A major photographic competition, administered by the Colmcille project, aimed at capturing the lives of speakers of Scottish or Irish Gaelic or of the life of the Scottish Gaidhealtachd/Irish Gaeltacht, has been launched by the Minister for Gaelic Michael Russell MSP.

A keen photographer himself with a long-term interest in various aspects of the history of photography, as well as being accustomed to being at the sharp end of a lens in his Ministerial role, Mr. Russell will be one of the judges casting his eye over the entrants for the 2009 competition.

Prizes of up to £2,000 are available in the competition which is for either colour or monochrome photographs depicting any aspect of the life of speakers of Scottish or Irish Gaelic or of the life of the Scottish Gaidhealtachd/Irish Gaeltacht.

There will be five prize-winners in all, in two categories:

ADULT (16+) First prize £2000 /€2200; Second prize £750/€ 850; Third prize £500/€ 565 and JUNIOR (5-15 on 31/08/09) First prize £ 500/€565: Second prize £ 250/€280. 

Each prize-winner will also receive a framed copy of the Tìr Cholm Chille map.

Launching the competition in Edinburgh, the Minister said: “This is an excellent initiative which will focus on some of the most interesting and attractive aspects of Scottish and Irish life including our landscape, culture and heritage.  I would like to commend Colmcille for taking forward this initiative.  Colmcille has an important role to play in promoting the shared Gaelic language and culture of Ireland and Scotland and this competition provides another opportunity to celebrate and promote this.  I look forward to hearing how the competition progresses and to judging the entries.”

Colmcille, (formerly Iomairt Cholm Chille, The Columba Initiative) is jointly managed by Bòrd na Gàidhlig and Foras na Gaelige as part of their mainstream activities. Mairi Murray, Colmcille’s Development Officer in Scotland said: “Since we launched this competition in its first format three years ago, we have been hugely encouraged by the innovation and imagination shown by entrants. The competition offers people within the Gaelic communities of Scotland and Ireland a great opportunity to capture their own environments, work situations, family occasions and the magnificent environments in which we all communicate. It is a great opportunity for amateur photographers to have their work recognised and offered to a wider audience through the calendars and other materials we produce through Colmcille and I have no doubt that this year will offer as a great selection and a significant challenge for the judges.”

Photographic entries for the competition must be submitted by 6pm, Monday 31st August, 2009.

There can be no doubt that in recent years the Edinburgh Mod has been a great success. New events have been added, competitor numbers have increased and the opportunity for young people to take part in this fantastic local cultural event has never been better.

It is clear, however, that the current format for the Mod will not sustain future growth and development. Talks have been underway with a view to looking at how the Mod can be allowed to build on previous successes. Initially, these discussions centred on the need for the Mod to be held over two days but it became apparent that other issues also required attention. As a result, a decision has been made to reschedule the Edinburgh Local Mod from September to April. There is never an absolutely ideal time of year to hold an event of this type but April has been agreed as the most suitable time based on the following factors.

• Inclusion of Gaelic Learners from the 5 primary schools taking part in the GLPS programme
• Clas 1 pupils will have more time to prepare

It is worth pointing out that the inclusion of Gaelic learners from across Edinburgh is at the very core of the ethos of the Mod, that being the promotion and development of Gaelic to the wider community.

• The third weekend in April will avoid Easter Holidays and the May Bank Holiday Weekends.
• September was too soon after the Summer holidays giving the organisers less time to prepare. This also had an impact on the application process
• April is outwith the Pipe Band Competition season so there should be little or no impact on the piping entrants

In addition to moving the Mod to April other changes to the format, including the addition of competitions on Saturday, A new Mod Logo and new prizes, are also planned.

As a result of this decision there will be no Edinburgh Mod in September 2009. While this will obviously be a disappointment for many people, the short timescale from September to April would prohibit completing any significant changes to, and re-branding of, the new Edinburgh Mod if the September Mod was to go ahead. It should be pointed out at this stage that a Mod related event will take place in September, with the details being announced as soon as these are finalised. The dates of the new Edinburgh Mod in April 2010 will also be announced as soon as possible.

