Dounby Chanter and Drum Practice group organised a pipe band parade in the grounds of Dounby School at the weekend.

There were performances by the pipe bands of Caithness Junior, North Highland Juvenile, Kirkwall City No. 1 and 2, Stromness Royal British Legion and Dounby Chanter and Drum Practice.

The individual performances was followed by a parade of the Massed Pipes and Drums.

Orkney Islands Council’s policy and resources committee have recommended giving £61,500 towards the building of family accommodation within the new children’s hospital in Aberdeen.

The figure was suggested by development committee chairman, Councillor Jim Foubister, who said this would be “an excellent facility” and good use of the council’s Reserve Fund.

A note of caution was voiced by Councillor Mike Drever, who said that while it was a “very laudable” project, helping to fund hospital facilities in Aberdeen was not a responsibility of the council.

Refurbishment for historic building

The Girnel on Kirkwall's harbour front. (Picture: Leslie Burgher)

The Girnel, on Kirkwall's harbour front, is to undergo a major external refurbishment, after being awarded a £51,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Historic Scotland and Orkney Islands Council are also contributing to Orkney Sailing Club's £150,000 project.

The building was built by the Earl of Orkney in 1643 for storing the rent corn from the Northern Isles.

Orkney is to hold a course for budding conductors next June as part of the St Magnus Festival.

Masterclasses will be taken by a variety of composers and soloists. Participants will also have the chance to work with visiting orchestras and ensembles, as well as the Festival Chorus.

The ten day event, will be directed by London-based conductor Martyn Brabbins.

Orkney Islands Council are warning ferry passengers that major disruption will begin to happen on the North Pier, Stromness, from Monday.

The whole area will have to be cleared of vehicles and cordoned off this weekend because work is about to start on strengthening the pier in readiness for a temporary linkspan.

Parking will not be allowed anywhere on the pier while this work is in progress and much of the existing parking area will be used as a working area for the contractors.

The cost of justice in Orkney has spiralled over the past year – with two high profile cases in the county costing the taxpayer an estimated £50,000.

The police bill in tackling the crimes of Paul Bullen and Kevin Casey, who were both jailed in the High Court in Edinburgh within the past year, was around £20,000.

And it is claimed that up to £30,000 has been wasted by last minute changes to pleas prior to the two trials, meaning potential witnesses travelled south unnecessarily.

A potential funding crisis in the annual running costs of the Orkney Citizens Advice Bureau is likely to be averted, with a council committee agreeing to hand over £51,290.

A council report recommended that the grant be awarded to Orkney CAB for the current financial year, the amount requested by the organisation.

Wednesday's policy and resources committee meeting approved the expenditure.

Cash boost for Orkney schools

Orkney schools are set to receive a £174,000 cash boost under the Scottish Executive’s £1 billion funding lifeline, announced on Wednesday.

The money is earmarked for rebuilding or refurbishing around 300 Scottish schools.

However, it is not yet known how or where the money will be spent, according to the director of education, Mr Leslie Manson, who said he had to meet with the technical services department.

Councillors have reaffirmed their previous decision that the site of the former Phoenix Cinema on Junction Road in Kirkwall should be used to create a women’s refuge in Orkney.

Since the full Orkney Islands Council meeting in March, others possible sites have been examined.

Members of the policy and resources committee agreed on Wednesday to donate the former cinema site to the women’s refuge project.

Councillors were given a progress report on Thursday on the financial arrangements to build the new cassette system for transporting livestock from Orkney and Shetland.

The special meeting was being held in private because of the commercial sensitivity of the project.

The ferry St Sunniva was six hours late getting into Kirkwall on Tuesday night because of engine problems on her journey north from Aberdeen.

The vessel was due in at 8 pm, but only arrived at 4 am.

It is understood that repairs to the ship’s engines will not be carried out until she arrives back in Aberdeen today.

