For Argyll

The Royal National MOD, the national festival of Gaelic music opened in Falkirk today with the promise of a visit by the First Minister, Alex Salmond. There has been some surprise at the MOD being held in an urban area in the Central Belt with no apparent Gaelic tradiitons. Councillor Angus MacDonald however says that the Gaelic speaking Highland cattle drovers traditionally made Falkirk a stopping off place to rest and, as he calls it, ‘party hard’ on the way south.

Public response sems to have been very positive and the MOD runs in Falkirk for a week.

Regardless of Gaelic roots, there is an enduring contradiction in school children being entered in the Gaelic competitions, singing - and often winning - in a language they know nothing about.