Western Isles SNP MSP, Alasdair Allan, today welcomed the launch at the National Museum of Scotland of the Lewis Chessmen tour across Scotland. This tour will see the Lewis chessmen temporarily exhibited in the Western Isles from April to September 2011.

Alasdair Allan commented:

“The Lewis Chessmen were found in Uig in Lewis in 1831 and I warmly welcome the news that they will once more be returning to Lewis, if only temporarily as part of this tour.

“It is in large part thanks to funding and support by the Scottish Government that this exhibition of huge local and cultural importance to the Western Isles, and national important to Scotland, are able to be displayed across Scotland.

“The Scottish Government is maintaining negotiations with the British Museum with the aim of ensuring that the chessmen return to Scotland permanently. I believe such a deal should include an exhibition of some of the pieces in Lewis.

“For the moment, however, this represents real progress, and the British Museum, the National Museum of Scotland, and the Scottish Government are all to be congratulated for ensuring that the chessmen will be here during the Year of Island Culture.

“Historic artefacts always mean a hundred times more in context, and the Lewis Chessmen have always been a symbol for the islands. I look forward to seeing them in Lewis.”