There are many residents of Merkinch who consider their community to be 'unique' in a positive way. There are however, and to some degree always have been, people living in other parts of the town of Inverness who only view Merkinch in negative terms. All communities view themselves, and are viewed in relation to somewhere else, but whether that view is a negative or positive one is often the product of history and upbringing. If any place is to perceive itself as a 'community' it has to have both a sense of itself and how it relates to elsewhere. The community of Merkinch can be said to have both these qualities in abundance.

The place that was to develop into a community we now know as Merkinch was not given the most auspicious start according to the historians; "Horse Island" Gaelic marc (horse) and innis (island), an abode of Gypsies and other travelling folk who all fell under the ever-watchful gaze and suspicious eyes of the authorities and the 'decent, law abiding folk' (their own opinion!) living on the other side of the River Ness. But such ill-conceived views are the fuel for instilling in the suspect a sense of worth, a knowledge of being different, of independence, and of community. The people that choose to live in this community, people who started businesses, workers constructing the Caledonian Canal whose houses on Telford Street were the original impetus for development along that thoroughfare, workers in the shipyards and on the slipways along the river, those in the fishing industry.landing their catches on the Thornbush Quay, these people all knew their own worth. With their hard work, and back-breaking work it was, they created the wealth and developed the opportunities for their community, both Merkinch and Inverness to grow and prosper. The trade and commerce that flowed, and still flows, literally, in to and out of Inverness harbour and the business, albeit of a more leisurely kind, that arrives by the Caledonian Canal, both waterways that define the geographical limits of Merkinch, have undoubtedly brought a degree of prosperity to Inverness but how much of that prosperity has found its way to Merkinch is a debatable point.

The community of Merkinch is no longer an island in geographical terms. The old channel of the river that once separated Merkinch from the rest of Inverness is now drained and built over, recalled only in the name of Abban Street, Gaelic 'abhainn' (river). Merkinch has a historic and proud past. It has been central to the growth and development of the town of Inverness but, alas, not always the beneficiary of local authority largesse.

As Merkinch views its future, the improvements in Grant Street being evidence that the Merkinch is indeed looking to the future, it can be confident that those qualities that have served it well in the past, community spirit and pride of place, will ensure that Merkinch remains a unique community.