FELAGSLÝSING
Annar árligi fundurin millum Føroyar og ráðini fyri skotsku oyggjarnar, Hetland, Orknoyggjar og Suðuroyggjar (á enskum nevndar bæði Western Isles og Outer Hebrides) varð hildin í Suðuroyggjum 7. og 8. september.
Løgmaður og formenninir í teim trimum skotsku oyggjaráðunum umrøddu gongdina í Suðuroyggjum við at fremja í verkum menningarætlan teirra At skapa framtíðarinnar lokalsamfeløg (Creating Communities of the Future), og skiftu orð um mál, har ið Føroyar og skotsku oyggjabólkarnir hava felags áhuga og, hvørjir møguleikarnir eru fyri samstarvi hesum viðvíkjandi.
Fyrst var fundur í ráðnum fyri Suðuroyggjar (Comhairle) saman við umboðum frá ráðleggingarsamtakinum Outer Hebrides Community Planning Partnership. Síðani vitjaðu løgmaður og ráðsformenninir fleiri støð, ið høvdu týdning fyri, at menningarætlanin gerst væleydnað, m.a. Arnish ídnaðarøkið og Lews Castle College, ið er partur av UHI (University of the Highlands and Islands), sum er felags hægri lærustovnur fyri oyggjarnar og hálendisøkið í Skotlandi.
Økini, sum í umrøðuni millum løgmann og ráðsformenninar vórðu hildin at størstan felagsáhuga, eisini við atliti at møguligum samstarvi, vórðu hildin at vera hesi:
"Endurnýggjandi orka
"Kunningar- og samskiftistøkni (KST)/Breiðband - serliga átakið Búgv lokalt, arbeið globalt (Live Local Work Global)
"UHI og Fróðskaparsetur Føroya
"Mál og mentan
Teir vóru samdir um at royna at ganga framá í samstarvi hesum viðvíkjandi, og viðvíkjandi øðrum felags áhugamálum til tess at menna búskapin í ymsu oyggjasamfeløgunum, ikki minst við tí fyri eyga at stimbra fólkavøkstur í økjunum.
Jóannes Eidesgaard, løgmaður, segði:
"This was a very useful and interesting visit. I am grateful to the Western Isles for hosting this second annual meeting and giving us such an interesting programme and warm hospitality. We were very impressed with the regeneration strategy Creating Communities of the Future and with the progress being made in implementing it. Clearly Renewable Energy is vital to all the islands groups and it was good to see real, sustainable jobs being created at Arnish. I was personally very interested in the progress being made in ICT and broadband. I am sure we could learn important lessons from Western Isles experience and equally sure that our experience in reviving our language and culture can provide help and guidance to those seeking to do the same for Gaelic. We will be following up on these and other issues ahead on the next meeting in Shetland."
Alex MacDonald, ráðsformaður í Suðuroyggjum, segði:
"It was a great pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister of the Faroes and my fellow island Convenors to this second annual meeting following the initital meeting last year in Torshavn. I believe the visit marked a number of firsts including the first time a Prime Minister has officially visited our islands and the first ever joint meeting of the Comhairle with our Community Planning partners. We discussed the many similarities of our different island groups and the potential to work together in areas of common interest and concern such as attracting population through economic development. I was very impressed by the progress in Faroes in both economic and cultural development over recent years. They have not only grown their economy and population but also revived their language and culture. I believe we can all benefit by learning lessons and look forward to much closer co-operation with our island friends in future."
Steven Hagan, ráðsformaður í Orknoyggjum, segði:
"We work closely with our Scottish Islands colleagues on a wide range of matters of common interest but too seldom do we get the chance to visit each other and see what is happening on the islands. This annual joint meeting with Faroes and the Scottish islands councils provides that chance and we have been very impressed with progress in Western Isles. We will all learn a great deal from this experience and our joint working will be greatly enhanced. For example, we are already working closely to promote the case for enhance grid connections to enable the islands to benefit from renewable energy development. Seeing the kind of impact this can have on jobs and population emphasizes the need for our efforts to be increased."
Sandy Cluness, ráðsformaður í Hetlandi, segði:
"This has been a great chance to learn about common issues and reinforce our already good working relations with other island groups. We in Shetland are also pursuing renewable energy projects and will soon be applying for a major on-shore wind farm similar to those proposed for Lewis. We have benefited greatly from oil revenues and see renewable energy as the long term sustainable way of ensuring our community continues to enjoy those benefits. I firmly believe that the wind farm proposals and other renewable energy developments in the Western Isles can have the same impact as oil had in Shetland. We look forward to working together to promote our islands communities and especially to the third annual meeting that we will host in Shetland next year."
