Gaelic football tournament held in Lochaber
THE Cuach na Cloinne will stay in Lewis for another year following Shawbost Primary School’s success in winning this year’s competition, beating Daliburgh, Portree, Inverness, Acharacle and Mount Cameron primary schools in the national finals which were held at Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Loch Abair. These six schools had qualified for the finals, winning regional competitions which had been held in Lewis, Uist, Skye, Inverness, Ard nam Murchan and Glasgow. A total of 50 teams from 28 schools took part in this year’s competition. Laxdale Primary School won the competition in 2015.
Cuach na Cloinne is a national football competition, which creates an opportunity for young people from primary schools across Scotland who attend Gaelic Medium Education to meet and compete against each other and combines their Gaelic linguistic and footballing skills in an inclusive and entertaining manner. The competition is held entirely in Gaelic. The 2016 competition was funded by The Highland Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Bòrd na Gàidhlig.
The Cuach na Cloinne trophy was presented to the winners by Councillor Hamish Fraser, chair of The Highland Council Gaelic Plan Implementation Committee, who said: ‘I would like to congratulate Shawbost on winning this year’s Cuach na Cloinne competition. I would also like to congratulate Portree Primary School and BSGI who were second and third and all the other teams for making it to the finals.
Second
‘It is also very fitting that the finals took place at Bun Sgoil Ghàidhlig Loch Abair, which was officially opened in the spring and is the second standalone Gaelic primary school in the Highland area, it is also an excellent community facility that can host national sporting events like Cuach na Cloinne.,
Donald MacNeill, ceannard of Comunn na Gàidhlig, who organise the competition, said: ‘ We were delighted with the numbers participating in this year’s competition. With 50 teams from 28 schools, that is almost 350 youngsters, the highest number ever taking part in the competition. It is highly beneficial and important that such opportunities are created to enable Gaelic-speaking youngsters from across Scotland to play with their peers, to gain an understanding that Gaelic is spoken across Scotland and also to make new friends from other schools.’