Portal:Scottish islands/News/Archive

''Past news items featured at the Scottish Islands Portal. To suggest a current news item for inclusion, use the talk page''

2021

 * 12 February: The BiFab construction yard at Arnish near Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, is purchased by InfraStrata. BBC
 * 11 February: Wild fires occur in Benbecula; and at Achmore and Sildinish in the Isle of Lewis; Horsaclete in Harris; Brevig in Barra; and Eubhal in North Uist. BBC
 * 19 January: Barra and Vatersay are put under tier-4 restrictions after an outbreak of Covid-19. BBC
 * 18 January: The Shetland Space Centre submits plans for a spaceport on Unst, Shetland, including three rocket launch pads. BBC
 * 8 January: Distilleries in Orkney and South Uist receive government grants to research ways of reducing their CO2 emissions. BBC
 * 4 January: After the UK leaves the European Union, the Northern Celt, an Irish fishing boat based out of Greencastle, County Donegal, is ordered to leave the 12-nautical-mile zone around Rockall by officers of Marine Scotland. BBC
 * 1 January: A total of 72 cases of Covid-19 are recorded in an ongoing outbreak in Shetland. BBC

2020

 * 26 December: Skye moves to tier 4 restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus, while all other Scottish islands are placed at level 3. BBC


 * 9 December: A review by a committee of MSPs into the commissioning and building of two new dual-fuel Caledonian MacBrayne ferries, MV Glen Sannox and "hull 802", criticises CMAL, Transport Scotland and the Scottish government, as well as the ship builders, Ferguson Marine. BBC


 * 4 December: North-east Lewis, Sea of the Hebrides and Shiant East Bank are designated Marine Protected Areas, while East Mainland Coast Shetland, Sound of Gigha, Coll and Tiree, Rùm, the west coast of the Outer Hebrides, and the waters off St Kilda and Foula are designated Special Protection Areas. BBC


 * 30 November: Michael Russell, MSP for Argyll and Bute, and David Stewart and John Finnie, MSPs for the Highlands and Islands region, will stand down at the 2021 election. BBC


 * 17 November: Phytophthora ramorum-infected larch trees in Arran are to be felled over a 543-acre area, to prevent the fungus-like pathogen from spreading. BBC


 * 13 November: Covid-19 restrictions in Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides are relaxed owing to low prevalence of the coronavirus in the islands. BBC


 * 9 November: The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry, MV Isle of Lewis, returns to its Barra–Oban service after being disinfected, after crew members tested positive for coronavirus. BBC


 * 4 November: The Scottish Wildlife Trust objects to a proposed salmon farm in the Marine Protected Area of Wester Ross, near Horse Island, Summer Isles, because of the potential impact on kelp forests and maerl beds. BBC


 * 30 October: The local health board declares the coronavirus outbreak in South Uist, Eriskay and Benbecula over; more than fifty people were infected, and one person died in Daliburgh, South Uist. BBC


 * 22 October: Lockheed Martin announces plans to launch satellites from the proposed Shetland Space Centre to be built on Unst. BBC


 * 19 October: An inquiry concludes that a 2013 helicopter crash on the approach to Sumburgh Airport, Shetland, which killed four people, was predominantly caused by pilot error. BBC


 * 9 October: The Marine Protected Area of West of Scotland, covering a 38,610-square-mile area west of the Outer Hebrides, comes into force; it includes seamounts and deep-water corals. BBC


 * 1 October: Highlands and Islands Airports's plans to control traffic at the airports of Sumburgh in Shetland, Kirkwall in Orkney, and Stornoway and Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides remotely at Inverness are criticised on safety grounds. BBC


 * 26 September: A bronze statue commemorating Norman Collie and John Mackenzie, pioneer mountaineers in the Cuillin, is unveiled at Sligachan, Skye. BBC


 * 16 September: A care home in Portree, Skye, is referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, after eleven deaths occurred in a COVID-19 outbreak in May. BBC


 * 26 August: A fossilised limb bone from a Middle Jurassic-era stegosaurian dinosaur is discovered on Eigg, the first dinosaur fossil to be found in Scotland away from the Isle of Skye. BBC


 * 24 August: A new official flag featuring a birlinn is selected for Skye. BBC


 * 21 August: A 2.6 magnitude earthquake is recorded on Skye. BBC


 * 30 July: Ofgem conditionally approves an underwater cable linking Shetland with the Scottish mainland, which would allow locally generated power to be used by the National Grid. BBC


 * 22 July: Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides are voted up to £100 million in investments from the UK and Scottish governments, as part of the Islands Growth Deal. BBC


