for Caithness to break away from Highland Council.
That was said – tongue-in-cheek – by Thurso community councillor Don Smith when he raised the issue at last week’s meeting.
Mr Smith has previously referred to the Gaelic development agency Bòrd na Gàidhlig as “the Gaelic Inquisition” and last week he again hit out at plans to introduce bilingual road and street signs all over the Highlands.
Mr Smith described the agency as “an elite quango” and criticised the amount of money being earmarked by the council for the project.
He maintained that around £2.7 million is being spent to promote a language which is spoken by only six per cent of the population.
Certainly it seems like a valid concern – on the one hand, the Highland Council is trying to shut down care services, leave its schools full of asbestos, and wind back public services to its own council tax payers – and yet, on the other hand, if £2.7 million is being spent just on bilingual signs, then perhaps it’s worth raising the question of prioritisation?
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Had Gaelic not been banned in Scotland we might have seen Highland Council having to spend £2.7 M to put English on our road signs?
A very apt day to talk about attitudes to Gaelic.