Love language

A colleague of mine who is a respected Gaelic researcher, historian and author, has a pithy phrase to describe the irrational antipathy to the meagre amount of resources expended on the Gaelic language.

He calls it "toxic Philistine ignorance", which seems to apply to the comments made by (Dr) RJM Wilson and Pauline Carruthers (Letters, 17 July). The former seems to believe Gaelic is being taught to the exclusion of other languages. The latter gives away the underlying cause for her displeasure and the extent of her ignorance by asking SNP supporters to apologise for a policy enshrined in legislation by a Labour/liberal Democrat administration.

But what is really sad is that, apparently for political reasons, these individuals actually seem to want to see a piece of Scotland's heritage and culture die. Thank you also to Robin Jack (Letters, 19 July) for airing another myth on the "millions" spent on road signs and public vehicles.

My understanding is that signage is updated with Gaelic names added when the signage becomes due for renewal. He will be relieved to hear that the cost is minimal, but he has missed the point about the reinforcement of the existence of the language in national consciousness. And why is it we don't hear of resentment of this strategy in Wales?

However, on the brighter side, it is encouraging to see that The Scotsman has reinstated its Gaelic column. It was also encouraging to read the supportive and constructive editorial (July 16) which cautioned against superficial tokenism. Scottish government please note.

To allow Ms Carruthers to un-bate her breath, I'm happy to report that throughout the country, thousands of people are learning Gaelic. These include parents who are sending their children to the Gaelic

Medium schools, aware of the educational benefits of biand trilingualism for young students.

GILL TURNER

Edinburgh