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THE DEPARTMENT OF Foreign Affairs helped over 800 Irish people who became caught up in seven major crises in 2015.
The department’s emergency response team help Irish citizens caught up in the terrorist attacks in Paris, earthquakes in Nepal, the Germanwings air crash, the Berkeley balcony tragedy and the June terrorist attack in Tunisia, among other crises.
The figures are included in the department’s annual report for 2015.
Other key findings in the report include:
Commenting on the Report’s publication, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said his department “was directly engaged in the separate visits made to Ireland by the prime ministers of China and India and by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, the launch of the new Irish Passport Card, the 60th anniversary of Ireland’s UN membership, the Global Irish Civic Forum and Global Irish Economic Forum and the Fresh Start Agreement in Northern Ireland”.
We also helped to promote 2015 as the Year of Irish Design, brokered agreement on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, convened an Irish Humanitarian Summit, completed Ireland’s first term on the UN Human Rights Council and made an important contribution towards helping to end the Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone.
“By any measure these and other areas of our work as outlined in the Report were significant achievements. I am grateful to all the staff of the Department and in our diplomatic missions abroad for their dedication and public service.”
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I have had very good experience with the DFA / Embassy here in Switzerland. Extremely helpful bunch of people who look after ex-Pats very well and do their utmost to assist Irish business trying to get into new markets. A very professionally run organisation. Credit to them.
They may record the incedent but it’s stops there. They do not help in any way whatsoever. Being irish abroad and in any bother. Your on your own that is a fact
Have to say, have seen firsthand where we had to leave an area due to unrest. Ireland (via the foreign affairs lot) chipped in a charter flight (alongside a few other countries – there were Hungarians and Swiss with us). But we had to sort our own accommodation, sort out own transport to get to the airport, etc. Whereas the British and French flew in their own planes, had their own military secure the area of the airport, secure hanger area with rations, shelter and medics, and then had their own citizens transported in and flight out. It was surreal at what other countries do for their citizens overseas, and then us, on what felt like the dodgy charter flight to Lanzarote….and that was if you were lucky enough to sort half of it out yourself!
I would love to know how many of these crises were drink related.
Given the fact that they were major international crises, I’m going to hazard a guess of somewhere between zero and none.
Often involving countries that have an all-out ban on alcohol.
@Red hurley: “I would love to know how many of these crises were drink related.”
Yeah because most people call the embassy when they run out of Pino Gris or can’t find a bar selling Guinness.
Don’t forget the major crises at home. Hospital waiting lists. Unemployment Strikes. Homelessness Poverty,
With the surge in passport applications from the UK maybe the cost should increase …. in line with so many other charges here.
No. Irish people deserve to be able to afford a passport. It’s expensive enough already to renew a passport.
It happened me when I got a speeding ticket in Belfast
have your say