Emmett McIntyre's blog

The Dingle Peninsula (Corca Duibhne) will be the home of the Irish Language and Gaeltachta Development Centre.  The Centre is sponsored by a partnership between the the Irish Government's "Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht" along with the "Gaeltacht Authority" (Udaras na Gaeltachta). The Centre is under construction in Ballyferriter (Baile an Fheirearaigh) on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Gaeltachta.

Scots Gaelic, an official language of Scotland, is in the news this week as the Glasgow City Council have announced a "Four Year Gaelic Language Plan". The plan is in compliance with the Gaelic Language Act of 2005 under which local Councils are required to prepare a plan for promoting and preserving the tongue. This action by the Council will fuel the resurgence of Gaelic in Glasgow and follows up on the announcement earlier this year of plans to open the citys second Gaelic medium primary school.

Alasdair Allan, Scottish Government Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages, has announced a boost in spending to increase the number of places available in Gaelic Medium Education. Minister Allan is quoted by the STC website, Central Scotland's ITV franchise. Dr. Allan is a Scots Gaelic speaker and strong supporter of the tongue

The Irish television network RTE are reporting on criticism leveled agianst the Irish Government for its failure to make progress on the implementation of the goals outlined in the  "Twenty Year Stratgy For the Irish language".  A spokesman for  "Conradh na Gaeilge", which is  the main voluntary community organisation promoting the Irish language, charged a "very slow pace" of implementation.

In a move that has huge implications for the future health of the Welsh tongue, and the health of Welsh speakers, the Office of the Welsh Language Commissioner (Meri Huws) have announced a series of public forums to be held throughout Wales until October 11, 2013 that will afford Welsh speakers an opportunity to "..share their experience of using the Welsh language when accessing primary health care services."

Under the headline "European Parliament's call to Protect Endangered Cornish Language", the website "thisisCornwall" reports on actions to be taken that will strengthen efforts to revive the Cornish tongue. The article states: "The European Parliament is to call on governments to do more to preserve regional languages such as Cornish, which is described as endangered."  This action follows a UNESCO report which also cites the status of Cornish.

A broad coalition, including Rugby Coach Robin McBryde and MP Susan Elan Jones, have called in a letter to Welsh First Minister, Carwyn Jones, to "abolish the teaching of Welsh as a 'second language' like French or Spanish." The coalition have endorsed the efforts of the Welsh Language Society in this regard.

The Irish Independent reports that the Irish language Group, Stadas,  have filed a formal complaint against the European Union Parliament. The complaint states that Parliamant have failed to fully translate its website into Irish and thus "Violates a range of legal rules and principles."   The complaint further alleges that Parliament have failed to make Irish available on it's website in  "an adequate and proportionate way." 

The Irish government have called for the return of the "Annals of Inisfallen".  Jimmy Deenihan, the Irish Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Irish Speaking Areas)  stated that the Irish Governmnet wants them back. An article in the on line "oxfordtimes" quoted Minister Deenihan; "A request will be made by the Irish Govenment to have them returned.

A spokesman for the Welsh Language Commissioner, Meri Huws, has announced an investigation into alleged non-compliance by the Torfaen Council with Welsh law.  The online "southwalesargus" reports: "The Commissioner's office will now see whether the Council is breaching it's statutory duties under the 1993 Welsh Language Act, which forces public bodies to ensure English and Welsh can be used equally when dealing with them."