Bobby McDonagh (born 29 June 1954) is a former Irish diplomat.

Biography

He was educated in

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

, Dublin and graduated from

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, Oxford with an

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA) (Greats/Classics). He was elected

President of the Oxford Union Past elected presidents of the Oxford Union are listed below, with their college and the year/term in which they served. ''Iterum'' indicates that a person was serving a second term as president (which is not possible under the current Union rule ...

in 1974. He entered the Irish diplomatic service in 1977. His father, Bob McDonagh, and brother, Philip McDonagh, also served as ambassadors in the service. He is regarded as an expert on

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 de ...

affairs, having spent 23 years of his career either in the corridors of Brussels or in the EU division of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. This included periods in the Secretariat of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, periods in the cabinets of two European Commissioners and a period (2005–2009) as the Irish Permanent Representative to the EU. He served as Director General of the EU division of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (2001–2005). He was Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom (2009–2013), which included the period of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland. He served as Ambassador of Ireland to Italy (2013–2017) and retired in 2018.

Publications

* "Irish Friends and Friends of Ireland..." London Speeches 2009–2013, (IIEA 2014) * The IGC: How the Deal was Done-an account of the negotiation of the EU Constitutional Treaty (contained in ''The Genesis and Destiny of the European Constitution'', Bruylant 2007). * Original Sin in a Brave New World-the Paradox of Europe (IIEA 1997)

References

External links

Book Launch Speech
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonagh, Bobby Living people 1954 births People from Washington, D.C. People educated at Gonzaga College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Presidents of the Oxford Union Ambassadors of Ireland to Italy Ambassadors of Ireland to Malaysia Ambassadors of Ireland to the United Kingdom Permanent Representatives of Ireland to the European Union 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people 21st-century diplomats Irish diplomats