Irish Ambassador Alan Gibbons: “Each member has different history, but EU project has been transformative”
After holding a number of senior roles in Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs, Alan Gibbons became the country’s ambassador to Czechia in 2023. With the Dublin government taking over the rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1, I sat down with Mr. Gibbons to ask what that means for Ireland, and for his own role. We also discussed the scenes in March when thousands of Irish football fans descended on Prague, the gap between Irish and Czech attitudes to the EU – and much more.
What first led you to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin and the whole world of diplomacy?
“I think it was probably growing up in a family that was interested in what was happening outside the front door. They were interested in current affairs, in political life.
“I went on to study economics and political science at university in Dublin and I suppose from there it wouldn’t have been the hugest leap in the world to consider a career in diplomacy.
“I have to say when I was studying in college I didn’t really have a very clear idea of what I would end up doing in the workforce.
“But this opportunity arose. The advert was brought to my attention by my good Irish mammy.
“I applied and was accepted so joined the foreign ministry immediately out of college after my post-graduate year, so I went straight in there.”
Prague is your first ambassadorial position. How was it initially finding your feet when you landed?
“Yes, it’s my sixth assignment overseas with the foreign ministry since I joined more than 30 years ago, but it’s my first head of mission post, my first role as ambassador.
“And I have to say I’ve been here in the Czech Republic almost three years – it’ll be three years this summer – and when I arrived I felt I was really quite spoilt.
“I was landing into an embassy team who were doing a great job, into an Irish community that was very welcoming and into a diplomatic community that was similarly welcoming.
“Also from the outset my engagement with Czech colleagues and interlocutors was very warm and welcoming.
“So I have to say I had a pretty charmed start.”
But how do you find your feet? How quickly do you know what’s what? How quickly does it happen that you feel like you’re on top of things?
“Like in any new job, any new position, there’s a lot of learning by doing. I think we’ll all acknowledge that!
“I suppose the first few months you really are trying to figure out what way is up.
“You’re running the embassy, you’re trying to make contacts, you’re trying to put yourself about town and also, after the first few months, you’re trying to get outside Prague as well – which has been one of the real pleasures of the posting here in the Czech Republic.”
The Irish Embassy in Prague is down the street from the considerably larger American Embassy. But the country does have a very well-appointed residence, where you live, in leafy Prague 6. What’s the background to the purchase of the residence, and the whole Irish diplomatic mission here in Prague?
“Ireland opened our resident embassy here in Prague in 1995, and that same year the Czech Republic opened its first resident embassy in Dublin. So there was a real symmetry to that.
“Last year, for example, we celebrated our 30th anniversary of having a resident embassy here.
“Ireland opened our resident embassy in Prague in 1995, and that same year the Czech Republic opened its first resident embassy in Dublin.”
“At the time – it was the mid-1990s – it was a push and a realisation, I think, by Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs, that we needed to be present and engage in Central and Eastern Europe in a way that we simply hadn’t been.
“And opening here in Prague was the beginning of the roll-out of a number of missions, a number of embassies, that we have subsequently opened across the region.
“We’re very fortunate with our chancery, our office building – we’ve been in the same place for the last 31 years.
“Similarly, as you say, our residence is out in Bubeneč, in the lovely Prague 6.
“Initially we were renting from the Czech state but about 20 years ago the Irish state bought the property. Hopefully that has turned out to be a really fabulous investment, because it’s a great statement property.”
One frequently asked question that I get is, How big is the Irish community in the Czech Republic? Can you monitor that in some way?
“We don’t insist on Irish citizens registering with us. Some other countries do, but we don’t; we encourage it.
“We usually go with the Czech statistics, and for Irish citizens living in the Czech Republic, the number is round about 1,000. So, not a huge community.
“I suppose also there’s a bit of variation to that community. There are members who are here since the ‘90s and are very settled, maybe married or settled with a Czech partner.
“Then there are others of course who have arrived in the intervening period – some of them for longer stays, and some of them shorter.
“And of course we have a more transient population of students, Erasmus students in particular. The Czech Republic and Prague are very popular with students. And we’re also delighted to see them come.”
My sense is that maybe the majority of Irish people were in business. Would you say that’s the case?
“Probably the [Irish people] that arrived in the ‘90s were very focused on opportunities and taking up business opportunities especially.”
“To one degree or another, yes, absolutely.
“Probably the folks that arrived in the ‘90s were very focused on opportunities and taking up business opportunities especially.
“Many of those are still in business, in one respect or another.
