Gaelic

The ancient Celtic language of Ireland, Northen Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge) is spoken mainly in areas along the western coast of Ireland. Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is spoken only by 50,000 people almost exclsivly in the Highlands of Scotland and in the northwestern islands off of Scotland's coast. The Isle of Man is currently reviving Manx Gaelic (Gaelg). Many people in the South of Scotland feel that Gaelic is being “forced” upon them. As both television and radio programs are broadcast in the South, despite the fact that Gaelic has never been spoken in these areas. In December 2005 at a "Ask the Directors" meeting held in Glasgow, BBC Scotland was criticised for showing Gaelic language programs in this area, when there are no Gaelic speakers. (with the exception of those who have moved from the North of Scotland) A campaign has recently been launched to reduce the amount of money spent by the BBC on Gaelic programming as it is of interest to such a small amount of the Scottish population. The BBC conceded that Gaelic programming was of little interest to the majority of Scots and reducing the programming dedicated to the language may be reduced in the future.