The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Exp...

Any questions?

(and excuse my bad manners, Hattip to Our Kingdom for the alert)

All the UK's "Celtic" languages are now "living", Irish is "definitely endangered".

Last week the most recent edition of the Atlas of World Languages in Danger was published by UNESCO. There were a couple of interesting findings from a UK point of view:

1.For the first time Cornish has been recognised as a living language.

2.All the UK's "Celtic" languages are now recognised as living (although endangered/vulnerable) languages.


UNESCO's classification of our five Celtic languages are as follows:

1.Cymraeg/Welsh: Vulnerable (611,000 speakers out of 2.98 million population)

2.Gaeilge/Irish: Definitely endangered* (80,000 speakers out of 6.1 million population)

3.Gàidhlig/Scottish: Definitely endangered (58,652 speakers out of 5,168,500 population)

4.Gaelg/Manx: Critically endangered (revitalised) (1,689 speakers out of 76,315 population)

5.Kernewek/Cornish: Critically endangered (revitalised) (2000 speakers out of 500 000 population)


Although the Irish figure in particular looks to be on the lowish side, the methodology employed can be accessed from the report here.



*"Definitely endangered" is defined as "children no longer learn it as a mother tongue at home.

The Scallop Civil War: Part 2

I reported on the opening shots of the Scallop Civil War here. It now seems to be moving up a notch:

Crews on 20 Scottish scallop boats have been left searching for somewhere to fish amid an increasingly bitter row involving governments in Edinburgh, London and the Isle of Man.

The Manx Government has banned Scotland’s larger scallop vessels from its waters because of fears about the environmental impact of scallop dredging.

In response, the Scottish Government has banned scallop fishing in one of Scotland’s top fisheries.

Scotland’s scallop fleet traditionally fishes Manx waters at this time of year. Manx scallop boats fish Scottish waters earlier in the year.

Peace talks are underway:

A Scottish Government spokesman said there had been constructive discussions between Mr Salmond and the Isle of Man Chief Minister Tony Brown, and between Mr Lochhead and Mr Shimmin.

"During those discussions, all parties have recognised the need for a solution to the scallop- fishing issue. However, so far it has not been possible to reach a compromise."

Scallops are now the second most valuable shellfish in Scotland, worth £25 million per annum to the country, so the urgency to get it sorted is understandable.The implication, however, from the earlier reports was that the Scottish Administration were ultimately blaming the UK government for giving the green light to their Manx counterparts to implement this ban. Curiously enough then the UK's representatives seem to be excluded from the present talks between the Isle of Man and Scotland.

First broadside in the Scallop War

One for The Aberdonian to get his teeth into;)

SCOTTISH fishermen's leaders and environment secretary Richard Lochhead have united in condemning a decision by the Isle of Man government to ban the bulk of Scotland's scallop trawlers from Manx waters.

The Manx authorities have introduced a bye-law that effectively prevents large Scottish boats from fishing in their traditional scallop grounds around the island.

Mr Lochhead said: "The Scottish Government believes the Isle of Man bye-law is unnecessary and unwarranted and I have been in contact with the Isle of Man fisheries minister - and UK ministers who gave the go-ahead - to make my concerns clear."

Not being affected by EU fishing "guidelines" and also as self-governing Crown Dependency, the Isle of Man is legally entitled to impose such restrictions; whether or not it morally justified to do so is obviously another question. However, the role of the UK ministers (plural?) mentioned here is a curious one.
Why would their permission be required?