an even more uphill struggle if the census shows such low numbers of speakers
I am just taking your word for these numbers, Aodh. But who said 50,000 means dead? Also a lot depends on the age profile; the language is healthier if there is a good number of young speakers. So the new Gaelic-medium units in schools are important, even if for many of the children Gaelic is not the main language at home. I think Breton has more speakers than Scots Gaelic (?), but is in poorer shape because most of the speakers are elderly.

We've mudchatted in the past about cultural ambassadors. Gaelic Scotland made a good showing this month in my town in Ireland. We had two concerts with songs in Gaelic and presentation done bi-lingually (Gaelic and English). Maighread Stiubhart, Alan McDonald, Anne Martin and Ingrid Henderson, all Gaelic speakers from different areas in the west of Scotland. Ingrid is about to get married ... will she raise Gaelic-speaking children? I don't think she's a native speaker (? - the other performers mentioned certainly are) but I've met a brother and sister who also speak Gaelic.

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Beth,
Irish and Scots Gaelic are closely related, but far more different than sorefingers message would indicate. And for singing songs, the difference in pronunciation would matter quite a bit.
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Clì, Comunn Luchd-Ionnsachaidh, is a good source of information for learners. Sabhail Mòr Ostaig Gaelic college offers correspondence course. Also at that website, see "Gàidhlig air an Lìon" for many useful links.
The Cumunn Gaidhealach / Gaelic Society of America (ACGA) has a webpage with information on other distance learning facilities, mostly North American based. Or go to the ACGA homepage and click on "learn Gaelic"
list of learning resources from ACGA, Virginia.