Looking back at the week – another leader visit, tourist office reopens, wool week patron
ANOTHER week, another political leader visiting Shetland – this time the man likely to return to the Scottish Parliament as first minister.
John Swinney made an appearance on Monday to first join a redd-up in Scalloway before heading to Lerwick to speak to some local businesses.
It is fair to say the SNP leader’s walk about town was not as tumultuous as Nigel Farage’s a week earlier.
In other election news we ran features on Labour’s John Erskine and Alliance to Liberate Scotland’s Brian Nugent as part of our series of deeper-dives into the local candidates.
On Thursday night the final election hustings were held in Lerwick – this time on the topic of climate, with candidates agreeing on a few key issues…apart from Nugent, who said he does not believe in net zero.
A more unsavoury side of the election campaign, however, reared its head on Monday with reports of a ‘Heil Hitler’ jibe being thrown at the Greens’ Alex Armitage last weekend.
Overnight on Friday/Saturday a number of Green and SNP election signs were removed from lampposts on Sound Brae in Lerwick.
In life outside the election campaign we visited the tourist office at the Market Cross on Wednesday as it reopened following its closure in 2024, while later that day we went to the museum for Shetland Wool Week’s patron unveiling.
There were also features on Katie Bain, who has recovered from septic shock to run at the London marathon, and June Johnson, who reflected on achieving her childhood dream of visiting the South Shetland Islands.
We also headed to a new tattoo studio which has opened in Lerwick.
Alannah’s new studio is ink perfect as tattoo artist opens doors
Shetland News also published an opinion piece from Shetland Library team leader Catherine Jeromson about the benefits of reading in an increasingly digital age – it is well worth a look if you missed it.
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Over in council land, elected members refused planning permission in principle for seven new homes in Trondra, while chief executive Maggie Sandison spelled out the savings expected to be achieved from a restructure of the SIC’s top layer of management.
She also confirmed that a meeting is planned between the council and the recreational and charitable trusts following the closure of the Scalloway swimming pool.
Tributes were also paid this week to the late Joe Irvine, who was a former headteacher at Brae High School and an ex-recreational trust chairman.
Yesterday (Saturday) there was alarm over the arrival of armed police officers off a helicopter in Lerwick.
Shetland News quickly attended the scene but after gaining an understanding of the isolated incident, we decided against reporting on the matter as we did not feel it was in the public interest.
Thanks for all your support this week, with Shetland News continuing to provide news and views free of charge. Remember that if you like what we do and feel able to, you can become a supporter here: https://account.shetnews.co.uk/register/
More stories from the week:
- Warning ‘great asset’ Voxter could be lost without major cash injection
- Mouat takes senior role at University of Highlands and Islands
- Proposals unveiled for affordable housing at old Urafirth school site
- Meanwhile there were also two lifeboat call-outs during the week
Keep Shetland’s news open to everyone
Your membership helps us report the stories that matter to Shetland — and keep them free for everyone to read.
