[3] Gawne has been married to Catherine (née Kissack) since 1991; they have two children and live in the hamlet of Surby, near Port Erin in the south of the island.

[1][3] During the 1980s he was involved with a nationalist campaign that ended with an arson attack on an uncompleted luxury home in Tromode, Douglas.

[1] In 1996, Gawne also helped to found Feailley Ghaelgagh (Manx Language Festival), following a research trip to Scottish Gaelic development agencies in Inverness and the Isle of Skye.

Gawne was instrumental in passing the 2001 Education Act that allowed for the Manx language to be taught on the island's schools:I believe this is one of the things that I’ve been pretty strong on, if not the main person, it was getting Manx history, language and culture into the 2001 Education Act.

[7] Mooinjer Veggey also contributes to the running of the Manx language primary school, Yn Bunscoill Ghaelgagh in St John's on the Isle of Man.