Rugby To Rescue the Welsh Tongue ?

Welsh languge news this week included the ongoing controversey over the impact of Property Devlopment on the Welsh tongue, and an encouraging statement from the former Group Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Union: 

Property Development

Welsh language campaigners protested over the weekend in the Welsh town of Caernarfon to oppose moves by Property Developers.  A plan for a major residential development in this area, where over 50% of residents profess some Welsh Language skills, is viewed by language campaigners with alarm. Major infrastructure changes in stable Welsh language areas are seen as a threat to the survival of the tongue. This quote from the BBC defines the issue: “Under proposals being drawn up jointly by Gwynedd and Anglesey councils, 8,400 new homes will be provided from 2011 to 2026. Language campaigners claim there has not been a full assessment of local housing needs in Gwynedd and Anglesey. About 300 people gathered in Caernarfon town centre on Saturday afternoon to protest against the proposed Local Development Plan for Gwynedd”.

The past year has seen the issue of the impact of property development on the stability of Welsh becoming a major flash point in the struggle to preserve the Celtic tongue of Wales.  The BBC quote Ben Gregory from the the Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg) commenting on the impact of the proposed property development: “The people who can afford the housing in Gwynedd will come from outside of the county. The people who will move in will not speak Welsh, will probably not learn Welsh. We've seen over the past 10 years with results of the last census that the number of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd has gone down markedly. With more and more housing being built for people who move in from outside of the area that's only going to have a bigger impact and put more pressure on the Welsh language."

Welsh Rugby Union – Next Champion for Welsh Language Rights?

In other Welsh language news, David Moffett, former Group Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) from 2002-2009, as well as former head of the Australian National Rugby League from 1999-2001, has delivered a broadside (in the guise of a proposed reorganisation plan) against the current  management of the WRU in what many see as a bid to regain his influence in the organisation. The following quote from the Guardian is intriguing to supporters of the Welsh tongue as Mr. Moffett cites the Welsh language as a tool, amongst others, to promote the the Welsh Rugby League:  “ He unveiled it (the reorganization plan) on Friday at the Castle Hotel in Neath, where the WRU was founded in March 1881, and its plans include reducing the union's board in number and appointing three independent non-executive directors, creating five regional boards as part of his decentralization policy, introducing combined contracts for national squad players to help keep them in Wales, launching an immediate review of the WRU's finances, investing in the women's game and using rugby to promote the Welsh language.”

The details of how Rugby could be used to promote the Welsh language were not included in Moffett’s statement.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-26799446

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/mar/28/rugby-union-wales-manifesto...