Members of the Notre Dame community gathered in a packed McKenna Auditorium Wednesday afternoon to hear a lecture delivered by Geraldine Byrne Nason, the Ambassador of Ireland to the United States. Byrne Nason discussed Ireland’s foreign policy, the country’s relationship with the United States and plans to mark the Irish dimensions of America’s 250th anniversary.
This lecture was the first of the Ambassador Jim Kelly Speaker Series, through which the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies will bring diplomats from Ireland to speak at Notre Dame. Kelly, who died suddenly in 2022, was Ireland’s deputy permanent representative to the UN and ambassador to Canada.
Joined by Claire Cronin, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Byrne Nason opened up about her personal experiences and her takeaways from her diplomatic career. Referring to herself as “an accidental diplomat,” the former Ambassador reflected on how she first joined the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in 1981 and eventually became director for governance at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris in the 1990s.
That journey, she shared, revealed to her that representing Ireland on the global stage was “a gift of an extraordinary nature.” Byrne Nason said she believes that despite Ireland’s size and relative isolation from continental Europe, the nation has been able to amplify its voice through international cooperation with major countries such as the United States. “Through the multilateral system, you can have your voice echoed and multiplied several fold by playing a role that’s outsized for a country of our size,” Byrne Nason said.
Byrne Nason then explained that her career has spanned from important talks in Europe to leadership roles in Paris, Brussels and New York. She added that throughout her time in the civil service, she witnessed significant international events, including the end of the Cold War and Ireland’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. Even though she emphasized that she was not an economist, Byrne Nason also played a critical role in guiding Ireland out of the EU-IMF bailout program.
She also discussed the role of women in diplomacy, reflecting on what she labeled as the significant progress that has been made since the start of her career in 1981. “Until 1974, women in the Irish civil service had to resign when they married,” she said. “So when I joined, there were very few women in senior positions.” Today, however, nearly half of Ireland’s ambassadors are women. “We haven’t had any quota system or incentive,” she said. “We have just grown to represent the country, to represent the people we represent.”
Byrne Nason highlighted Ireland’s strong belief in the United Nations, which she described as “the only universal parliament of men and women that we have.” However, she warned that without substantial reform, particularly regarding the Security Council, “there’s a risk the United Nations may matter less over time.”
When discussing Ireland’s relationship with Europe, Byrne Nason explained that the establishment of Ireland as a European Union member state marked the end of Ireland’s isolation and described it as “a jump start” for the nation’s economic growth. Reflecting on Brexit and Britain’s resulting withdrawal from the European Union, Ambassador Byrne Nason said, “We were never going to see an upside for Ireland in Brexit.”
However, she also recognized Ireland’s newfound position in the EU as the only English-speaking country among member states, saying that this opens up fresh opportunities for connections, trade and diplomacy with countries all around the world.
