Oxfam apologises after shop worker accused of telling Welsh-speaking family to 'stop speaking foreign language'

A charity shop worker allegedly told a Welsh-speaking family to get out of the shop and "stop speaking that bloody foreign language". The tweet garnered widespread attention online with 1,500 people liking the tweet and 1,100 people retweeting it. In response to the tweet, Oxfam Cymru apologised to Mr Williams and his family and said they were looking into the matter.
Rachel Cable, head of Oxfam Cymru, said: "We are concerned by reports that a member of Oxfam's team in the Oxfam shop in Hay-on-Wye made an unacceptable comment about the Welsh language.
"We are very sorry for any offence that this has caused. The alleged remarks does not reflect Oxfam's values and we take allegations of this nature very seriously.
"We strive to ensure that inclusivity and diversity are at the heart of our approach wherever we work in the world, including here in Wales.

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Grants approved for Scottish and Irish Gaelic joint projects and for drama companies

At the second meeting of 2019 on Friday 8 March in Belfast,  the Foras na Gaeilge board approved grants for Scottish and Irish Gaelic joint projects and for drama companies throughout the island.
€32,522 worth of grants were approved under the Colmcille Grants Scheme, a scheme which fosters relations and strengthens the connection between the Scottish and Irish Gaelic language communities. The projects to be run during 2019 include Nasc with Sgoil an Taobh Siar, Isle of Lewis, which is being run by An Clár as Gaeilge (€12,000), Scottish Gaelic Programme for the Willie Clancy Summer Scheme 2019 (€4,500) and Òran Bagraidh with Cumann Cultúrtha Mhic Reachtain (£3,500).
€209,729 has been approved for 16 drama companies under the Drama Companies Scheme 2019 including Aisling Ghéar, Belfast (£24,000), Fibín, Galway (€27,360), High Rock Productions, Dublin (€19,000), Ababú, Belfast (£10,000) and Graffiti, Cork (€15,000).

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"France does not respect its commitments"

Eighteen Breton MPs sent an open letter to the French Minister of Education asking him to enforce the commitments made by the State in terms of bilingual education. In a letter sent signed by eighteen Breton MPs to the Minister of National Education, the signatories alert Jean-Michel Blanquer on the non-compliance with the State-Region Convention signed in 2015. The latter provided that the the number of open positions in the bilingual Breton-French teacher's competition was set to increase gradually from 15% in 2016 to 20% in 2020.

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Record number sit Cornish language exams

A record number of people sat Cornish language exams last year — thanks to singer Gwenno Saunders’ latest album. The Cornish Language Board said 77 people took the tests, up 15 per cent. The language is designated "critically endangered" by the United Nations group Unesco and is recognised as a minority language by the Council of Europe. It comes after Saunders performed songs from her Cornish language concept album Le Kov on YouTube and 6Music. Exams secretary Tony Hak said: “Gwenno's album is a fantastic boost for the language. "So people are seeing it a lot more around them and they have become interested.

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Holiday park staff asked not to speak Welsh at work 'for purposes of guest safety'

Staff at a North Wales holiday park have been asked not to speak Welsh while they are at work.
Greenacres Holiday Park in Morfa Bychan in Gwynedd has confirmed that they ask workers to speak English in certain parts of the kitchen "to prevent miscommunication".
They were responding to claims that a meeting had been held to ask staff to speak English rather than Welsh "for the purposes of guest safety".
However, a spokesman for the park said staff "can and do speak Welsh in all other ares of the park".
The spokesman said: "We are proud to have team members from both the local area and from further afield working at Greenacres.
"For the purposes of guest safety, team members in specific areas of our kitchen are asked to converse in English when on shift.
"This policy is solely to prevent miscommunication which could lead to vital information such as customer allergies being misunderstood.
"Team members can and do speak in Welsh in all other areas of the park on a daily basis.
"Any suggestion that the park prohibits our members of staff from speaking in Welsh is categorically untrue."
Porthmadog town councillor Simon Brooks and Gwynedd county councillor Selwyn Griffiths met with management at Greenacres today.
Cllr Brooks said they were "very concerned" about the policy of asking staff not to speak Welsh.

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The Manx Bard: When it comes to a bonnag, it's all a matter of taste

Manx Gaelic teacher, musician and composer Annie Kissack is the fifth to hold the title of Manx Bard. Each month she shares one of her poems with us, and explains what led her to write it.

