merrion street

Dinny McGinley, Minister for State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is in Scotland today, Tuesday 2nd of August, on a visit to the Gaelic college, Sabhal Mór Ostaig and to meet representatives from Gaelic organisations.

Sabhal Mór Ostaig was established in 1973 and is Scotland’s only college to offer programmes solely in Gaelic. Minister McGinley visited its two main campuses on the Isle of Skye, Arainn Chaluim Chille and Arainn Ostaig. The college plays a major role in national development issues related to the revival of Gaelic, in economic and development issues designed to retain and sustain Gaelic speaking communities and in the use of ICT to deliver learning.

During his visit, the Minister said, ‘I am very happy to be here in this very Gaelic part of Scotland. In many ways, it’s a home from home, as we share a common linguistic and cultural heritage. Sabhal Mor Ostaig is a very impressive college and demonstrates great success in its promotion of Gaelic language, culture and heritage.’

Minister McGinley also visited the offices of Canan, a Skye-based company that has developed an online Gaelic toolkit to enable staff in offices, nature reserves and forest districts across Scotland to learn Gaelic. A group of Scottish public sector organisations initiated the programme, as part of a government commitment to support Gaelic.

“This is an exciting and innovative programme that demonstrates the positive benefits that can accrue from public sector companies working together on a shared vision. I commend all who were involved in developing this project and I have no doubt that there are valuable lessons we can learn from it in Ireland as we pursue the common goal of promoting increased awareness and usage of our native language,” Minister McGinley said.