[Dòmhnall Moireasdan] An t-Ollamh Tormod MacGillÌosa, Sgitheanach a ràinig àrd ìre ann an Saoghal an Fhoghlaim. Thug e colaiste na Gàidhlig anns an Eilean Sgitheanach, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig gu àrd ìre cuideachd. Òstair, uair dha robh saoghal, rianaiche agus manaidsear. A Thormoid, fàilte
[Tormod MacGillÌosa] Tapadh leat.
[Dòmhnall Moireasdan] Tha facal aca ann am Beurla airson ur leithid, saoilidh mi, mover and shaker, an gabhadh tu ris an tiotal?
[Tormod MacGillÌosa] Uill, ‘s dòcha gun gabhadh ris an shaker, tha pàirt den tiotal a thoireadh, oir tha pàirt den t-suidheachadh de mo bheatha ag ràdh gun robh mi air crith iomadach uair a thaobh an t-suidheachaidh san d’ fhuair mi mi fhèin agus tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e sin am pàirt a dh’ aithnichinn.
[Dòmhnall Moireasdan] Ach, tha crathadh agus gluasad mòr a dhìth ma tha thu a’ leasachadh rud mar Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, ‘s tha fhios gun robh beagan dhen sin ri dhèanamh.
[Tormod MacGillÌosa] Uill, tha mi cinnteach ma tha thu a’ crathadh rud gu bheil thu ag adhbhrachadh gluasad cuideachd. Bha mise a’ smaoineachadh air a’ chrathadh a bha mi fhèin gu pearsanta a’ faighinn, ach tha sin ann ma tha thu ag iarraidh rudan a ghluasad air adhart, feumaidh beagan crathadh a bhith ann gus am faic thu ciamar a tha rudan a’ dol a dh’ obrachadh a-mach. Agus, dha-rìribh, nuair a bha mi an lùib an t-Sabhail, bha againne ri tòrr dhen sinn a dhèanamh agus chan e dìreach crathadh mar gum biodh, a thaobh an ionaid fhèin, ach rudan eile a chrathadh airson gum b’ urrainn dhuinn rud a ghluasad air adhart a bha sinn ag iarraidh a dhèanamh.
[Dòmhnall Moireasdan] Agus tha sin gu ìre mhòr obair ur beatha agus thig sinn gun sin a-rithist, ach do dhuine a bha na cheannard air colaiste ann an UHI, Oilthigh na Gàidhealtachd ‘s nan Eilean le tiotal Ollamh Urramach a-nise, cha do rinn sibh trèanadh acadaimigeach idir, chan e sgoilear a th’ annaibh. Tha sin car neo-àbhaisteach, feumaidh tu a bhith nad mover and shaker airson faighinn chun na h-ìre sin gun a bhith nad sgoilear?
[Tormod MacGillÌosa] Uill, tha mi cinnteach gun tàinig mi a-staigh ann am foghlam ann an dòigh caran annasach, sin is coireach gun robh mi an sàs ann an rudan eile a thaobh a bhith a’ dèanamh obair rianachd, ann an taighean-òsta an toiseach, ‘s an uair sin, ann an companaidh a bha an sàs ann an toglaichean agus an uair sin, thàinig mi a-staigh a-rithist a thaobh rianachd a thaobh foghlaim agus ged nach e sgoilear a th’ annam anns an t-seagh acadaimigeach, chanainn gur e a-nise a th’ annam, ‘s e neach-foghlaim a th’ annam, oir tha mi a’ tuigsinn cho cudromach ‘s a tha sin agus tha mi a’ tighinn thuige bho thaobh rianachd, agus a’ leigeil le daoin’ eile a bhith a’ dèanamh an obair foghlaim a tha a dhìth.
Chaidh am prògram seo, Thuige Seo, a chraoladh an toiseach ann an 2009.
[Donald Morrison] Professor Norman Gillies, a Skyeman who reached a high level in the world of education. He took the Gaelic college in the Isle of Skye, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, to a high level too. A hotelier, once upon a time, an administrator and a manager. Norman, welcome.
[Norman Gillies] Thank you.
[Donald Morrison] They have a phrase in English for your type, I think, mover and shaker, would you agree with that title.
[Norman Gillies] Well, maybe I would go with the shaker, that part that is fitting as I shake when I find myself in particular situations and I think that is the part I recognise.
[Donald Morrison] But shaking and movement must be missing if you needed to develop something like Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and you knew that you had to do a bit of it.
[Norman Gillies] Well, I am sure if you want to shake something up you also cause it to move too. I thought that you meant the shakes that I personally have, but that is there if you want to move something forward, a wee bit of shaking has to be there until you see how things are going to work out. And certainly when I was involved in the Sabhal, we had to do a lot of that and it wasn’t just shaking, as it was, on the Centre itself, but shaking other things so that we could move the thing forward.
[Donald Morrison] And that is to a large extent your life’s work and we will come to that again, but to a man who was head of a college in UHI, University of the Highlands and Islands in Skye with the the title Sr Professor, you never did any academic training, you are not a scholar. That is quite unusual, you have to be a mover and shaker to get to that stage without being a scholar?
[Norman Gillies] Well, I think that I came into education in a quite strange way, as I was involved in other things in doing administrative work, in hotels first, and then, in a company that was involved in buildings and then I came in again to administration on the education side and although I am not a scholar in the academic sense, I would say that now, I am an educator, as I understand how important it is and I come from it from the administration side and letting people educate is missing.
This programme, Thuige Seo, was first broadcast in 2009.
