The head of the Taoiseach‘s Shared Island Unit is to become Ireland’s most senior diplomat in the European Union. Aingeal O’Donoghue was appointed head of the unit, which has a €500 million budget, when it was established in 2020 soon after Micheál Martin became taoiseach.
The unit has been examining the political, social, economic and cultural considerations for a shared future on the island of Ireland through a series of conferences and studies, as well as funding for a number of cross-Border infrastructural projects such as a bridge at Narrow Water in Co Louth which was announced last week.
Ms O’Donoghue is to become permanent representative to the European Union, a role based in Brussels, next year. .
The move was among 19 ambassadorial appointments announced by the Government on Tuesday, which will see the number of female heads of mission higher than that for males for the first time. Of the 19 new nominations 11 are women and eight are men. Women will now lead 52 per cent of missions, up from 46 per cent last year and 36 per cent in 2020.
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Other appointments include:
Caitríona Doyle, currently counsellor in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) corporate services division, is to become permanent representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg; Caitríona Ingoldsby, currently counsellor at the permanent representation of Ireland to the European Union, is to become Ambassador to Kenya (and Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan).
Aidan Fitzpatrick, currently based at the Embassy of Ireland to Ethiopia, is to become Ambassador to Sierra Leone. Austin Gormley, currently Ambassador to Sweden, is to become Ambassador to South Africa (and Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Zimbabwe and the Southern Africa Development Community).
Colum Hatchell is to become Ambassador to Chile (and Ecuador and Peru). Kevin Kelly, currently DFA’s communications director, is to become Ambassador to India (and Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives). Orla Tunney is to become Ambassador to Malaysia.
Deirdre Ní Fhallúin is to become Ambassador to Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos); Alan Gibbons is to become Ambassador to the Czech Republic, and Ragnar Almqvist is to become Ambassador to Hungary (and the Republic of Kosovo and Montenegro); and Jean McDonald is to be Ambassador to Luxembourg.
Claire Buckley, currently Ambassador to Sierra Leone, is to become Ambassador to Norway (and Iceland). Alma Ní Choigligh is to be Ambassador to Portugal (and Cabo Verde, Angola, Guinea-Bissau and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries); and Barbara Jonesis to become Ambassador to Sweden.
Aoife McGarry is to become Ireland’s Ambassador to Switzerland (and Algeria and Liechtenstein); and John McCullagh, currently Ambassador to Vietnam, is to be Ambassador to Türkiye (and Azerbaijan, Iran and Pakistan) replacing Sonya McGuinness, who is to become Ambassador to Israel. Feilim McLaughlin is to become Ireland’s representative to the Palestinian Authority.
Other senior appointments include Hilary Reilly, currently Ambassador to Malaysia, moving to the role of joint secretary of the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh. Sighle FitzGerald is to become consul general in Boston; Jerry O’Donovan is to become consul general in Edinburgh, and Jennifer Bourke is to serve in the same role in Hong Kong.
