Perhaps it should be a joint effort between BBC Scotland and BBC NI, now my knowledge of Scots Gaelic is limited but from what Ive seen its practically the same language as Irish Gaelic so there may well be a couple of hundred more viewers in NI as well.
AIUI, Scots and Irish Gaelic are related but certainly not 'practically the same'.
The BBC 1 Baloon featured on the website was one of the ones branded BBC ONE Alba for use ahead of Gaellic opts - maybe that's why it lives on! Of course, it might also have something to do with the fact that it's one of the best known landmarks in the Highlands...
Tele G is on for about one hour a day and Scottish Gaelic programmes on BBC2 Scotland are on for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours a week. I know that about 50,000 people in Scotland speak Scottish Gaelic which is about 1 in 100 compared to 1 in 4 in Wales speak Welsh but the introduction of BBC Alba is a good idea in my opinion because hopefully it will promote the language. I wait with interest.
AIUI, Scots and Irish Gaelic are related but certainly not 'practically the same'.
In fact it's a contentious issue in the NI assembly at the moment... Sinn Fein are trying to get legislation for Irish Gaelic to be recognised on an equal measure as English...whereas of course the Unionists don't...or more precisely will insist on Ulster Scots to be recognised in addition to this.
Eilean Donan is located close to Skye, an area where Scots Gaelic still flourishes. The road signs in the area are also bilingual, which I believe was a well-fought issue for many years.
EDIT: The Irish language issue in NI - Tony Blair had given indications to Gerry Adams that under direct rule, he would introduce Irish language legislation for Northern Ireland, but now devolution has been restored, it needs "cross-party" support to pass the motion, and given that some DUP MLAs remain outspoken in their opposition to the "foreign language", that issue will take more than a while to be resolved.
Still, those who can pick up TG4 from Divis, around the Border and on Sky Digital in the Six Counties shouldn't have anything to worry about.
I think it would certainly be an interesting and potentially prosperous (if not in monetary terms, certainly in terms of kudos) idea for the Scots Gaelic service to enter into co-productions with S4C and TG4 - both stations with award-winning and critically acclaimed pedigrees in programme production.
Well S4C lead the way in minority language programming, so I don't see why a UK-wide Minority Languages authority can be launched, covering all aspects of minority language broadcasting - including Cornish programming on BBC Cornwall, as well as protecting Welsh, Gaelic and Manx, plus Channel Island languages.
After all, if the BBC can have BBC Urdu, Persian etc, why can't we have our own indigenous languages provided for?
Eilean Donan is located close to Skye, an area where Scots Gaelic still flourishes. The road signs in the area are also bilingual, which I believe was a well-fought issue for many years.
EDIT: The Irish language issue in NI - Tony Blair had given indications to Gerry Adams that under direct rule, he would introduce Irish language legislation for Northern Ireland, but now devolution has been restored, it needs "cross-party" support to pass the motion, and given that some DUP MLAs remain outspoken in their opposition to the "foreign language", that issue will take more than a while to be resolved.
Still, those who can pick up TG4 from Divis, around the Border and on Sky Digital in the Six Counties shouldn't have anything to worry about.
I think it would certainly be an interesting and potentially prosperous (if not in monetary terms, certainly in terms of kudos) idea for the Scots Gaelic service to enter into co-productions with S4C and TG4 - both stations with award-winning and critically acclaimed pedigrees in programme production.
TG4 is technically an all-Ireland channel, so I think that would rule out a BBC Irish Service. Scots Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are similar, but not exactly the same. Think the difference between German and Dutch.
TG4 is technically an all-Ireland channel, so I think that would rule out a BBC Irish Service.
BBC Northern Ireland produce many programmes for TV and radio in Irish, have done for around 15-20 years, so there's already content and resources there. And I'm certain they (or whoever would run it) could easily arrange deals with RTÉ and TG4 to distribute their programmes on a combined "Gaelic" network if the need arose.
Didn't TG4's "Ros na Rún" run on S4C Digidol a few years ago?
This is just a waste of money and linking to my favourite topic of BBC Scotland's scheduling - they are still going to keep showing Gaelic on Thursday nights for two hours.
Surely more people in Scotland speak Hindi for example...
Perhaps BBC Scotland should plough money into producing a decent news service at 6.30 instead of the chat / sports show that currently fills that slot?