In the summer of 1813, more than 100 people, evicted that spring from homes near Helmsdale left Sutherland for the Red River district of what's now Manitoba. Because they travelled by way of Hudson Bay, where they had to overwinter in bitter cold, their journey took over a year. But in 1814 they reached their destination where they helped establish the community that's become the city of Winnipeg.

These folk were among hundreds of thousands who have emigrated from the Highlands and Islands - settling in countries like Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. From the perspective of such countries our emigrants were a huge gain - and it's right to commemorate, as Helmsdale's fine statue does so eloquently, what they achieved in their adopted homelands. From a Highland standpoint, however, it's impossible to do other than regret the loss of so much human talent - a loss made unavoidable by our inability to provide opportunities of the sort available overseas.

Today we're doing better. Today, for the first time in centuries, more people are moving into the Highlands and Islands than are leaving, and our area is at last on the way up. A key contributor to this process is UHI, the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands. It's my privilege to be involved with UHI and, in particular, with the UHI Centre for History, based here in Sutherland and about to launch the first ever honours degree in history to have the Highlands at its core. Like the statue we've gathered to celebrate the UHI Centre for History would not exist but for the generosity of Dennis MacLeod. As lots of other Highlanders have done, Dennis has spent much of his life overseas. It's our good fortune that he continues to be so supportive of the place he comes from.

Tha Carragh nan Eilthireach neo-phoileataigeach agus na proiseact nàiseanta agus eadar-nàiseanta. Chan ann a-mhàin airson cuimhne a chumail air mar a chaidh daoine fhuadach bho Ghàidhealtachd agus Eileanan na h-Alba a tha i,ach tha i cuideachd na comharradh air na rudan iongantach a chuir na Gàidheil agus an sliochd ri adhartas daonna air feadh an t-saoghail. Thathar an dochas gum bi a' charragh na priomh àite-tadhail do shliochd nan daoine a chaidh fhuadach, agus cuideachd do gach neach aig a bheil uidh san sgeul shonraichte seo de mhi-dhaonnachd, bron, gaisgeachd agus iomairt. Thathar cuideachd an dochas gun cuidich a'charragh, le bhith a'comharrachadh nam Fuadaichean, gus lotan na h-eachdraidh a shlanachadh. A bharrachd air seo, le bhith a' cur failte air luchd-tadhail bho thaobh a-muigh cladaichean na h-Alba, theid ceangalan na sinnsearachd a nearfachadh. Mar sin, chan ann a-mhain le Gaidheil an latha an-diugh a tha a' charragh, ach neach a tha bho shliochd Ghaidhealach - co-dhiu a tha iad bho Ghalltachd na h-Alba, Sasainn, na Staitean Aonaichte, Canada, Sealain Nuadh, Astrailia, Afraga no aite eile. Thathar an dochas gun gabh gach neach bho shliochd Ghaidhealach ris a' charragh seo agus gun toir iad taic dhi seach gur ann leotha fhein a tha i.

What Next? The Selkirk Settlers Monument in Canada, a full scale bronze replica of The Emigrants statue in Helmsdale, was erected at the beginning of July in central Winnipeg, a few yards from the Red River where the first Scots settlers arrived in 1814, many of them from Kildonan in Sutherland, one of the areas worst affected by the Clearances. The replica was commissioned by the St. Andrew's Society in Winnipeg and primarily sponsored by John Webster and Dennis MacLeod, directors of Clearances Centre Ltd. There are plans for replicas to be erected in other countries where Scots emigrants settled.