 * 30 and 31 March: The first cases of novel coronavirus are confirmed in Lewis and Orkney, the last Scottish health boards to report cases. BBC


 * 22 March: Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, announces that ferries will only transport essential goods and islanders with an essential need to travel, and advises that all tourist accommodation should close. Scottish government


 * 21 March: Fergus Ewing, the Scottish Rural Economy and Tourism Secretary, says that tourists and second-home owners should not travel to the Highlands and Islands. Scottish government


 * 19 March: Caledonian MacBrayne stop taking advance ferry bookings until mid-July, and will be operating on a "turn up and go" basis in future. CalMac, BBC


 * 18 March: Shetland has the most confirmed cases of novel coronavirus per capita in Scotland, at nearly 7 per 10,000, while Orkney and the Outer Hebrides have yet to confirm any cases. BBC


 * 12 March: Altarf on Skye is one of eighteen buildings shortlisted for the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland awards. BBC


 * 11 March: Around fifty fossilised dinosaur footprints have been found at Brothers' Point (Rubha nam Brathairean), near Staffin on the northeast coast of Skye, including one of the Deltapodus type, which has not been previously recorded on the island. BBC, PLOS ONE


 * 9 March: Two cases of novel coronavirus are confirmed in Shetland. BBC, Scottish government


 * 15 February: Storm Dennis causes a 77 mph gust in South Uist. BBC


 * 8 February: Storm Ciara causes gusts of over 60 mph in Tiree, South Uist and Stornoway. BBC


 * 6 February: Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, announces that Serco NorthLink's contract to run ferry services to the Northern Isles will be renewed. BBC


 * 23 January: The Comhairle nan Eilean Siar announces that Gaelic-medium education will become the default for primary-school children in the Outer Hebrides from August. BBC


 * 15 January: The Braighe causeway in Lewis is closed due to high winds coupled with high tides. BBC


 * 13 January: Storm Brendan causes schools to close in the Outer Hebrides as well as cancellations on all Caledonian MacBrayne ferry routes. BBC

2019

 * 18 December: The Finance Secretary, Derek Mackay, announces that the two new Caledonian MacBrayne vessels, MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802, are further delayed, and that their cost has doubled to nearly £200 million. BBC


 * 3 July: EnQuest announces plans to reduce the workforce at the Sullom Voe terminal on Shetland by 80 people, representing approximately 20% of the total. BBC


 * 2 July: The Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, particularly the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae, is described as "extremely vulnerable" to climate change. BBC


 * 13 June: Radiocarbon dating reveals that four crannogs – artificial islands on lochs – on the Isle of Lewis date from 3640–3360 BC during the Neolithic period, rather than the Iron Age as previously believed. BBC


 * 11 June: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar proposes a commercial spaceport at Scolpaig on North Uist. BBC


 * 11 June: The Scottish and Irish governments are engaged in talks over a dispute over fishing rights around Rockall. BBC


 * 3 June: One of five lost Lewis chessmen, medieval walrus-ivory chess pieces originally found on Lewis in 1831, is re-discovered in Edinburgh. BBC


 * 24 May: A fire seriously damages a pub-cum-restaurant on the harbour front of Tobermory, Mull. BBC


 * 23–24 May: A 24-hour strike by air-traffic controllers closes six HIAL airports, including Benbecula, Kirkwall, Stornoway and Sumburgh. BBC


 * 23 May: A virtual-reality reconstruction of early 15th-century Finlaggan, on Loch Finlaggen, Islay – the seat of Lord of the Isles – is created by researchers at the University of St Andrews. BBC


 * 23 May: Highlands and Islands Enterprise announces its plans to sell the 5,775-acre Orbost estate on Skye. BBC


 * 21 May: Shetland is placed number 6 in Lonely Planet's "Top 10 summer destinations in Europe". BBC


 * 20 May: A report by 16 conservation groups documents threats including overgrazing, invasive non-native Rhododendron ponticum, ash dieback, climate change and pollution to the remaining Atlantic rainforest of the Inner Hebrides and the Scottish west coast. BBC, Woodland Trust


 * 10 May: A competition is ongoing to design flags to represent Benbecula, Eriskay and North Uist. BBC


 * 29 April: Serco announces that NorthLink Ferries, which provide services to Orkney and Shetland, have reduced their annual one-use plastic consumption by 200,000 items. BBC


 * 24–25 April: A major fire burns 5 square miles of forestry at Edinbane wind farm, near Struan on Skye. BBC


 * 24 April: Climate scientists test a new measure that assesses risk from climate change on sites of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site on Mainland, Orkney. BBC


 * 18–19 April: Several wildfires burn in moorland and conifer plantation on Balmakailly Hill, Rothesay, Bute.


