WITH resignation in his voice, the Rev James Tallach accepts the inevitability of events which he sees as a further erosion of his beliefs.

Tomorrow at 10am, the ferry Loch Striven will leave the island of Raasay for the first time on a Sunday to make the 15-minute crossing to Sconser, on Skye.

A seven-day, year-round service has been welcomed by some on the island, but others have accused the ferry operator, Caledonian MacBrayne, of a lack of consultation and ignoring a petition opposing the new sailings.

Mr Tallach, the Free Presbyterian minister on Raasay, says it is further evidence that the traditional Hebridean way of life and observance of the Sabbath is disappearing.

Unlike the demonstration that greeted the introduction of CalMac’s first Sunday sailing to Skye in 1965, when the Rev Angus Smith lay down on the slipway, there will be no public protest tomorrow.

But Mr Tallach said: “It’s against the will of the people. The community council voted 8-6 against the ferry in January and a majority of people, religious and non-religious, have said they do not want it.

“But my greatest concern is that this is a further blow to the religious day in the Christian calendar, and as such it is offensive to God and damaging to our society at large.”

Mr Tattach said there was an element of inevitability about the decision “as it is symptomatic of the drift of things in Scotland, and the general tide coming in of unbelief and irreligion”.

But he said there were also non-religious people against the ferry. “They appreciate the quietness and serenity of the Sabbath here, and the lifestyle. That is partly why they come.

“Those who are falling over themselves to get more tourists on the island, and get their money of course, will be perpetrating an own-goal because in their keenness to bring them they are destroying what draws them in the first place.

“The culture of the island is bound to change.”

The petition, which Mr Tallach organised, showed that 74 out of the 146 adult residents on Raasay – 51 per cent of the population – were against Sunday sailings, although there have been claims that some people were coerced into signing.

The Skye and Wester Ross branch of the Lord’s Day Observance Society has called on CalMac to cancel the ferry service.

However, Jack McConnell, the First Minister, declined an invitation from John Farquhar Munro, the local MSP, to intervene and call a public meeting.

Support for the ferry has come from John Nicholson, the owner of the Isle of Raasay Hotel, who congratulated CalMac on the “just and courageous decision” to introduce the Sunday sailings.

He said: “There is definitely a demand for a ferry service on a Sunday. Many people are persuaded into signing petitions but I am sure that in a few months’ time, they will be travelling on the ferry.”

It is also supported by John and Isabel MacLeod, an island couple whose son, John, died in a boat accident last year.

Mr MacLeod said: “People have been using boats to ferry people to Skye, and it can be quite dangerous in bad weather. It would be much safer with a proper ferry service.”

A CalMac spokesman said: “We have weighed up all the representations both for and against and from within and outwith the island, and we are maintaining our position.”

Sunday transport services operate to the largely Catholic islands of South Uist and Barra. Since 1989, CalMac has operated a Sunday service between Uig, in Skye, and Lochmaddy, in North Uist.