Argyll is not a bolthole
Like so many residents of Islay and Jura, I was shocked to read that the Daily Mail has published an article siting areas that are the ‘best boltholes’ for escape from the coronavirus. Included in this is the lsle of Jura.
This is as shockingly reckless as it is offensive. The Isle of Jura is not a ‘bolthole’, as the Daily Mail has chosen to state, but a very beautiful island steeped in culture and rich history.
On both Jura and Islay we, like so many rural areas, are struggling to deal with all of the challenges related to the coronavirus outbreak. Our local health services have very limited resources as it is, alongside a population that has many elderly residents who are more at risk of the virus.
We have seen a local uptake in people travelling to Islay in campervans and this is happening at a time when the UK government is advising against non-essential travel.
Those who are choosing to travel to Islay, Jura and the many other islands in Argyll and Bute in order to avoid the coronavirus may end up inadvertently spreading it to islands who are (so far as we know) not as much affected in the same way as so many built-up urban areas are. Such actions are as reckless as they are selfish and I would implore people who do not need to travel to our rural constituency to avoid doing so until this global pandemic has passed.
Jura, Islay and the rest of Argyll are some of the most beautiful places you will ever visit and you won’t find an area where the people are more hospitable and friendly but while this crisis is ongoing I would ask everyone who is not currently living here to avoid travelling here for the time being.
I would also hope that the Daily Mail will retract its article advising people to travel here and to issue an apology to the people of Jura for referring to their island as a ‘bolthole’ and also apologise to the wider Argyll area including Islay for any potential health risks they may have inadvertently created with the reckless travel advise for those who wish to avoid the coronavirus.
Councillor Alastair Redman, Kintyre and Islands ward.