Concerns raised over toilet access at Uig

Businesses in Uig say concerns over access to toilets in the village could be discouraging tour operators from stopping in the area.

David Taylor, who runs Quirky Clay, says he has received complaints from tourists, coach drivers and other local businesses.

The Highland Council operated public toilets in the village closed in August 2025. At the time, the local authority said the toilets were in a “poor state of repair” and as such would close “following the full commissioning of the new facilities at the ferry terminal.”

The new Uig Ferry Terminal opening in autumn last year and has toilet facilities.

The council statement from 2025 said “members and the public are keen to see these hours extended and discussions on this issue will continue with Caledonian MacBrayne.”

Mr Taylor says he’s concerned that if coach operators cannot guarantee toilet access for passengers, they may choose to bypass Uig altogether, impacting businesses which rely on passing trade.

“Half of our business probably comes from Rabbie’s, Discover Scotland and Highland Experience. I think Uig would really struggle without them there.”

“People are always quick to complain if they find someone doing the toilet outside, which is obviously disgusting, but if you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go. It’s up to local villages to provide toilets.”

A CalMac spokesperson said:

“The toilet facilities within the ferry terminal building at Uig are available for use by both our customers and members of the public during operational hours. Demand for these is high due to no other facilities being available nearby, and though no formal agreement is in place, we’re committed to working with the council.”

A Highland Council Spokesperson said:

“There were discussions for some time in advance of the opening of the building, however the final Head of Terms is not yet signed off.  At the current time, the former public toilet building remains closed, however there is an opportunity for a Community Asset Transfer or lease for a community group if there is interest.  We are also considering alternative sites through the Highland Comfort Scheme, if required.”

First Minister calls for end to UK arms sales to Israel

Scotland First Minister has reiterated the Scottish Government’s call for an end to all UK arm sales to Israel and said recognising Palestine as a sovereign state is fundamental to building lasting peace.

Speaking a year on from Israeli forces beginning their ground invasion of Gaza following the killing of around 1,200 people by Hamas Militants, Mr Swinney said: “The horror, suffering and killing we have watched unfold in Gaza in real-time, on such a devastating scale, has now spread across the region.

“The need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza is at the heart of reaching wider peace in the Middle East, and we must see the unconditional release of all hostages.”

The First Minister (pictured) added: “There have been repeated breaches of international law and violations of human rights since the conflict began, and Israel must stop blocking essential humanitarian aid from reaching wounded and starving civilians who are surviving in nightmarish conditions.

“Tens of thousands of lives have been lost, and millions more have been directly affected by this catastrophe. I stand with our communities in Scotland who have lost loves ones and face the daily torment of not knowing if their family members will make it through the day.”

Portree host Harris in Lucky2BHere fundraiser

A Portree under-16s team took on an under 16s side from Harris Football Club in a fundraising challenge match in aid of Skye charity Lucky2BHere in Portree on Saturday.

Jono MacLean and Luke Johnson scored for Harris to earn them a 2-0 win during an entertaining but rain-soaked encounter at the Portree High School Astro pitch.

After the match, Ailsa MacInnes of Lucky2BHere (pictured) accepted a cheque from the Harris team as a donation towards the charity which help to secure the transport of a new defibrillator across the Minch which will be added the existing provision of live-saving devices in Harris.

Skye’s Niteworks to be honoured at Scots Trad Awards

Skye electro-trad trailblazers Niteworks are set to be honoured at the Scots Trad Awards for their contribution to music over the past two decades.

Today MG ALBA which runs the Scots Trad Music Awards announced that Niteworks (pictured) will be recognised for their musical contribution through the Services to Gaelic Award at this years ceremony which will take place at the Inverness Leisure Centre on 30th November.

Voting opened today for the 116-strong group of talent shortlisted for the awards which celebrate Scotland’s vibrant traditional music scene and closes on 10th November.

Among the nominees are Skye’s Malin Lewis who is up for the Album of the Year for their record Halocline,

Head of the Plockton National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music, Mike Vass has been shortlisted for Composer of the year, alongside Mairead Green for their project A.D.A.M.

Meanwhile, the Skye Youth Pipe Band has been nominated as one of four contenders for the Scottish Pipe Band of the year, while Robert John MacInnes has been selected in a five-strong field for the Trad Music in the Media Award for his Friday Night Trad programme.

Mànran lead singer and creator of the Hollie in the Hydro event, Gary Innes, Eilean Dorcha Festival organiser Roddy MacKay, and Skye Live’s Michael Pelegrotti are all up for industry person of the year.

