Council / Plenty of ‘shared issues’ identified after last month’s Faroese visit
All photos: Courtesy Jan Müller
CLOSER relationships between Shetland and Faroe may be on the horizon after a three-day visit by a large Faroese delegation last month.
Led by the islands’ justice minister Bjarni Kárason Petersen, the group met with Shetland councillors and council officials, as well as representatives from industry.
They toured the SaxaVord Spaceport, Sullom Voe Terminal, renewable energy developments, harbour facilities in Lerwick and Scalloway as well as the fisheries department of UHI Shetland.
The Shetland contingent were particularly interested to learn more about subsea tunnels and how these have helped sustain populations in the remoter parts of the islands.
There may well be a return visit at some stage in the future, but for the time being it looks as though future relationship building will be happening via Teams meetings.
To bring the non-existent transport links between the two neighbouring island groups into sharp focus, the Faroese delegation had to revert to chartered helicopters to make the 90-minute trip to Shetland.
The poorly communicated visit received little attention at the time despite its political significance.
Not only can Shetland try to learn from Faroese tunnel building expertise, but there is also Shetland’s stated aim to explore option for more financial and political self-determination, which was agreed by councillors back in September 2020.
And last but not least there is still a multi-million investment in the Faroese shipping company Smyril Line.
According to a report in the Faroese press, justice minister Petersen described the visit as a “good opportunity” to start working closer together on infrastructure projects as well as social and cultural aspects.
Addressing a civic reception in the Lerwick Town Hall, he said: “I know that many people in Shetland have had a keen interest in the developments of undersea tunnels to connect the islands in the Faroes.
“I also think it is fair to say, that we have had quite a lot of experience in that area over the last 25 years or so.
“Every time a new tunnel has been built it has been perceived as a gargantuan undertaking – is this possible? Is it responsible? Will it make any difference? The answer to these questions has so far only been yes, yes and yes.
“The tunnels have been a major contributor to mobility and cohesion between our islands and I think you will be hard pressed today to find any Faroese who will disagree with this statement.
“I am therefore confident that you will have the same experience in the Shetland Islands.”
And what can Faroe learn from Shetland? Petersen is quoted in dagur.fo saying: “They think big in terms of industrial projects. They are ambitious in implementing the green energy transition.
“They are working hard to attract skilled labour and make it interesting to come to Shetland to live and get some good jobs.
“We saw this among other things in the northernmost island, Unst, where the SaxaVord Spaceport is located, and where one bets quite heavily on a space industry that largely attracts many high-tech jobs. It was very inspiring.”
With Faroe often seen as a blueprint for Shetland’s political aspirations, council leader Emma Macdonald said it was interesting to learn how Faroe and Shetland were “facing a lot of the same challenges” in different political circumstances.
She said it was not the case that everything in Faroe was better and listed “shared issues”, such as finding people willing to work in social care and attracting young people back home.
Council chief executive Maggie Sandison added the visitors picked up on a lot of “positive experiences” during their time here.
“They were very impressed with the port facilities here, very interested in some of the new energy developments, and very interested in the fishing research,” she said.
“However, they were incredibly frustrated by a lack of connectivity for mobile phones which they just couldn’t get their heads around.”
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