Hold praise for Kate Forbes until we get action on Ardrossan Harbour

With possible costs of the necessary works at Ardrossan now rumoured to be in the range of £80 million it all looks increasingly unlikely to ever be completed, but the alternative port of Troon, without a railhead at the pier and longer time in passage, cannot be a practical long-term solution for the Arran route. Despite the bluster there is no sign of Ms Forbes or Ms Hyslop bringing this major, essential piece of infrastructure to a conclusion if the two vessels, now approaching £400m (having started at £95m), are ever to provide Arran with sufficient capacity and a reliable service to allow the island's economy to recover and expand.

Neil Arthur, Kilpatrick, Isle of Arran.

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Gaelic price worth paying

"WOULDN'T it be better to spend our hard-earned tax pounds on making us all a bit wealthier?" asks Stan Hogarth (Letters, July 26) with regard to the problems faced by the Gaelic language.

I'm sure many people would agree with this sentiment which is largely selfish at heart. However, our taxes are spent on many things and none of us will have exactly the same priorities as each other. Sharing the £30million budget by the Government on the language in the last financial year throughout those priorities, that circa £6 per person will make little discernible difference at all to the services received. For example, if diverted in total into health and social care, it would represent only some 0.16% of its £19 billion budget or, if into education, around around 0.6% of its budget.

However, let's look at it a different way. Consider if the Government were to announce that it was no longer going to support Historic Environment Scotland and, instead, spend that £68m budget on other activities to help make "us all a bit wealthier". There would be a furore, and quite rightly so. And, if our historical physical environment is seen to be worth saving, then why not other aspects of our culture? Add to that by recognising the influence Gaelic has on our natural environment; just look at a map and see how many of our place names are either in Gaelic or derived from it. Knowing Gaelic adds to the understanding of our country's natural environment as is perfectly illustrated by Strath Aibhne, now know as Strathaven. I'll leave Mr Hogarth to look at its meaning for himself.

The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 was introduced by the Labour/LibDem coalition government we had at that time. It had the support of all parties and was passed unanimously. In closing the debate, Peter Peacock, the Education Cabinet Secretary at the time quoted Sorley Maclean who said that "if Gaelic dies, Scotland will lose something of inexpressible worth, and the Gaels will lose almost everything". That is as true now as it is was then and we will be a wealthier nation with Gaelic than without it.

Ken Macdonald, Linlithgow.

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Olympics disgrace

AS a Christian it was so sad to watch, as part of the ceremony that introduced the Olympic Games, which are supposed to bring unity and promote inclusivity, a scene that was a serious and offensive depiction of The Last Supper, Christ's final meal with his disciples before he was arrested and crucified.

He was depicted as a person in drag, surrounded by drag queens, and also including a young child in the scene. How could the organisers not understand how offensive this: making a mockery of one whom 2.4 billion people in the world would hold to be the Son of God, and who worship him?

How sad that the organisers and officials allowed this unkind and divisive picture to be included in the programme for the evening.

Alasdair HB Fyfe, Carmunnock.

• AFTER watching the dreadful Olympic opening ceremony I presume they will be introducing a new event, namely scraping the barrel. France would win gold by a length. What a load of woke rubbish.

Michael Watson, Rutherglen.

• THAT was truly a magnificent opening ceremony to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. It was innovative, completely different, colourful and technically brilliant and celebrated the genius of French culture.

Above all, within such a splendid spectacle, the smiles and laughter of world youth coming together in the fellowship of sporting competition, was a delight and joy to behold.

In spite of the endless rain, the words, music and artistry of the performers overcame all and surely sent a message of hope and peace to a troubled world.

Grant Frazer, Newtonmore.

A Gaelic sign in Ayrshire (Image: Newsquest)

Glasgow needs this park

LISTEN up, Marissa MacWhirter: people who stand up for Green Glasgow are not nimbys, they are trying to stop the mistakes of the past ("Listen up, nimbys: What Glasgow needs is people - not yet another park", The Herald, July 26). Once a space is built upon there is no going back.

There are many parks in Glasgow but not a lot of green spaces in the city centre. I remember when I worked in India Street trying to find somewhere to eat my sandwiches outdoors. I and others crowded round the Renfield Church which had a few trees and a little water feature left over from the Garden Festival, built over by developers in their day.

The area in question is near many venues for the arts. City vibrancy is not created by building a block of flats. It is by providing music, culture and a good environment.

Susan Martin, Rutherglen.

Imperial rules

GEORGE Rennie (Letters, July 27) wishes to get rid of miles, and I assume therefore knots (one nautical mile per hour) when measuring ship's speed. He should try asking his wife if she wears a 915.4mm or a 965.2mm bra and see what happens. Sorry, but some imperial sizes will persist. Why? because they are convenient and practical. By the way, an imperial gallon of water weighs 10 pounds and always will.

George Smith, Clydebank.