SEPTEMBER 1998
www.celtic-connection.com
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Lockerbie Trial Moira Kerr to Debut Canada Set for Hague
GLASGOW — British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, has announced that Britain and the United States are prepared to allow the accused responsible for the Lockerbie disaster to stand trial in the Hague rather than in Scotland or the U.S.
The Foreign Office hopes the compromise offer of a trial in a neutral country, conducted under Scottish rules but with a panel of three Scottish judges replacing the jury, meets all of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's requirements.
The men accused of killing 270 people in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 have refused to surrender for trial in Scotland or the U.S. They have agreed to a trial in a third country under Scots law.
Cook urged Gaddafi to compel the men, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah, to go to the Hague for trial so that families of victims could get justice.
He said Britain and the U.S. would support lifting United Nations sanctions against Libya if the men complied. "For years, Libya has promised that it would accept a court without jury, meeting in a third country.
That way forward is now open to them," said Cook. "It is away forward that holds out the prospect of lifting the hardship of sanctions on the people of Libya — and ending the long wait for justice of the relatives of those who were murdered.
— The Scotsman
SCOTS DEBATE FUTURE ONLINE
Scottish people across the world are invited to make online contributions to the debate about their country's future. The scheme involves expatriates in debates on subjects including education, the arts and politics. It is the brainchild of author Terry Houston.
Two speakers will set the ball rolling each week, and the author has pledged that he will not allow debate to be hijacked "by any organization or cause." Houston, whose novel The Wounded Stone depicted the assassination of the Queen by a Scottish extremist, has funded the venture.
Houston said, "Everywhere in
Scotland, institutions and organizations are re-examining their roles in Scottish, society. Everything is being debated. But to a large extent, these discussions tend to be fairly internal. What I would like to see is opening it up to Scots everywhere so that we can pull in new ideas from different perspectives.
"I believe that the Scottish diaspora has a tremendous amount to offer the homeland, intellectually and commercially, and they can bring a tremendous energy to such a debate."
The Great Debate can be reached at: www.thewounded-stone.co.uk/greatdebate.htm.
— BBC News
Homeless Scots Growing in London
LONDON — The number of homeless Scots arriving in London rose by an unprecedented 30 percent in the first six months of this year, according to the Church of Scotland.
Stephen Convill, the director of Borderline, a project aiding the homeless, said it was initially thought that the increase, amounting to 44 new arrivals a month, was a seasonal blip.
"However, this is a sustained rise which is becoming a sea change in our numbers. This is why we are so worried. It is a huge rise and we are having dif-
ficulty in coping," he said.
It comes in the wake of new figures which show a rise in the numbers of homeless people applying to Scottish councils. These stood at 41,010 in 1996/ 7, after successive years of decline since the peak of 43 038 in 1993/4.
Convill said the cause of the exodus to London was not clear. "We can't identify any one major reason but it does seem that problems which we all know exist in Scotland with drugs, family breakdown and social exclusion are becoming more acute."
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
Donald MacDonald from the Isle of Skye went to study at an English university and was living in the hall of residence with all the other students there. After he had been there a. month, his mother came to visit him (no doubt carrying reinforcements of tatties, salt herring, oatmeal and whisky).
"And how do you find the English students, Donald?" she asked.
"Mother," he replied, "they're such terrible, noisy people. The one on that side keeps banging his head on the wall and won't stop. The one on the other side screams and screams all night."
"Oh Donald! How do you manage to put up with these awful noisy English neighbours?"
"Mother, I do nothing. I just ignore them. I just stay here quietly, playing my bagpipes." — Seattle's Scottish Snippets
VANCOUVER — Moira Kerr, who is one of Scotland's foremost singers and fast becoming the country's number one songwriter, will make her debut Canadian appearance this November in Vancouver. Kerr wrote most of the music for the eight-part BBC video series Where Eagles Fly.
Her song-writing talent goes back to her childhood when she began writing poetry, and she says that the transition to songwriting seemed only natural. Her compositions are appreciated worldwide by other art-
ists who have recorded her songs, including Kenneth McKellar.
Kerr began performing at the age of 10 when she sang the latest hit parade songs at a local event and continued to sing at all kinds of social occasions.
Following a talent contest at the Dunblane Hydro Hotel in 1980, she signed her first recording contract when one of the judges worked for Decca records.
Since then, she has recorded nine albums making the transition from her original folk em-
phasis to her current repertoire, which is a blend of contemporary Scottish music with time-honoured traditional songs. Kerr has appeared at many prestigious venues in Scotland including Edinburgh Castle and the Gleneagles Hotel and is currently resident entertainer at the Loch Lomond Golf club.
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Her debut Canadian appearance will be at the Scottish Cultural Centre at 8886 Hudson Street in Vancouver on November 6. She will also perform in Calgary, Edmonton and Victoria on her Canadian tour.
FIRST CANADIAN TOUR
Scotland's Singer/Songwriter Sensation from the BBC Series "Where Eagles Fly"
MOIRA KERR
The Scottish Cultural Centre 8886 Hudson Street, Vancouver
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH - 8 PM
Tickets: reserved $17.50 or at the door $20.00
Tickets Available at: Celtic Creations, Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver
(604) 985-8704 Marmalade Cafe, 999 Marine Drive, N. Vancouver (604) 983-3463 Oscars Books & Art Books, 153 W. Broadway (604) 731-0553
OR CALL (604) 434-3747 -(604) 437-8785 OR (604) 929-1802