Kingsmills

It would appear that there is such an appetite for half the population. Should they bow to the will of the other half of the population who have no such appetite?

The only people who were in a rush to start a referendum process straight away were the Alba Party and just look how that ended for them.

The plural is referenda. For what it's worth, I agree that voting tactically is a perfectly legitimate tactic. I would be very surprised if Alec Salmond goes quietly although, if he had any humility, he would have done so years ago.

There are thousands of Lib Dems who would rather vote Conservative than countenance the people of Scotland having the opportunity to decide on their own future.

There will be a win. It's the margin of victory that's in doubt.

24 hours after the polls closed and we are, more or less, where we were at the outset. We know that the SNP will be in power with, far and away, the most number of seats, we know that there will be a pro independence majority, probably an increased one with the SNP being a seat or two either side of an absolute majority but, on balance, just falling short. Looks likely now that the Tories will retain second place ahead of Labour but with each losing perhaps a couple of seats. The Lib Dems will remain probably on 5 seats and will, once again, cede fourth place to the Greens who are likely to gain 3 or 4 seats. What has become clearer is that Alba is now likely not to win a single seat.

I could not agree more. We have our disagreements, often profound, but we almost always do so in a respectful and polite manner and that, whilst never bad before compared to other sites, has improved greatly during the pandemic with minimal personal abuse and very little 'red dotting'. One of the very few aspects of 2020-21 that it would be welcome to see carry on into the future. Welcome back Johndo and thank you and all the hundreds of thousands of NHS staff and carers who have worked tirelessly for well over a year to get us through.

For those who, like me, are voting in person today, don't forget to wear a face covering and pring your own pencil ! Finally, whoever you intend to vote for, please vote. It's a democratic right which was, particularly for women of all classes and working class men, very hard won.

We could certainly try to negotiate such a clause but I doubt very much that the purchasing club, in Ryan's case Celtic, would accept it. Especially as in almost every case the purchasing club intends to be bigger, wealthier and thus in a better negotiating position, than the selling club.

Very good luck to the boy despite the fact that our challenge for promotion next season will be much more difficult without him. I would not be surprised if he goes on to eclipse Ryan as the most successful player to have come through our youth system.

The fourth and final leader's debate was a somewhat more civilised affair relatively well hosted by Glen Campbell. However, I don't think we learned anything new. The one thing I have learned is that Lorna Slater is a better and more persuasive debater than Patrick Harvie notwithstanding the latter's greater experience. I doubt that has changed many minds at all.

We would need to recruit players with at least 52 inch chests ! Come to think of it, where is Bobby Mann these days?

Disappointing but not surprising. I can see Danny playing International football within two years if he continues to develop at the rate he has this season. A six figure sum for him would be handy right now but a substantial sell on clause may be far more fruitful in the long run. As far as he is concerned, I can see why he would be tempted but I wonder whether from a professional point of view, there might be merit to all parties in him signing a two year contract extension with us for as much as we can reasonably afford with Danny getting a cut of any transfer fee with a view to him continuing his professional development in familiar surroundings and moving on to a bigger club than Hibs.

Absolutely. Congratulations to those at the top of the table and huge appreciation once again to Gringo for all his time and effort.

I was never a fan of Billy Dodds, quite the contrary but a management team of him and Robbo could work very well indeed. Whether he stays or not, I would very much like to echo the thanks for both him and Neil stepping into the breach at such short notice and doing such a good job from a standing start. Winning comprehensively at Dingwall will stick in the mind for a considerable time.

Did Dave Carson nick everyone's shower gel ?

I am under no illusion as to where the majority will end up. However, for the sake of the environment, I hope that the recipients choose the right receptical. Just as a, more serious, footnote, can I say that the next parliament will be the poorer for the absence of Dave Stewart. Notwithstanding our political differences, not least on the constitution, he did a sterling job in representing and promoting the Highlands for so many years and his contribution will be much missed.

Better still, I am getting others to do so. Nothing like delegation

That's nothing. I have 2,000 SNP leaflets in my garage right now

Here we are now in sight of the finishing line in this marathon six week campaign. Has anything much changed since the starting gun was fired ? Not much in my view. The SNP will, without doubt, be far and away the largest party with far and away the most number of seats. However, just like at the start, there is doubt about whether they will cross the psychologically and politically important line of achieving an absolute majority in a system designed to prevent exactly that. My sense is that they may just fall short by one or two seats. Then we have the battle for second place where it appears that, despite the personal popularity of Anas Sarwar and the unpopularity of Douglas Ross, the Tories seem likely to hold off Labour, albeit with each losing 2 or 3 seats to independence supporting parties. The Lib Dems look like remaining very much on the margins with no more seats than they currently have thus falling further behind the Greens who look like adding between 3 and 5. The only remaining intrigue is the fate of Alba who, depending on which polling company you trust, could end up with anything from 0 to 8 seats. In summary, it appears that we are heading for a parliament with a greater majority of independence supporting MSPs than the last one but that increase may come largely, or even solely, from party(s) other than the party of government.

Ah...you are right. Yet another senior moment !

County scramble to safely on the last day of the season Pity, Highland derbies would have added some spice and, more importantly, much needed additional income to next season.

As has been said, I think that a mini tour of the north of England would be ideal but probably beyond us financially. However, with foreign travel still being difficult, I wonder if their would be some potential for collaboration with the likes of County and Elgin to try to persuade two or three English Championship or League One clubs to prepare for their season with a mini tour of the Highlands ?

Conceding the lead, not once but twice, sums up our season in a nutshell. There are all sorts of reasons why I am glad that this very odd season is now concluded. That said, for no logical reason, I find myself both optimistic and enthusiastic about the season to come.

HT; ICT 2 Ayr 0 FT; ICT 4, Ayr 1 ICT; D McKay Ayr; Moffat.