Hebrides News Today

Donald MacNeill of Inverness, currently Highland Council’s Gaelic Development Manager, is to be the new Ceannard or Chief Executive of Gaelic development agency Comunn na Gaidhlig (CnaG). Mr MacNeill will take over the reins of the Gaelic agency, which has been instrumental in the field of community development for more than 25 years.

Mr MacNeill is a very experienced administrator with an extensive background in Gaelic development and the media. Before he took up his current role with Highland Council in their Headquarters in Inverness, he had worked for 10 years with Highlands and Islands Enterprise in a number of roles including media and transport. Prior to that, he had worked with Grampian TV, STV and the BBC’s Gaelic radio service Rèidio nan Gàidheal. His parents hailed from Greenock and Carloway and Donald went to school in Inverness.

Comunn na Gàidhlig Chairman Donald MacDonald said: “I am delighted that the role of Chief Executive of CnaG has attracted someone of Donald’s experience and calibre. He very obviously has a wide range of skills and extensive experience of roles in challenging environments and he will have a great opportunity here to make his mark at a high level. I am sure that he will be able to lead the organisation and steer it through the many challenges which lie ahead, and take us on to the next stage of our development as an organisation. I am sure that he will lead our team well and have clear targets and aspirations in mind as we meet the various challenges we face.”

Donald MacNeill said: “I am very pleased to have been successful in achieving this position at this stage in my career. Gaelic organisations obviously work ion particularly challenging environments and the current challenges present a number of potential difficulties as well as some exciting opportunities. That is particularly true of the community initiatives which CnaG is leading and I am fully confident that the communities themselves believe in what CnaG is doing and this will give me the chance to work with the team on the staff to move onwards and upwards, developing what is already in place in a number of key areas.”

Comunn na Gàidhlig is responsible for the delivery of a wide range of Gaelic services including various schemes for students, a bilingual Signage Scheme but particularly work in the communities where they have recently established Gaelic Initiatives in a number of communities across Scotland. Most of their work is focussed on delivering work contracted to them by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the principal public authority with responsibility for developing Gaelic.

Welcoming Mr MacNeill’s appointment, Donald MacDonald added: “In many ways, Gaelic has never faced such challenging times and there is no doubt but that we face new challenges as we go forward. Our board of directors has been reviewing our own structure and priorities recently and we will shortly be implementing a series of recommended changes in the way we are working. No doubt we face some difficult decisions but I am confident that the changes we are planning will make us a more efficient deliverer of Gaelic services and that we will be stronger as an organisation. I am also certain that Donald MacNeill will make a very significant contribution to our development as a body when he joins early in the New Year.”