Report by David McClarty on Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference 10th - 16th March 2002

My wife and I travelled to London on 10th March 2002 to attend the CPA conference celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Shortly after arriving we attended a welcoming reception and dinner for delegates and spouses who were attending from all parts of the Commonwealth. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with these strangers who, by the end of the week, had become my very good friends.

On Monday 11th March we travelled to the Palace of Westminster where we were given a guided tour followed by lunch in the House of Lords restaurant. Following this we walked to Westminster Abbey where we took our appointed places for a religious service to mark the launch of the Commonwealth Games. The service was attended by the Queen , Prince Philip and The Prince of Wales.

Later that evening the delegates attended a reception at Buckingham Palace given by Her Majesty followed by dinner at Lambeth Palace hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The next day saw the official opening of the conference at Lancaster House by Queen Elizabeth II; and a gold letter opener was presented to her by the CPA to mark her golden jubilee. Following lunch the conference moved to its opening plenary session entitled "The Commonwealth - The Next 50 Years". Later the delegates split into various groups for 3 workshops. I attended the workshop entitled 'Executive Authority and Parliamentary Scrutiny'. It was a most interesting session which gave me the opportunity to outline the N.I. Assembly perspective. I am afraid to say that Speakers in other legislatures have a great deal of power, for example in Bangladesh the Speaker can decide at a whim whether to allow the press to cover meetings or not. Later that evening the delegates enjoyed a marvellous production of 'My Fair Lady' at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

The following day the conference moved to Oxford, staying in the quaint Randolph Hotel, which was the setting for many scenes in the television programme 'Morse'. In the evening we were guests of St Antony's College who hosted a reception and dinner for all the delegates.

Friday morning saw the delegates split into workshops again. This time I made a contribution to 'Combating Terrorism - The Commonwealth Role'. It was a most fascinating workshop involving countries who are presently experiencing, or have in the past experienced terrorism. There was also throughout the discussions much mention of the events of September 11th.

Later that evening we were invited to tour Blenheim Palace which all of us found absolutely breathtaking. The guided tour took us to many areas of the palace not normally accessible to the public. The evening concluded with a sumptuous meal in the Orangery of Blenheim Palace.

I would like to thank the committee for delegating me to attend this conference. It was an event which will live long in my memory. I began the week not knowing any of my fellow delegates and I ended it having made many, many friends with whom I now correspond.

David McClarty

Find MLAs

Find your MLAs

Locate MLAs

Search

News and Media Centre

Visit the News and Media Centre

Read press releases, watch live and archived video

Find out more

Follow the Assembly

Follow the Assembly on our social media channels

Keep up-to-date with the Assembly

Find out more

Useful Contacts

Contact us

Contacts for different parts of the Assembly

Contact Us