It is a wonderful sight to see the President of Tynwald, the Hon. Laurence Skelly, meeting with the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, this week.
President Skelly was leading a visit to Ireland with a delegation of MHKs and hosted by the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The Manx representatives are undertaking deeper engagement with their Irish counterparts to learn more about Committee work and to gain a broader understanding of current issues of mutual concern.
For newer MHKs it's also an opportunity to become acquainted with the work, history and functioning of the Houses of the Oireachtas in light of the two parliaments sharing goals and interests.
Reayrtys has been long advocating for greater engagement and working relationships with our neighbours across the Irish Sea Space.
We hope this visit marks the start of a new era of greater cooperation with Ireland and the Irish Government.
Looking beyond this study visit - and to help give this relationship greater structure at a policy and diplomatic level - here are some ‘starters for ten’ that Tynwald and the Manx Government could consider:
Bi-lateral programme of work - Both our neighbours Scotland and Wales have established bi-lateral policy programmes with Ireland to engage and collaborate on achieving positive economic, educational, cultural and other mutually beneficial outcomes.
More educational and cultural exchange opportunities - We should look into extending opportunities for Manx students to undertake exchange visits built on our shared music or language (e.g. scaling up the current Kaneen Bursary available to Manx language students) or extended exchanges for Manx students with no access to the EU’s Erasmus scheme. For example, Wales has created its own student exchange programme, Taith.
Permanent Manx Representation - Establishing a permanent representative to drive deeper business engagement would help the Manx businesses tap into an international economy with access to the EU and a GDP of $519Bn which is currently growing at 5.6% (2023).
We look forward to seeing more and deeper interaction between our two countries.
If any MHKs, civil servants or other stakeholders want to learn more about transforming the steps above into concrete activities, get in touch with us.