NEWS AND VIEWS

THE CHAIRMAN

Chairman of the Pacific Islands Society, Michael Walsh, is an economist who had a role in shaping the new nations of Kiribati and Tuvalu . For the past six years he has been Honorary Consul for Kiribati . Graduating in 1971. he applied for a job to the then Ministry for Overseas Development. He was given an 'extraordinarily short' interview for a post in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands . Years afterwards, the person who conducted the interview confessed that the ODM had been looking for 18 months for an economist wanting to spend two years in a place seemingly so remote from Britain .

Michael jokes: "I was the first economic adviser the GEIC had ever employed - and my career has been downhill ever since'. His role was to help set up the economic infrastructure for internal self-government and then independence as Kiribati . His tour extended to five years and saw the Ellice Islands separate from the Gilberts to become Tuvalu - he was secretary to the Monson Commission that recommended separation. Over those five years, he visited most of the islands of Kiribati and many parts of the South Pacific.

He also spent seven weeks on loan to the United Nations writing a report on the then little visited US Trust Territories which meant travelling to all six district centres in northern Micronesia .
He married Nei Rotee Tekee. who is from Tearinibai in North Tarawa , in 1975. She was the first Chairperson of the Mwanean Kiribati Association (now the KTA) in Britain .

As Chairman of PISUKI, Michael sees his priority as stabilising Society finances. But he hopes to work especially closely with the various national associations, and with the academic and research community to create greater publicity for the region.

      Mr. Michael Walsh