A Visit to Antigua and Barbuda

A Visit to Antigua and Barbuda

January 2024

My presentation of credentials was at Government House, the seat of the Governor General since 1800.  The wooden structure dates from that time and is still grand and impressive.  In my remarks to Governor General Sir Rodney Williams, I recalled that diplomatic relations were established twenty-four years previously in an exchange of notes at the UN. I said that I was honoured and proud to be the first Irish diplomat to present credentials.  I said that we shared a common heritage within the framework of Britain’s transatlantic colonial reach and were now both successful independent countries, Ireland since 1922 and Antigua and Barbuda since 1981.  We have embarked on a new phase in our relations, a true partnership.  Our support for SIDS4 is an example of this and I was keen to identify more opportunities for collaboration.  In presenting my credentials, I spoke of the President’s best wishes for the Governor General and through him for his majesty Charles III, and for the happiness and prosperity of the people of Antigua and Barbuda. 

In his remarks, Sir Rodney Williams extended his government’s warmest regards and best wishes for health and prosperity to His Excellency, President Michael D. Higgins.  He spoke warmly of the depth of local Irish heritage:  “The records show that the first Irish settlers came to the Caribbean in the 1600s. In 1678, 26% of the Caucasian population in Antigua was Irish (Hogan, 2019). Most of them were indentured servants and merchants but some were Irish planters and slave owners.  The Irish history that exists today in our country is evident in the surnames of local persons, such as Sweeny, O’Reilly, Harris, Murphy, Lynch, Kirwan and Turner, as well as places bearing names such as Belfast Bay, Nugent Avenue, Delaps Estate, Bodkins Estate and Gaynor’s Estate.”

The GG noted the Entangled Islands, Ireland the Caribbean exhibition at EPIC and said he encouraged more research into our shared history. The GG went on to say that “I am of the firm view that your learned experience and skills will form a critical component of our countries’ strengthened partnership, creating powerful opportunities for the prosperity of our people.” He commended Ireland for the inaugural Latin America and the Caribbean Business and Economic Forum held under the theme “Ireland and LAC – Expanding Opportunity.”  He thanked Ireland for its support for the Fourth SIDS Conference.  He concluded: “Your Excellency, I also want to encourage you to make a case for the continued provision of more short and long-term scholarships for nationals of Antigua and Barbuda in key areas including financial services regulation, cybersecurity, and ocean studies.

At the close of the formalities, we repaired with our partners for a lively and informative private meeting.  At its conclusion the GG invited us to lunch on the following Saturday where we continued our discussions on a number of topics, including the evolving partnership and possibilities of supporting civil society, a particular focus of Lady Sandra.  The GG is charming and engaging, a real force for good with a highly impressive humanitarian record of public service as a practicing doctor over his long and productive life. 

Antigua (meaning ancient) and Barbuda (bearded) is a small and very beautiful volcanic island state of around 100,000 people, part of the Lesser (smaller) Antilles (etymology unknown) and Leeward Islands (the Windward are to the south) at the conjunction of the Caribbean and Atlantic.  Like the other Small Island States of the Caribbean, their physical territory at less than 4% of their jurisdiction is dwarfed by the scale of the maritime exclusive economic zones at over 96%. The Eastern Caribbean islands are on a seismic fault line and vulnerability to earthquakes has increased over the last century due to population increases, changes in land use, and the use of high-rise and concrete (which conversely increases resilience to hurricanes).

Antigua and Barbuda has a rich heritage dating from its earliest settlement by the Siboney and Arawak peoples. Christopher Columbus arrived there in 1493, followed by Spanish and then from 1632 English colonization: all of the dreadful effects of European arrival and exploitation ensured, including disease, extirpation and slavery. There is much physical evidence of its time as an early English colony (producing sugar and rum with African slave labour) and the Royal Navy’s main base in the Caribbean at a time when a large proportion of the Navy’s sailors were Irish (Barrett et al).  Nelson’s Dockyard is a UNESCO world heritage site.  The fleets today comprise billionaires’ superyachts.  The weekend we were there, the Oyster Round the World Rally began, the yacht-building company’s boats at sea for sixteen months.

I met with both the Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, and Chet Greene, the Minister for Minister for Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Tourism and Barbuda Affairs, the latter fresh from his participation last November in the inaugural LAC Economic Conference at Dublin Castle.  We had plenty to talk about including paths to economic development, relations with the EU, the SIDS4 Conference, our support for their Centre of Excellence on the Ocean and Blue Economy and the University of the West Indies (Five Islands Campus, St John’s) and other opportunities including Ireland’s role as an advocate for SIDS and our unique position within the EU as an English language speaking and common law country. I thanked them for taking on responsibility for SIDS4 at a critical time, recalling the recent UN synthesis report on progress under the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway (SAMO) which showed some gains in some countries on some fronts (notably data) but no progress or regression across many areas of focus. I pointed out that one of the four pillars of our new SIDS Strategy was advocacy and we would not be found wanting on that score. 

So what are my take-aways? 

First, I am very proud of the seriousness with the Department and my colleagues are implementing our commitments to the Small Island Developing States.  This new reality unscored all my conversations.  It is great that we are approaching this with the SIDs as partners with something to offer. Antigua and Barbuda inputted into our second SIDSs strategy, for example.

Secondly, there is serious interest on the part of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in deepening research on our shared history and heritage, very much developing the ‘Entangled Islands’ theme but also linking it with the wider context of transatlantic colonialism that I have been exploring in Canada and have noted in regard to Jamaica.

Thirdly, post-Brexit, Ireland is the only common-law and English-language member of the EU so we are a natural partner for many Caribbean countries who have various types of relationship with the British Commonwealth and the legal heritage that comes with that.

Finally, other areas for cooperation include scholarships and exchanges, research on the Blue Economy, lesson sharing on cyber security, and climate change mitigation.  

Like so many of these trips, you fly into the unknown, but leave with new friends, fresh thoughts, and a handle on some things.  All ready to be built on for the future!

Eamonn

Ottawa, January 2024