 * 18 April: New Scottish legislation comes into force permitting road rallies, such as the Tour of Mull, to take place on closed public roads.


 * 18 April: The Scottish government approves two wind farms on Orkney Mainland, overturning the Orkney Islands Council's 2018 rejection.


 * 13–17 April: A mechanical fault on the MV Isle of Lewis interrupts direct ferry services between Barra and mainland Scotland.


 * 12 April: The Ardnahoe Distillery opens in the north east of Islay, becoming the island's ninth active whisky distillery.


 * 29 March: The Vanishing, a film based on the Flannan Isles lighthouse mystery of 1900, is released in the UK.


 * 28 March: The Black House, Skye, is one of nineteen buildings shortlisted by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland for its annual award.


 * 26 March: The Scottish government buys two ferries, MV Helliar and MV Hildasay, for the Caledonian Maritime Assets fleet.


 * 19 March: The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) provisionally approves a proposed underwater cable connecting Shetland with the mainland, enabling wind-generated electricity to be used across the UK, but rejects similar plans for the Outer Hebrides.


 * 15 March: Inspired by the international Fridays for Future campaign, schoolchildren from South Uist and other islands strike to demand greater government action to counter climate change.


 * 15 March: Caledonian Maritime Assets, the public body that owns Caledonian MacBrayne's ferries, are in dispute with the Port Glasgow shipyard, Ferguson Marine, over extra costs incurred in a delayed £97 million contract to build two new dual-fuelled ferries.


 * 12 March: Storm Gareth affects south-west Scotland, with a 70 mph gust recorded on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides.


 * 10 March: The Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, Shetland, is destroyed by fire.


 * 6 March: The BiFab construction yard at Arnish near Stornoway on Lewis wins a contract to build wind turbines for the Moray East offshore windfarm, with the creation of 82 jobs.

2018

 * 22 August: The islands of Faray, Holm of Faray and Red Holm in the Orkneys are put up for sale.


 * 17–18 August: Gaelic folk rock band Runrig, formed on Skye in 1973, play two final concerts in Stirling before retiring.


 * 14 August: An underwater cable connecting Arnish, near Stornoway on Lewis, with Dundonnell in Wester Ross is proposed by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks.


 * 9 August: An ongoing excavation on Staffa finds evidence of Bronze Age occupation.


 * 8 August: High-quality Neolithic stone axes are found in ongoing excavations at the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney.


 * 4 August: The reconstructed Bluebird K7 hydroplane, recovered from Coniston Water in 2001, undergoes tests on Loch Fad, Bute.


 * 26 July: A salvage operation successfully refloats the cargo ship MV Priscilla, which ran aground on the Pentland Skerries off Orkney.


 * 18–21 July: The Hebridean Celtic music festival (Fèis Cheilteach Innse Gall) occurs in Stornoway on Lewis.


 * 18 July: The cargo ship Priscilla runs aground on the Pentland Skerries off Orkney.


 * 12 July: Further redundancies are announced at the BiFab construction yard at Arnish near Stornoway on Lewis, after the company's takeover by Canadian company DF Barnes in April.


 * 11 July: Household numbers in the Outer Hebrides and Argyll and Bute are predicted to fall over the next 25 years, in contrast to steep rises predicted in the remainder of Scotland.


 * 10 July: Seabird numbers are rebounding after a successful Scottish Natural Heritage campaign to control non-native mink in the Outer Hebrides.


 * 1–7 July: The Mendelssohn on Mull chamber music festival occurs on Mull and Iona, led by the Doric String Quartet.


 * 22–28 June: The St Magnus International Festival of the arts occurs on the islands of Orkney.


 * 21 June: Ulva becomes the property of the North West Mull Community Woodland Company, after a community buyout using £4.4 million from the Scottish Land Fund.


 * 14 June: White-tailed eagles successfully hatch chicks on Hoy, the first time the species has bred in Orkney since the 19th century.


 * 27 May: A wildfire breaks out near Sligachan on Skye.


 * 6 April: Around 50 dinosaur footprints dating from the Middle Jurassic are found at Rubha nam Braithrean on the Trotternish peninsula, Skye.


 * 4–5 April: A wildfire devastates part of the Cuillin on Rùm.


 * 14 February: A lightning strike destroys part of the ruins of the 15th-century castle of Caisteal Maol, near Kyleakin on Skye.