Douglas Platinum Jubilee city status a huge honour, chief minister says

The granting of city status to the Isle of Man's capital for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee has been welcomed by the island's residents.

Douglas is one of eight towns to be given the civic honour to mark the Queen's 70 years on the throne.

The move means the island is the only crown dependency with a capital city.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said it was "a huge honour for the island" that celebrates its "unique mix of culture, history and heritage".

Douglas East MHK Claire Barder said it was an opportunity for it to "re-emerge as a thriving capital city", after facing "some tricky years" which saw the impact of storms and the Covid pandemic.

"A huge amount of work has gone into this and the last couple of years have been really difficult for restaurants and food vendors," she said.

Norman Mackey, the owner of Douglas's Ascot Hotel, said he hoped it would help attract visitors to the island.

"Obviously, we are all very honoured that Her Majesty would bestow this on our small town," he said.

"We are at a crossroads with tourism at the moment and this will certainly not do any harm."

Council leader Claire Wells said city status would give Douglas "a wonderful global platform" to attract new investment and promote the island's community.

"It is a wonderful way to round off our 125th anniversary and further enhances Douglas as the island's capital and legislative centre," she said.

"The honour will provide a fantastic opportunity to attract new investment, not just to Douglas, but the island as a whole.

"Yes, there is huge civic pride in the borough, but this is an honour for the whole island."

Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh said although the new status was a "wonderful accolade," more work needed to be done.

"We can't sit back on our accolades at all," he said.

"What we've done is raised the bar and we have to get even better at what we're doing."

A similar bid by Peel, in the west of the island, to become a city was unsuccessful.

Mayor of Douglas Janet Thommeny offered her commiserations to those behind that bid, adding that she hoped a future application by the town would be successful.

Reflecting on the capital's new status, she said it was "an honour of civic pride for Douglas and everyone who lives and works here to receive this recognition and I'm sure everyone… will be incredibly proud."

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