Republic expands diplomatic network

Northern businesses will be able to tap into a network of 80 Irish embassies and consulates following on from an announcement by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.

New embassies will open in Bangkok (Thailand), Jakarta (Indonesia), Zagreb (Croatia), Nairobi (Kenya) and Freetown (Sierra Leone). The embassy to the Vatican will also be reopened.

Ireland will therefore increase its presence in Asia, continue to maintain a diplomatic presence in every EU capital and extend its aid links in Africa. A small embassy in Lesotho will be closed with that aid relationship handled from Pretoria in South Africa.

Consulates-general are to be established in the business hubs of Hong Kong, São Paolo (Brazil) and Austin, Texas (USA). The missions will be small, with one to three staff members, and will strongly focus on building up economic contacts.

Businesses based in Northern Ireland can make use of both British and Irish embassies. The existing missions have been seeking to promote the province’s image – after the damage caused by the flag protests – and hosted 18 ministerial trade missions last year.

The changes are to be rolled out over this year and will result in a network of 60 embassies, 13 consulates-general and seven multilateral missions e.g. to the European Union and United Nations. Irish diplomats jointly staff the North/South Ministerial Council in Armagh and the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat in Belfast. The embassy in London covers Great Britain.