Meeting of the Parliament 17 September 2024 [Draft]
I think that the Government has made it pretty obvious what we have to do to move forward with both languages: that is the point of having the bill.
An important element is that some people might question the point of progressing such a bill in these very difficult times that we live in. That is a valid argument. Equally, I would say that our languages and how we communicate are key factors to who we are as Scots. I am always someone who is looking forward in relation to what we can do and what we can become. However, I believe that we need to know who we are in order to move forward, and our languages are an important part of that.
You might ask, “What has Gaelic got to do with a post-industrial town like Paisley?” It has quite a lot to do with it, actually, because, like our Weegie neighbours, our name is taken from the Gaelic form. Being an ancient town means that we have had many Gaelic traditions. Our town has embraced those and has now held the Royal National Mòd on two occasions, embracing our Gaelic heritage to listen to everything that modern Gaeldom—I hope that that is a word—has to offer.
Some 8,410 visitors came to Paisley for the previous Royal National Mòd, which is a 12 per cent increase on the number who attended the previous year in Perth. It brought £1.7 million of revenue to Paisley town centre, generating £390,000 of potential future visitor spend. Perhaps our languages are part of the solution to the many challenges that we face.