CORNWALL Council is calling on the government to give Cornish the same recognition and protection as Irish, Scottish and Welsh languages.

The call comes on the tenth anniversary of Cornish being recognised as a national minority under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which recognised Cornish people’s right to express, preserve, share and develop their distinct culture and identity.

But the Cornish language (Kernewek) remains the only Celtic language in the British Isles that does not enjoy protection under Part III (Articles 8 – 14) of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The five group leaders, representing all 87 members of Cornwall Council, have signed a letter calling on the government to extend Part III of the Charter to apply to Kernewek.

The letter states: “With the tenth anniversary of the Cornish being recognised as a national minority being celebrated today (24 April), we believe it would be an appropriate and timely decision for the UK government to give notification to the secretary general of the Council of Europe that sufficient progress has been made to apply Part III of the Charter to the Cornish language.”

It is now 22 years since the UK government recognised the Cornish language under Part II (Article 7) of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and in recent years we have seen somewhat of a Kernewek revival.

Over 8,000 schoolchildren have been having fun with the Cornish language through ‘Go Cornish for Primary Schools’ programme, commissioned by Cornwall Council, and hundreds of adults are taking Kernewek classes.

Councillor Linda Taylor, leader at Cornwall Council, said: “Our language is such an important part of our cultural identity, and we must preserve it for future generations.

“A huge amount of work has been done to promote Kernewek and it’s fantastic to see that more and more people, both children and adults, are embracing it.

“As such, on the same day as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the designation of national minority status for the Cornish, we are calling on the government to apply the same designation to the Cornish language that is afforded to the other Celtic languages.”