Only in the Isle of Man would you find such an event as the World Bonnag Championship.
Held in Dalby in February, it is one of the most popular events of the culinary year, as skillful bakers fight it out to make the world’s best bonnag.
In case you didn’t know, this year’s champion is Dan Sayle, who also does a bit of motor cycle racing on the side, apparently!
Bonnag is the distinctive bread-like loaf of the island, neither too sour or sweet, and is a fairly recent descendant of the traditional Manx flat cake, called the ’soddag’.
What makes a good bonnag? This is debatable!
I used to think bonnag was definitely a savoury affair and that the version with currants was a modern invention.
However I have since learned that there are as many recipes as, well, sliced bonnag, and I certainly wouldn’t like to be a judge.
In 1908, that great Manx woman, Sophia Morrison, and her sister Louisa, edited a Manx Cookery Book as a fund raiser for the rebuilding of Peel Church spire.
The barley-meal bonnag recipe included seems to have been a fairly plain affair.
As now, buttermilk is an essential ingredient but recipes would no doubt change as they were passed down the generations, with ingredients varying according to taste and availability of ingredients.
Perhaps next year someone might like to run a competition for the best Dalby Sandwich, which is also a recipe taken from the aforementioned cookery book?
It involves buttery barley cake, bruised potatoes and a coating of salt herring ’free from bones’.
Any takers?
Co-editing a cookery book was only a small part of Sophia Morrison’s contributions to preserving knowledge of traditional Manx ways of life.
As well as collecting folklore, she was also very active in the preservation of the Manx dialect.
This leads me to this month’s poem, more of a rhyme or a tongue twister, with a tasty topical subject and a hint of the vigorous dialect I love, although I’ve taken liberties and added some modern idioms.
Not much in English, Manx or Manx English could be found to rhyme with ’sultanas’.
I’m unsure how familiar Sophia would have been with bananas either, come to think of it, but language should not be a straightjacket.

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Yann-Fañch Kemener, figure of Breton music, dies

This figure of traditional Breton song and defender of the Breton language had been performing since the age of fifteen on stage. Yann-Fañch Kemener, figure of the traditional Breton song and defender of the Breton language, died today at the age of 61 years following an illness, said the mayor of the commune of Trémeven (Finistère).

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Cymdeithas protest against proposed cuts of £100,000 to language immersion centres by Gwynedd Council

Yesterday's protest organised by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg against proposed cuts of £100,000 to language immersion centres by Gwynedd Council.Cymdeithas is calling on the council to re-think, saying that the cuts would be contrary to their own language policy. The centres "make a vital contribution to creating confident Welsh speakers and reaching the national goal of a million speakers," said Menna Machreth from the organization.
"In practice, reducing provision at these centres would undermine the language policy of Gwynedd schools and the Schools Charter.
"If latecomers are not able to speak Welsh before they reach the local schools, the children's educational experience will suffer and an unfair and unsustainable burden will be placed on teachers."

Link

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BAI publishes Irish Language Action Plan

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) published its Irish Language Action Plan on February 8th which sets out the planned activities in support of the promotion and stimulation of the development of Irish language programming and broadcasting services in the Irish audio-visual industry.  The Irish Language Action Plan is one of a number of initiatives designed to contribute to the achievement of the BAI’s strategic objective to ‘foster a media landscape that is representative of, and accessible to, the diversity of lrish society’.
The Plan outlines a range of objectives for the BAI in respect of the Irish Language, including the exploration of new initiatives in order to build on the volume of Irish language programming currently available. Other provisions include the exploration of partnership opportunities with key Irish language organisations with a view to jointly supporting Irish language development. The Plan also focuses on the support and undertaking of research and the collation of data on Irish language programming within the sector.
The development of the Plan was informed by a number of factors including international and national legislation, the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, the BAI’s own Statement of Strategy 2017-2019 and substantial engagement with the BAI’s key Irish Language stakeholders.
Commenting on the announcement, BAI Chief Executive Michael O’Keeffe, said: ”The publication of the Irish Language Action Plan today reflects the BAI’s continued support for, and commitment to, the Irish Language. While BAI initiatives to support the Irish language have been in place for a number of years, the Irish Language Action Plan gives a clear articulation of the BAI’s goals, objectives and commitments in this area. We look forward to working with stakeholders on the implementation of the Plan, and the development of Irish language provision across the broadcasting sector, over the coming years.”
A copy of the BAI Irish Language Action Plan can be found on the BAI website here.
The BAI Strategy Statement 2017-2019 can be found here.

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Report reveals how many Gaelic speakers live in Fife

Fife Council has revealed that one in every 30 speakers of Scottish Gaelic are living in Fife. Kirsty Strachan, Gaelic Development Officer, brought forward a report to the council’s Community and Housing Services committee on Thursday, outlining the Gaelic Language Plan.

