FERRY SHUFFLE’S HELLISH IMPACT
Reduced capacity on the Oban-Craignure ferry route has put Mull Rugby Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year in jeopardy.
This week Mull RFC advised teams heading to its Mull 7s tournament from Friday May 19 to Sunday May 21 to pre-book ferry tickets to guarantee a space for vehicles as well as foot passengers.
Mull RFC secretary Duncan Swinbanks said organisers’ “stomach-churning hassle” mirrored island-wide feelings, heightened by the redeployment of the MV Isle of Mull to Lochboisdale later this month.
He said it was “exasperating,” “making people tense” and putting them “through hell”.
MV Isle of Mull will leave the smaller vessels, the MV Coruisk and MV Loch Frisa, operating the route from tomorrow (May 12) to Friday May 26.
That will leave an “unprecedented” shortage and “rationing” of ferry space, says Mull & Iona Ferry Committee (MIFC) in an open letter to transport minister Kevin Stewart, calling on him “to make an emergency intervention to save us from the impact of CalMac’s latest proposed service cuts”.
MIFC chairperson Joe Reade said the islands are being “strangled” and warned islanders cannot leave unless they made arrangements weeks beforehand, and that economy-essential tourists will be turned away. It is now time to start compensating affected businesses, he said.
Traditionally the Mull 7s rugby brings about 500 visitors to the island, more than the combined passenger capacity of the MVs Coruisk and Loch Frisa.
Despite all the uncertainty, the rugby club is determined not to cancel the tournament and has vowed to carry on with “whoever makes it over”.
Mr Swinbanks said: “We’re coming up to our 37th Mull 7s and it’s only ever been cancelled before because of foot and mouth, and Covid. We are determined not to cancel because of the stupidity of people in paid jobs not listening to locals who wanted two smaller, faster ferries to serve our island.
“Instead they decided to build two giant ones. There is no excuse for building ferries that everyone was against. They consulted us but did not listen. There is no link between locals and government anymore. It’s gone, it’s broken. There’s no trust. This ferry situation is the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
And Mr Swinbanks added: “People of the Highlands and islands are nice people, they are good and tolerant people who get on with things and accept things that come with living where we do, but we have to start fighting back now.”
Thomas Hard, co-owner of Cill-Mhoire Lodges at Dervaig, said losing MV Isle of Mull would be “disastrous”, adding: “They seem to be robbing Peter to pay Paul, swapping boats around.”
Usually May and July would be fully booked for Mr Hard’s holiday lets, but there are gaps - July is only half booked.
Staffin and Treshnish boat tour operator Turus Mara said it backs MIFC’s letter 100 per cent.
“It’s very difficult for us to organise people to come over from Oban. It doesn’t help that the timetables keep changing. We’ve been talking to other businesses and they are already taking a hit, experiencing lower numbers of visitors than normal,” said Pat Morrison of Turus Mara.
Allan Kill, owner of Obanbased Derek Wilson Carriers Ltd, said: “Like lots of other businesses on the mainland, we are experiencing problems with lack of ferry spaces and short notice cancellations, but we fully understand the difficulties CalMac are facing. We are not getting at CalMac. It is the lack of investment in the asset itself that is to be blamed.”
Transport minister Mr Stewart said he fully understood challenges faced by island communities and was “sympathetic” to calls for compensation for businesses.