Charity push to stop bonfire night attacks on emergency services

A national crime prevention charity have launched its campaign to help prevent deliberate fires and bonfire night attacks.

Alongside Police Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service, and the Scottish Government, the campaign led by Crimestoppers aims to prevent attacks on Scotland’s emergency services.

In 2023, information provided anonymously to the charity prevent at least at least one extremely serious attack on emergency crews in Scotland.

Crimestoppers campaign will aim to encourage reporting from the public about any planned attacks and help gather information after bonfire night about who was responsible.

Information can be given anonymously to Crimestoppers via there website or by calling 0800 555 111.

Scotland narrowly lost to Ireland by three points in Saturday’s shinty hurling match which was held in in Ennis, Country Clare on Saturday (October 26)

Scotland’s point came courtesy of Kevin Bartlett, Steven MacDonald, Ruraidh Anderson, Daniel MacVicar, Craig Morrison and Lachie Shaw, but it was the Irish who took the spoils by 25 points to 22.

Skye captain John Gillies and a trio of players from Kinlochshiel, Donald Nixon, Finlay MacRae, and Shiel captain Conor Cormack were part of the national team squad for the match which was contested at Cusack Park.

Photo credit: Ray McManus.

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Damage on Uig pier after Storm Ashley

Highland Council officials are assessing damage to Uig pier following high winds caused by Storm Ashley.

The damage is related to the new walkway shelter which has been installed along the length of the pier in recent months.

The Uig – Tarbert – Lochmaddy ferry MV Hebrides initially started sailing on a diverted course to Ullapool on Monday, as it was unclear if safe berthing could take place due to the damage and associated debris. However, ferry services resumed from Uig later that morning.

A Highland Council spokesperson said:

“The new walkway shelter has sustained damage during Storm Ashley. Our contractor is cleaning up the damage and officers are assessing the situation.”

Winds of 90mph were detected at several weather stations on Skye as Storm Ashley made her presence known across Skye and Lochalsh.

Blood testing pilot to begin at Raigmore Hospital 

NHS Highland will shortly start a pilot project of opt-out blood borne virus testing in the Emergency Department at Raigmore Hospital.

The blood borne viruses (BBVs) that will be tested for are Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, and HIV.

The aim of the project is to increase the case finding activity for all three BBVs through an increase in testing.

It is hoped that if more cases can be identified as undiagnosed infections through an increase in testing, this could lead to earlier assessment and treatment for patients, which then leads to better health outcomes.

Help choose the name of new Broadford otter arrival

Members of the public are being asked to help choose the name of a young female otter due to arrive in Broadford.

The International Otter Survival Fund, based in the village, will soon be welcoming a new arrival to the Sanctuary from Banchory in Aberdeenshire, in partnership with the SSPCA.

Team Otter Seaside Park in Canada has come up with a list of potential names for the otter, but the public are being asked to help choose the winner.

The choices are: Yoyo, Taylor, Coco, Blake, Edith, Nallie, Crispie or Snowball.

To cast your vote to help name the soon-to-be Broadford resident, head to the International Otter Survival Fund Facebook page.

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Commenting this afternoon, Robbie Drummond, Chief Executive of CalMac, said: “Our service continues to be affected by delays to the annual overhaul schedule and its subsequent impact on vessel deployment.

“With no spare vessels, it is a challenging period for our customers, and we apologise for the disruption this is causing, particularly at the start of the tourist season.

“We are focused on returning those vessels which have required extended repairs back to service as soon as possible and returning to a normal service as quickly as we can. We will continue to work with community representatives and will keep customers informed of any developments.”

In March, CalMac announced a nine-month charter of an additional vessel to provide resilience to its fleet amid delays to two new ships under construction.

The MV Alfred will join the CalMac fleet on a nine-month charter from Pentland Ferries 18th April 2023, following confirmation from the Scottish Goverment and Transport Scotland.

𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐒𝐤𝐲𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐦@𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐤𝐲𝐞.𝐜𝐨𝐦

Kate Forbes to leave Scottish Goverment following rural affair post offer

Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP Kate Forbes is set to leave the Scottish Government after turning down a position in newly-appointed First Minister Humza Yousaf’s cabinet.

Ms Forbes (pictured) is the current Scottish finance secretary, but has reportedly turn down the offer of serving as the minister for rural affairs.

At present the Scottish Goverment is holding a consultation on its plans to introduce Highly Protected Marine Areas by 2026.

The commitment, which is through the Bute House Agreement between the Scottish Goverment and the Green, aims to provide a high level of protection by placing strict limits on some human activities, such as fishing and aquaculture, while allowing non-damaging recreational activities to take place at carefully managed levels.

