NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF IRELAND PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF IRELAND PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

David Cooney, the new Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, today presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Cooney, with some 25 years of experience in foreign affairs, was Political Director and Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin since 2001.  Prior to that, from 2000 to 2001, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations in New York, responsible for Security Council matters.

In 2000, he was Minister-Counsellor of the Embassy of Ireland in Paris.  He also served as Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris (1998-2000).

Between 1979 and 1998, Mr. Cooney held a number of diplomatic posts, both in Dublin and overseas.  As Counsellor and Head of the Political Section of the Anglo-Irish Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs (1995-1998), Mr. Cooney participated in the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement.  From 1994-1995, he was Coordinator of the White Paper on Irish Foreign Policy and, in 1994, he was a Counsellor and European Correspondent in the Department.

Mr. Cooney has also served as his country’s representative to the European Union (1990-1993), Vienna (1988-1989) and the Holy See (1981-1985).  From 1976 to 1979, he was an officer in the Department of Agriculture and then in the Department of Public Service in Dublin.

Mr. Cooney earned a B.A. in Politics and History from the University of Keele, United Kingdom.

Born 29 April 1954 in London, Mr. Cooney is married and has four children.

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