Also in the news / Council birthday, free children’s flights and more …
SHETLAND Islands Council (SIC) has been celebrating its 50th birthday today (Friday).
Its first meeting was held on 16 May 1975 following a reorganisation of local government in Scotland, which saw Lerwick Town Council and Zetland County Council replaced by the SIC.
The council flag has been flying over Lerwick Town Hall to mark the occasion, with the council thanking all staff and elected members past and present for their service over five decades.
A private event for invited guest is being held to mark the anniversary at Lerwick Town Hall today, though the media were not invited to attend.
NORTHERN Isles politician Alistair Carmichael has urged the UK Government to take action and immediately declare a genocide is taking place in Gaza.
The MP said that waiting for a formal court declaration of genocide would not meet the UK’s obligations to prevent genocide under international law.
A UN-backed assessment has stated that Gaza’s population of around 2.1 million is at “critical risk” of famine and faces “extreme levels of food insecurity” as an Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid continues.
Some 244,000 people are said to currently be experiencing the most severe, or “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer said the International Court of Justice was “clearly the correct authority” to be considering the matter, and had issued a set of provisional measures that the UK Government supported.
While Carmichael said he could understand the need to seek a “strong legal basis” in this situation, he added there “has to be a point where action must be taken”.
“2.1 million people are under siege and essentially being slowly starved – Israel’s actions surely constitute a prima facie breach of the Genocide Convention,” he said.
“There is a point where waiting for that clear fact to be made formal is to accept thousands of innocent people – perhaps tens of thousands or more – dying in the meantime. There really is no more time to waste.”
MEANWHILE a Shetland-style Sunday teas event was held in Glasgow at the weekend – with £2,400 raised for three Palestinian families and the mutual aid group Reviving Gaza.
One the organisers, Louise Thomason, said there was plenty of food and drink on offer including bannocks, cakes and sassermaet sausage rolls.
She said £2,400 was an “amazing” amount of money raised which will “help three families survive, and go towards supporting the work of Reviving Gaza”.
CHILDREN under 11 can fly for free on select flights booked up to Sunday 25 May through Loganair.
The airline has announced the launch of its Kids Fly Fare-Free campaign, which coincides with two new seasonal routes this summer between Edinburgh and Guernsey and Glasgow and Newquay.
The initiative, which runs from 15 to 25 May, allows children aged 11 and under to travel without paying an airfare when accompanied by a fare-paying adult, with only taxes and surcharges applying.
The offer is valid for bookings made on Loganair’s routes from 1 June 2025 onwards.
SHETLAND Textiles Network is hosting the second of its Textile Gadderies events next weekend.
The event, which is being held in Islesburgh’s Room 16 from 2.30pm-4pm on Saturday 24 May, follows on from the first event last November.
It will be split into two parts, with a presentation to share insights the textiles group have gathered and ways the network might support the textiles community.
The second half of the event will be open to the audience for questions, discussions and suggestions.
This is an in-person event, and people are encouraged to RSVP to enquiries@shetlandtextilesnetwork.org. All are welcome.
The group is also asking people to fill in its textiles survey, which can be done anonymously, here.
SCOTTISH Water is asking people to use water “as efficiently as possible” in a bid to protect resources and supplies across the country.
After a spell of dry and warm weather – and with more forecast – the company is working to ensure its supplies can cope with demand.
It said it had also been the driest start to a year in Scotland since 1964.
The company is now urging people to help save water by using a watering can instead of a garden hose where possible, taking shorter showers and using washing machines and dishwashers only when they are fully loaded.
Chief executive Alex Plant said the utility was “working hard to maintain normal supplies for all customers”.
“We believe that a large part of the additional water use at the moment is in gardens so we would ask that customers are mindful of how much water they use there,” he said.
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