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Mr
MacLeod, who has refused to give interviews to Sunday
newspapers on Sabbatarian grounds, commented that perhaps
he ought not to read Monday newspapers since they had
been prepared on Sunday. "It's a complicated world,"
he conceded. But the situation is far from complicated
for Scalpay fisherman Donald MacLeod. His stance is
a simple one - the Sunday ferries shall not pass. "We
would go to the ends of the earth to defend our Sundays,"
he said.
In
this case, the ends of the earth could mean going as
far as blockading Tarbert Harbour next May if CalMac
do not back down. "There are a dozen boats on Scalpay
and all the skippers feel the same way - we are 100
per cent against Sunday Sailings."
The
extent of support for this stance is difficult to guage
precisely, but it is certainly a majority view in Lewis
and Harris. A series of recent controversies have brought
the issue to the fore and highlighted what has been
described as the Western Isles' own North/South divide.
Further south into South Uist and Barra, the Roman Catholic
tradition favours a more relaxed Sunday than the strict
observance customary in the North. Since the different
communities were brought together 14 years ago under
the islands council, Comhairle nan Eilean, the problem
of a corporate approach to Sunday observance has bubbled
beneath the surface, breaking out occasionally on issues
such as street cleaning and the Sunday use of school
community facilities.
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