However, in a statement last week, amid strong opposition within her constituency to the proposals, the Dingwall-born politician pledged to scrap HPMA plans and commission feasibility study into devolving marine powers to local authorities.

Humza Yousaf was this morning sworn in as the sixth First Minister of Scotland during a short ceremony at the court of session in Edinburgh.

Shirley-Anne Somerville, Michael Matheson, Neil Gray, Mairi Gougeon, Angela Constance have all met with Mr Yousaf today as he seeks to form his new cabinet.

MSP Grant joins Co-operative group campaign

Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant has today called on Scotland First Minister’s to deliver a fairer and more co-operative Scotland.

The Labour MSP (pictured) is campaigning to enshrine a right to food in Scots Law, establish a people’s bus service and double the size of the co-op economy of businesses owned by workers, customers, or community members.

Ms Grant’s calls form part of a campaign for change led by the Scottish Co-operative Party Parliamentary Group.

In a letter to the newly appointed First Minister Humza Yousaf, back by Ms Grant, the Scottish Co-operative are also seeking the Goverment to address the decline in high street businesses, following the closure of more than 17,500 chain store outlets in 2020.

It also pushing for the Goverment to support community-own renewables with an emphasis on cheap and green energy.

In its three-point plan for buses, the group is campaigning for strict condition to be place on public funds provided to private bus companies, a cap on bus fares, and for local buses to be under local control.

News by Adam Gordon.

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The chief executive of NHS Highland has there are no plans to close Portree Hospital but stressed the local health authority does face challenges concerning future provision.

On Thursday, Radio Skye was informed through a community source that two full-time nurses at the Skye capital had handed in their notice.

Addressing the matter, Ms Dudek, who was in Skye on Thursday for the official opening of the Staffin health centre, told Radio Skye she had only recently been made aware of the situation.

However, she said there needed to be a balance in terms of past services and what was suitable for the future.

Here is Ms Dudek speaking on the matter…

https://www.mixcloud.com/RadioSkye/nhs-highland-ceo-pam-dudek-on-skye-staffing-challenges/

At present the urgent care centre in Portree Hospital is open from 9am to 6pm at weekends and bank holidays only.

Earlier this month a spokesperson for NHS Highland told Radio Skye that progress with the rural support team and urgent care centre would be review at the end of March and develop a develop a plan for how urgent care will be delivered by June 2023.

The spokesperson added that the extension of the urgent care service will need to be completed in a phased way due to new practitioners being at different stages of their training

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Uig sailings diverted for three-days following “enormous disruption” 

A ferry leaves Uig harbour on Friday 13th January before the start of the first phase of vital works at the Skye port.

All CalMac sailing through Uig harbour have been diverted for at least three days amid issues with the temporary bridge at the Skye port.

The ferries operator CalMac said it had taken the decision to divert sailings away for Uig after it emerged that vehicles greater than 10 metres in length were unable to travel through it.

The Highland Council, which is the harbour authority, said the problem was discovered during a live trial of berthing of the MV Hebrides on Wednesday night.

From today CalMac has reverted to the Uig closure services with a daily service provided between Lochmaddy – Ullapool until 27th March.

The decision came after a day of enormous disruption at Uig harbour on Thursday in which services through the Uig were halted just hours after the harbour reopened following a nine-week closure for essential works to the maritime asset.

The Highland Council has announced earlier in the week that the first stage of works to prepare for the replacement of the vessel linkspan had been completed and that ferry services to and from Uig Harbour would resume from 23 March.

Indeed, a spokeswoman for CalMac said they were assured by Highland Council, who are the Harbour Authority, that there would be no restrictions on operations at Uig – however, this has now been proven to not be the case.

CalMac said they are seeking urgent confirmation of the situation from Highland Council as this has caused enormous disruption and upset to our customers. We are pressing Highland Council to resolve this matter as quickly as possible so that we can resume our services to Uig.

The spokeswoman went on say that CalMac fully appreciates and shares the frustration felt by communities regarding this very late notice from Highland Council, which brings more uncertainty to our communities regarding the reopening of Uig.”

They added: Please be assured that we are working closely with The Highland Council and will provide a further update as soon as we are able to.”

Commenting on the farcical situation, Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnstone said: “This latest issue at Uig is extremely disappointing. Ferry users now face longer journeys, more disruption and more uncertainty.

“Surely these issues should have been identified and addressed earlier, and not left until the 11th hour.

“Our ferry network is already struggling, and every incident like this just erodes confidence in the service a little more.”

The second planned closure at Uig harbour for the works is due to take place from 30th October to 11th Dec 2023.

News by Adam Gordon.

