SEPTEMBER 1999
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 15
SCOTTISH NEWS UPDATE
Scot to Head NATO
George Robertson, the UK Secretary of Defence, has been appointed to the post of NATO Secretary General. He has been made a life peer with the title Lord Robertson of Port Ellen — the town on Islay where he was born. He does not take up his new post until October but his elevation to the House of Lords will result in an earlier by-election in his constituency in Hamilton South.
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Arise Sir Alex Ferguson
The manager of Manchester United Football Club, Alex Ferguson, has been knighthed by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Sir Alex was born in Govan in Glasgow and wore a kilt in the Ferguson tartan to the ceremony. His team finished last season as Champions of the English Premier League, FA Cup winners and European Champion's League Cup winners.
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Plane Crash at Glasgow
A twin-engined Cessna aircraft with 11 people on board, crashed into a field shortly after take-off from Glasgow Airport on September 3. There were only three survivors — pulled from the flaming wreckage by a local farm worker. The passengers consisted of cabin and flight deck crew from Airtours International, a holiday airline based in Manchester. Early indications are that there was a problem with either the propeller or one of the engines. •
Broadcast of Lockerbie Trial
The trial of the two Libyans, accused of planting the bomb on the Pan Am 747 which blew up over Lockerbie in December 1998, is to be broadcast to Britain and the U.S. for the benefit of families of the victims. The recordings will be encrypted and made available at various sites convenient to the families. The recordings will not be made available to the general public.
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Call to Boycott Motorways
The Scottish National Party has called on motorists to boycott the trials of the motorway tolls planned on the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh. They will mount a campaign against the "Toll Tax" which they regard as unnecessary on Scottish trunk roads. The M8 between the two largest Scottish cities is still not up to motorway standard along all its length.
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No More Dozens or Pounds
A supermarket chain has become the first to crack eggs in dozens — they are to package them in fours and tens instead of dozens and half dozens. And on January 1, 2000, it will become illegal for shops to sell produce in pounds and ounces — compulsory metrication comes into force then as the U.K. falls in line with the rest of Europe and adopts kilos and grams. Despite some people's views that the new law does not have an ounce of common sense, anyone flouting the law can be fined up to £5,000. If someone asks for a pound of minced beef, the shop assistant will have to convert that to kilos and grams. Bars will be required to sell lemonade in litres and centilitres — but beer and cider will continue to be allowed to be sold in the traditional pint. •
Dali Bound for London?
In 1952, when Doctor Tom Honeyman, the then-director of Glasgow's museums and art galleries spent the city's entire annual purchasing budget (all £8,200 or USgl3,000) to obtain Dali's painting "Christ of St. John on the Cross," there was a public outcry. It is now the city's most famous painting and last year 160,000 people visited the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life to see it. Now, Glasgow councillors must decide how to respond to a request from the National Gallery in London to borrow the painting for 10 weeks as the centrepiece of an exhibition entitled "Seeing Salvation: the Image of Christ".
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Gaelic School for Capital
Edinburgh council education officials are exploring the possibility of establishing the city's first self-contained Gaelic-speaking primary school. A Gaelic unit was established at a Tollcross school in 1988 and numbers rose from 63 to 75 pupils last year with four teachers. All subjects except Eng-
lish are taught using Gaelic. Some education experts have criticized the proposals as divisive and an unnecessary expense but those pushing for a separate school say that it could become viable with 100 pupils.
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Irish Hotels for Scotland
The Irish coffee house Bewley's is to build hotels in Bath Street, Glasgow and at the Braehead shopping centre at Renfrew. This is the first time that the Dublin-based company, which is the second-biggest brand name in Ireland after Guinness, has set up a hotel outside of Ireland. •
'Scots are the Happiest'
A survey of 4,000 adults by Lloyds TSB Bank has shown that those living in Scotland are happier than anywhere else in Britain. Londoners were the most discontented. And in another survey by property consultants Healey and Baker, Edinburgh and Glasgow were voted joint second in a table of "best places to work." Only Cardiff in Wales was rated higher. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow had improved their position on the table compared with last year. The increased feeling of national pride since devolution in both Scotland and Wales were said to have contributed to the more positive responses. •
House Prices Soar
A house price survey by mortgage lender Halifax has shown that Scottish house prices have rocketed by 3.2 percent in the past three months, the largest increase since the bank started their survey back in 1983. There are some regional variations however, with prices in Edinburgh and Aberdeen rising faster, while those in central and south-east Scotland have remained constant.
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Scottish Economic Growth
The Scottish economy grew at a slightly faster rate than the U.K. average in the first quarter if 1999 according to figures published by the Scottish Executive. Growth in Scotland was 0ij percent while the equivalent U.K. figure was 0.1 percent. Annual growth rates were 2.3 percent in Scotland and 2.1 percent in the U.K.
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Scots Florence Nightingale
A new collection of letters and dian7 extracts has been published about Elsie Inglis, a Scottish nurse who followed in the footsteps of Florence Nightingale and worked in the battlefields of the Russian Front during the First World War. Winston Churchill wrote that Inglis "would shine in history." But the new book shows that Elsie was not a compassionate heroine but a stern disciplinarian who struck fear into patients and medical staff. She reduced nursing sisters to despair with her quick temper and blind rages.
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New Moira Kerr CD
A new CD Time and Tide by the popular folk singer Moira Kerr has just been released. It contains a number of new songs written by Moira including Alba Mo Graidh (Scotland My Love) and Banquo's Walk as well as some well-loved standards such as Ae Fbnd Kiss. Moira wrote and performed the music for the acclaimed TV series Where Eagles Fly. •
Donnie Munro's New Album
For 20 years, Donnie Munro was the talented lead singer of the popular folk/rock group Runrig. The group sold over three million albums in Scotland and across the world. Two years ago Donnie left the band in an attempt to become a Member of the Scottish Parliament but was beaten into second place at the election. Now, he has released his first solo album entitled On the West Side. It was recorded in Skye (where he lives) and includes tracks from a number of guest artists.
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Behind the Irn Bru Curtain
A factory set up in Moscow to woo Russians from their favourite vodka, by manufacturing Scotland's "other national drink" the orange-coloured fizzy concoction Irn Bru, has been a roaring success. So popular in fact, it is now the third most popular soft drink in Moscow. Production capacity is set to rise from 35 million to 150 million litres.
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