This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Chief executive for Bord na Gaidhlig
07/03/2003
Bord na Gaidhlig has appointed Allan Campbell as the
first Chief Executive of the new agency.
Mike Watson, the Minister responsible for Gaelic,
said:
"I am very pleased to approve the appointment. Allan is
very well known and respected in the Gaelic community and
has wide experience of Gaelic development.
"I am confident that Allan Campbell has the personal
qualities and experience for this demanding appointment. I
was impressed by his contribution in the Ministerial
advisory group on Gaelic and found him to be very effective
in this role."
Allan Campbell said:
"This job is an enormous challenge, but it is also a
very great honour to be offered such a responsibility in
respect of Gaelic. In many respects Bord na Gaidhlig is,
for me, a continuation of the work I have been doing with
Comunn na Gaidhlig over the past 11 years, but the Bord has
the authority to create a new focus and co-ordination for a
national plan for Gaelic.
"We have already achieved much by effective planning and
by teamwork, I look forward very much indeed to building on
all of that progress."
Duncan Ferguson, chairman of Bord na Gaidhlig, said:
"I am delighted by the appointment of Allan Campbell as
the first chief executive of Bord na Gaidhlig.
"He has an outstanding track record in Gaelic
development and his most recent involvement with the
ministerial advisory group will be of enormous assistance
to the new board as it agrees its strategy and identifies
its approach to implementation of a National Plan for
Gaelic. Through his current post as chief executive with
Comunn na Gaidhlig he also offers continuity with recent
advances for Gaelic."
Allan Campbell is currently Chief Executive of Comunn na
Gaidhlig and has held various posts in management,
industry, marketing and broadcasting.
He has held public appointments including membership of
the Crofters Commission and secretary and consultant to the
Ministerial advisory group on Gaelic. He has also held a
number of directorships, the most recent being Balnain
Trust, Urras Treanaidh Telebhisean Gaidhlig, UK committee
of European Bureau of Lesser-Used Languages Ltd. and Urras
Shomhairle - The Sorley MacLean Trust.
Bord na Gaidhlig (Alba) is a Non-Departmental Public
Body (NDPB) and is appointed by, and accountable, to
Scottish Ministers. The Board of Bord na Gaidhlig consists
of between six and eight members, including the Chair.
The board members will receive remuneration of £6,000
per Year. The chairperson, Duncan Ferguson, Rector of
Plockton High School was appointed on October 11, 2002.
The Report of the Ministerial advisory group, A Fresh
Start for Gaelic, was published in May 2002 and the
establishment of a Gaelic Development Agency was one of the
main recommendations of the report.
Scottish Ministers announced in June 2002 that a Gaelic
Development Agency would be established.
The post of Chief Executive was advertised in July.
Consideration of the applications had to await the
appointment of the Bord since it was for them to make the
appointment.
Interviews were held on February 3. The Bord has offered
a package with a starting salary of £54,500 and a possible
bonus of 5%.