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The statement from the company, which is responsible for the operations of post office counters business and services, follows on from the temporary closure of the Skye capital service last week.

The current postmaster first announced on Wednesday 8th that the Portree Post Office would be closed as a safety precaution due to ill health and would reopen on Friday 10th February.

However, in a social media post published on Thursday 9th February they confirmed that the service would remain closed while a relief postmaster was being sought.

Radio Skye contacted Skye MP Ian Blackford about the matter on Friday 10th February

Today (Tuesday 14th February) Mr Blackford’s office shared a statement concerning the closure with Radio Skye from Post Office Counters Limited.

Responding to the closure, a spokesperson for Post Office Counters Limited said: “We understand how important Post Office services are to communities and I’m sincerely sorry for the inconvenience and concern caused by the closure, especially to those customers who must travel further to access the services they require, whilst the branch is closed.

“Regretfully, Portree Post Office had to close for operational reasons beyond our control. I can assure you that we want to restore service to the area as quickly as possible and we’re working closely with the postmaster and the landlord of the property, to enable the branch to reopen.”

The added that they were “currently exploring the option of reopening Portree Post Office with a temporary postmaster” but stressed that it may prove difficult due to the “remote location of the branch.”

The spokesperson concluded by saying that they hoped Mr Blackford was reassured that they were taking the matter seriously.

And added that they would “of course update stakeholders and the community as the situation progresses, and as soon as we have a confirmed proposal to restore service.”

The spokesperson recommended that customers could continue to access the service they require at an alternative branch, the nearest being Struan Post Office (Struanmore, Struan, Isle of Skye, Highland, IV56 8FG).

The Struan post office operates from 10 am to 12.30pm every day except Sunday.

The Post Office in Uig, based in Rankins Supermarket, meanwhile, is open from 9am to 1pm every day except Sunday, while the Carbost Post Office is open from 9am -12pm on all weekdays except Wednesday.

Customers who use the Portree Post Office for electricity tops should contact their energy provider for advice.

Article by Adam Gordon

The service provider, which is part of the BT group, claims to run the UK’s most reliable mobile network, however, staff nurses and midwifes have informed Radio Skye that their work and their patients have been impacted by the service issues.

Kilmaluag resident Eilidh MacLeod works as a community staff nurse based in Portree covering north Skye. She told Radio Skye that all NHS work phones use the EE network which has left community staff such as district nurses and home carers with no signal.

“I’m also on EE with my personal phone so when I am working within Portree I have no signal,” Ms MacLeod said commenting to Radio Skye.

She added: “Many of our patients don’t have house phones either.”

Linda Weir, who works a community midwife, also told Radio Skye that her work phone has been affected by the outage.

She shared a response from EE which stated that company was working with local power suppliers to rectify the problem.

Portree resident John Wilson, told Radio Skye that he has had no signal since 16th January.

On visiting the EE website last week, he was informed that the problem would be resolved within 12 hours.

However, while on a call with the company this morning he said that he was “shuffled about from pillar to post.”

Fellow Portree resident Rachel Beaton said: “I was informed on Sunday that works would be complete by Friday 27th. Like John, I was passed from pillar to post.

“They did apply credit to my account.”

Harriet Frayne, who also lives in the Skye capital, said EE had added money to her account to cover her bill this month, but told Radio Skye that the company had told her a few days ago that the service would not be restored for another 10 days.

Dani Broadbent lives in Uig and has a contract with EE. She noticed that her phone had no signal on Wednesday 18th January while she was in Portree.

She told Radio Skye: “I assumed with the snow a tower was affected and it would be fixed. This week I have been in Portree Monday and Tuesday for my children’s after school activities and I noticed I still don’t have any service. It’s very frustrating.”

Meanwhile, Mallaig resident Ross MacKay said there had also been problems with signal from EE in the Lochaber town.

A spokesperson for EE said that its engineers would be back on site on Thursday to continue to try to resolve the problem when it is hopefully safe to climb the hillside mast.

The company told Radio Skye that people who do not have connectivity and are in an emergency situation can call 999 from any network on their mobile phone, and that landlines remain unaffected.

The spokesperson went on to say that unfortunately they could not ever guarantee that infrastructure will be unaffected by weather but they were working as quickly as possible in the current adverse conditions to restore connectivity.

The company apologised for the temporary problems and recognised that any loss of coverage can be inconvenient.

EE are inviting any customer impacted to contact us to discuss compensation.

Customers can call 150 from an EE mobile. If they are calling from an EE landline, the number is 0800 079 8586 and from another provider they should call 0800 956 6000.

Article by Adam Gordon