The organisers are confident that these changes will secure the ongoing growth and development of the Edinburgh Mod and will allow for more exciting developments in the future.

Edinburgh Local Mod Organising Committee

Latest on the Council’s Gaelic Language Plan:

Edinburgh Council has been working on its Gaelic Language plan for a number of years and under the Gaelic Act 2005 has to submit it to Bord na Gaidhlig by 31st August 2009.

This plan aims to support Gaelic in education, arts & leisure and community affairs as well as raising the profile of Gaelic and providing more opportunities for its use. It’s probably no exaggeration to say that its content and implementation are vital for the future of Gaelic and Gaelic-Medium Education in Edinburgh.

Problem

Their draft plan is very nearly ready, but before it is submitted it must go out to the community for consultation and responses.  However, delays at Council level mean this consultation will not happen until after the summer holidays now, so an extension of the submission date will be applied for.

How Comann nam Parant aims to simplify the response process for parents

A summary of the Education section will be provided as this is the part of the Plan which will affect our children most.

Witten guidance and templated responses to help parents understand the best response techniques will be organised.

An open, informal but well-planned event at the start of next term where parents will get a presentation summarising the key points of the Plan and have access to the templated responses will be organised – so that parental feedback can be completed on the night if preferred.

The important factor here is the number of responses from parents to demonstrate our understanding of Council work involving Gaelic.

Update on the Feasibility Study

The Council received the Feasibility Study Report on Gaelic in Edinburgh and met to liaise with parental and community representatives on 1st April for further consultation.

The report has to go through some quality-assurance processes before it can be published, and this may not happen for a few months yet. This is at least partly because the Gaelic plan is currently the most urgent priority.

However, we are assured that the draft plan does take account of the findings of the feasibility study, and that those findings are helpful in supporting the development of Gaelic-medium education.

Bòrd na Gàidhlig has funded a new library service enabling the Central Children’s Library and the Fountainbridge Library in Edinburgh to add hundreds of new Gaelic children’s books to their collections.

Named Nead na Gàidhlig, or Gaelic Nest by pupils from the Gaelic Medium Unit at Tollcross, this is a fantastic resource for the city and for our children to enjoy.

An open meeting was called on Monday 9th February by Comann nam Pàrant as a further stage in the development of proposals for a dedicated Gaelic School in Edinburgh.  Two open meetings had already taken place in September 2008, email communications had been sent out to parents summarising the main points of debate and this was the final chance for parents to raise issues of concern and put forward their views as a collective.

You can read the entire notes of the meeting, but in summary:

Parents overall were in agreement that the next step in the debate to develop Gaelic Medium Education in Edinburgh should be the establishment of a Gaelic School.  The main arguments supporting this were the restricted opportunities afforded by a Gaelic Medium Unit, the rising demand in Edinburgh for GME and the very clear political will on the part of both the Scottish Government and the Parliament to support best practice in minority language teaching – all of which could be met and managed through a dedicated Gaelic School in Edinburgh.

It was recognised that the future location of the school was an issue for parents, as were the availability of adequate teaching resources and support from the Local Authority.   Concern also focused upon the current secondary provision in James Gillespies High School (JGHS) for children studying Gaelic and parents questioned how this could be improved as an interim measure.  A pupil from JGHS offered a case study of how the current arrangements had impacted upon him.

In essence, parents agreed that the status quo enjoyed by current Tollcross GME pupils could not be maintained, that current secondary educational provision was having a negative impact on the relationship GME children held with the Gaelic language and that to develop Gaelic as a language in Edinburgh, meet standards of best practice and deliver the targets established in Government policy – a Gaelic School seemed the logical choice.

The Stornoway Gazzette reported today that in their new electronic Atlas, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has listed Scottish Gaelic as one of around 2,500 languages spoken around the world that are in danger of disappearing.

