Cardinal resigns – New Town collision – Sport – Fairtrade Fortnight – Edinburgh stagnant?
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh has resigned this morning saying that he had already submitted the resignation some time ago. Read more in our article here.
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Our photo shows the collision last night in the New Town between two vehicles which involved police and ambulance services. The two vehicles collided at the corner of Dublin Street and Albany Street where traffic is currently rerouted away from York Place due to tram works. Police say no-one was hurt.
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Our Sports Round-up is published this morning. If your sport is not included then tell us about it!
The weekend was of course all about rugby….
Under instruction to ‘get out there and enjoy yourselves’ Scotland played an Under 20 women’s match at Lasswade against Finland prior to the full side playing Ireland. Leading 12-0 at halftime,the Scots scored another try halfway in to the second half. After a break to tend to an injured Alex Read, the Finnish women found their feet and scored a consolation try to leave the final score at 17-7 to Scotland.
Having beaten England and Wales so far this year, Ireland were odds-on favourites to beat the Scots. And this they duly did, but it wasn’t quite the walkover everyone predicted. Indeed Scotland opened the scoring with a penalty from Lisa Richie, before Ireland hit back with one of their own and a try. 8-3 at half time was a long way better than expected and the home side were showing a great deal of spirit and no lack of talent. However, the strength and skills of the visitors eventually shone through and a penalty and three tries saw them home 30-3.
This reporter has a great deal of time for the women’s team as they exist on a minimal budget and have to rely on the good will of their employers, educational institutions and partners to play International rugby. They use up their own (and their family’s) time, holidays and take unpaid leave from their jobs, but they will still be found battling away when 70 points down to England. They are, literally, playing for the jersey. Hats off.
Finally, it was the big boys turn to take on the men from the Emerald Isle. Again, Scotland were down with the bookies for a defeat and, somehow, they defied the odds to take the match 12-8. A rather miserable game played under miserable weather at times still managed to keep the fans on the edge of their seats. With first Ireland and then Scotland having the best of the game, it was a combination of good defence and woeful kicking from Ireland that gave the Scots the win. Leading 3-0 at half time, Ireland scored the only try of the match early in the second half, but newby, Paddy Jackson maintained his dreadful day with the boot and four penalties from Greg Laidlaw for the home side saw the Scots over the line. First back-to-back wins since 2001, but how they managed it this time will remain a mystery.
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ReelReals: steps in the World of Equal Exchange
A series of 2 minute short films is being released on YouTube, one a day, over Fairtrade Fortnight from Monday 25 February to Sunday 10 March.
ReelReals is a series of short films showing the work of Edinburgh based Equal Exchange, and some of its partners, who bring you a range of delicious food and beverages. These films contain interviews with the farmers who grow Fairtrade and Organic coffee, nuts and honey. Watch what happens to the coffee when it arrives in the UK and how it makes the perfect cup of coffee. Then see what customers think about Fairtrade, Equal Exchange and their products. Many of the interviews are with women farmers who are part of Equal Exchange’s ‘Grown by Women’ initiative launched in 2011.
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We have to agree with the article by Scotsman journalist, Brian Ferguson, about the condition of our city. He refers to the rather odd article written a week or two back by an Edinburgh professor which attracted much comment, accusing Edinburgh of being in some kind of woeful decline which would affect its status on possible Scottish independence. Ferguson then refers to the plans unveiled by the council which will be voted upon this week at the Planning Committee meeting, and asserts that our city is actually alive with much development across the city, and about to have more with the welcome investigation by Edinburgh World Heritage into the closes off the Royal Mile.
Our article about the plans for the Royal Mile is here.
One of the other matters to be discussed this Thursday at the planning committee is a report on the council’s handling of the planning application for 34 Hamilton Place which was the former Stockbridge Theatre and which the current owner now wants to convert into a restaurant with six flats above. The council appear to have muddled some of their decision making and did not give enough evidence for their decisions, leading to their refusal of permission for the restaurant element being overturned by the Scottish Ministers. This has clearly been a bit embarrassing for the council and the planning officer Mark Turley has given some advice on the way future decisions should be made and evidenced. You can read the full report here. The planning papers are here and a drawing of the proposed front elevation can also be viewed on the council planning portal.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
