Diplomacy and Identity
Bobby McDonagh
- đź“…Tuesday, February 4, 2025
- đź•Ą10:30 – 12:30
- 🏟Newtownpark Pastoral Centre (map)
In his talk former Irish Ambassador, Bobby McDonagh, will be draw on his own impressive diplomatic career, to illustrate the ways in which diplomacy and identity are closely interlinked. In particular, he will highlight three principal diplomatic arenas in which he was involved, where identity played a particularly important role: the European Union; the United Kingdom and its relations with Ireland; and the Northern Ireland peace process.
Bobby was educated at Gonzaga College Dublin and Balliol College Oxford. During his diplomatic career, he served as Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, and as Ambassador to the United Kingdom, to Italy and to Malaysia. He also held several senior positions at Department of Foreign Affairs HQ in Dublin, including as Deputy Secretary General. He worked in the cabinets of two European Commissioners and was an official of the European Parliament.
Since retirement in 2018, he qualified as an executive coach at UCD’s Smurfit Business School and subsequently completed the advanced coaching course at the School. He now works as an executive coach and has a growing practice.
He is also a public commentator, including as a regular contributor to the Irish Times, on a wide range of international issues including the European Union and British Irish relations. He has written extensively about the European Union
