{"id":563284,"date":"2026-07-01T11:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T11:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/563284\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T11:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T11:15:10","slug":"shes-tough-low-profile-operator-becomes-irelands-most-important-diplomat-for-the-next-six-months-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/563284\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018She\u2019s tough\u2019: Low-profile operator becomes Ireland\u2019s most important diplomat for the next six months \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 40-year diplomatic career that has taken Aingeal O\u2019Donoghue everywhere from North Korea to Nuuk will culminate today in a nondescript, windowless room in the bowels of the European Union\u2019s<\/a> policymaking machine. <\/p>\n

For the next six months, the Co Cork<\/a> woman will be the State\u2019s most important diplomat, as Ireland\u2019s \u201cpermanent representative\u201d in Brussels during the country\u2019s presidency of the Council of the European Union. <\/p>\n

Regarded by colleagues as a low-key but impressive and hard-working operator who has plenty of experience in EU-politicking O\u2019Donoghue (64) has been the Republic\u2019s ambassador to the EU since August 2023. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t suffer fools, you need to know your stuff,\u201d says one Irish diplomatic source who worked alongside her. <\/p>\n

Another senior colleague, who has known her for years, says O\u2019Donoghue is not the showboating type. \u201cPrepared to the nth degree,\u201d they say. <\/p>\n

She will play an important behind-the-scenes role nudging forward the European agenda from July 1st until the end of the year. O\u2019Donoghue will chair a key committee known as Coreper, a largely unknown axle in the EU system that has taken on a lot more influence. <\/p>\n

The regular meetings bring together ambassadors representing all 27 governments to prepare the ground for political decisions taken by ministers or leaders. <\/p>\n

The format troubleshoots problems, sounds out positions and flags points of serious disagreement early on. When the ambassadors can\u2019t find consensus, topics get kicked up to the politicians. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not always easy to reach decisions with 27 different people around the table, but we work hard together to make it happen,\u201d O\u2019Donoghue said in 2024.<\/p>\n

She has jokingly described the Europa Building, where the council is based, as her \u201csecond home\u201d. <\/p>\n

The ambassadors meet in S7, a room four floors up from the large one where the big EU summits of national leaders take place. <\/p>\n

It will be in those Coreper meetings where a huge amount of legwork will be done to negotiate the next EU budget, open new \u201cchapters\u201d in Ukraine\u2019s membership bid and resolve differences on contentious financial and capital market reforms during Ireland\u2019s presidency. <\/p>\n

The budget talks will require squaring a very big circle, O\u2019Donoghue tells colleagues privately. She reminds those around her that a presidency has to contend with unexpected crises and the \u201cknown unknowns\u201d. That could take the shape of a fresh rupture in transatlantic relations, or peace talks to end the Ukraine war. <\/p>\n

The government holding the rotating EU presidency has to assume the role of dealmaker.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Blockades of key infrastructure will not be tolerated during EU presidency, Garda saysOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donoghue won\u2019t be able to advocate for Ireland\u2019s national interests in those confidential discussions, but its positions will be known. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re president of the Coreper you actually don\u2019t speak that much, you set the scene,\u201d says one official who regularly observes proceedings. <\/p>\n

An ambassador from another EU state, who sits around the table, says O\u2019Donoghue grasped the huge amount of work on her shoulders for the next six months. \u201cShe\u2019s tough \u2026 She\u2019s impressive,\u201d her counterpart says. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an extremely demanding role\u201d, one retired Irish ambassador says. \u201cOnce it begins, you\u2019re on the treadmill.\u201d <\/p>\n

Their remit includes areas that usually need unanimous agreement: foreign affairs, finance legislation, the EU budget, justice and migration. C\u00e1it Moran, Ireland\u2019s deputy permanent representative, will chair a second committee of ambassadors responsible for agriculture, health, competitiveness, environment and transport policy. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Russia sanctions having an impact, top Irish diplomat says amid Aughinish Alumina pressureOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donoghue is from Coachford, a small Cork village near the banks of the river Lee. <\/p>\n

