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Calum
Macdonald (MP)
Roddy
Murray (Vice Convener)
Norman
A Macdonald (Chairman)
Photographs
The European Union won praise for its backing for the Eriskay scheme during the turf-cutting ceremony from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar vice-convener Roddy Murray. Speaking on behalf of all of the Comhairle, he said how delighted he was to see this project beginning at long last.
" I would like to pay tribute to my colleagues in the Comhairle for their foresight in developing this project and their support for it despite the financial pressure, to the European Union for their financial support under Objective One; most particularly to our MP, Calum Macdonald, without whose support for the project and assistance during his time as a Minister we would not be here to-day. Above all, can I pay tribute to the community of Eriskay for their forbearance and their determination to succeed. I am sure it will be richly rewarded."
The Causeway to Eriskay will not only be an engineering feat, it will be a force for economic and social development on the Island, Councillor Norman Macdonald told the crowd assembled for the official opening. Mr Macdonald, the chairman of the Council's Transportation Committee, said the Eriskay and Sound of Barra project had been a long time in coming.
The first study was commissioned in 1991 and the causeway option chosen in 1992. The fixed links at Vatersay, Scalpay and then Berneray have been completed over the years and Mr Macdonald said he was sure that there had been times when the people of Eriskay thought their turn would never come.
"Eriskay Causeway is significant, however, not just in engineering terms. The potential benefits to the community on Eriskay are enormous both socially and economically. The Causeway can become the driving force of social and economic development. One only has to look at the developments on Scalpay following the provision of the fixed link there to see what can be achieved.
The new link will be part of the basic infrastructure of the proposed Sound of Barra ferry service which is the missing link in the Comhairle's roads and transport network - linking Vatersay to the Butt of Lewis. But, he said:
We must and we will continue our efforts to secure funding for the ferry vessel which will bring to fruition not only our transport ambitions, but also our vision of prosperous and viable communities not only in Eriskay, Barra and South Uist, but throughout the islands. We have a right to expect the same transport facilities, the same services and the same quality of life as the rest of Britain and we, as a Comhairle are determined to see that this is achieved."
The former Scottish Office transport minister Calum Macdonald, Westminster MP for the Western Isles, crossed to Eriskay with an official party before formally starting work on the causeway with the help of a mechanical digger. At the official start of work on Monday May 8, Mr Macdonald passed on the apologies for absence of Alasdair Morrison, Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Western Isles, who had that day been called to Edinburgh to assist with the running of the Scottish Executive as First Minister Donald Dewar was in hospital for a heart operation.
Mr Macdonald went on to thank the community of Eriskay for their patience as they had waited to be connected to another part of the southern Western Isles. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar had had a great vision from its foundation in 1975 of linking up the Islands - and Mr Macdonald recalled that in 1987, after he was first elected to Parliament, his first adjournment debate was about the need for a Vatersay Causeway. Almost a quarter of a century on:
"I am immensely privileged to be participating in this event," he said.
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