Douglas MacQueen's blog

News from the Celtic League:

A petition has been started following a decision by Forth Ports to block a Greenpeace ship from berthing in the Port of Leith instead the vessel has had to anchor offshore.

The Esperanza, a former Soviet navy ship, which is the largest in the Greenpeace fleet, arrived in the Firth of Forth on Wednesday – it is believed its crew plans to stay in the estuary for one week.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will be the first serving head of government to address the Seanad, the upper house of the Irish parliament, when she visits Dublin later this month. The First Minister will also have meetings with Irish President Michael D Higgins and Charlie Flanagan minister for foreign affairs and trade. Nicola Sturgeon is seeking to strengthen Scotland’s relationship with Ireland saying that there was a "long tradition of co-operation" between Scotland and Ireland.

Loch Ness (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Nis) is a place of great beauty, surrounded as it is by spectacular scenery.  The Loch is a maximum of twenty two and a half miles (36.2km) long with a maximum width of just over one and a half miles (2.7km) and at its deepest is over 754 feet (230m).

News from the Celtic League:

A good article in Scotland’s’ independence supporting newspaper THE NATIONAL about the increasing numbers of Golden Eagle in the Highlands:

“Duncan Orr-Ewing, head of species and land management at RSPB Scotland, said:

“The sight of a golden eagle soaring in the sky above is an awe-inspiring part of our natural heritage, and this increase in numbers of golden eagle pairs is great news.

At this time of year Scotland faces the winter storms that bite into its coastline. This is true of Orkney (Scottish Gaelic: Arcaibh), an archipelago situated off the north coast of Scotland. While the erosion caused by these stormy seas combined with high tides can be a threat, they can also reveal some long held ancient secrets. Such as when recently an 8th century Pictish stone was found in an eroding cliff face in on the east Mainland coast of Orkney. Mainland is the largest island in the Orkney group. 

News from the Celtic League:

The independence supporting Scottish daily newspaper ‘The National’ is pledging its support to a project to create an Iron Age visitor attraction to rival attractions in other Celtic countries.

The Caithness Broch site project has already attracted widespread support online and it’s hoped the momentum will see a visitor centre and spin off further research about the iconic site.

The National says:

Edinburgh (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann), the capital city of Scotland (Alba) is preparing to celebrate Robert Louis Stevenson Day. This is an annual celebration and an important date on Edinburgh’s literary calendar. It marks the birthday of the Edinburgh writer with a week full of events leading up to the date.

A sword and targe belonging to Bonnie Prince Charlie and recovered following Culloden have gone on public display at Perth Museum. Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s intricately decorated sword  and targe (Highland shield) are touring ahead of the opening of the Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The targe, is an elaborately decorated small shield with a finely sculptured head of Medusa at its centre.

A relaunch will take place this week of Edinburgh Napier University's War Poets Collection. Books and other items are housed within the university's Craiglockhart campus. A permanent exhibition gives visitors an opportunity to view the collection, and gain an insight into the personal and social experiences of war through the words, memories, voices and objects that the officers, medical staff and relatives left behind.

News from the Celtic League:

Proposed ship to ship oil transfers have been slammed by environmental groups in Scotland.

‘The proposed location is in the Moray Firth Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for bottlenose dolphin, and the proposed Moray Firth Special Area of Protection for a range of seabirds. Other European protected sites they say could be harmed by the operations include the Cromarty Firth, Inner Moray Firth and the Moray and Nairn 
‘Coast Special Protection Areas, as well as the Culbin Bar SAC.