NEVERMIND the ship fiasco at Port Glasgow and millions squandered and over budget like the Scottish Parliament, what about their ferry service over to the Isle of Bute in which was not an enjoyable journey the other day.

The hydraulic gangway was not working once again and the passengers had to endure a long hideous walk back up Wemyss Bay pier ticket office and then down the car ramp on to the boat, then they had to tackle three flights of stairs which were very steep as it was only one at a time for the lift and many were elderly, infirm with aids and trauma. They, like myself, suffered. 

Thank god it was dry and when we got boarded on we sailed to the Isle of Bute and when we docked, the Rothesay one was the same, we could not make this up. 

So off we all set off on a long trek and at no time did any Cally Mac staff offer any help and I had this sinking feeling they didn’t care, they just stood there joking among themselves. 

This is not the first time this has happened, surely Cally Mac should have a shuttle service like trains and airports to help the disabled, infirm and folk with heavy bags.

It was no plain sailing for anyone just an unsinkable nightmare – time to throw the passengers a lifeline and address this outdated procedure.

Stephen Johnstone 

 

TO think that a 62-year-old man who was systematically sexually and physically abused at St Joseph’s College in Dumfries isn’t entitled to compensation because he attended a fee-paying school.

This decision sends out all the wrong signals and will make it even more difficult for survivors of abuse to report it in the future.

Stephen McCarthy

 

CAMPAIGN for nuclear disarmament is not enjoying a high media profile these days as the war in Ukraine painfully grinds on. 

The deadly consequences for combatants and civilians, plus economic pain across the wider world, are the subject of frequent news updates. 

Maybe we should all be raising a glass of porter (or rum) to the Royal Navy submariners in Trident submarines. Wherever they are, somewhere between the North Pole or South Pole and the equator, it’s good to know that Vladimir Putin will be disinclined from ever launching an attack on the UK or other NATO countries. 

A great life lesson for younger people is being spelt out: evil forces are all too real and bullies need to be confronted. 

That’s also the message of the Easter Cross when we open the bible: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” 

Evil powers and principalities most definitely exist in our disordered world and that’s why we need a Royal Navy. 

It was possibly never any different, though, when we consider these words attributed to King Charles the Second (1630-1685): “It is upon the Navy under the good Providence of God that the safety, honour, and welfare of this realm do chiefly depend.”

JT Hardy