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Portal:Scottish islands/News/Archive

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

2021

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2020

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

2019

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  • 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: The Scottish and Irish governments are engaged in talks over a dispute over fishing rights around Rockall. BBC
  • 24 May: A fire seriously damages a pub-cum-restaurant on the harbour front of Tobermory, Mull. BBC
  • 24–25 April: A major fire burns 5 square miles of forestry at Edinbane wind farm, near Struan on Skye. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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

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  • 17–18 August: Gaelic folk rock band Runrig, formed on Skye in 1973, play two final concerts in Stirling before retiring.
  • 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.
  • 26 July: A salvage operation successfully refloats the cargo ship MV Priscilla, which ran 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.