Live from Rome: The Week of Pope Francis’ Funeral

Here is a selection of my reports from Rome for BBC Naidheachdan and BBC Scotland News.

The first day of Pope Francis’ body lying in state:

And live on tv news: An Lร  on BBC ALBA, 23/04/25 (in Gaelic)

“The View from Rome”: My impressions ahead of the Papal funeral (in Gaelic) https://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan/sgeulachdan/cd7v014dj89o

Rome is getting ready for the funeral (in English)

And again live on tv news: An Lร  on BBC ALBA, 24/04/25 (in Gaelic)

Live on BBC Radio Scotland’s “Good Morning Scotland” from St Peter’s Square just before the Papal funeral mass:

Here are a couple of short videos of the beautiful music during the mass. The second one contains singing in ancient Greek from the Byzantine liturgy and sung by a representative of one of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Below are a few pictures from St Peter’s Square as well as from the church where Pope Francis is burried, Santa Maria Maggiore (including his grave with the simple inscription “Franciscus”).

Bร rd Taobh Loch รˆite: Iain MacChaluim/ Celebrating a lesser-known Gaelic bard: John MacCalum

Iain MacChaluim as he was known in his native Gaelic language or John MacCalum in English, born in 1851 and from Muc Cร rna or Taynuilt in Earra-Ghร idheal/ Argyll, was a folklorist, bard, composer and Gaelic activist, but most of his songs aren’t so well known. So I decided to sing one of them on “An Lร ”, the news on BBC ALBA (14/04/25).

Love Learning Languages

Language gives you the keys to the town… and so does journalism! People open up to you. HYPIA – The International Association of Hyperpolyglots – have made me appreciate that you can learn languages just for the fun of it. This interview describes my language learning journey…oh and btw, I forgot to mention Irish on my list.

Taghadh na Gearmailt – German Election Coverage

This time around my election coverage from Berlin and neighbouring Potsdam was entirely in Scottish Gaelic only. Here is a compilation of the highlights:

Yours truly at the Reichstag Building (Seat of the Bundestag, Parliament of Germany)

On Friday, 21st February 2025 I had a package shot entirely on my mobile phone (with a few additional covering shots added) on “An Lร ” on BBC ALBA. I reported from one Friedrich Merz’s election rallies as well as from Olaf Scholz’s constituency of Potsdam. This was also the summer residence of the Prussian kings and the place where the Potsdam Agreement was signed by Churchill, Truman and Stalin 80 years ago. Despite this anniversary the far right AfD party is now the biggest political force in former East Germany.

Here is my article for the BBC Naidheachdan website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan/sgeulachdan/c2415l372jlo

Immigration, the economy and security in an international context were the main subjects of the election campaign. “An Lร ”, BBC ALBA on 23/2/25 (in Gaelic). Here is my live report on the night of the election:

Here is the written piece on the BBC Naidheachdan website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan/sgeulachdan/cpq29x159nro

The day after the election: Results and outlook. Broadcast from my mobile phone (An Lร , BBC ALBA, 24/2/25, in Gaelic).

‘White Gold’ Rush: My report on lithium

My report on the ‘White Gold’ Rush: Demand for lithium to power the green energy transformation continues to grow. Much of this demand for what’s often referred to as ‘white gold’ is fuelled by the need for electric vehicle batteries, as well as grid energy storage. Lithium is a key component of such batteries. Much of the world’s lithium comes from South America and Australia. However, Europe wants its own supply, and is sitting on large deposits of the metal. But there are environmental concerns.

In northern Portugal a UK firm, Savannah, have permission to open a mine at a World Heritage site for farming practices, but locals continue to protest against it.

Czechia is a different case. In an established mining area, Cรญnovec sits on 3-5% of the worldโ€™s lithium, almost enough for 1m car batteries-worth of lithium a year.

Watch my report here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00239rj/eorpa-series-32-7-the-white-gold-rushcabhag-an-oir-ghil

If you’re not in the UK you can watch a shorter version here:

Doric Bootcamp shortlisted at the Scots Language Awards

Fit like awbdy! (Thatโ€™s a common greeting in the Doric or North-East Scots.) Iโ€™m really chuffed that the Doric language bootcamp, which was my idea and was organised by myself is shortlisted at the Scots Language Awards. Please consider voting for us on page 2 (Educational Project): https://lnkd.in/eCPievfA The deadline is this Sunday. Muckle thanks!

Dougie Hay, singing and teaching us Doric ballads

There was nowhere to immerse yourself in Doric before and thanks to our brilliant teachers, Dr Jamie Fairbairn and Aidan Robertson, the event far exceded my expectations. In addition to speaking exercises they made us come up with a piece of creative writing which we all presented and everyone had a very worthy contribution. It was of course all about building your own confidence. We also enjoyed Jackie Rossโ€™ story telling. Thanks to the Doric Board for the generous sponsorship. We hope to return next year.

Doric Bootcamp took place in the Portsoy Sail Loft

Mining Companies Destroying Indigenous Peoples’ Lives

My report about a sensory art production at the Edinburgh Festival portraying how mining companies are destroying indigenous peoples’ environment and threatening their lives. One of the artists who is from Colombia lost two brothers who she claims were killed because they were defending their territory. Colombia is the deadliest country for human rights defenders (An Lร , BBC ALBA, 17/08/24).