Gordon Brown hails Scottish Gaelic
Brown hails Mod as 'international event' MURRAY MACLEOD AT THE ROYAL NATIONAL MOD ORGANISERS of the Royal National Mod received an unexpected boost when they received a letter of support from Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister. It is thought to be the first time the annual celebration of Gaelic music and culture, taking place this week in Lochaber, has been given the official backing of Downing Street. In a faxed letter to An Comunn Gaidhealach, Mr Brown said: "I recognise the tremendous contribution made by this event, the premier annual celebration of Gaelic language and culture, which is not only a national but an international gathering of great significance." John MacLeod, the An Comunn president, warmly welcomed the intervention of Mr Brown, which, he said, proved the increasing appeal of Scotland's indigenous tongue. "From what we know this is the first ever time we have had a message of support like this from Downing Street. It just goes to show that Gaelic and the Mod not only operates at a local level, or even a national one, but has international significance," he said. An added element of political intrigue was provided when Mr MacLeod criticised the Scottish Government's culture minister, Linda Fabiani, one of the keynote speakers at the official opening in Fort William last Friday night. He said that she should have made a "special announcement" in relation to the language when addressing an audience of about 500. In previous years it has been customary for leading politicians attending the Mod to announce new initiatives with funding to match. "The Scottish Government missed an opportunity to let us know just what the plans are to develop Gaelic," said Mr MacLeod. "They had a very strong manifesto commitment to develop Gaelic but we have yet to see how it is going to become a reality. I would also have expected the minister with responsibility for Gaelic, at a time when the Scottish Government are preparing their Gaelic Language Plan, to have made some efforts to say a few words in Gaelic on her visit to our annual celebration of Gaelic music and culture." However, Ms Fabiani said she had made a "strong statement of support" while visiting the Mod and recognised there was "still much to do to secure a sustainable future for the language". Meanwhile, in the competitions, a call was made to introduce a new adult folk group event, following the success of the junior section. A large number of the audience commented on the standard of the music and performances from the 17 entries. The Allan Thomas Mitchell Trophy was eventually won by Buidheann Ard Sgoil Phort Righ from Skye, after impressing the judges with their renditions of "Mo Dhachaigh" and "Fagail Bharraigh". Music adjudicator Raymond Bremner said: "This was a wonderful afternoon's entertainment. This was not an easy job, because every single one of the competitors deserve a prize. I wish we could award everyone a first place. The talent on show was tremendous and was far greater than when I was young." Jean Graham, who attended the event and is one of the main musical experts at the Mod, said the ability shown by the youngsters should act as a catalyst for introducing an adult group competition. "That's one of the best folk competitions I have ever heard and I have been attending them all over the UK and abroad," she said. "The Mod people will probably kill me for this, because of the complications it would cause, but it would be great if we could now have an adult competition as well." Féach ar: http://www.savegaelic.org/