By Professor Conchúr Ó Giollagáin
A year of political and official public consultation on the Gaelic Crisis publication has yielded little of consequence for the remaining communities of vernacular Gaels.
The report concluded that the decline of Gaelic as a community language in the islands has reached the point of societal collapse and that, under current circumstances, no native-speaking Gaelic community, in any meaningful socio-geographic density, will survive beyond this decade anywhere in Scotland.
Official bodies with responsibility for Gaelic promotion remain in denial about the severity of the challenges facing these communities.
Despite the issues highlighted in the report, and the calls for action among the community, there has been no clear official statement recognising the level of crisis, nor any admission of the need for significant strategic reform to halt the loss of remaining Gaelic social geographies in the islands.