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The BBC – institutionally racist against the Cornish?

‘Cornwall butt of the joke in BBC comedy W1A starring Hugh Bonneville from Downton Abbey’

During the evening of Wednesday 19th March, 2014, BBC2 broadcast a so called ‘mockumentary’ called ‘W1A’ which yet again poked fun at Cornwall and the Cornish in a predictably boring way.

So, the BBC has yet again seen fit to insult the Cornish at public expense? Nothing new there then.

Bonnag is synonymous with the Isle of Man and perhaps even more so with St James Church in the village of Dalby, where the Annual World Bonnag Championships have been held for more years than the organisers care to remember!

Deep seated resentments towards the historical persecution of Scots Gaelic culture by the British Crown erupted late last year in Canada's Nova Scotia. Estimates are that approximately 1200 Gaelic speakers currently reside in Nova Scotia, primarily in Cape Breton.  This is down from an estimated 100,000 Gaelic speakers in Nova Scotia in 1900 and efforts to restore the language to health have intensified in recent  years. 

The Irish Times published an article today by Una Mullally under the title “Irish Language Is For All – Not Just For The Fluent”.  Miss Mullally delivers a measured discussion (linked below) on some of the challenges being faced by the supporters of the Irish tongue in their efforts to restore Gaelic to health.  The sentiments expressed are summarized in the following quote from the article: “Our Language is the foundation on which all of our historical, cultural and traditional output has been based.  It’s our language.”

The damage to the Celtic language of Wales wrought by property development in Welsh speaking areas continues to be a principal concern of language activists and is again in the forefront of news on the Welsh language. Language campaigners are reacting with alarm to the Welsh Government’s draft legislation on an overhaul of Wale’s planning system proposed by Cardiff.

Bristol, England based publicly funded quango refuses to answer questions from Cornish public!

Bristol based 'English' Heritage, a publicly funded and out of control quango with no democratic accountability have said that they will refuse to answer any more questions from campaign group 'Save Penwith Moors' (SPM).

The Cornish Language Partnership (MAGA) have announced their annual conference.  In a gesture of Pan Celtic unity, MAGA have invited a representative of Scotland's Bord na Gaidhlig to share the Bord's learning's gained in their efforts to restore Scottish Gaelic to it's rightful place in Scotland.  MAGA defines itself as follows on thier web page: " The Partnership includes language organisations, local authorities and a number of other organisations who have come together with the aim of promoting Cornish and developing it further in Cornish life.

The 14 March edition of the Irish Times carries an article that would be laughable if it were not emblematic of the cruel indifference of the Irish government toward the  Gaelic tongue.  Under the headline "Lack Of Irish Speaking Minister 'Disastrous' - No Cabinet Member Available To Take Irish Questions On Day Set Aside For Language", the article describes a dismal diplay of incompetence on the part of the Minister for Jobs , Richard Bruton, who was trotted out to take questions on the day in the year that the Government has assigned that business was to be conducted in Irish.  But this Go

As reported in the Scotsman newspaper a poll has put the support for Scottish independence at its highest level for six months. The question was asked how they would vote if the referendum was held today: 39.3 percent said Yes and 47.6 percent No, 13.1 per cent of those asked were undecided.

The Celtic Radio Music Awards is a program sponsored by Boston-based Highlander Radio to acknowledge and promote exceptional Celtic music. Nominations for this award are made throughout the year by listeners and members of Celtic Radio. This year nearly 700 songs were reviewed.  After a careful screening process based upon listener nominations, ratings, requests, and other radio statistics, three songs were selected in six categories for community voting.  Categories are Celtic Rock, Traditional, Jigs & Reels, Contemporary, Bagpipes and Roots Traditional.