The daughter of a primary school principal and one of three siblings, she studied law in University College Cork and then trained as a barrister in King\u2019s Inn. <\/p>\n

Around the time she was finishing her studies, she was mulling a career in the Department of Foreign Affairs<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Through a mutual friend, she arranged to meet two diplomats working in the department, one of whom was Rory Montgomery, who later became second secretary general. <\/p>\n

Over drinks in the Shelbourne Hotel, the two officials gave their thoughts about life in the diplomatic service. O\u2019Donoghue went on to join the department in 1986.<\/p>\n

The first half of her career included postings to Washington, Madrid and New Delhi, and stints covering EU policy in Dublin and in the Anglo-Irish division. Her husband, Peter Bullen, is from the US. The pair married in 1995 and have one adult daughter. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe comes with a huge level of EU experience,\u201d says Lucinda Creighton. \u201cShe does her homework,\u201d the former politician says. <\/p>\n

Creighton got to know O\u2019Donoghue very well during Ireland\u2019s last EU presidency in 2013. Creighton, who was then in Fine Gael, was junior minister for European affairs. O\u2019Donoghue was posted to Brussels to oversee relations with the European Parliament. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe and I would literally spend a week together every month in Strasbourg in the year leading up to the presidency; we went from one MEP to the next,\u201d says Creighton, who runs her own lobbying firm, Vulcan Consulting. \u201cWhether it\u2019s a Minister or the Taoiseach, she will keep them extremely well briefed,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Donoghue will represent the agreed position of member states in \u201ctrilogue\u201d negotiations with the parliament and the European Commission to settle the final revisions on new EU laws and regulations. Her prior experience as a parliament whisperer will stand to her there.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donoghue served as ambassador to South Korea from 2013 to 2017, a posting that also covers North Korea. <\/p>\n

Then she returned to Dublin to lead the department\u2019s EU division. She was talked about as a contender to be the first woman to become secretary general. However, Joe Hackett got the department\u2019s top job in 2021. <\/p>\n

Former Irish ambassador Eamonn McKee, her predecessor in Korea, says O\u2019Donoghue brought her \u201cTrojan work ethic\u201d to a challenging role preparing the State for the possible fallout from Brexit. <\/p>\n

She was picked to lead Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin\u2019s<\/a> multibillion-euro Shared Island<\/a> programme, which funds cross-Border projects and closer co-operation, a sign of the trust the top echelons of Government put in her ability to get things done. <\/p>\n

Her appointment as permanent representative in Brussels was made knowing she would be in situ for the presidency. \u201cShe\u2019s the right person at the right time,\u201d another Irish ambassador says. <\/p>\n

One point made by several sources is that O\u2019Donoghue can seem less comfortable in the public-facing side of a diplomat\u2019s life. <\/p>\n

She can be very difficult to pin down if you\u2019re a lobbyist or represent business interests. \u201cUnfortunately, Ambassador O\u2019Donoghue is not available\u201d is a common response to requests from companies and trade groups looking to meet her, internal emails show. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe pace is really picking up at this end as we approach the presidency start line,\u201d O\u2019Donoghue told a lobbyist from web giant Amazon, in a March 4th email rebuffing a request for a meeting. The internal correspondence was released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act. <\/p>\n

There are plenty of events you have to show face at, of course. A St Patrick\u2019s Day celebration in the European Parliament is one of them. \u201cGo ahead and accept,\u201d she wrote to her assistant in response to an invite to the soir\u00e9e last year. <\/p>\n

The usual Coreper meeting this Wednesday will mark the first time O\u2019Donoghue sits in the chairwoman\u2019s seat. <\/p>\n

The moment won\u2019t be remarked upon by many, beyond well wishes from the other ambassadors sitting around the table. That\u2019s probably just how she would want it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 40-year diplomatic career that has taken Aingeal O\u2019Donoghue everywhere from North Korea to Nuuk will culminate today…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,1877,8104,4893,22264,2219,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,5765,5,119739,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-563284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-cork","tag-department-of-foreign-affairs","tag-eu","tag-european-parliament","tag-european-union","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-shared-island","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116844437433144659","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563284","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=563284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}