The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( ga, An tAire Gnóthaí Eachtracha) is a senior minister in the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

and leads the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Minister's office is located at

Iveagh House Iveagh House is a Georgian house which now contains the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, Ireland. It is also sometimes used colloquially as a metonym referring to the department itself. Iveagh House was originally t ...

, on

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by L ...

in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

for the department as a whole. From 1922 until 1971 the title of the office was ''"Minister for External Affairs"''. The current office holder is

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since Decembe ...

, TD. He is also

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. He is assisted by: * Thomas Byrne, TD,

Minister of State for European Affairs The Minister of State for European Affairs is a junior ministerial post at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Ireland with special responsibility for European Affairs. The Minister works w ...

; and *

Colm Brophy Colm Brophy (born 22 June 1966) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency since 2016. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from July 2020 to December ...

, TD, Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora.

Overview

The department has the following divisions: * Finance Unit – oversees the financial control of the department. * Anglo-Irish Division – deals with Anglo-Irish relations and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. * Cultural Division – administers the state's Cultural Relations Programme. *

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Division – coordinates the state's approach within the

(EU). * Development Cooperation Division – responsible for the

Irish Aid , logo = File:Irish Aid logo.jpg , picture = File:Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Ireland).jpg , picture_caption = Iveagh House in Dublin, DFA headquarters , agency_type = , logo_caption = , company_type = , formed = ...

programme and for Irish international development policy. * Passport and Consular Division – is responsible for the issuing of passports to Irish citizens. * Political Division – is responsible for international political issues and manages the state's participation in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. * Protocol Division – is responsible for the organisation and management of visits of VIPs to the state and of visits abroad by the

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

. The Minister has responsibility for the relations between Ireland and foreign states. The department defines its role as: "The Department of Foreign Affairs advises the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Ministers of State and the Government on all aspects of foreign policy and coordinates Ireland's response to international developments. It also provides advice and support on all issues relevant to the pursuit of peace, partnership and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, and between North and South of the island, and to deepening Ireland's relationship with Britain."

List of office-holders

;Notes

References

External links

Minister for Foreign Affairs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreign Affairs Foreign relations of Ireland Government ministers of the Republic of Ireland Lists of government ministers of Ireland Ireland, Foreign Affairs

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Minister