[Dòmhnall Moireasdan] An t-Ollamh Tormod MacGillÌosa, Sgitheanach a ràinig àrd ìre ann an Saoghal an Fhoghlaim. Thug e colaiste na Gàidhlig anns an Eilean Sgitheanach, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig gu àrd ìre cuideachd. Òstair, uair dha robh saoghal, rianaiche agus manaidsear. A Thormoid, fàilte
[Tormod MacGillÌosa] Tapadh leat.
[Dòmhnall Moireasdan] Tha facal aca ann am Beurla airson ur leithid, saoilidh mi, mover and shaker, an gabhadh tu ris an tiotal?
[Tormod MacGillÌosa] Uill, ‘s dòcha gun gabhadh ris an shaker, tha pàirt den tiotal a thoireadh, oir tha pàirt den t-suidheachadh de mo bheatha ag ràdh gun robh mi air crith iomadach uair a thaobh an t-suidheachaidh san d’ fhuair mi mi fhèin agus tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gur e sin am pàirt a dh’ aithnichinn.
[Dòmhnall Moireasdan] Ach, tha crathadh agus gluasad mòr a dhìth ma tha thu a’ leasachadh rud mar Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, ‘s tha fhios gun robh beagan dhen sin ri dhèanamh.
[Tormod MacGillÌosa] Uill, tha mi cinnteach ma tha thu a’ crathadh rud gu bheil thu ag adhbhrachadh gluasad cuideachd. Bha mise a’ smaoineachadh air a’ chrathadh a bha mi fhèin gu pearsanta a’ faighinn, ach tha sin ann ma tha thu ag iarraidh rudan a ghluasad air adhart, feumaidh beagan crathadh a bhith ann gus am faic thu ciamar a tha rudan a’ dol a dh’ obrachadh a-mach. Agus, dha-rìribh, nuair a bha mi an lùib an t-Sabhail, bha againne ri tòrr dhen sinn a dhèanamh agus chan e dìreach crathadh mar gum biodh, a thaobh an ionaid fhèin, ach rudan eile a chrathadh airson gum b’ urrainn dhuinn rud a ghluasad air adhart a bha sinn ag iarraidh a dhèanamh.
[Dòmhnall Moireasdan] Agus tha sin gu ìre mhòr obair ur beatha agus thig sinn gun sin a-rithist, ach do dhuine a bha na cheannard air colaiste ann an UHI, Oilthigh na Gàidhealtachd ‘s nan Eilean le tiotal Ollamh Urramach a-nise, cha do rinn sibh trèanadh acadaimigeach idir, chan e sgoilear a th’ annaibh. Tha sin car neo-àbhaisteach, feumaidh tu a bhith nad mover and shaker airson faighinn chun na h-ìre sin gun a bhith nad sgoilear?
[Tormod MacGillÌosa] Uill, tha mi cinnteach gun tàinig mi a-staigh ann am foghlam ann an dòigh caran annasach, sin is coireach gun robh mi an sàs ann an rudan eile a thaobh a bhith a’ dèanamh obair rianachd, ann an taighean-òsta an toiseach, ‘s an uair sin, ann an companaidh a bha an sàs ann an toglaichean agus an uair sin, thàinig mi a-staigh a-rithist a thaobh rianachd a thaobh foghlaim agus ged nach e sgoilear a th’ annam anns an t-seagh acadaimigeach, chanainn gur e a-nise a th’ annam, ‘s e neach-foghlaim a th’ annam, oir tha mi a’ tuigsinn cho cudromach ‘s a tha sin agus tha mi a’ tighinn thuige bho thaobh rianachd, agus a’ leigeil le daoin’ eile a bhith a’ dèanamh an obair foghlaim a tha a dhìth.
Chaidh am prògram seo, Thuige Seo, a chraoladh an toiseach ann an 2009.
[Donald Morrison] Professor Norman Gillies, a Skyeman who reached a high level in the world of education. He took the Gaelic college in the Isle of Skye, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, to a high level too. A hotelier, once upon a time, an administrator and a manager. Norman, welcome.
[Norman Gillies] Thank you.
[Donald Morrison] They have a phrase in English for your type, I think, mover and shaker, would you agree with that title.
[Norman Gillies] Well, maybe I would go with the shaker, that part that is fitting as I shake when I find myself in particular situations and I think that is the part I recognise.
[Donald Morrison] But shaking and movement must be missing if you needed to develop something like Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and you knew that you had to do a bit of it.
[Norman Gillies] Well, I am sure if you want to shake something up you also cause it to move too. I thought that you meant the shakes that I personally have, but that is there if you want to move something forward, a wee bit of shaking has to be there until you see how things are going to work out. And certainly when I was involved in the Sabhal, we had to do a lot of that and it wasn’t just shaking, as it was, on the Centre itself, but shaking other things so that we could move the thing forward.
[Donald Morrison] And that is to a large extent your life’s work and we will come to that again, but to a man who was head of a college in UHI, University of the Highlands and Islands in Skye with the the title Sr Professor, you never did any academic training, you are not a scholar. That is quite unusual, you have to be a mover and shaker to get to that stage without being a scholar?
[Norman Gillies] Well, I think that I came into education in a quite strange way, as I was involved in other things in doing administrative work, in hotels first, and then, in a company that was involved in buildings and then I came in again to administration on the education side and although I am not a scholar in the academic sense, I would say that now, I am an educator, as I understand how important it is and I come from it from the administration side and letting people educate is missing.
This programme, Thuige Seo, was first broadcast in 2009.