Exclusive:Why ministers have been accused of 'four wasted years' in fight to reverse Gaelic crisis

The expert behind a landmark study warning Gaelic-speaking communities could die out within a decade has accused ministers of overseeing four "wasted" years through denial and evasion. 

Professor Conchúr Ó Giollagáin said public agencies had failed to “meaningfully engage with the study’s findings, implications and recommendations”.

Researchers warned in 2020 that the social use and transmission of Gaelic was “at the point of collapse” in the remaining vernacular communities where it is still in day-to-day use.

Gaelic road signs in the Western Isles | Getty Images

The findings were contained in a book, The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community, which was co-authored by Prof Ó Giollagáin of the University of the Highlands and Islands. Writing in The Scotsman, he called for a greater focus on communities.

He sharply criticised the new Scottish Languages Bill, which is currently making its way through Holyrood. This aims to boost the use of Gaelic and Scots in traditional areas, and includes provisions such as establishing areas of linguistic significance to allow ministers to focus grant funding in areas where Gaelic is most fragile.

But Prof Ó Giollagáin said it offers “little substance beyond a performative gesture at honouring manifesto commitments”, adding: “Instead of devising concrete steps to support Gaelic communities, now clearly mired in social crisis, the Bill has opted for weakly relevant policy gimmicks repurposed from other jurisdictions.”

He said: “The draft Bill effectively denies the crisis facing Scotland’s remaining native-speaking Gaelic communities. This possibly explains why the legislation fails to acknowledge the evidence base indicating that these communities are at the point of societal collapse.

“This denialism means that the Bill has become part of the problem, offering a ‘more of the same’ approach rather than the much-needed new departure to help sustain Gaelic as a community language and reverse the social demise of the Gaelic communities.”

The expert said the task of the Scottish Parliament “is to jettison those legislative aspects which are irrelevant to the current social and cultural situation, replacing them with concrete proposals to support actual communities”.

He said: “Since the Gaelic Crisis study’s 2020 publication, four years have been wasted via institutionalised evasiveness and faux consultations about policy reform, with public agencies failing to meaningfully engage with the study’s findings, implications and recommendations.

“A complete reset of Gaelic affairs in Scotland is required. The Bill should specify parameters of root and branch reform before it is too late to effect meaningful change for communities.”

He said politicians and public officials could demonstrate their commitment to reform by indicating how they intend to address “the two central challenges in Gaelic affairs: a) protecting Gaelic as a community language, and b) ensuring that Gaelic-medium education produces fluent and socially confident speakers”.

Speaking ahead of MSPs debating stage one of the Scottish Languages Bill, Kate Forbes, the deputy first minister and Gaelic secretary, said: “Gaelic and Scots form a core part of Scotland’s culture, identity and history and this Bill is a major opportunity to protect the country’s indigenous languages.

“As the Languages Bill moves through Parliament, we are keen to explore ways of working across the political spectrum to strengthen it.

“This will help build a more sustainable future for Gaelic and Scots to ensure that the two languages continue to be used in everyday life.”