The First Minister

The conference hall fills up pretty quickly when the First Minister speaks. But there is plenty of opportunity to hear the speech in overflow venues around the Concert Hall...even in the foyer of the Concert Hall...where is where I was.

And what a speech...here are a few lines from it's closing.

"And when the pages of books yet unwritten speak to generations yet unborn of this time and this place, of our Scotland today, what is the story they will tell?

They can say that we who lived at this special time recognised a priceless moment for what it was.

That those who saw this chance did not baulk at it.

That those who were given this moment did not let it pass by.

And that we, Scotland’s independence generation, reached out and grasped the opportunity of a lifetime when it came our way.

We will NOT wake up on the morning of 19 September next year and think to ourselves what might have been.

We WILL wake up on that morning filled with hope and expectation – ready to build a new nation both prosperous and just.

After almost a century of Scotland moving forward to this very moment – let us ask ourselves these simple questions:

If not us - then who?

If not now - then when?

Friends - we ARE Scotland’s independence generation.

And our time is now."

Alex Salmond 19th October 2013