IT was an idea born in a Hebridean pub a decade and a half ago and this week pupils from across Scotland are to descend on the Scottish Parliament for the 15th running of the BT Gaelic Schools Debate.
A total of 22 teams from 19 schools across Scotland have been taking part and the semi-finals, featuring Glasgow Gaelic School for the first time, are tomorrow at the Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. The final is on Wednesday at Holyrood and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal.
It all started when three men from North Uist were having a drink in a Stornoway bar. One was Alasdair Morrison, the ex-Labour Western Isles MSP and Scottish Executive minister.
He recalls: "Councillor Donald MacLean and the Canadian-based Gaelic scholar and broadcaster John Alick MacPherson, were recalling the North Uist of their youth.
"It was in the years before TV. One regular event was a public debate, which ironically was conducted in English although Gaelic would have been the first language of virtually everybody present. That was just the way things were in those days. But it got us thinking, and the idea for an inter-school debating competition in Gaelic was born."
The first year had five schools from the Outer Isles and Skye and was supported by the Western Isles Council. "In the second year BT came on board as sponsor and have been there ever since, quite a commitment. The debaters themselves seem to get a lot out of it."
One who can confirm that is former winner Donald Lamont, 26, the nephew of Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont, who herself recently won the debating category of the Herald's Politician of the Year Awards.
Donald, who works for BBC Alba and Radio nan Gaidheal, said: "I was in the winning team (Nicolson Institute, Stornoway) in 2002, although I think we were only in our third year at the time. The competition gave me enormous confidence.
"It was a fantastic experience really. You had to prepare speeches and deliver then in front of a large audience for over 10 minutes which is quite a thought for somebody that was only 14 or 15 at the time. It really set my career path."
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