Gaelic has major role to play in Scottish communities

Sir, – I write in response to Alex Bell’s article (Courier, March 11) about Gaelic.

Bòrd na Gàidhlig, every five years, prepares a National Plan for Gaelic.

This is the Scottish Government’s strategy for supporting and promoting Gaelic.

We welcome Mr Bell’s support for one of the key messages in the current plan.

It states that retaining an economically active population in island and rural communities where Gaelic is still spoken by the majority of people is critical.

To achieve this, housing, jobs, transport and digital connectivity are key and Bòrd na Gàidhlig (BnG) consistently promotes this in its work.

In order to deliver our work we regularly seek views on various aspects of Gaelic development and our work.

On the latter, indeed, our most recent stakeholder survey, 82% of respondents agreed with the view that BnG fulfils its duties effectively and provides support.

We are in the process of gathering views from Gaelic speakers and those interested in Gaelic on their priorities and concerns for the language.

This will inform the development of the next National Gaelic Language Plan.

Further information can be found at www.gaidhlig.scot

I trust this provides readers with a more accurate understanding of ongoing work to support and promote Gaelic.

1824: Work on John Rennie’s London Bridge began.

1909: “The world’s most beautiful store” opened in London’s Oxford Street. It was named after its American owner, Harry Gordon Selfridge.

1929: In Chicago, boogie-woogie pioneer Clarence “Pinetop” Smith was killed at his piano, by a gunman’s bullet not intended for him. He was 24.

1933: Adolf Hitler proclaimed the Third Reich, which he said would endure for a thousand years.

1937: America’s first central blood bank was set up.

1945: Album charts were first published in America, by Billboard, with the King Cole Trio number one.

1956: My Fair Lady opened on Broadway starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison.

1974: A federal grand jury concluded that US president Richard Nixon was involved in a conspiracy to cover up White House involvement in the burglary at the Democratic Party HQ in 1972.

1984: Only 21 of Britain’s 174 coal mines were working as strikes against the coal board’s 5.2% pay offer and its pit-closure programme became official.

1990: Mikhail Gorbachev was elected executive president of the USSR.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: British food retailers began urging customers to shop responsibly as panic-buying ramped up.

Pickets surrounding a car during the 1984 coal miners’ strike.