Get the biggest stories sent straight to your inbox Sign up for regular updates and breaking news from WalesOnline Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The chairman of the Barbican in London has apologised after comparing the Welsh language to being dyslexic.

Dr Giles Shilson, who is chair of the performing arts centre in the City of London, posted a picture of a train departure board with the caption: "This must be what it feels like to be dyslexic...".

(Image: @Giler)

The tweet has since been deleted and Dr Shilson has apologised.

He wrote: "I'd like to apologise. I sent a very thoughtless tweet and unintentionally upset lots of you. I'm so sorry - it wasn't my intention to be insulting and I should have realised that it would be. I sincerely apologise."

But for some the damage had already been done.

Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru, said: "As the chair of the Barbican centre in London, why would you show such ignorance, spite and lack of culture as you have displayed in this tweet? If it was meant to be a joke, it just isn’t funny. An apology would be good. "

Others on social media agreed.

One user wrote: "It's insulting to Welsh speakers and those with dyslexia. Ignorance is never funny."

Ynyr Jones said: "If he’d aimed that kind of insult towards any other language it would be all over the press and he’d be labelled a racist and discriminatory of dyslexia. Why do we accept it?"

Charles Wilson said: "I am on a focus group of people with disabilities and other protected characteristics. Being a speaker of a minority language was not on the list of protected characteristics, so I am on it, officially, for being on spectrum and being gay.

"But I was keen to point out what we have to deal with on a regular basis as linguistic minorities. It is ignorant to make erroneous comparisons between neurodiversity & linguistic diversity in a mocking way: ableist and xenophobic. I receive more discrimination for speaking Welsh and Gaelic than being gay."

Others disagreed, saying people needed to "lighten up" and the post was "funny".

Tim Lewis said: "It was clearly a bad attempt at a joke, this public shaming/hounding of anyone who says anything about the Welsh language is getting ridiculous.

"If people are not funny just don't laugh/ignore and move on. Why is there suddenly a demand for a grovelling public apology?"

Dr Shilson said: “I am deeply sorry for the offence that I have caused by my tweet about dyslexia and the Welsh language.

“I have undoubtedly upset and angered many people and although some Twitter users have accepted my subsequent apology, I fully appreciate that I should not have sent the tweet in the first place.”

Dr Shilson was educated at St Paul's School and Balliol College, Oxford. He practiced as a barrister until 2005 before heading into business.

He sits on various bodies of the City of London Corporation, including the policy and resources, culture heritage and libraries, markets and City Bridge Trust committees.

A past chairman of the board of governors of the City of London School, he is currently chairman of both the Barbican Centre and the Gresham Committee.