evidence: Lying-in the North East Atlantic, some 162 nautical miles from the island of Soay, in the St Kilda group, and 230 nautical miles North West from Donegal, Rockall does not even qualify as an island. Yet it is claimed by Scotland and the UK, and would be in Scottish waters, the Scottish Government argues, were Scotland to be independent and outside the UK. However, it is also the subject of international dispute, a dispute which has been raised at European Commission level and which has drawn competing views from a variety of experts in international and maritime law. While it is often said that the rock is claimed by the Republic of Ireland, this has been disputed by Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach, speaking in 2019: ‘We don't have a claim on it. We don't accept any other sovereign claim on it’. Ownership of the rock is also disputed by Denmark – on behalf of the Faroes - and by Iceland. One very small rock, measuring just 70 feet high and 100 feet wide, is therefore central to a long-existing territorial dispute between at least four separate countries. Of course, that Rockall sits in waters that contain rich fishing grounds, and the potential for huge oil and gas resources, is the primary source of the interest in this single unforgiving and unliveable rock.