SNP parliamentarians will tomorrow continue their tradition of wearing the White Rose of Scotland as they attend Holyrood to mark the opening of the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament on Friday 1st July 2011.
All MSPs will be accompanied by their local heroes, recognising constituents who have made outstanding contributions to their communities.
First Minister Alex Salmond will be joined by two pupils from Turriff Academy – Daniel Astridge and Connor Shepherd who were made Turiff Young Citizens of the Year in recognition of their fundraising efforts.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will be joined by 81 year old Jean Michie a community activist from Kinning Park in Glasgow.
Scottish Nationalists wear the rose made famous by Scots poet Hugh McDiarmid in The White Rose of Scotland – often thought of as the Jacobite rose, the white rose of York, at Westminster and Holyrood openings.
John Black, the Jacobite Party’s candidate for Argyll and Bute at the Westminster 2010 election arrived at the count with an armful of long stemmed white roses which he offered, with great charm, to every woman he met as he walked around the hall.
The first verse of MacDiarmuid’s poem is:
‘The rose of all the world is not for me
‘I want for my part
‘Only the little white rose of Scotland
‘That smells sharp and sweet – and breaks the heart.’
SNP Group Convener Gil Paterson MSP says: ‘This fourth session of Parliament is one of great opportunity for Scotland and great responsibility for the SNP.
‘From day one of the Scottish Parliament our aim has always been to represent the needs and interests of people from all parts of Scotland and to put their interests first.
‘Inviting local heroes to join the ceremony tomorrow and take part in events around parliament allows all MSPs to recognise the achievements of those who make a real difference in the communities we represent.
‘Wearing the white rose symbolises our commitment to moving Scotland forward and as we look to the future of Scotland SNP MSPs will continue to ensure the voices of all of Scotland’s people are heard loud and clear in Holyrood.’
Our own Local Heroes at the ridings
Local Heroes and their sponsoring MSPs from Argyll and Bute and Dumbarton are:
Somerset Charrington, from Ulva in Mull, is the Local Hero nominated by Michael Russell, Argyll and Bute’s MSP and Scotland’s Education Secretary. Somerset Charrington made the epic Cycle for Schools ride in support of Argyll schools threatened with closure. Riding from school to school, his journey took him from the far west of Mull, across the Firth of Lorne to Oban; to Ardchattan on Loch Etive; to Achaleven in Connel on the falls of Lora; to Minard on Loch Fyne; to Rhunahaorine at Tayinloan on the Sound of Gigha; to Skipness on Kilbrannan Sound; to North Bute on the island of the same name, across the Kyles of Bute; across the mouth of Loch Striven to Toward; and by two ferries across the Clyde, to ride from Helensburgh at the entrance to the Gare Loch over to Luss on Loch Lomond. The details of the route call to mind the wonderful, riven, watery geography of Argyll.
Michelle Stewart has been nominated as Local Hero by Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton. Michelle has been nominated for her work with the C-Diff Justice Group, which was formed after the deadly outbreak of the disease, Clostridium Difficile, at the Vale of Leven hospital over four years ago. Michelle, whose mother in law died in the outbreak, has campaigned successfully for a public inquiry into what happened at the Vale and to prevent such a tragedy occurring again at any other hospital in Scotland. Jackie Baillie says: ‘Michelle has worked tirelessly these last few years to get to the bottom of what happened at the Vale of Leven hospital and ensure that lessons are learned by the NHS across Scotland. The work being done by the C-Diff Justice Group, of which Michelle is a founding member, has been the driving force behind many of the changes the Scottish Government has adopted.’
John Keay, who wrote the Collins Encyclorpaedia of Scotland and who has been nominated as Local Hero by Jamie McGrigor, Highlands and Islands MSP. John currently holds a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship at the University of Dundee. Later this year he will publish a monograph about General Sir Alexander Cunningham, one of Sir Walter Scott’s protégés and present it to to the Archaeological Survey of India. Picking up on the ‘Ridings’ he will now join to the opening of the Scottish Parliament tomorrow, John Keay says: ‘Although the Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland is the better known of my Scottish books, I once organised a drove of Highland cattle from Skye to Crieff and wrote a book about it – Highland Drove.’
Rian McAllister, a pupil from Oban High School has been nominated as Local Hero by Mike Mackenzie, Highlands and Islands MSP. He says: ‘I first met Rian last year when he took the chair at a hustings meeting at Oban High School when general election candidates were questioned by S3 pupils. As a 12 year old first-year pupil, Rian shone in the school debating team, the youngest member, coming to the attention of the then First Minister, Jack McConnell, who nominated Rian for the Young Scot of the Year award in 2006. Rian has continued to make his mark throughout his time at Oban High School. He is a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP) and has constantly embraced all events and projects enthusiastically never allowing his severe vision problems (optic nerve hyperplasia) to impede his progress.’
Given the stunning defeat the SNP have suffered in the Inverclyde By-election ,perhaps they will be wearing black ties .
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
“second class Brits” , what utter tosh
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Plainly you don’t have a word of Scots and were never belted for it at school.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0