However, the misreporting and misrepresentation of some aspects of the situation seems to detract from reasoned discussion.

Marie Corbett is quite wrong that the Scottish Government has granted some kind of "second language status" to Gaelic.

The Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the bill which became The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005.

It is an Act to secure "the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language".

Ms Corbett is wrong to assume that English has "first language status". Neither language should take precedence over the other as, under the terms of the Act, Gaelic and English should have equal status.

She is also wrong in thinking that Highland Council is in any way at odds with the Scottish Government.

I should like to reiterate that Gaelic is "an official language of Scotland" and is, therefore, by virtue of the Act and the authority of Scottish ministers, a language for the whole of Scotland.

In our dealings with Highland Council it has shown its resolve to deliver its Gaelic Language Plan — approved under the law of the land as stated in the terms of the 2005 Act and agreed by the whole council — to the fullest possible extent, as Bòrd na Gàidhlig would expect it to do.

Leis gach deagh dhùrachd.

Arthur Cormack, Chair, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Darach House, Stoneyfield Business Park, Inverness.

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