“And since then, I suppose, there’s been a bit more of a mix.”
I presume you’re in constant contact with your bosses at home in Dublin. What are they most interested in when it comes to the Czech Republic? Is it Czech politics?
“What’s happening here politically, what’s happening here economically, what’s happening here socially is of material interest to us in Ireland.”
“One of the huge bonds that draws Ireland and the Czech Republic together is our common membership of the European Union.
“In other words, what happens here isn’t just of abstract interest to my authorities back in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or to the Irish government: Irish ministers and the Taoiseach, our prime minister, are all sitting around with Czech ministers and the Czech prime minister every week of the year.
“So what’s happening here politically, what’s happening here economically, what’s happening here socially is of material interest to us in Ireland.
“You’re absolutely right – there’s a keen interest in reporting from Prague.
“And, as I say, it’s not in some esoteric way: This is, What’s going on there? Yes, we’ve read the media reports, but what’s actually behind that particular aspect of policy that Czechs are taking on X, Y or Z.”
Ireland seems to be viewed positively by much of the world, which I presume makes your job a little bit easier. But still, what kind of image is Ireland actively seeking to portray?
“I think we’re seeking to portray an image – hopefully a reality – of a positive, progressive, outward-looking country that is open to the world, that depends for our prosperity on doing business, goods and services – trading with the rest of the world.
“And we have that very much in common with the Czech Republic. We’re both smaller countries dependent on the outside world, dependent on trade.
“So I think that is the image we project, but personally I believe that it’s accurate.”
In your experience, how do Czechs tend to view Ireland? What picture do they have of the country, and how close might it be to reality?
“I think we still have a job of work to do to raise the profile of Ireland in the Czech Republic.”
“I have to be honest: I think we still have a job of work to do to raise the profile of Ireland in the Czech Republic.
“As I say, we’re fellow EU member states, but sometimes it can feel like we’re a bit distant, in spite of having so much in common.
“One of the aspects I think that really is a fantastic way of creating connections is culture.
“Especially, and I’m thrilled about this, Czech people are, in my experience, very interested in, and engaged with, Irish music, song and dance, and literature.
“I’m very impressed by the fact that here in Prague alone there are six or seven Irish dancing schools.”
“You can go to the O2 Arena on certain Saturday nights and have 6,000 people, Czech people, who have paid their good money to see, let’s say, an Irish dancing extravaganza.
“That’s really impressive. Also I’m very impressed by the fact that here in Prague alone there are six or seven Irish dancing schools.
“They’re all run now by Czech people, and mostly the students, both adults and kids, are Czechs.
“That’s a fabulous localising of Irish culture, Irish culture with a Czech accent – fabulous.”
Where does this come from? I know you can’t answer that question, but you must have wondered sometimes, Why are they so into it?
“I do [laughs], and I thank my lucky stars that they are, to be honest.
“I think there’s real resonance since the ‘90s, when Irish dancing in particular was having its international moment.
“And rather than having a moment and passing on, here it’s been localised and it’s been grounded.
“There are new schools opening, and I would say the state of Irish culture here is really, really strong.
“Also we have an Irish Studies centre at Charles University. You can study Irish literature there, either in the English language or in the Irish language.
“Again, it’s just so brilliant to see. And not just here in Prague – you can also study Irish Studies, and the Irish language indeed, in Olomouc, at Palacký University there.
“And soon you’ll be able to do the same in Liberec, so Irish and Irish studies are really getting out there.”
To digress for a second, this month 30 years ago Václav Havel visited Ireland and there were photos of him in a pub in the Dublin Mountains with Mary Robinson, the Irish president, and Sinead O’Connor, the great singer. Somebody told me that you were involved in the background to this meeting. Can you tell us something about that please?
“In 1996 I was a very, very green and junior officer in the Irish foreign service. I was working in what we call the Protocol Division, particularly working on high-level visits into Ireland.
“I worked on the President Clinton visit in the autumn of 1995 and the next big visit that I worked on was the President Havel visit, at the end of June of 1996.
“This was just on the cusp of our 1996 EU presidency.
“So I was protocol officer and the event that you mention, in Johnnie Fox’s pub in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, was an event that I worked on.
“I was assigned to welcome Sinead O’Connor to the event and it was a really special evening.
“A number of artists were invited to participate, and it was really pushing on an open door, because Václav Havel was such an inspirational figure in Ireland in the mid-1990s.
“And we had Sinead O’Connor and a number of other performers and artists come and join that evening. It was a very memorable one.”
