Aidan O'Hara (born June 11, 1964) is an Irish diplomat currently serving as

European Union Ambassador Below are current Ambassadors of the European Union to foreign countries and international organisations. They are also known as Heads of Delegation or Envoys. Prior to the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU was represented abroad by the ambassador of th ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. O'Hara was the Irish ambassador to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

from 2012 to 2016. In 2022 he assumed control as EU Ambassador to Sudan. He presented his credentials on 12 April 2022 to the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council,

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman al-Burhan (; born 11 July 1960) is a Sudanese army general who has been the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Sudan, leader of Sudan since 2019. Following the Sudanese revolution, Sudanese Revolution in Ap ...

Biography

O'Hara was born on 11 June 1964 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. He graduated with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in legal science from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

and later received a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

at law degree from Kings Inns. From 2012 to 2016 he was the Irish ambassador to

. During his time as ambassador to Ethiopia, he helped facilitate money for the assistance of Ethiopian migrants returning from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. He was replaced by Sonja Hyland in this post, who also took on the missions of Djibouti, South Sudan, and the African Union. After his time as ambassador, he became Director of Policy Planning at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Director of the European Division. From 2019 to 2022 he was the Ambassador of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

and the

Intergovernmental Authority on Development The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa. It includes governments from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and the African Great Lakes. It is headquartered in Djibouti. Formation The Intergovern ...

. He announced during his term that he wanted to strengthen cooperation projects between the EU and Djibouti like those on child development and equality for women in the country. Since 2022 he has been the European Union's Ambassador to Sudan. On 17 April 2023, he was reportedly assaulted at his home in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

amid the ongoing civil conflict and

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

over the city. He later stated that the group that attacked him were looking for cash and mobile phones and that he was not injured, although he was attacked again during his subsequent evacuation through a Sudanese airbase that left a member of his convoy hurt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OHara, Aidan Living people 1964 births Ambassadors of the European Union to Sudan Ambassadors of Ireland to Ethiopia 21st-century diplomats Diplomats from Dublin (city) Ambassadors of the European Union to Djibouti Irish officials of the European Union