Breton language: it is urgent for the Breton councillors to react

The report that Fañch Broudig wrote on the situation of the Breton language confirms what the Breton Party had pointed out in december 2004 on the occasion of the adoption by the administrative regional council of Brittany of a language promotion scheme : the situation of the Breton language is critical and the fast decrease of the Breton language speakers is particularly uncanny. The Breton Party shares the opinion of president Le Drian on the prime importance of teaching for the development of the number of speakers, and supports his proposal to create a scholarship award for the future Breton language teachers. Yet it is surprising that such an initiative is only taken in the end of the term, which means 5 years have been lost; also, it is good to recall that the State Education Direction in Brittany (Rectorat) remains a major obstacle to the development of bilingual teaching, with its particularly failing management of the qualified staff in this matter.

Still, the Breton councillors have the possibility to take a major decision for the future of the Breton language, its durability and its development: the creation of a Breton language, or at least bilingual, television channel.

If teaching is fundamental for the future, it has to come along with measures on the social, cultural and economic presence of the Breton language in daily life: shortly, what sort of TV programmes are currently offered to children who learn in Breton? A few minutes with « Mouchig Dall » on Wednesday morning, provided this programme is not cancelled for any reason! Brittany is the only country on the Atlantic coast in such a situation: from Scotland to Galicia, all these polyglot countries have their own channel in their own language. Brittany's situation is totally unacceptable.

Now, if the main Breton councils were willing to do so, it could be envisioned to create such a television channel, either on the example of the Scottish channel BBC Alba, or Welsh channel S4C, or on the Corsican example Via Stella: the durability of the Breton language is, here also, at stake. Besides, it is not only a cultural and linguistic project, but also economic, positive for employment and for Brittany's image.

The Breton Party calls once again to the Breton councillors to be concerned, and seriously, by this issue, fundamental for the Breton language, to which 80% of the Bretons are openly attached. Shortly, what are the Breton councillors waiting for? Their indifference contributes to weakening the Breton language, common heritage of all the inhabitants of this country, and also heritage of mankind.

For the Breton Party, Jacques-Yves Le Touze, member of the National Executive