Iolaire tweed adorns council chamber

At the time of the Iolaire centenary, the tweed was designed in colours which reflected elements of the tragedy - blues to represent the uniforms and dark sky; greens for the surge of the waves; silver grey for the sea breaking on the rocks; red to represent the embroidered insignia; a subtle shadow check to represent the rise and fall of the sea.

The furniture in the Comhairle chamber dated back to when the building was constructed in the late 1970s. The seating was becoming tattered and the extent of remedial works required to the floor became more evident to the extent that a full replacement was required.

In its new form, the chamber contains state of the art IT systems which will allow conferencing across the islands and beyond.

The Comhairle say that the transformed chamber "will improve communications across the Islands and aid in effective representation and local democracy".

Construction works were undertaken by Lewis Builders Ltd at a cost of £112,000.

The state-of-the-art IT systems were provided, and installed by Ajenta & MediaScape at a price tag of £90,000 - this was part of wider improvements to conferencing facilities across the islands totalling £268,000.

A comhairle spokesman said the refurbishment will “provide an environment that will be suitable for many more councils to come.”