A CHURCH has sparked a Twitter row after its account claimed Scottish Parliament spending on Gaelic is an “utter waste of money”.
The @DG1_Anglican account, which represents St Brides Dumfries according to the church’s website, replied to a tweet explaining how Gaelic is used in Holyrood.
READ MORE: Blogger claims she couldn't find Fort William because of Gaelic road signs
The Scottish Parliament post, published to mark Gaelic Week, read: “Just like a lot of people around Scotland, we can speak Gaelic - meaning if you prefer to use Gaelic when talking to us, you can feel confident you'll be understood.”
The church Twitter account responded: “Let us be clear a maximum of 1.2% of Scots speak Gaelic, not all them can write it. Why are public funds being spent on something that 98.8% of Scots dont understand. Utter waste of money.”
Let us be clear a maximum of 1.2% of Scots speak Gaelic, not all them can write it. Why are public funds being spent on something that 98.8% of Scots dont understand. Utter waste of money.
— St.Brides Dumfries (@DG1_Anglican) December 3, 2020
The comments have sparked an angry reaction, with Green MSP Ross Greer stepping in to ask: “Is this really the collective view of your congregation or just the person in charge of the Twitter account?”
St Brides replied: “We aren’t Calvinists.”
In response, the MSP told them: “You just keep digging then, I'm sure the rest of your congregation are thrilled by this ...”
You just keep digging then, I'm sure the rest of your congregation are thrilled by this... pic.twitter.com/f9E3gvZsZF
— Ross Greer (@Ross_Greer) December 3, 2020
Throughout the morning the church account retweeted posts defending the position and thanking those agreeing.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Anglican Network told The National the individual who wrote the tweet has been spoken to and added: “I am sorry that this has happened and that the individual concerned has caused such offence. I for one would be very supportive of the promotion, teaching and use of the Gaelic language.
“The person responsible for the tweet should be tweeting under their own name and be held personally responsible for their words. They should not be tweeting using the name of a church.
“We are a network and not an organisation, so other than removing them from our website, we have no power to discipline anyone. I will have words and make clear that this tweet is unacceptable.”
St Brides has been contacted for comment.
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