Douglas MacQueen's blog

People of Catalonia are expressing their view on independence today, despite being prevented by a repressive Spanish government from holding a formal vote.

The incredibly pompous Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has tried to stamp out Catalonia's vote on independence. Catalonia attempted to hold a referendum on independence in the same way that Scotland did. But this was repressed by a hostile Spanish government using the puppet Spanish Constitutional Court to threaten Catalonia. However, Catalan's are going ahead with an informal vote today.

Moray Language Centre are holding a meeting on December 4th at 7.30pm at the Gabarfeidh Hotel in the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It will be in regard to the Isle Of Lewis Gaelic Initiative. The main topic of the meeting is to spread the message to Gaelic speakers and learners that “adults rather than children are the key to saving Gaelic”.

Latest polling conducted for STV (Scottish Television) shows that more than half of Scots would vote for the SNP (Scottish National Party) in a Scottish parliament election. This would indicate that the SNP’s grip on Scottish politics has continued to tighten since the independence referendum.

An Ipsos Mori survey commissioned by STV (Scottish Television) has shown that the Labour Party in Scotland would face political annihilation should there be a UK general election tomorrow. Labour continues to pay the price for stabbing Scotland in the back during September's referendum on independence after they sided with the Tory Party to oppose a Yes vote.

Researchers from Univserity of Glasgow have worked for eight years to complete translations for the first phase of Dachaigh airson Stòras na Gàidhlig or the Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic (DASG). It is the world's most extensive digital archive of Scottish Gaelic texts.

The DASG project has two main outputs:

The British Labour Party in Scotland is in turmoil. The leader of the Scottish Labour Party Johann Lamont has stood down. There is a wave of internal self-recrimination within this deeply flawed political party. It is all deserved. The act of treachery perpetrated by the Scottish Labour Party, who sided with the Conservatives to stab Scotland in the back during the Scottish referendum campaign, came as no surprise to many. After all they have been kicking the Scottish working class voters who have been loyally voting for them in the teeth for years.

Dundee (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Dé) is the fourth largest City in Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay (Scottish Gaelic: Linne Tatha) in the east of the central Lowlands. In the referendum on Scottish independence a majority of 57.35% voted in favour of independence.

Scotland's Gaelic cultural festival, the National Mod, held in Inverness (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Nis) over nine days has come to an end and, as reported by the BBC, been 'hailed a huge success'. Over the duration of the festival, more than 3,000 entrants competed in 200 competitions in Highland dancing, music, song, literature and drama. There was also large number of fringe events. 

At Scotland's Gaelic cultural festival, the National Mod, being held in Inverness this week, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) has announced new plans to promote Gaelic at its 13 centres. UHI has set out a strategy to develop the use of Gaelic through its curriculum and communications until 2018. Proposals include producing more bilingual resources, encouraging staff to learn Gaelic as part of their development plans and holding more Gaelic events.

Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail (The Royal National Mòd) had a successful opening weekend in the Scottish city of  Inverness as reported in the Aberdeen Press and Journal. This is a festival of Scottish Gaelic literature, song, arts and culture. A Mòd is a Scottish Gaelic word meaning assembly.