Tribute to the late Rear Admiral Sir Nigel Cecil, KBE, CB The President: Hon. Members, since our last sitting there has occurred the death of Rear Admiral Sir Nigel Cecil, KBE, CB, Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man and President of Tynwald Court from 1980 to 1985. Oswald Nigel Amherst Cecil was born in Dorking, Surrey in 1925, and after Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, entered the Royal Navy in 1939 for what was to be a distinguished 40-year career. He was NATO Commander of South East Mediterranean in 1975 and Commander of British Forces, Malta – and in fact was the last British Admiral in Malta after a presence there at the naval base of 180 years. On his retirement, he and Lady Cecil moved into Government House, and he began his five-year term as Lieutenant Governor. The early 1980s were a period of great political, economic and constitutional change for the Isle of Man. Constitutionally, the Island was on a path to more complete self-government from the United Kingdom and Sir Nigel himself, thanks to an Act of Tynwald passed in 1980, was the last Lieutenant Governor to preside over Legislative Council. He had his first and only sitting of Legislative Council in May 1980. In October that year, Jack Nivison, appointed by Council themselves, was elected President of Council. As President of this Court, there were debates on the constitutional future of the Isle of Man and political future, not least the resolution of 1983, which was to replace the existing structure of 20 Government Boards and Committees with nine Departments to be headed by a Minister, a system which finally came into operation in 1987. The Governor in those days was still responsible for the Police. That was to change with these changes in Government during the 1980s. The years 1980 to 1985 was a crucial time for the Island’s economic development. The tourist industry was in sharp decline and the Government’s answer was to raise the Island’s profile as an international finance centre, a task made more difficult in those days by the collapse of the Savings and Investment Bank and a flight of confidence in 1982. During his time in Government House, he and Lady Cecil were actively involved with the 200 charities and organisations which form the fabric of Island life, and he hosted Her Majesty the Queen Mother in 1984 when she opened the Plenary Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held here in Douglas in 1984, when the Island hosted CPA delegates from all over the world. We remember with thanks the service of Sir Nigel Cecil to the Isle of Man. Hon. Members, I shall convey your condolences to Lady Cecil, but meantime, may we rise for a moment of silent tribute to Sir Nigel Cecil. Members stood in silence. The President: Thank you, Hon. Members. Tynwald 21/03/2017 .