Today’s learned correspondents discuss issues of the day, such as Gaelic teaching, public-private initiatives, a hopeful future, and a square of Perth’s own.
Sir, Angus Council spent around £20 million building a dual carriageway between Arbroath and Dundee.
This is being paid for by council taxpayers through a public-private initiative (PPI). In effect, this is a mortgage and the road will not pass to public ownership for decades.
The dual carriageway has improved safety and reduced stress on journeys between the two centres.
Angus Council, to their credit, had the foresight to create a cycle lane from Arbroath to Dundee. This is well used but there are still some self-indulgent cyclists who insist on using the carriageway.
Motorists are not accustomed to encountering cyclists on the road so it can be alarming rather like coming across a cyclist on a motorway.
A cycle path has been provided at public expense so it would be courteous of cyclists to use it and eliminate one more hazard from our roads. They must take responsibility for their own safety.
It would not surprise me to see them “exercising their rights” by cycling two abreast on the main road.
Robert Anderson.Kirkton,Arbroath.
Things can only get betterSir, It is predicted that our economic pain will be over by the end of 2013.
We will then move into 2014 with renewed hope and, for Scotland, what a year awaits us. That year is the 700th anniversary of victory at Bannockburn.
Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games between July 23 and August 23.
We can look forward to the Dunhill Links Championship in St Andrews at the start of September and, between September 26 and 29, Perthshire will host the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
While the golf and athletics focus of much of the world will be on Scotland in 2014, we can hope our football side is competing at the World Cup in Brazil in June and July that year.
Amid the current gloom, I’m looking forward to a summer of sport in 2014 when Scotland can show its best side to the world.
Bob Ferguson.North Muirton,Perth.
Heart of city under threatSir, You reported that new businesses have begun to move into the area around Perth City Hall in the knowledge that the building is to disappear, leaving them with an open outlook.
That is merely wishful thinking. No business would think of opening in what threatens to become a huge building site for the next two years.
Nobody has yet explained why Perth needs a civic square when Stirling, Dunfermline and Inverness are happy without one.
Dundee does have a square of sorts in front of Caird Hall, which is scarcely ever used. Nor would what is proposed for Perth, where even the superb esplanade along Tay Street is scarcely used, nor for that matter is the North Inch.
The city hall is the only building to cater for community activities under cover. To destroy it would be to tear the heart out of the city.
Vivian Linacre.21 Marshall Place,Perth.
Self-funded Gaelic teachingSir, With reference to the letter from R. H. L. Mulheron, Fife is experiencing a growing interest in Gaelic learning and the demand for Gaelic-medium education is increasing.
Fife has not received any funding, nor has GME been promoted in the area up until now.
Since June last year, volunteers have set up a support network to meet demand for adult classes to remedy social exclusion of Gaelic learners and native speakers living in Fife.
This has not cost us a penny as we use spare time and our own resources to make this happen. Since demand is starting to exceed the limited help we can offer, we requested support and resources from Gaelic agencies.
Fife parents want equal access to bilingual education, which is more beneficial in the long run and increases career prospects.
We pay taxes too, so why should we pay for the excessive cost of English-medium education?
Ann Desseyn.Lomond Crescent,Falkland.
Broadening the curriculumSir, It was eye opening to realise the ignorance surrounding the provision of Gaelic teaching displayed by R. H. L. Mulheron.
Fife Council spends several million pounds on school teachers quite rightly so. And not one penny of that is spent on Gaelic. The only Gaelic provision of any kind in Fife is for self-funding adult education classes, of which there is a growing number.
This illustrates that there is a growing demand for Gaelic education in Fife. But what of the relevance?
One way that Scotland “competes in a global market” is in tourism. And the fact that there still are 100,000 or so Gaelic speakers is quite an attraction. Not only that but Gaelic summer schools to say nothing of Gaelic cultural events bring in a considerable amount of foreign revenue.
But there’s just not enough teachers to satisfy the demand. We are not going to get them by leaving it to the residual bands of Gaelic-speaking highlanders and islanders. We need to train people from all over Scotland for the task, just as we need to train up French and German teachers
While places such as Fife continue to ignore the need to develop this vital element in Scotland’s economy, it is hard to see a way out of the economic downturn.
So, let us broaden the educational curriculum in response to global demands and introduce Gaelic into Fife schools.
John Morton.3 Bow Butts,Markinch.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.