This country, and Prague in particular, got a lot of attention in Ireland a couple of months ago, when the Irish football team were here for a World Cup playoff. Was that a crazy busy couple of days for you, with Irish people, I don’t know, losing their passports, or forgetting where their hotels were and stuff like that?
“Yes. It was the last week in March, so we had just had St. Patrick’s Day and the St. Patrick’s Day parade, here in central Prague.
“It’s a brilliant time of the year for Irish people around the world, but particularly for Irish diplomats.
“And then along came the World Cup playoffs, which we were very much looking forward to. And I have to say the level of excitement about that match reminded me of Italia 90, when Ireland first qualified for a World Cup finals.
“From November of last year, when we knew that the playoffs match would happen here in the Czech Republic, I was hearing from all sorts of folks from back home [laughs].
“We estimate that there was somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 Irish people here in Prague for the game, or in and around the game.
“There were only around 1,500 tickets allocated to Irish supporters in the stadium, so an awful lot of Irish citizens came to soak up the atmosphere, as it were.
“And I have to say Irish fans, yet again, were absolutely brilliant. They really did the country proud. As indeed did the team, going 2:0 up… it was painful to end on the wrong side of a penalty shootout.
“Yes, for us it was a busy time. Of course there were some citizens who needed some assistance with travel documents and that sort of thing.
“But happily there were absolutely no major incidents or mishaps.
“It’s terrific that you can have thousands of your country folk come, enjoy themselves and go back safely. And that’s what we were focused on.”
Ireland takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1. What does that mean for Ireland?
“It’s the eighth time that Ireland will take on the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
“For a small country like Ireland, having the EU presidency is a great opportunity.”
“Personally, it’ll be my fourth time to be involved with the foreign ministry in an EU presidency.
“For a small country like Ireland, having the EU presidency is a great opportunity.
“It’s also a challenge for a small administration, to be everywhere and to make the contributions that we know we want to.
“This has been a genuinely whole of government effort. The preparations to bring it about have been ongoing for at least two or three years, getting the right people in the right places.
“So we’ve prepared well for it.
“It’ll be demanding, but again it’s also a great opportunity for any member state – but particularly a smaller member state – to be in the chair, to be contributing to setting the agenda, to chairing the meetings.
“In Ireland alone there will be about 270 EU meetings hosted, 22 of them at ministerial level.
“We’ll also be hosting an informal meeting of the European Council – that’s at heads of state and government level – and also the next meeting of the European Political Community, which will bring together about 47 heads of state and government from across Europe; that will be the biggest diplomatic gathering that Ireland has ever hosted.
“So it’s a major undertaking, but it’s one that we’re very much up for.”
It’s your first presidency as an ambassador. What does it mean for you and your workload?
“Yes, it is my first as ambassador.
“For us here in Prague, we will host a number of meetings of EU ambassadors.
“For each of those meetings we will invite a prominent Czech figure – usually political, but they don’t have to be – to come and talk to the EU ambassadors as a group; usually our guests are very kind, and they will happily get involved in a Q&A.
“Another piece of work is outreach. So, for example, I’ll be attending the EU Affairs committees of both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
“I’ll also be engaging with a number of think-tanks, to talk about the presidency priorities of Ireland for the coming six months.
“Also of interest to us at the embassy is the opportunity also to get out of Prague and to talk about Ireland, to talk about the European Union, to talk about the Czech Republic and the European Union and Ireland at a number of events.
“We’re working on those events in a number of centres outside Prague, and I’m very much looking forward to those.
“It’s also an opportunity to raise the embassy’s profile, to raise Ireland’s profile here in the Czech Republic and, I suppose, to tell our story of EU membership, which has been a hugely positive one over the last 53 years.
“And also to, I suppose, join the dots on our common membership of the European Union; on so many policy issues we are very much on the same page.”
Is it fair to say that Ireland is rather more positive about the EU than the Czech Republic?
“Certainly if you go by the survey data, I’m very happy, and very proud, to represent a country where Ireland’s membership of the European Union is hugely popular.
“More than eight people in 10 consistently tell pollsters that Ireland’s membership of the European Union is a good thing for Ireland, and a good thing for them.
“Again, maybe here there’s a bit of a job of work to be done about sharing the story.
“Obviously, each member state has a different history, a different background, a different context, but I would argue that as a project the European Union, certainly for Ireland, has been transformative.
“I think for many, many other countries – and I would suggest also for the Czech Republic – it has had a huge and positive impact.
“And hopefully that will become more and more apparent as time goes on.”