Scottish Cabinet meets on Skye

Monday 23 July 2012

Members of the Scottish Cabinet are in Skye today ahead of the first of their summer meetings.

First Minister Alex Salmond and his team of cabinet secretaries will spend two days on the island, with a series of events planned as well as their formal meeting.

It is the fifth summer in a row that members of the Cabinet have taken their discussions out of Edinburgh during Holyrood's summer recess.

And the meeting in Skye will draw on the work already done as part the 2012 Year of Creative Scotland celebrations.Mr Salmond and Education Secretary Mike Russell will visit the Gaelic college Sabhal Mor Ostaig, where they are expected to announce funding for Tobar an Dualchais/Kist O Riches - a project which has been set up to preserve, digitise, catalogue and make available online several thousand hours of Gaelic and Scots recordings.The website contains a wealth of material such as folklore, songs, music, history, poetry, traditions, stories and other information.The material has been collected from all over Scotland and beyond from the 1930s onwards.This evening the First Minister will host an evening reception, celebrating the Year of Creative Scotland 2012, featuring performances from local youngsters.Tomorrow members of the Cabinet will hold their formal meeting in Portree before heading to a local hotel to find out first-hand how businesses are preparing to benefit from the boost to tourism it is anticipated the film Brave will give the country.They will then be quizzed about aspects of Government policy by the public at a question and answer session hosted by the First Minister.Speaking ahead of the visit Mr Salmond said: "I am delighted that Cabinet will be meeting again in Skye and I am looking forward to hearing the views of local people, along with senior ministers. This will be the first Cabinet of this summer."Given that Skye is at the centre of Gaelic culture with its hugely successful Sabhal Mar Ostaig college, its annual festivals in music, books and dance, it is only natural that it should attract visitors from around the world who support our tourist industry."In this part of the country in particular our culture goes hand in hand with economic sustainability. Culture is a top priority for this Government and one of the main elements of the Cabinet's programme will be a reception to highlight what Scotland has to offer culturally."As well as having their regular formal meetings, Cabinet members will also take part in public meetings in each of the three venues, with people able to question them on any aspect of the Scottish Government's work.More than 4,000 people have taken part in such events over the last four years, when the Scottish Cabinet has visited places including Inverness, Pitlochry, the Isle of Bute, Stirling and Stranraer.Mr Salmond said: "The chance to 'buttonhole' ministers is, unsurprisingly, something that's been enthusiastically and positively embraced by people in all the communities we've visited in previous years."As well as visiting Skye, the Scottish Cabinet will also meet in Orkney and Renfrew next month.

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Scottish Cabinet meets on Skye

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