It was announced yesterday that Drogheda woman Geraldine Byrne Nason is to take on what is considered to be the country’s most senior diplomatic posting when she becomes Ireland’s next Ambassador to the United States next year.
The former Greenhills College student was born in Drogheda in 1959, lived in Ballsgrove, and attended Our Lady’s College, Greenhills before going on to attain an MA in Literature from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
She joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1982 and was Director for Governance at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris in the 1990s.
She served as Second Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach from 2011 until 2014, making her the highest ranking female civil servant in the country at the time.
In August 2014, Ms Byrne Nason was appointed Ireland’s Ambassador to France and Monaco and helped to organise the visit of Prince Albert of Monaco to Drogheda in 2017 when he officially opened the Princess Grace Garden at Dominic’s Park in memory of his mother who visited Drogheda in 1961.
In August 2017 she was appointed as Ireland’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York and led the successful campaign which resulted in Ireland winning a seat on the UN Security Council in 2020.
Despite her high flying international career Ms Byrne Nason has kept a very special place in her heart for her home town and this love was reciprocated in 2017 when she was awarded a Mayoral Award by the then Mayor, the late Cllr. Oliver Tully.
In January last year she became only the third woman ever to be awarded the Freedom of Drogheda in a special ceremony which took place in her former school at Greenhills. The other two female recipients are former President, Mary Robinson and Mother Mary Martin, the founder of the Medical Missionary of Mary and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
Accepting the award, Ms Byrne Nason said: “My Drogheda roots have shaped who I am and I am very proud of where I come from: it means so much to me to be recognised with the freedom of my home town.
“I have dedicated my life to diplomatic service and I believe passionately in the power of diplomacy, and in gender equality and the valuable contribution of women to society” she said.
“I love my work and I would be delighted if in some way it inspired young people from Drogheda to pursue careers in public service, where they can be part of effecting positive change.”
Ms. Byrne Nason will see out the final year of her current role at the UN before taking up her position in Washington.
