Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

12 September 2002

After flying on to the Island by helicopter, the Earl and Countess of Wessex first attended the formal opening ceremony in the community centre which replaced the outdoor event abandoned because of the weather conditions. Later they got their first chance to see the Causeway close up by driving off the Island and back. On the way back they posed briefly for photographers before returning to the community centre and the marquee beside where the reception was held. After the formalities had concluded the Royal Couple circulated among the crowds inside the tent and the hall, chatting with the many Islanders and representatives of local institutions who were present
The Royal couple are pictured on the Causeway where the main ceremony was supposed to have taken place had not bad weather intervened.	The line-up picture shows the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Father Calum MacLellan, the retired parish priest of Eriskay, and Councillor Alex Macdonald, convener of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
Royal party driving off Eriskay	Royal party on Eriskay Causeway
The crowds gathered in the community hall to shelter from the rain and wind which affected the event.	Islanders and guests cram into the community centre for re-organised opening ceremony.
The commemorative stone for the official opening on the southern end of the causeway.	Flowerbaskets decorated the outdoor stage where the formal opening was to have taken place, these were probably the only things which benefitted from the rain.

ENDS

Further information on Eriskay and its causeway, other Bridges and Causeways and the Western Isles is available at
www.cne-siar.gov.uk/eriskay

Nigel Scott
Communications Officer
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Tel: 01851 709389 (Work)
Tel: 01851 706412 (Home)
Tel: 07884 236103 (Mobile)
email: nscott@cne-siar.gov.uk