{"id":312072,"date":"2026-01-30T19:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T19:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/312072\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T19:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T19:28:07","slug":"former-eu-commissioner-phil-hogan-seeks-government-backing-for-senior-un-role-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/312072\/","title":{"rendered":"Former EU commissioner Phil Hogan seeks Government backing for senior UN role \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former European commissioner Phil Hogan<\/a> has sought the Government\u2019s backing to put his name forward for a senior job leading the food security agency of the United Nations<\/a> (UN). <\/p>\n

The Department of Agriculture<\/a> had canvassed for potential names the Government could consider nominating as a candidate to be the next director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The UN agency is based in Rome, and the top job commands a salary of $265,000 a year. <\/p>\n

It is understood Mr Hogan, a former Fine Gael<\/a> minister and European commissioner, has indicated his interest in the Government putting his name forward to contest an election for the senior UN role. <\/p>\n

The position is filled on the basis of an election, with representatives of the 194 states who are members of FAO each getting one vote. <\/p>\n

The role is currently held by Qu Dongyu, a Chinese politician and administrator, whose four-year term is due to finish in mid-2027. <\/p>\n

A race to lock in support and votes to take over as his replacement is expected to begin in the coming months, as various countries\u2019 candidates for the international job emerge. <\/p>\n

The UN agency is tasked with leading efforts to tackle world hunger and improve global food security. <\/p>\n

Prospective candidates interested in becoming Ireland\u2019s nominee had until last Friday to flag their interest with the Department of Agriculture. <\/p>\n

Candidates who put their names forward are due to be interviewed by a selection panel next week. <\/p>\n

It is understood Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin\u2019s preference was that any Irish nominee for the position be selected through a competitive process.<\/p>\n

Mr Hogan, who served as European commissioner for agriculture, and later EU trade commissioner, said he did not wish to comment when contacted. <\/p>\n

He resigned from the senior EU job in the fallout of the \u201cGolfgate<\/a>\u201d controversy during the Covid-19<\/a> pandemic.<\/p>\n

He stepped down in August 2020 under political pressure for attending a dinner organised by the Oireachtas golf society at a time when Covid restrictions on large gatherings were in place.<\/p>\n

During the height of the political storm then-t\u00e1naiste Leo Varadkar and Mr Martin asked Mr Hogan to consider his position. He later said the withdrawal of support by the Irish government contributed to his resignation as EU trade commissioner several days later. <\/p>\n

The former Carlow-Kilkenny TD previously served as minister for the environment in the Fine Gael-Labour coalition government. He was seen as Enda Kenny\u2019s enforcer during Fine Gael\u2019s time in opposition and played a pivotal role helping Mr Kenny fight off a leadership challenge less than a year before he came taoiseach. <\/p>\n

Mr Hogan was picked to become Ireland\u2019s European commissioner in 2014, taking on the agriculture portfolio in the EU\u2019s executive body that proposes laws. <\/p>\n

He remained in Brussels for a second term and was moved to the high-profile job of trade commissioner, serving a little less than one year before his resignation. <\/p>\n

After his departure from politics Mr Hogan set up a political consultancy business, Hogan Strategic Advisory Services, splitting his time between Dublin and Brussels. <\/p>\n

Records show he advises a roster of private clients that include United States banking giant JP Morgan, law firm DLA Piper, telecoms firm Vodafone and payments company Visa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former European commissioner Phil Hogan has sought the Government\u2019s backing to put his name forward for a senior…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,64,15778,18,2219,13,14,553,37855,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,37857,7,8,2863],"class_list":["post-312072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-covid-19","tag-department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine","tag-eire","tag-european-union","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-fine-gael","tag-golfgate","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-phil-hogan","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-united-nations-un"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115985704773718707","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}