Shiona Ruhemann

Shiona Ruhemann

Following a life-long connection with the island, Shiona moved to Iona from London eight years ago with her husband and two young children. Her interview provides a fascinating insight into the energy and dynamism of community life, and of family life, behind the more visible historically significant aspects of Iona that most visitors are familiar with. Lockdown created several challenges for an island as remote as Iona (a three-hour two-ferry journey from the mainland), from cutting off access to mainland food supplies to derailing the community’s hard-won exemplar low carbon heat network project that was on the brink of installation (and the community-led charity is determined will be back on track). Shiona is chair of the community council, which is just one part of the crucial, extensive voluntary effort and commitment through which the island operates. Lockdown meant a lot of crisis management, including often having to push back on long-distance unhelpful decision making. For family life it was very positive in many ways, for instance, children suddenly learning from home (which was of course not without its challenges) instead of being away all week boarding at mainland High School. Iona is very connected to the mainland, for example, through education, family ties and the importance of visitors. Despite Iona’s remoteness, that connection seemed to be deepened in some ways through the shared experience of lockdown, with a strong collective responsibility on the island for other people’s wellbeing and compliance with all lockdown rules in a place where, e.g., there isn’t the presence of a resident GP or formal authority like the police. Shiona speaks of the amazing resilience of Iona; these strong connections within the community and beyond have always been there, but are perhaps now even more vital and appreciated.