Andrew Marr has issued an apology over his comments about the Gaelic language when he called a sign at Haymarket ‘offensive’.

The broadcaster said it was ‘ridiculous’ that a sign at the Edinburgh train station included a Gaelic translation.

It attracted widespread criticism with many taking to social media to share their thoughts on the matter.

Mr Marr has now issued an apology himself and admits he got it wrong when he aimed criticism at the language.

He posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, to say: “Sometimes when good friends take you kindly to one side and explain patiently why you are completely wrong, you have to accept that you are completely wrong. I have long thought that what the great Scottish medieval poets called ‘inglis’ and the 20th century ones Lallans, is being pushed aside in modern memory and use… But I got overexcited and was wrong. Whatever is the Gaelic for sorry, that…”

Andrew MarrAndrew Marr

The apology is something that the chair of MG Alba, which partners the BBC to deliver the BBC Alba TV channel, John Morrison, was delighted to see and he says he was always of the belief that Mr Marr had not meant to be offensive, but had made a mistake.

He said: “I’m really delighted he’s done that because to Andrew Marr’s credit, I never thought he set out to cause offence, but the use of the word offensive was a mistake. I’d like to praise Andrew for coming out with the apology.

“I didn’t think he would have been having a go at the language and I didn’t think he would have been meaning to cause offence, but the use of the word offensive was a mistake.”

Mr Morrison, who also presents a sports programme on Radio nan Gaidheal, is certain that having Gaelic on signs is needed to help promote the language.

He pointed to the fact Edinburgh has one of the quickest growing populations of Gaelic speakers in the country, as well as the thriving school among that helps promote the language.

He said: “The irony is Gaelic has been spoken for more than 1000 years in Edinburgh, there’s a very successful primary school in the city, they’ve had a successful Gaelic department in the university for decades. The school of Scottish studies has been based in the university, which has done a huge amount of work and you have thousands of Gaelic speakers.

“In the last census, one of the fastest growing areas of Gaelic speakers was in Edinburgh.

“Gaelic used to be the language of the Kings of Scotland historically. Wrongly, the law of the land was used against Gaelic immediately after the Jacobite rebellions and the irony of that is there were just as many Gaelic speaking clans on the side of the Hanoverians.”

The language has been politicised in recent years with many, particularly in the central belt, believing that it is being pushed as part of the independence movement.

Motions to help Gaelic were originally put forward by the Conservative party, while it has also been supported by Labour, the Lib Dems and latterly the SNP.

Read More: 

It suffered for more than 100 years because it was effectively outlawed following the Jacobite rebellions despite many clans on both sides being Gaelic speakers, and Mr Morrison believes it is something that shouldn’t be politicised and everyone should support its growth.

He continued: “The law of the land was used against Gaelic and against Highlanders and the 1872 education act made no mention of Gaelic so it meant it was pushed out of schools so it was on the back foot for more than 100 years until Gaelic media was supported, originally by the Conservative government.

“It was then supported by Labour and the Lib Dems and now by the SNP. It gets lost and people forget the Conservatives were strong supporters and still are. They set up Gaelic help, supported Gaelic medium schools and Gaelic television.

“There would be as many people who voted No as voted Yes. There are people on both sides of the Independence debate and for me, Gaelic has to be above party politics. We want every party to support Gaelic.

“The reaction on social media shows Gaelic speakers are much more confident about their language and willing to stand up and defend it. A lot of critics of Gaelic complain about signs but they are really important for visibility of the language, it costs the same money to produce it in Gaelic as English and in a lot of cases, the English names were anglicised versions of Gaelic place names.

“I think Gaelic should be introduced in schools, not forced to learn it but introduced to it in schools. The question I would ask anyone who attacks Gaelic, why on earth would you hate a language? What other language would you hate?”

That view is shared by Councillor Donald MacSween, who represents the An Taobh Siar & Nis ward of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

He has recently been in America filming a programme about the language and has called for more of it to be used in Edinburgh rather than less, because he believes it should be at the forefront of what tourists see when they arrive in a country that speaks more than one language.

He said: “I think the fact Mr Marr has seen the signage at Haymarket proves the Gaelic Language Act is working. It’s raising the profile of Gaelic.

“We’ve all seen numerous public bodies in Scotland increase the amount of Gaelic they are using when dealing with the public.

“It’s quite sad that people still only talk about Gaelic when they are triggered by something like a sign at a railway station or a road sign. I’ve been inundated with posts on social media criticising Gaelic and how dangerous they are, we’ve heard it all before.

“If there’s anywhere in Scotland that should have more Gaelic it should be Edinburgh, the capital of our country. You should walk in there and it’s not just tins of shortbread and tartan you are seeing, it should hit you between the eyes that you are in Scotland which is a tri-lingual nation with English, Gaelic and Scots being spoken.

“That should be obvious to anyone who enters our capital city. If you find things like signs on you offensive then that’s a reflection on you more than anything, it doesn’t deserve any air time.

“Edinburgh has a flourishing Gaelic school, there are thousands of Gaelic speakers in Edinburgh. We pay our taxes all over Scotland, why on earth shouldn’t we be treated with the same respect as people who only speak one language?

“Gaelic is part and parcel of thousands of people’s daily lives. It doesn’t deserve to be trivialised by what a commentator says every so often, it’s still a vital part of day to day life.

“I’ve spent the last two weeks filming a TV programme for BBC Alba over in America, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do that if I was only an English speaker. Gaelic has given me the opportunity to broaden my horizons and travel across the world. All we can do is encourage people to speak and use their Gaelic abilities.”