Creigeach Islands
The Creigeach Islands are a small island group in Daugh Bay, approximately ten miles (16 kilometres) east of the larger island of Inisholter, and are included in the Fiobhan shire of that name. The islands are hilly, with very little safe access for boats approaching them, and their name (Dael “craggy, rugged”) reflects this forbidding aspect.
Dispute with Laora
The islands became a bone of contention as a result of the excision of Laora and Fiobha from Odann at the Treaty of Ostari, in which they were assigned to Fiobha on grounds of proximity, even though the islands were historically considered part of the province of Laora and had been recognised as such by the authorities in Ráth prior to the Gaste War. Although Laora failed to recognise the decision and continued to regard the islands as their own territory, this was little more than an irritation for much of the post-war period given that the islands were uninhabited other than by sizeable colonies of sea-birds; however, they became the subject of considerable argument in 1992, when the Fiobhan government made the decision to construct an automated lighthouse facility on North Creigeach after concerns had been raised over the safety of maritime traffic in this corner of the Daugh Bay.
Laoran protests over the plan were broadly ignored by the Fiobhans, who sought to disarm the issue by emphasising the need for the facility as an aid to shipping within the bay. Laora then raised the stakes over the issue, as an inshore patrol vessel intercepted a chartered ship bringing construction supplies to the island (there is no means of landing aircraft on North Creigeach) on 2 Estion, forcing it to turn around and head back to the mainland.
The Laorans maintained a ship on station in the vicinity of the Creigeachs for almost a month, forcing the lighthouse project off schedule and increasingly infuriating the Fiobhan government – as well as that of Odann, whose department of foreign affairs requested clarification from Lúbhadh as to the upsurge of naval activity within Daugh Bay. Matters came to a head when a Fiobhan escort ship was fired on by the Laorans as it accompanied another construction vessel on 28 Estion; this was officially described as an accident caused by a misinterpretation of orders aboard the Laoran ship.
Reports of the incident reached Lúbhadh, where the Laoran government was hosting a previously-scheduled meeting of representatives of the Pact of Ekerö; routine business was suspended while the First Redesman of Tvåriken took his Laoran and Fiobhan counterparts to task, reportedly castigating them for their “purblind stupidity” and reminding them that any falling-out among the three Pact states served only to advantage Odann, who represented a threat to all three of them. The Laoran government issued a formal letter of apology to Fiobha, and suggested that the lighthouse construction project be continued as a joint effort between them. The Fiobhans found this acceptable, and construction restarted in mid-Dominy; the lighthouse was completed during Conservene and officially commissioned for use on 12 Petrial 1993 by the ministers from both countries responsible for the coast guard and coastal defence matters.