大象传媒

I have named my blog Arnish Lighthouse, and quite deliberately use the pseudonym. As I point out in the entry about the actual lighthouse, it looks out over the sea, the town and the island. The same goes for this blog. As one of the remits of Island Blogging is to "report" news from the on-island perspective, I have gone out of my way to do so.

I have worked in the Health Service for 7 years, prior to coming to Lewis for a lengthy break. My admittedly acerbic reporting of the problems in NHS Western Isles is born of the conviction that you can mismanage until the cows come home, but there are two things you don't do: allow patient care to suffer and upset the staff. It's the staff that keep the creaking old NHS going, and when you lose them, you lose everything.

My standpoint on the windfarms is a reflection of public opinion, and I continue to be dumbfounded by the attitude of politicians who fail to take heed of sentiments in the community. At the end of the day, they pay the price at the ballot box.

I am not a British national; I came to work in the UK in 1997. My involvement with the Scottish islands goes back to the late eighties, early nineties. Although I initially came, and continued to return, on account of the stunning scenery, I was also attracted by the nature of the island people. In the mid nineties, I caught wind of the problems surrounding the ownership of the Isle of Eigg. The lid on the cesspit of private landownership was lifted, and I saw at first hand the effects this had on people in the islands. I therefore supported the eventually successful buy-out on Eigg. And am amazed at the progress that's been made in the 9 years that the Eiggeach have owned their own place. I hope that the same will happen in Galson and eventually South Lochs.

As part of my break, I have taken on board a few projects related to local history. The Iolaire list of names and the Groningen internees are two of them. In the early days of my Lewis stint, I also walked hundreds of miles, coming to know the topography of Lewis and North Harris pretty well.

Lewis is a fascinating place, in great part of the world.