Paul Johnston (born 29 May 1968) is a British diplomat, and the British Ambassador to Ireland since September 2020.

Early life

Paul Charles Johnston was born on 29 May 1968 to Charles Johnston and Muriel Johnston (''née'' Hall). Charles Johnston worked for

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

. Muriel Johnston worked for a trade union and is active in the Galashiels Opera. Johnston was educated at St Margaret's Primary School and then the Galashiels Academy in Galashiels, Scotland. At Galashiels Johnston studied French, German, and Spanish and described the efforts of his languages teacher as a possible inspiration for joining the Foreign Office. Johnston then attended the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating with an MA (Hons) in Political Science and Government. In his youth, Johnston participated in performances of ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childre ...

'' and ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'' for the Galashiels Opera.

Career

Paul Johnston joined the Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence until 1993. In 1993, Johnston joined the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

as the Desk Officer for

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

until 1995. Johnston served as the Private Secretary to the

British Ambassador to France The British Ambassador to France is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in France, and is the head of Britain's diplomatic mission in Paris. The official title is ''His Majesty's Ambassador to France''. Traditionally, the ...

from 1995 to 1999. This was Johnston's first foreign posting. Johnston described negotiating on behalf of the

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 ...

on the language on the

responsibility to protect The Responsibility to Protect (R2P or RtoP) is a global political commitment which was endorsed by all member states of the United Nations at the 2005 World Summit in order to address its four key concerns to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic ...

, adopted by the UN World Summit in 2005, as a personal highlight of his career. Johnston was appointed the British Ambassador to Sweden from August 2011 to August 2015. Johnston was the British Permanent Representative to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

from 2016 to 2017. He served as the British Ambassador to the European Union's

Political and Security Committee The Political and Security Committee (PSC; sometimes referred to by its French ''COPS'' acronym derived from ''Comité politique et de sécurité'') is a permanent body within the European Union dealing with Common Foreign and Security Policy issu ...

from 2017 to January 2020.

Ambassador to Ireland

Johnston was appointed the British Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020. In December 2020, Johnston published an open letter describing the

EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement The EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is a free trade agreement signed on 30 December 2020, between the European Union (EU), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the United Kingdom (UK). It provisionally applied from ...

as a "good deal for the UK and the EU, and in particular for the UK and Ireland". On 5 March 2021, the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' published a letter from Johnston, setting out the rationale for the decision of the British government to unilaterally extend the grace period for post-Brexit checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain. In March 2021, Johnston revealed that Ireland is "high up" on the list of countries to receive surplus

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

s once British vaccination targets are met.

Personal life

Johnston married Nicola Carol Maskell in 2004. Johnston walks recreationally.

References

External links

* *
Paul Johnston's blog
at the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Paul Living people 21st-century British diplomats Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Ireland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Sweden 1968 births People educated at Galashiels Academy People from Galashiels Alumni of the University of Glasgow Permanent Representatives of the United Kingdom to NATO