Which Gaelic language skills do you have?

So, a lady from Grimsay has been turned down for a job in the EU because she speaks Scots Gaelic rather than Irish Gaelic.

Cue outrage from Angus MacNeil MP.

But it is perhaps worthwhile examining why Irish Gaelic is getting such special treatment.

In 1 January 2007 Irish Gaelic became an official working language of the EU a move warmly welcomed by the SNP.

SNP President Ian Hudghton MEP has welcomed a new initiative that allows the Irish language to be used in the European Parliament. Irish became an official working language of the European Union on 1 January 2007 and this week in Strasbourg has been the first time that Irish speaking MEPs have been able to use their language in Parliamentary debates.

The reason Irish got this special treatment is that it is an official language of Eire, an aspiration that the SNP had for Scots Gaelic from the 1970's until at least 2005, until it was mysteriously dropped just prior to the 2007 election.

Column 14095: [Alex Neil MSP, SNP Shadow Minister] ... we would like the official status of Gaelic to be built in to the bill.

So, unpleasant as it might be to realise, the solution lies with the SNP Government to reverse their stance and have Gaelic as an official language of Scotland, and then - and only then - can Scots Gaelic seek equal status with Irish. So long as the SNP treat Gaelic as second class, then so will the rest of the world; who are just following their example.

That's not to say that the solution will appear overnight, nor to let Labour off the hook, but to blame the EU for the outcome of a policy you have abandoned is a bit rich.

Not that there were many Irish-Estonian speakers in 2007, but there is a whole industry there that we are missing out on, and especially the influence it brings by being part of the system and ingrained into the politics of Europe. That is one of the many reasons why the Irish did so well from structural funds, and why the UK did so badly.