CIG’s UK office makes appearance at Unionist conference

| 27/11/2018 | 24 Comments
Cayman News Service

Eric Bush with UDP Leader Arlene Foster, member of the Northern Ireland Assembly

(CNS): Representatives from Cayman’s Islands London Office travelled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, last week for the Democratic Unionist Party Conference to educate MPs, members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the general public about the Cayman Islands, according to a press release. This is the first year that a Cayman delegation has attended the DUP Conference, and officials said that the goal was to assess the value of attending a wider scope of political engagement activities, branching out into Ireland. 

While in the past the Cayman government had very little to gain from getting involved in the complexities of Irish-Unionist politics, the DUP currently has disproportionate power in Westminster due to the support that its leader, Arlene Foster, has so far given to Theresa May’s Conservative Party.  Without Foster, May would not have been able to form a majority government, and while the coalition has held to date, the Brexit deal is pushing the partnership to the limits.

Given that Brexit will have an as yet unknown impact on Cayman, and the post-Brexit world will be a new environment in which the UK could well turn towards its wider colonial family, the visit to Belfast may in time prove to have been beneficial.

Eric Bush, the head of the London office, and his deputy, Charles Parchment, are the first Cayman Islands representatives in the UK to attend the Unionist conference, though the office usually sends delegations to the mainstream political events in the UK, such as the Conservative and Labour Party Conferences.

“The visit has been extremely worthwhile, particularly in view of the new positive connections we have made, we intend to continue to forge new links with governments outside of Westminster, and look forward to the positive benefits this will bring to the Cayman Islands,” Bush said in the release.

In addition to hosting a booth at the conference, Bush and Parchment attended other meetings and took part in a Belfast East Constituency Tour with Gavin Robinson MP, lunched at the Ulster Reform Club with the Friends of the British Overseas Territories, and visited Bangor with Jim Shannon MP and Councillor Robert Adair.

The conference included sessions discussing local government with Robinson, Brexit with Diane Dodds MP, and fringe events on economy, parliamentarianism, trade and looking towards a low tax future.

“This has been a great opportunity to meet with DUP leaders and members to remind the Northern Ireland Government and the general public in Northern Ireland that the Cayman Islands is a British Territory and to discuss similar challenges and current affairs relating to Northern Ireland and the Cayman Islands,” said Bush. “I was able to speak with DUP Leader Arlene Foster about Brexit and the similarities between Northern Ireland and the Cayman Islands.”

Bush also indicated that he had spoken with William Humphrey MLA about the potential of setting up a Friends of Cayman chapter within Northern Ireland.

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Comments (24)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    “the similarities between Northern Ireland and the Cayman Islands.”

    That must have been a long conversation. I guess NI and Cayman both have substantial anti gay voting blocs, but struggling to think what other similarities there are.

    • Anonymous says:

      Cayman Islands is mainly Protestant as is or was Norther Ireland but ever since there has a been a Roman Catholic community on Cayman there has never been any attacks against members of that community which has ben the case in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants for over three hundred years. We should be careful in allowing people from there into Cayman as we do not need any Sinn Fein or Orange Order people here as they practice politics of hatred

  2. Anyanoumous says:

    A total waste of time going meeting with DUP. They are a bunch of bigots. The conservatives as soon as they get a chance with get rid of them. They must have to hold their noses to rely on this lot for support. Cayman should not associate itself with these religious bigots.

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  3. Brexit explanations please says:

    Personally I would like to hear more about how Brexit is going to effect us? It would be good to ask this question to our politicians.
    As for Eric, why do we as Caymanians keep putting our own down, I’m sure he is giving 100% to his role in the UK and his role is probably alot more complicated than we think

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    • Anonymous says:

      Well, to start the UK will not be able to protect OFCs from blacklisting by the EU. Then the UK economy is going to be hammered, so it is likely to look to crowbar money in from offshore sources as much as it can. And third, the UK’s general international standing will be shot to pieces, so it will be able to influence international matters far less that might affect Cayman. Bottom line, Brexit will be really bad for the UK and is likely to have negative knock on effects for Cayman.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    “Hi, I’m Arlene, I am an extremist religious fundamentalist who has the cloud of allegations of serious corruption and incompetence hanging over my head.”

    “Hi, I’m Eric, I was told you had a lot in common with Cayman politicians…”

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Why is he still working there? I thought he was gone. Not necessarily dismissed. But I thought he had some other lateral movement.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    A meeting between the minority government he represents and the minority view within N.I. politics for which she acts as the figurehead! They are both comfortable in their xenophobia and homophobia!

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  7. Anonymous says:

    I think Eric had too much poitin.

  8. Anonymous says:

    What exactly are the similarities between Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom) and Cayman? This meeting has no meritorious basis at all and was as about as useful as
    a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest!

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Why is he meeting with corrupt lunatic extremists?

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Poor Eric, knows not what he does.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Have a good look around in Ireland. A good example of how religion can destroy a society.

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    • Anonymous says:

      ireland has a destroyed society?….what the hell are you talking about?

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      • Anonymous says:

        3600 people were killed in a war basically between protestants and catholics.
        Many women died from abortion, banned by the catholic church.
        In the 50’s the catholic home for unmarried mothers in Ireland murdered 800 babies.
        Do I need to continue ?

        Having your personal god is fine, but when it turns into organized religion, it becomes a threat to society.

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        • Anonymous says:

          no matter what the irish people have been through…their society is to be admired and is cherished the world over….and is defintely not destroyed.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Church of the Lager-all-day Saints.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    The word ‘Jolly’ springs to mind here.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Ban politics. Restore sanity.

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