OIC fail to appoint new finance director

Orkney Islands councillors have failed to appoint a new finance and housing director, despite interviewing four candidates for the job over Monday and Tuesday.

The post is to be re-advertised and the council's recruitment strategy reviewed in the hope of attracting a wider field of candidates in future.

OIC chief executive, Alistair Buchan, said: "I do not think the decision reflects badly on the candidates whom we interviewed. We simply felt we needed a bigger choice."

Apple crumble ice cream wins award

The Orkney Creamery has won a prestigious Country Life Magazine Award.

The creamery’s special award was conferred in recognition of its Apple Crumble Ice Cream, which received “special praise for its originality”.

The award is announced in the latest issue of Country Life Magazine.

A painting by an Orcadian art student has been chosen to hang in the British Airways Executive Lounge at Edinburgh Airport.

Laura Drever (20) from Ingale in Kirkwall, is currently in her third year of a Drawing and Painting (BA) course at Edinburgh College of Art.

She was one of eight students from the college whose work was chosen by London-based art company Artwise, who have chosen hundreds of paintings by art students to hang in airport lounges throughout the UK.

Consumers eating out, grabbing a takeaway, or buying their weekly groceries in Orkney are well protected, according to a report published by the Food Standards Agency Scotland on Monday.

An in-depth analysis of Orkney Islands Council has been carried out by the Agency as part of a national drive to improve standards of consumer protection.

A decision by British Airways to cut commission payments to travel agents is increasing the cost of flights in and out of Orkney.

Mark Ridgway of Ridgway Travel and Holiday Centre in Kirkwall said he had tried to run as normal with the BA cut, but found he had no choice other than to implement additional charges.

From July 1 domestic flight reservations are set to rise by £10, European flights by £20 and long haul flights by £30.

A number of the performers who have been taking part in this year’s St Magnus Festival were heard on BBC Radio 3’s drive-time programme In Tune yesterday evening.

The show’s host, Sean Rafferty, chatted to the guests and listened to their music as they performed live in the St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall.

Members of the public were able to drop in at any point during the live broadcast.

Substantial damage was caused to an outbuilding at a farm in St Ola following a fire on Saturday evening.

Two units from Kirkwall Fire Brigade were called to attend the fire at Grassiehowe at around 5.30 pm and extinguished the blaze.

Police Inspector Paul Eddington said that nobody was injured but substantial damage was caused to the building.

Orkney retain Archer Shield

Orkney's senior football team retained the Archer Shield on Saturday afternoon, defeating Caithness by two goals to one.

This is the first time in fourteen years that Orkney have won on Caithness soil.

Orkney's goals were scored by Cullen Burns and Dougie Omand.

Finance director interviews scheduled

Interviews are were being held yesterday and today for the post of director finance and housing with Orkney Islands Council.

Four candidates have been invited for interview for the post to replace David Robertson who started a new job with Highland Council last week.

In order to smooth the transition between Mr Robertson’s departure and a new person filling the post, the OIC have appointed an interim director of finance and housing - Albert Tait, the recently retired depute chief executive of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

£84,000 to speed up care transfers

Orkney is to receive £84,000 from the Scottish Executive to help reduce the waiting times between discharging a patient from hospital and making arrangements for a more appropriate care setting.

A total investment of £15 million across Scotland to help speed up care transfers was announced yesterday by the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, Frank McAveety.

The funds will be shared between NHS Orkney and Orkney Islands Council’s community social services department who have drawn up a joint working action plan.

Top award for Skara Brae visitor centre

Orkney MSP and Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, Jim Wallace, has presented the Skara Brae visitor centre with a top environmental award for its energy saving, water efficiency, waste disposal and use of environmentally friendly products.

Mr Wallace handed over a gold award from VisitScotland’s Green Tourism Business Scheme in the visitor centre on Friday morning.

It is the first Historic Scotland property to receive a gold award, although, Stirling Castle got a silver award last year and Craigmillar Castle in Edinburgh has been given a bronze rating.