Outgoing British ambassador to Ireland Paul Johnston has been confirmed as the new director general of the Irish Universities Association, a role he takes up in November.
Mr Johnson announced in June that he and his wife Nicola intended to remain in Ireland when his term of office as ambassador ends in September.
He will leave the British diplomatic service to take up his new role that,he won through an open competition.
The Irish Universities Association is the representative voice of Ireland’s public universities with a particular focus on research and enterprise.
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Professor Eeva Leinonen, president of Maynooth University and chairwoman of universities association said the Programme for Government set out an “ambitious national agenda across climate, health, housing, digital and AI transformation, an agenda that cannot be delivered without a high-performing, sustainably funded higher education and research system”.
“Now more than ever, Ireland needs a clear and confident voice advocating for our universities, and with Paul’s leadership, the sector is well placed to step forward with unity, purpose, and impact in shaping Ireland’s future,” she said.
Mr Johnston joined the UK civil service in 1990 and has had a wide range of diplomatic roles, becoming ambassador to Ireland in September 2020.
Before that he was UK ambassador to the EU for political and security affairs from 2017 to January 2020 and as deputy permanent representative to Nato. From August 2011 to August 2015, he was British ambassador to Sweden.
He came to Ireland five years ago during the height of the Covid pandemic and he was at the centre of often difficult British-Irish relations over the UK’s departure from the European Union.
Mr Johnston said he was “honoured and delighted in equal measure” to have been appointed to lead the IUA.
“Yeats called education ‘the lighting of a fire’ and I know from my time in this wonderful country how important high-quality education has been to its development and will be to its future,” he said.
“I look forward to playing my part in the exciting and important years ahead.”
