it’s redeploying the island’s new ferry to a different route, amid widespread disruption across the West coast network. The MV Isle of Islay only started serving the island’s route last week, but today it will be redeployed to Barra to restore a normal service there. The ferry operator says the MV Alfred will move to cover Islay as a second vessel alongside the MV Finlaggan from tomorrow afternoon.
The above is in Reporting Scotland’s wee half-hourly inserts in BBC Breakfast (6-9am) this morning but not, so far, in full on their website, so I cannot see who all these ‘resident’s are who are ‘frustrated’ even though the still have the MV Finlaggan and will have a second boat, the MV Alfred, from tomorrow afternoon. Remember, we’re still off season so the car decks will be half empty every sailing.
See that ‘from tomorrow afternoon?’ What if folk need to get off or onto Islay in the morning? What BBC Scotland don’t tell you
Today? No disruption as they have two ferries operating normally.
So, tell again what are the ‘residents’ frustrated by?
A different second ferry and not the new one named after their island but the same service?
Finally, who are ‘the residents?’
Just this guy? In the Scotsman 5 days ago:
Island at ‘crisis point’ amid Calmac ferry disruption
A leading business owner in the Inner Hebrides has warned the island is reaching “crisis point” as a result of the widespread problems facing calmac, which is continuing to bring its ferries back to service after what it described as a “firestorm.”
Alex Howard, who runs a holiday cottage business on Colonsay, said households on the island had been acting like “preppers” in order to ensure they do not run out of food, and described the current situation as the “perfect storm”.
Mr Howardsaidhisownbusiness was facing up to its worst Easter period in more than three decades, with half of his cottagesemptybecausetheferry operator’s booking service is being temporarily closed for nearly two weeks over April.
No other resident is mentioned in quite a long Scotsman report.
Have any other Islay ‘residents’ complained about their ferry service?
The Herald’s Martin Williams 24 May 2025, had the latest in his Fiasco Journalism Series:
A new “fiasco” caused by a ferry breakdown has sparked a row over the delivery of vital supplies on an island on the eve of its world famous whisky festival. The key ferry for Islay, MV Finlaggan has been sidelined as problems have emerged during routine planned maintenance of main engines during an annual overhaul period.
Under a picture of the MV Finlaggan, it’s described as ‘stricken!’ You have to fn laugh at that. It’s just in for maintenance and is being delayed for a week or so. Local haulier B Mundell (sic) is responsible for supplying the festival.
The above March 2025 survey tells a different story of the mass of islanders and tourists. This is based on 523 passenger evaluations for the ‘Kintyre’ area including Islay-Kennacraig, Tarbert LF-Portavadie and Tayinloan-Gigha, with the first carrying by far the most passengers (12k compared to 2k and 4k).
Who is really to blame – Haulier B Mundell and or the festival organisers who did not get their act together earlier to make sure of a place for their lorry and the festival necessities, early enough? It’s every year. How hard is that?
How full is the Islay ferry vehicle deck on average? 84.6%.
Source:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://assets.calmac.co.uk/media/oaafw0if/kintyre.pdf
Who told BBC Scotland that ‘residents were frustrated?’ The first guy?
Discover more from Talking-up Scotland
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Talking-up Scotland 
For comparison…
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/world-most-problematic-destroyers-british-type45
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘Alex Howard, who runs a holiday cottage business on Colonsay’ – might this be understating matters just a little?
I wonder if this is the same person who is one of two directors of Colonsay Holidays Limited, with its 14 self-catering holiday cottages ranging from ‘crofters’ cottages, to Victorian farmhouses and former estate houses’ sleeping from 2 to 14 people. This company also has six apartments for holiday lets within a wing of Colonsay House: these can accommodate between two and six people. And then there is its Backpackers Lodge – which includes a former gamekeeper’s house – able to accommodate up to 18 people.
And might this be the same person known as Donald Alexander Euan Howard, aka as ‘Lord Strathcona’, owner of the Colonsay Estate? From the Estate’s website: ‘Colonsay Estate has been in the ownership of the Strathcona family for over 100 years. The current owner is Alex Strathcona, 5th Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, …..’
On 26 December, 2024, The Scotsman had this headline: ‘The small Scottish island at a ‘turning point’ as holiday homes outnumbered.’ It reports: ‘Residents of Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides have spent more than ten years trying to address the housing shortage on the island, which about 124 people call home’ and ‘A total of 14 new affordable homes are now due to be occupied …. It follows more than a decade of negotiations with Colonsay Estate, which is owned by Alex Strathcona, 5th Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, to buy land for housing.’ (my emphasis)
‘Negotiations between the community development company and the estate to buy land for housing began around 2012 with a District Valuer assessing a site as worth £130,000. The estate later said the land was worth £1.2 million.’
Tensions locally seem to have been longstanding! From The Herald (17 October 1989): ‘Full house as estate washes its face’ – ‘ Lord Strathcona has a large share of this tourist boom. The wing of the big house can sleep 36 persons. … as people die off, with no successors, their houses are modernised for letting purposes by the estate. There are 17 estate houses to let, sleeping 114 people. That is the same as the size of the indigenous population of Colonsay, which means that with all the estate rooms occupied, including Colonsay House, and 40 guests at the (Colonsay) hotel, the population grows to 300 at the height of the season.’
And from the Scottish Community Alliance website, 2 March 2021: ‘Too little, too late: ‘Colonsay is a beautiful island with an unusually large number of holiday homes (40% of the island’s housing stock). These are homes that had previously been rented locally but over time the island’s owner, Lord Strathcona, gradually transferred their use into more profitable holiday lets. The relationship between community and laird has never been easy, with community aspirations to develop their own housing and other enterprises rarely receiving better than a lukewarm response. Finally, a parcel of land has been purchased from the estate for new housing. Perhaps some light at the end of a very long tunnel.’
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice one! I love it when these “just ordinary folk” get somewhat revealed. 🙂
Stephen McKenzie
LikeLiked by 2 people