A bid to access £1 million in grant aid for the new Orkney library was held up because of lack of staff working on the project.

Orkney College received money form the Scottish Further Education Funding Council to pay for capital projects such as repairs and maintenance work. The college were allocated a £39,913 capital grant for 2001/2002.

The first formal promotion of creating a container trans-shipment hub in Scapa Flow by Orkney Islands Council and their joint partners in the scheme, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Halifax Port Authority in Nova Scotia, was very successful.

Chartered accountants Price and Long went their separate ways after a dispute with Mr Alan Long practising with Helen Long to form The Long Partnership, and Mr Neil Price, Doris Hutchison and Steven Sinclair trading as Orcadia Chartered Accountants.

Orcadian fashion lecturer Isobel Mowat reached the top of the Scottish fashion world after clinching the sought-after title of New Fashion Designer of the Year. Isobel, who comes from Longhope but now lives in Edinburgh, emerged the winner after competing against eight other leading designers who had been in business for less than two years.

South Ronaldsay blacksmith William Mowatt was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

The whole issue of planning in Orkney was thrown into turmoil with allegations of corruption within the system, and of members of the public threatening violence to a council staff member, surfaced in a local tribunal.

Alistair Carmichael took over Orkney and Shetland’s MP in Westminster, but with a majority almost half that obtained by Jim Wallace in the 1997 General Election.

Scottish Executive cash for the new £12.6 million ro-ro terminal at Hatston and £700,000 improvements to Stromness harbour was secured this month.

Orkney divers found the wreck of a fishing boat lost off Caithness nearly 27 years ago. The Trident was discovered by John Thornton and his dive crew whilst they were looking for another wreck. The Trident went down as she was returning from fishing grounds in the West Coast on October 3, 1974 with the loss of seven men.

The St Magnus Festival enjoyed record attendance at many performances.

The final resting place of the warship HMS Exmouth was found this month. The destroyer was hit by German U-boat torpedoes and went down with all of it’s 189 crew in January 1940.