Governor George Fergusson (pictured) has garnered international attention after documents revealed discussions about a “bizarre idea” to relocate millions of Hong Kong residents in Northern Ireland.

A story in yesterday’s edition of The Guardian detailed the 1983 plan to deal with the handover of Hong Kong to China, describing it as “more of a political in-joke than a genuine plan”.

According to British Government documents released last week to the National Archives in Kew, in London, the idea was put forward by Christie Davies, a sociology lecturer at Reading University.

Mr Davies proposed that a city state be established between Coleraine and Derry because Hong Kong’s 5½ million residents would have no political future once the territory reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. Gov Fergusson — who was at that time a civil servant in Northern Ireland — reportedly seized onto the idea in jest, entering into “enthusiastic discussions” with the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Noting the troubles in Northern Ireland, he wrote: “If the plantation were undertaken, it would have evident advantages in reassuring Unionist opinion of the open-ended nature of the Union.

“We are undecided here whether the arrival of 5½ million Cantonese would make government policy [on devolution] … more or less easy to implement. Arithmetically, recognition of three identities might be thought more difficult.

“On the other hand, the newly arrived ‘third’ identity would be hard not to recognise and this in turn might lessen the scale of the problem in recognising the other two.”

The Guardian reported that David Snoxley of the FCO responded “with a tone that suggested parody as much as caution”, while another FCO staffer wrote: “My mind will be boggling for the rest of the day.”

Responding to the report yesterday, the Governor said he remembered the discussion, explaining: “A lot of the political events and news in Northern Ireland in those days was quite grim.

“The unusual academic report made an entertaining change to share with my counterparts in the Foreign Office. It is strange seeing it again 30 years later.”