No Ba’ stewards for Kirkwall street game
(From The Orcadian dated October 26, 2000)

Claims that the police are insisting on stewarding at Kirkwall’s Christmas and New Year’s Day Ba’s have been kicked into touch this week.

Arguments broke out on The Orcadian’s online discussion forum at the end of last week, with claims made that the police were attempting to insist that stewarding was introduced at the traditional Ba’ game.

But one Ba’ committee member told The Orcadian after reading the remarks that they had given a wrong impression of a meeting between the committee and Orkney’s chief inspector earlier this year, described as “excellent” with both sides agreeing that public safety was paramount.

Chief Inspector Mike Cowdry added that the meeting had been very constructive.

“We looked at the whole range of issues, in particular public safety and both ourselves and the Ba’ committee were committed to ensuring that the event is carried out as safely as possible,” he said.

Chief Inspector Cowdry said that although he would prefer any such event to have an adequate form of stewarding, there was no insistence from police to do so. The police, he said, merely gave their advice on the matter

“One of the things that was discussed was stewards and I am quite sure the Ba’ committee were appreciative of our concerns. At the end of the day it is not a licensed event and all we can do is advise the organisers,” he said.

A statement from the Ba committee added: “The Ba’ committee had a routine and amicable meeting in August with Chief Inspector Mike Cowdry. The chief inspector understands the functions of the committee and its anxiety to ensure that the game is played sensibly and fairly without damage to property and without injury to participants and onlookers.

“The Ba’ committee will continue to do everything possible to ensure this and to that end there will be additional publicity in The Orcadian in December emphasising the importance of safety to both players and spectators. The committee will also reiterate the importance of respecting property at all times during the course of play. The chief inspector is entirely satisfied with these arrangements.”