The Isle of Man hosted the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Small Branches’ latest workshop last week.

‘Building Strong and Independent Parliaments in Small Jurisdictions’ proved to be ‘an eye-opener’ Alvina Reynolds, the President of the Senate of Saint Lucia.

President Reynolds was speaking on the final day of the workshop, which ran from April 1-3 and was organised by the CPA HQ Secretariat and supported by the Clerk of Tynwald’s Office.

The event brought together parliamentarians from across the world.

President Reynolds added: ‘Having served as President of the Senate for some two years now, I found the workshop to be a valuable way of learning from other jurisdictions about how to be an effective presiding officer.

‘To have had the opportunity to observe the Speaker of the House of Keys Juan Watterson, to attend case study presentations, explore financial oversight and accountability practices and the management of the separation of powers were all real-life learning experiences, elements of which, such as the public accounts committee function, I will definitely be taking back to Saint Lucia.

‘For my part, I was particularly keen to know more about how you can serve the electorate as an MP and carry out the presiding officer function.

‘I was also curious about Tynwald’s tricameral system and I count myself very fortunate to have been exposed to such a wealth of knowledge and skills. When we visited the House of Commons I couldn’t really “get” how it operated.

‘In Tynwald, though, I found it far easier to follow the practices and procedures and was struck by the respect members showed to one another.’

States of Guernsey Deputy Adrian Gabriel, vice-chair of the CPA Small Branches network, said: ‘Observing a sitting of the House of Keys, we noted not only how respectful members were to each other, but also towards Mr Speaker.

‘I found the proceedings civilised and conducted with professionalism, and there was clearly great respect for the traditions of Tynwald.

‘The workshop has been tremendously worthwhile and we’re very grateful to our hosts.’