A PLAN to revive and promote the use of Gaelic within Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and across the region has been dismissed as “political posturing”.

When a full meeting of SBC met on Thursday, members rubber-stamped the local authority’s proposed Gaelic Language Plan, in accordance with the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005.

It proposes to increase the use of Gaelic within the council and encourage more people to use it when they interact with council officials.

Secondly, it proposes to increase the opportunities for people to learn the language as part of the authority’s day-to-day operations and to “promote a positive image of Gaelic whenever we can”.

But the plan divided members in the council chamber – among them Kelso Conservative councillor Simon Mountford.

He said: “The language of the original Celtic inhabitants of the Borders was Welsh, not Gaelic.

“I have to say that I groaned out loud when I saw this item on the agenda, not because I’m opposed to people learning other languages – and I strongly believe that learning foreign languages has great benefits – but, let’s be honest, Gaelic is a foreign language for the vast majority of Borderers and there are other languages that are probably more useful in the modern world. My reaction was that we are obliged by law to allocate time and resources to produce this plan at a time when council resources are fully stretched. Quite frankly, this is no more than political posturing, but I recognise we have no practical alternative other than to do what we are told.”

However, SNP councillor Marshall Douglas, who represents Tweeddale East, disagreed, calling the plan a “breath of fresh air”.

He said: “Language is the badge of a nation and it is only right that all national languages are given respect and legal status.

“It is true that the number of Gaelic speakers is currently low in the Borders, as indeed elsewhere in Scotland, due to many years of official indifference and actual persecution. This plan and others like it throughout Scotland create an opportunity to correct a massive injustice.

“Gaelic, along with Scots and English, must not only be tolerated but actively encouraged and celebrated.

“Our native languages are intrinsic to our culture and status as a nation. It is not political it is simply the right thing to do.”

Independent mid-Berwickshire councillor James Anderson also raised concerns, saying that only 24 people in the Borders currently speak Gaelic.

He said: “I know we have to agree to this but my concern is that we are putting an awful lot of officer time into producing this paper.

“We have to be very careful over how many people use this language – it’s not really that relevant to the Scottish Borders.”

Councillor Elaine Thornton-Nicol, an SNP representative for Selkirkshire, said: “There were 24 responses to the consultation, that does not mean there are 24 Gaelic speakers in the Scottish Borders, there are actually quite a few of them and there is an increasing number.

“If people in this country want to keep their history going and want to enable it to be a part of their future and their children’s future… I have no issue with this.”

The origins of the Gaelic language can be traced back as far as the 10th century and it is believed to have been brought to Scotland by way of Ireland.

From these beginnings, Gaelic spread throughout the country, becoming the main language of the medieval kingdom of Alba and remained that way right through to the 18th century.

However, with dwindling numbers of Gaelic speakers there have been initiatives in recent years to revitalise the language in Scotland.

The 2011 census indicated that 57,375 people spoke Gaelic and 87,100 said they had some Gaelic skills and over 1.5 million people identified themselves as Scots speakers.