The Atlas states that out of the approximately 6,000 existing languages in the world, more than 200 have become extinct during the last three generations, 538 are critically endangered, 502 severely endangered, 632 definitely endangered and 607 unsafe.

In their interview with Hugh Dan Maclennan of Bord na Gaidhlig, Maclennan stated that “this Atlas is a statistical bank of knowledge and the report about Gaelic gives the Bord a justification for looking for resources and support to take the language forward.”

The Bord is currently focussing on the Gaelic Language Plans being put into place by the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and Public Bodies.  In addition to this it is encouraged by the larger than anticipated audiences BBC ALBA is attracting and the continued debate over Gaelic Medium Education in Scotland.

With the success of GME in Glaschu and the Highlands and Islands it would seem now is the perfect time to set up a similar Gaelic educational model in Edinburgh and really start to increase the number of children speaking the language throughout the East Coast.  Not only will this create the next generation of fluent Gaelic speakers, but their parents and extended families will most likely take an interest in the language and may even go on to become adult learners themselves.

Yesterday the BBC reported that there has been an upward trend in the popularity of children taught in Gaelic, Welsh and Irish.  In Scotland, the most up to date figures come from 2007, which showed 2061 children going through GME (compared to 112 in 1997).  In Wales, 20% of kids are taught through the medium of Welsh.

They put this down to 3 things:

1. parental realisation that bilingualism is an advantage at school boosting learning ability
2. that Devolution has affected educational change in the newly formed Parliaments
3. increased confidence and identity within the newly devolved nations making up the UK

Professior Colin Baker from the University of Bangor is quoted as saying,

“bilingual children have an advantgae in terms of intelligence” & “they actually have a higher IQ”.

He concludes that in today’s globalised world people want to put down roots and create an identity – speaking their own indigenous language meets these emotional needs.  All very positive for the future development of Gaelic as a language and an education model here in Scotland

UHI is looking for a Gaelic project co-ordinator; Gaelic technology service developer; Gaelic communication co-ordinator; Gaelic human resources and staff development project manager; staff development administrator; Gaelic academic development project manager, and Gaelic academic development administrator – these posts will be based between Skye, Inverness and Stornoway.

These 7 new posts have been made possible through external funding (for 21 months) from the European Social Fund (ESF) and Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s Gaelic Language Act Implementation fund.

Anna Walker, UHI’s Gaelic strategy development officer is quoted as saying “We welcome the opportunity to increase our Gaelic services and learning opportunities over the next four years”

UHI is legally obliged to comply with the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, to develop a Gaelic Language Plan 2009-2013 and these posts will ensure that their Gaelic plan is fully implemented.

It is important all views are considered and the second email raised many responses, e.g.,:

“Access to Community Centre – what evidence is there to suggest that all those other bodies would have to move and why short term?

How does this option negatively impact on the progression of Gaelic as a living language?  

I would have thought that a major con under a separate school would have been the concept of not reflecting our own multicultural society and the whole issue of separatism –  that is not mentioned at all. 

Similarly a 2^nd Gaelic unit would have several attractive points not least just being sited near the greatest demand from families and the possibility of joint working, staff development and so on”.

Feel free to answer or elaborate on these questions by leaving a comment below or come to the meeting on the 9th February at 7pm in the Fountainbridge Library.  This will be an open meeting chaired by Comann nam Pàrant where the company undertaking the Feasibility Study on behalf of the Council will be in attendance to hear parental views.  Again, this is your chance to have your voice heard.

Another parent with strong views on developing Gaelic

“I ,personally,feel, that if there won’t be a 3-18 Gaelic school established in the next 1-2 years [locations can be found and budget will work itself out], then it will become the end of Gaelic .

In all the years, that GME has been in Edinburgh, there has been very little on young people, who have emerged through it, mainly caused by the very poor Secondary commitment to Gaelic.

Unless this changes,and by now at other levels there will be proper commitment to Gaelic, all the work which has gone in the past 20 years to establish Gaelic will have been for nothing”