Cé hé Alan Gibbons?

Man in charge - Alan Gibbons in his office at the Embassy of Ireland.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

Thanks, and it's a pleasure to meet and to have a chat. I am the Irish Ambassador here in the Czech Republic, and have been for the last two years. 
I'm the youngest of 12 children, I grew up in County Kilkenny, on a farm in the countryside between the village of Bennettsbridge and Kilkenny City (or town as Kilkenny people call it). 
It was a mixed farm, so it was always busy. 
No matter what time of the year, there were always jobs to be done. But I think I was in a pretty fortunate position to be at the end of the line - my siblings had very much cut the path ahead of me. 
We had beef cattle, sheep, and cereals. So there was there was never a dull moment growing up!

And did your farm supply any of the barley for the Smithwick’s brewery? 


Actually, we did, we grew both spring barley and winter barley - the winter barley is used as feed for the livestock, and the spring barley (called malting barley) we supplied to the beer and whiskey industries. So it's nice to have had an input into those big exports. 


When did you decide to become a diplomat? 


I always had an interest in in the world outside, in politics, in international affairs. 
So I studied economics and political science in UCD [University College Dublin], so it was probably not the biggest leap in the world to consider diplomacy as a career. But, in the best traditions of the Irish mammy, it was my mother that sent me the advertisement [the job posting from the Department of Foreign Affairs], which she cut out from The Irish Times. The day I received it was the last day of the competition, so I literally got on my bicycle - my actual bicycle, not a metaphorical one - and cycled down to the Civil Service Commission Office on Grand Canal Street in Dublin. 
I filled out the application form in the lobby and submitted it there and then and some time later, following interviews et cetera, I was offered a place. So in 1995, just as I was finishing my Post-Graduate studies, I went straight from university into the Department of Foreign Affairs as it was, then (now it's called the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade).

And then, your first posting was where?

My first posting as an Irish diplomat was to Denmark, to our embassy in Copenhagen, and I went there as the Secretary of the Embassy. In that role you're also the consul, the culture attaché, you wear many hats, but basically you are the junior diplomat, you're learning your trade. And it was a fantastic experience, a great place to learn about representing Ireland abroad. 
 Then my next posting was to New York, to Ireland’s permanent mission to the United Nations. I was there for about five and a half years and I was assigned to lead on human rights, social development and gender equality issues, doing all that was fantastic, but also living in New York was great - the office was on 2nd Avenue, within walking distance of the UN building. At the end of that, rather than go back directly to Dublin, I did a short stint in Ljubljana, where I was seconded to the Slovenian Foreign Ministry for their first presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2008. The next foreign posting was to Washington, D.C. - there I was responsible for economic and trade matters of the Embassy, that was in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. It was a really interesting beat to be on at that time. 
It was a lot about trade, tax policy and such things and engaging with Congress, engaging with the administration. St. Patrick's Day is always memorable when posted abroad, but there it was really special. We had three St. Patrick's Days with President Obama and one with President Trump in his first term. So that was my four years in Washington - a fantastic place to live and work, especially if you're a interested in politics and world affairs. 


Those St. Patrick’s Day Parades were presumably much larger than ours here in Prague?

Indeed! I find the experience of St. Patrick's Day and what it means to our people very impactful, but also what it means to other people who aren’t necessarily Irish, that it resonates with so many people is incredible. I suppose that's particularly the case in the US because of our large diaspora there. 


Anyway, after Washington I went to Manila on secondment to the Asian Development Bank (an international development bank of which Ireland is a member). There I worked as an advisor to the director of the board that represented Ireland. So again, it was a wonderful experience because I had little or no experience up to that point of Asia. So it was great just to recalibrate your gaze and to realize the vastness of Asia, the opportunities there. 
And then my next foreign assignment - as Ambassador - was Prague, so being in Czech Republic is my first assignment as Head of Mission. Representing Ireland abroad is a huge honour, and I have just reached my 30th anniversary with the Diplomatic Service - for most of us who join the diplomatic service, it's the ultimate ambition, that you'll get to captain your own ship at some stage and it's a huge honour doing it here at Prague - it's a dream come true in fact. 


Have you noticed changes in the challenges facing diplomats in Europe?

For sure. But there are strong points of continuity - as an Irish diplomat, you're representing your country, you're representing Ireland’s interests and values. 
That's a point of continuity irrespective of the time or the place. Another point of continuity over the last 50 years, and certainly throughout my career has been our membership of the EU. It has ebbs and flows, of course but one challenge for sure was in the post global financial crisis era, when we were rebuilding our economy, and a lot of emphasis was placed - very rightly - on economic diplomacy.  I was fortunate, in that my university education had included a decent grounding in economics, so it wasn't maybe as intimidating as it might have been. So getting to serve in Washington on that economic and trade beat at a time when our economy was really in the doldrums was really important, interesting and challenging. 
And then in 2016, we had Brexit. All of a sudden, there was a focus on our membership of the EU in the immediate aftermath. 
 I don't think anybody seriously thought that Ireland’s destiny was going to be anything other than being an entirely committed member of the European Union going forward. But there were certain commentators who asked the question - when is Ireland’s turn? And I think that it was really important that we said - clearly and definitively - that our destiny was very much as a committed member of the European Union. 
For me, it was an illustration of what the European Union is all about. It's about solidarity and it's about having friends when you need them, and the absolute solidarity that was shown to us by all our EU partners, including the Czech Republic throughout that period, for Ireland - as the only member state with a land border with the UK - was hugely important.

How are you enjoying Prague? 

Yes, I am loving Prague. 
In a sense, each foreign posting throws up its opportunities and challenges. But I think Prague will always be really special for me because it's my first Head of Mission post. 
It's a remarkably special place, the welcome that we have received has been lovely and we've really settled in well here and enjoy seeing places outside Prague - over the summer we got to Ostrava, Karlovy Vary and Kutná Hora. After all, I'm Irish Ambassador to the Czech Republic, not just to Prague! 
It is important to get out to meet governors, mayors, universities and others, to hear what's on their mind and talk about opportunities for collaboration, and connecting with Ireland, but also to understand this country better and to get a sense of what's happening outside the capital.

Where will you go to next?

I put my hand to my heart as I say this, I have no idea and it's really not something that's at all on my mind. This is a four-year assignment, so I'm halfway through it, and I'm really very content being here in Prague and not at all thinking about where's next. Usually after a posting abroad, we return for a period to HQ but there are exceptions to that. So I have no idea, but it's happily it's not something I'm not even vaguely thinking about. 


Okay, very good. I think we leave it there. Thank you very much Ambassador.