A tribute by Barra's MP, Angus MacNeil

The National:

PEOPLE in Barra are struggling to get to grips with the awfulness of what happened in Manchester and the impact it has had for those on this island. The attack was carried out with a deadly murderous intent, targetless but targeting.

We especially see the clear contrast of teenagers innocently enjoying the music of Ariana Grande, a pop star who gave such happy delight to so many young people.

People in Barra and further afield have been shaken by this, but we have also felt deep sincere sympathy and a sense of loss along our Hebridean island chain. This is reflected throughout the Highlands, across Scotland and indeed many corners of the globe.

In a community where everyone is a somebody, be it for humour, sports, hard work, a vital skill or whatever, the story of the homeless man rushing into the foyer to help the wounded somehow strikes a particular chord. Could that be us struggling to make it in a big city? Certainly the help from that unusual quarter is not surprising, and our humanity should be demanding that he should not be homeless.

Eilidh MacLeod is remembered for her talent, flair and clear dedication to mastering the high level intricacies of piping, a young lassie with a love of life and wide taste in music. The youthful, more idiosyncratic side to Eilidh is best known to family and close friends.

Her friend Laura MacIntyre, who was badly injured in the attack, I happen to know better, as she is aclose friend of my middle daughter. I have to admit that after receiving a call at 5.30am on Tuesday, on hearing my daughter’s friend Laura was missing in the terrorist attack that I had seen on TV before I went to bed, the news made me feel physically sick.

Barra, which some smilingly and some seriously call “Barradise”, does seem as remote from the geopolitics that spawned suicide terrorism as you can get. But yet, on reflection, dig a little deeper and probably almost everybody caught in this terrible act is from some wee place.

If not a wee intimate island, then a wee home, a wee village or street and equally mourned by numerous people the very same as us, but maybe with different backgrounds.

Whether they die in their youthful innocence by the hand of a suicide bomber or from the sophisticated weaponry manufactured in an advanced country and delivered by helicopter or aircraft far above, means little to the flesh and blood torn apart and the flesh and blood left mourning.

Although part of me for a multitude of reasons wants to shy away from these issues, we must note that we have now been fighting the abstract noun of terrorism for 16 years with no clear results other than containment, and sincere thanks to those who work in that area, for it seems that they have contained much.

We surely have to look beyond the surface to counter the upstream spawning ground of the brutality that killed young Eilidh MacLeod and injured Laura MacIntyre.

Meanwhile, there is the practical job of helping especially Laura’s family as she goes through the long journey to recovery.

A Just Giving campaign has been launched to raise funds for the families of Eilidh and Laura.

You will find it here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/voluntaryactionbarraandvatersay/vabvbarrafamilysupportcampaign