Emmett McIntyre's blog

Under the headline “Call for Welsh Language Speeches in Parliament – Welsh MPs Have Called for Greater Freedom to Conduct Debates in Parliament in the Welsh Language”, the BBC is reporting on a move by Members of the British Parliament (MP) representing constituencies in Wales to introduce procedural reforms so that the Welsh language is treated equally with English. 

The Executive Director of Nova Scotia's Office of Gaelic Affairs, Lewis MacKinnon, has cited a jump in the number of Gaelic Speakers in Canada’s Maritime Province of Nova Scotia.  This is a stunning example of the revival of the Gaelic language in Nova Scotia which was home to 100,000 Scots Gaelic speakers in the late 1800's. The language suffered calamitous decline as a result of the Provincial Government's policy of banning Gaelic medium education in the Celtic language heartland of Cape Breton Island. 

Today, the first day of May is the Festival of Beltane. This ancient Celtic Feast Day is the third Feast day of the Celtic year. Beltane celebrates the fertility and optimism associated with the beginning of the growing season. The other Celtic Festivals of the Celtic Year, which fall every three months, are Samhain (Halloween) celebrated on 1st November, Imbolg which is the Feast day of the Celtic Goddess Brigid celebrated on 1st February, Beltane and Lughnasa, the Celtic Feast of the harvest, celebrated on 1st August. 

Charles Moore, a columnist for The Telegraph and mouthpiece for the British establishment, has an opinion piece in The Telegraph in which he insults the Celtic nation of Cornwall and shares his animosity to the announcement by the UK government that Cornish will join the Irish, Scottish and Welsh as a Celtic national minority.  The rant is best captured by the following quote: “There is something unhealthy and divisive about this obsession with legally defining minorities.

This is an excerpt from an article in the Independent under the headline, "Cornish People Formally Declared A National Minority Along With Scots, Welsh and Irish":

The Government will announce on Thursday that the Cornish are joining the Scots, Welsh and Irish as official members of the UK’s Celtic minorities. The decision is a victory for campaigners who have long insisted that, beyond its image as the motherland of the pasty and clotted cream, Cornwall has a distinct language and culture worthy of formal recognition.

The Newport Council is claiming that “It would be impossible to deliver telephone services equally in Welsh and English”. Under the headline “Newport Council Can’t Provide Service In Welsh”, the website “SouthWalesArgus” is reporting that the Authority issued this statement in response to the Welsh Language Commissioner’s investigation into the proposed standards for the provision of Welsh language services by local Council authorities.

Saturday 12 April saw an estimated 5,000  to 10,000 protesters march though the streets of Belfast to demand increased protection for the ancient tongue of Ireland.  The Belfast march is a continuation of the Irish Language protests that started in Dublin on Saturday 15th February when an estimated 10,000 people marched to protect the rights of the Irish speaking community.  The Dublin march attracted people from all over Ireland.

In a watershed event for the Celtic language of Cornwall, the Cornish Language Partnership (MAGA) have announced the finalisation of the Standard Written Form (SWF) for the Cornish language.  The announcement last week that the final SWF has been adopted is the culmination of a process that dates back several years.  The initiative came from recognition that a vital component of the restoration of the Cornish tongue was a sanctioned written form of Cornish, or SWF.

Citing the 2013 census figures which show that Scots Gaelic has stabilised in the language heartlands, and that fluency is on the rise with speakers younger than 20 years of age, the New Statesman carries a heartening article on the resurgence of Scots Gaelic. Written by Cal Flyn, the article is based on anecdotes from his family who can be best described has "fallen away Gaelic Speakers".

In an echo of the rising conflict between government and Celtic language activists across the Irish Sea in Dublin, the Welsh government’s response to issues raised in two separate independent reports on the future of the Welsh tongue has been attacked by the Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg) and the Party Of Wales (Plaid Cymru).