New Roles for Irish Diplomats

Irish ambassador to Great Britain Dan Mulhall (above right) is set to replace Anne Anderson as the Republic of Ireland’s 18th representative in the United States as part of a rotation in the senior ranks of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Barbara Jones (right), consul general of Ireland in New York, will take over as the ambassador to Mexico, with responsibilities for Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela as well.
Mulhall is a native of County Waterford and is an avid promoter of Irish literary culture and posts regular poetry samples from W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, and other writers on Twitter. He is expected to meet with U.S. president Donald Trump in the next few months to discuss Irish-American relations.
Jones, who has served as consul general since 2014, was born in County Wexford and has served previously as head of humanitarian aid policy in Ireland.
Anderson, the first woman to occupy the post since her appointment in 2013, is preparing for retirement. Originally from Clonmel, County Tipperary, she has also served as the ambassador for Ireland in the United Nations, the E.U., France, and Monaco. ♦