Further to your term being extended last year, what do you expect the final months of your posting to hold? One defining feature of my term here has been the unpredictability of events so I am somewhat reluctant to venture anything in the area of expectations. However, we were delighted to be able to host an in-person event for St Brigid’s Day this year and are looking forward to the St Patrick’s Day season. This is always an intense and fruitful period of activity for the Embassy. Through high-profile visits by Ministers and various events hosted by the Embassy, we have an opportunity to reach influential audiences and communicate key Government messages. And what comes next? The most difficult question at the end! What I know for sure is that I and my wife Aisling will depart London in August and will return to Ireland. After 38 wonderful years in the Department of Foreign Affairs, I have decided to retire from the civil service. I have been fortunate in my career and worked with great colleagues and mentors. Aisling and I have had four very fulfilling assignments abroad – Madrid, Boston, Washington and London – and made some great friends along the way. It’s time to let the next very talented generation of Irish diplomats – women and men – assume positions of leadership in the Department. Happily, there are a lot more women in the ranks of senior leadership than there were when I joined the Department in 1983. I have some vague ideas about what I might do in the future but no hard plans. I don’t know whether to be excited or terrified by the idea of writing on a blank page – but I am looking forward to it.
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