SNP crowd to conference

But for the fire and safety regulations, it would have been standing room only on day one of the SNP’s conference in Glasgow. More than 2000 people attended and the overspill for key speeches from Leader Alex Salmond and Deputy Nicola Sturgeon were accommodated in four additional conference rooms at the SECC.

In the initial speech from Nicola Sturgeon, she recapped on the euphoria of the SNP win as it was played out last year at the count in the very same location. ‘That night will live long in our memory,’ said the politician. ‘It is a huge pleasure to be back here in the SECC.’

In a rallying call to members she said: ‘ These are exciting times. We are working to make Scotland a fair and progressive place. We want to make an election breakthrough and control Glasgow City Council. Labour is crumbling before our eyes. For the first time the SNP will have candidates in all 32 local government constituencies – including Orkney and Shetland. We need local councils to work hand in hand with the Scottish Government. We are ambitious. We want this country to be independent. But the future is in our own hands. We are masters of our own destiny. So let us work hard at persuading the people of Scotland to win the local elections in May and the referendum YES vote in 2014.’ She concluded: ‘Let’s get to work. Let’s get on with it!’

The two day party political conference will boost Glasgow’s revenue by an estimated £1million.

Saturday conference on PERSONALISATION

Glasgow Personalisation

Conference

SATURDAY 10th MARCH 2012

UNISON GLASGOW CITY BRANCH

84 BELL STREET

GLASGOW, G1 1LQ

10 am(registration 10.30am UNTIL 2.00 pm

UNISON Scotland, Social Work Action Network and Defend Glasgow Services have organised this community conference to provide an opportunity for service users, workers, carers and families and those interested in the issues around personalisation, to come together.

There will be an open panel discussion, workshops to focus on key issues for all those affected and open floor discussions on latest developments. Also the opportunity to hear from and meet those most affected.

The conference will also discuss our aims as a wider community group and what we can do to make personalisation work in Glasgow and the whole of Scotland.

 Places may be available on the door but to secure your place please contact UNISON Glasgow City Branch, on 0141 552 7069 or

email: enquiries@glasgowcityunison.co.uk 

BIRLINN into the Gaelic

 By Alan McCrorie

GalGael Trust has announced plans to build a 50-foot birlinn, the first to be constructed in Scotland in four centuries.

 

 The Govan-based group used their Birlinn: 400 Conference at the Pearce Institute to take the first steps towards restoring a lost piece of Scottish maritime heritage.

Birlinns, or Highland Galleys, were outlawed in 1609 as part of the Statutes of Iona written to undermine, then eradicate, Gaelic culture.

The day-long conference heard from a number of speakers including author Denis Rixson, who told of the evolution of the birlinn and its kinship with other vessels and seafaring traditions along the North Sea and Atlantic that dated back many hundreds of years.

 

Dr Colin Martin, of St Andrews University, explored the significance of medieval boat finds at Rubh’ an Dunain, a peninsula on Skye. The site features an inland loch and canal that runs to the sea.

The audience, which included boatbuilders, historians and heritage professionals from as far afield as Denmark and Scotland, also heard author John MacAulay’s reflections on the birlinn. Soren Nielsen of the Viking Boat Centre at Roskilde in Denmark recounted the voyage of the Havhingsten, a full-scale reconstructed ship, from his home waters to Dublin in Ireland.

Journalist and adventurer Maxwell MacLeod used his address, titled ‘The relationship between chocolate and birlinns’ to touch upon the boats’ significance as ships of trade.