Under the 2005 Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act, all local authorities are required to demonstrate how they support, develop and secure the equity of the language in their areas. Ms Strachan told the committee: “In the most recent census, over 3000 people in Fife identified as Gaelic speaking. In our experience, Gaelic learners don’t respond positively to that on census returns. “We have outstripped the national average with 5% of the national total in Scotland, and we expect that to increase on the next census return. In real terms, that’s one in every 30 Gaelic speakers living and working in Fife.”The rebranding and promotion of Gaelic will be allocated a budget of £11,000 from Fife Council.SNP Councillor Alice McGarry said: “I think Gaelic is an indigenous language like many other through out the world and needs to be supported and believe we are moving in the right direction.”But Conservative Councillor Richard Watt said: “My concern is with the consultation, 31 responses seems a bit low for a nation which has claimed it’s so prevalent. There are no mono-block Gaelic speakers left in Scotland and all of them also speak English. Would this be the correct forum to reject the rebranding?” However, Labour Councillor Helen Law approved of the report, saying: “I would suggest we do accept the recommendations. I absolutely welcome the report, it is an indigenous language. I have Gaelic speakers in my family and if I wasn’t a councillor, I might sign up to the adult learning because I’ve always wanted to speak the language, so I absolutely support this.”

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Seachtain na Gaeilge 2019

The Irish Language Week 2019 is an annual event which runs from 1st – 17th March.
The festival, the aim of which is to encourage communities to organise events and activities which celebrate the Irish language, is organised at local level throughout the island of Ireland, and Derry City and Strabane District Council leads on the co-ordination of the programme in this Council area.
A range of events are planned which not only promote the use and visibility of the Irish language in the area, but which also link with themes and campaigns of international and global significance such as World Book Day, International Women’s Day, and, of course the UNESCO International Year of Languages.

All events will be listed on our Council website at www.derrystrabane.com/gaeilge

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'Use of Welsh language in Pembrokeshire County Council on the up'

Use of Welsh within County Hall is on the increase with a plan to take that further, councillors have been told. Cabinet member for the Welsh language Cllr Cris Tomos responded to a question from the public at Thursday’s full council meeting (February 21).

Cllr Tomos, Cabinet member for Welsh language said a “Welsh language culture is definitely developing within the authority” as it pushes forward its five year strategy to promote the use of Welsh.He said he would like to see greater use of the Welsh language and encouraged the 20 per cent of members who are bilingual to use it more often.

The purchasing of translation equipment could be considered in the future if the use of Welsh was increased at meetings.Dave Edwards’ question highlighted that nearly 20 per cent of people in Pembrokeshire use Welsh in their everyday lives.

It added: “Unfortunately, although the constitution gives equal status to Welsh and English, in the 23 years of its existence, only one Councillor has addressed the Council in Welsh on a regular basis.

“The inevitable consequence of this is that English appears to be the only language of governing in Pembrokeshire. Clearly, this linguistic lacking does nothing to promote the use of the language within the county.

“What plans do the Cabinet Member for the Welsh language have to promote the use of the language by members during discussions so that the language that they use in the Tea Room also becomes the language that they use in the Council Chamber?”

Responding bilingually Cllr Tomos said the strategy looked at the use of Welsh in communities, schools and work places with the authority, encouraging its use.

Council staff can take Welsh lessons and a number of front-line posts required that it be spoke or learnt on employment.

Simultaneous translation is available but requires notice to be given, he added.

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Prizioù, prizes of Breton, will be delivered today

The Prizioù (literally "Prizes"), prizes for the future of the Breton language created in 1997 by France 3 and from 2012 co-organized by the Office of the Breton language, will be presented on March 1 at Bruz (35 ). Associations, audio-visual creation, community, visit, sketch sung in Breton ... Several winners will be bitten at Bruz (35) during the ceremony aimed at highlighting the creations and initiatives related to Breton. Also, the "Britophone of the Year", awarded this year to Ismael Morvan led to his work as president of the association and Bak e Brezhoneg. This former student from Lise Diwan Karaez, who continues to fight for the right to pass the Bac exam in Breton.

In 2018, the winner of each category received a € 1,500 prize, awarded by the Office of the Breton language, on behalf of the Regional Council and a trophy given by France 3 Brittany, led by the graphic designer Owen Poho of Commana ( 29). The second and third prizes were awarded a prize of € 500. The classification is determined by a panel of brittophone personalities studying different folders for several months. The Prizioù want to highlight the vitality and modernity of Breton and the diversity and creativity that surrounds the language.

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