An important day for the islands

OIC Convener Steven Heddle has spoken ahead of the visit to Orkney of the First Minister, during which time Mr Salmond will set out the prospectus ‘Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities’.

On behalf of the three councils involved in the ‘Our Islands – Our Future’ campaign, Councillor Heddle said: “Our island groups face unique challenges, not least because of our geographic remoteness from the rest of the country. Our firm belief is that empowering our islands would bring many benefits – giving us the tools invest in our communities and drive sustainable economic growth.

“Over the past 12 months we have presented what we believe to be a strong and compelling case and the Scottish Government has clearly demonstrated its willingness to work and negotiate with us.

“The end result of those negotiations is today’s launch of the Government’s response to the case we’ve made for our islands. This is an important day for our campaign and for our communities.”