The Welsh anti-colonisation group Cymuned has said that the actor Griff Rhys Jones is wrong to fear that he will be attacked for renovating a listed farmhouse in Trefaser (as revealed in an article in the Welsh language weekly magazine, ‘Golwg’). The group claim that they are more likely to praise him for the reconstruction work he has funded.

‘Cymuned is a non-violent group, and websites like CaruCymru.com show that we are motivated by love for our country, and have no desire at all to be ‘attacking’ the English,’ says Aran Jones, Cymuned’s Chief Executive, ‘Griff Rhys Jones must be getting his information about us from some highly questionable sources, and we would be very happy to meet him to discuss how we are trying to win a real, sustainable future for Welsh-speaking communities.’

Cymuned feels that Griff Rhys Jones has made a positive contribution to the built environment by renovating a listed farmhouse which would otherwise have been allowed to become a ruin.

‘Homes which are unoccupied for large parts of the year have a measurably damaging effect on local communities ,’ says Aran Jones, ‘but Griff Rhys Jones’s project consultant says that the aim is for the renovated farmhouse to be filled year-round. In a case like this, there is a lot that could be done to promote and help sustain the language and local community through sensitive education of tourists, and we will be sending some practical ideas to the project consultants.’

Radical Welsh group Cymuned has congratulated ‘The Sun’ newspaper on doing more to strengthen the profile of the Welsh language than many newspapers in Wales. Cymuned also believes that Channel 4’s creative use of the Welsh language in Big Brother leaves BBC Wales looking bland and unsuccessful in promoting the Welsh language.

‘It looks as though the English are riding to the rescue,’ says Aran Jones, Cymuned’s Chief Executive, ‘with the Sun leading the way – their use of a number of banner Welsh headlines last week will have done wonders for awareness of the language amongst our summertime visitors.’

Cymuned feel that the Sun has helped make a great number of people aware of the kinds of issues that are promoted in two of the movement’s websites, www.English-in-Wales.com and www.Tourists-in-Wales.com.

‘With the Sun taking such a positive and creative attitude,’ says Aran Jones, ‘there is a real likelihood that visitors to Wales will be much more open to what we’ve been trying to say about the need to keep the language alive. Who knows – maybe in 20 years we’ll be looking back and saying thank you to the Sun for helping to save the day.’

Cymuned strongly condemns Rhodri Morgan and the Welsh Labour Party for their blatant attempt to turn Glyn Wise into a political tool, however. ‘Glyn said he would like to ban holiday homes, and that people who move into Wales should learn Welsh,’ says Aran Jones. ‘When Gwynedd councillor Seimon Glyn said this in 2001, the Labour party called him racist – but now it’s being said on Channel 4, they’re falling over themselves to get in on the act. Their hypocrisy is breath-taking – they’ve still done nothing to improve the future of our Welsh-speaking communities.’