1.1 Enterprise Policy Context

2.1 Strengthening Team Ireland’s presence abroad

Global Ireland 2025 identified a number of priority targets to strengthen Team Ireland’s presence abroad, including the expansion of the diplomatic mission network; strengthening existing missions; pioneering a new “Ireland House” model; opening new enterprise offices; and appointing expert attachés to key locations around the world.

This expansion will help us to achieve goals including ensuring continuing impact in shaping the future direction of the EU; safeguarding our interests post Brexit, while deepening our bilateral relationship with the UK; increasing diversification in trade and investment flows; and advancing Ireland’s economic and trading interests in bilateral and multilateral contexts.

Expanding our Diplomatic Missions

The addition of a new Consulate in Wales and, in Manchester in 2021, is helping us to maintain a strong relationship with the UK and its constituent parts, mitigating potentially negative impacts stemming from Brexit – a key commitment under Global Ireland 2025.

Over the lifetime of Global Ireland, the Government will open at least 26 new diplomatic missions. In the first year of the Global Ireland strategy, we opened new Embassies in Wellington, Bogotá, Amman, Monrovia and Santiago de Chile, and new Consulates General in Vancouver, Mumbai and Cardiff.

Existing missions are being reinforced to ensure that no single diplomat missionsremain in our network – a move that is essential to ensuring continuity in representation across all lrish missions. Additional staff have been recently appointed to The Hague, Paris, Ramallah, Riyadh and Washington DC.

Since then, Ireland’s diplomatic network has expanded further, with new Consulates General now open in Frankfurt and Los Angeles.

Figure from page 11