Israel’s decision to shutter its embassy in Dublin is a retrograde step, and, as Dan Mulhall, a 40-year veteran of diplomacy, put it when I spoke with him last week, “an overreaction” and a “bad day for diplomacy”.
Top Irish diplomat David O'Sullivan has served as EU ambassador to the US and is currently the bloc's sanctions envoy. He talks about stymying the Russian war machine, the return of Trump and Ireland's place in a volatile global landscape.
Irish diplomats are not campaigners for global justice. More hard-headedness and less seeking to be the most virtuous in the room are needed in the conduct of Ireland’s statecraft.
The Government will appoint an attaché based in San Francisco tasked with deepening ties with industry and academia in a region that’s core to Ireland’s FDI strategy.
The US policy of "my way or the highway" has dramatically failed in the Gulf States as Russia and China become firmly embedded across the Middle East. The long-term consequences for the West are significant.
A central architect of the Good Friday Agreement, Sean O hUiginn is considered a giant intellectually by those who worked with him on all sides. He talks about the personalities and the process, Anglo-Irish relations, and the nature of diplomacy.
RTÉ has appointed three new journalists to report on previously ignored global issues, the latest to receive backing from the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Green Party ministers have allocated funding to broadcasts about climate change. Personal experience shows the limits of this model.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney sees “a window of opportunity” this month in the resumption of talks with the UK government on the Northern Ireland Protocol. He was speaking at an event organised in association with The Currency to mark Tommie Gorman’s new book.
Tax and Brexit used to be at the top of the diplomatic agenda between Ireland and The Netherlands. Ambassador Adriaan Palm says environmental issues now take up most of his time, with Dutch companies targeting the new Irish offshore wind market.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has chosen confrontation over conciliation. As Covid-19 reshapes global supply chains, a more affirmative China offers both challenges and opportunities for Ireland, writes Ian Lahiffe in Beijing.
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