Gaelic schools fund gets £800,000

The Scottish Government hopes more people will use Gaelic

An extra £800,000 for a project promoting Gaelic in schools has been announced by the Scottish Government.

First Minister Alex Salmond confirmed the spending ahead of a meeting of the Cabinet in the Western Isles.

The money will take the level of funding for the government's Gaelic Schools Fund to £2.15m this year.

Mr Salmond said the investment would help expand Gaelic education in schools, and lead to more people using the language.

He said: "The Gaelic language makes an enormous contribution to Scottish culture.

"The language is a key part of Scotland's unique culture and history and it's incredibly important that we invest in its future."

Scottish tour

In January, the Scottish Government embarked on a drive to become more bilingual, through plans including recruiting more Gaelic speakers and encouraging correspondence in the language.

Highland Council's Gaelic committee later criticised ministers over the use of the language on trunk road signs - and called for bilingual signs on the A9, A96 and A82.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson initially referred to anecdotal evidence of motorists performing u-turns after misreading the signs, before later saying the government was seeking to "fast track" the review.

The Scottish Cabinet, which is making a tour of Scotland, is meeting in Stornoway.