From 60,000 to 40,000,000

There may be fewer than 60,000 Gaelic speakers in Scotland but they are the voice of one of the most poetic and resilient cultures in the world.

Over £8.5 million per annum is spent through the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee on commissioning programmes, with an additional £2 million committed by broadcasters. As Scotland Office Minister Anne McGuire has said, “In terms of audience reach this compares favourably with expenditure on minority language broadcasting elsewhere.” The Government’s Communications Bill which is to be introduced into Parliament later this year, will, if enacted, produce a new legal framework for Gaelic broadcasting and pave the way for an enhanced service in the digital age. There is a wealth of Gaelic programming content currently in production including a documentary about the creation of ‘The Great Book of Gaelic’ by Murray Grigor, two series by Paracas Media – one about the great mapmakers of the world and the other about the history of Communism – and the BBC’s ‘Eorpa’ a current affairs series analysing the major issues hitting the headlines across Europe.

At the other end of the numbers scale is the Scottish diaspora which, at a conservative estimate, stands at around 40 million people. Fiona Kennedy and Robert Sproul-Cran have devised a channel to keep these millions in touch with all things Scottish – Tartan TV. The half hour show has a magazine format and all features are streamed back onto the Tartan TV website and include online buying facilities and opportunities for tracing Scottish ancestors and seeing pictures of clan regions. Not only does Scotland keep influencing the world at large, it’s getting easier to keep in touch!

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