It's the old story, a devilish choice between establishing a factory in a beauty spot where jobs are short or accepting the factory; and the consequent loss of beauty and peace and maybe of wildlife. There is a case in point on the Island of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. First a diversion. One of the arguments against the new project - it's actually a giant quarry - is that it could break the Sabbatarian habits of many of the people there.
The diversion is this: to what extent does this attitude still prevail in Northern Ireland? A friend swears that her grandfather, a schoolteacher and a Sunday School teacher read the News of the World every week. But he wouldn't buy it (or any thing else) on Sunday and he wouldn't do anything to encourage Sunday work. So he had posted to him in his village in Antrim, an early edition of the paper that was printed on Friday. Probably an early printing because distribution in the 1930s wasn't so good. And in those days the same paper consisted to a great extent of straight faced reporting of the "scoutmaster on grave charge" type of case.
The Harris project is for a giant quarry. The mountain of Roineabhal, if the project goes through, will yield, over 60 years, 600 million tons of material for concrete and roadstone, as a report in Country Life, has it. They show a computerised picture impression of the "superquarry" which would frighten you. There are two thousand and two hundred people on the island, and dwindling. Local waters could be polluted for the lobster, prawn and other such fishermen. Crofts nearby will get the dusty outfall from quarrying. A few years ago a referendum showed that 62 per cent on the island were for the quarry. In 1995 a second referendum showed local support had dropped to 32 per cent.
The final word rests with the Secretary of State for Scotland. It's a hard decision. Would tourists want to go to the scenic island if machines were roaring away and particles of dust floated in the air? Many communities, in Ireland and elsewhere, have faced the same dilemma. How things will go if the Secretary of State gives the go ahead and islanders revolt, is another matter.