Trainor Award ceremony honoring Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will offer remarks followed by a moderated conversation with Ambassador Anne Anderson, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States (2013-2017), Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations (2009-2013), and Chair of the Institute for the […]
Anne Anderson Becomes First Female Member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Ambassador Anne Anderson in the green jacket of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick after she became the first woman admitted to the organization in its history. By R. Bryan Willits, Editorial Assistant
Irish Ambassador Anne Anderson became the first women to be inducted into the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, an organization that has had an exclusively male membership since it was founded in Philadelphia in 1771.
Twenty other women were also admitted as members at the Friendly Son’s 245th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Gala on Saturday, March 12. Anderson’s inclusion is also special since the only other individual to be an “adopted” member of the society in its 245-year existence was George Washington.
‘Copy the Irish’ UK diplomats told after Ireland’s Brexit wins in US Independent.ie 02/02/2021 Fionnán Sheahan
Irish diplomats in Washington won the battle on Brexit in the US by being “highly proactive” with politicians and emigrant groups, says a scathing report on UK foreign policy.
Ireland is ranked alongside Israel for influence with US politicians after creating the perception the peace process in Northern Ireland could be damaged by Brexit.
US President Joe Biden warning the British last year about not doing anything to damage the Good Friday Agreement is the best example of Irish influence. The report by the UK’s leading think tank advises British diplomats to copy Irish tactics in the US.
The Government is also praised for covering international journalists’ expenses on trips to Ireland as a way to foster heritage links.
After the Brexit vote in 2016, the Government launched a diplomatic push in Washington. Former Irish Ambassador to London, Dan Mulhall, was appointed to Washington a year later. The previous Ambassador Anne Anderson also had a CV boasting terms at the UN and EU.
Brexit is cited as an example of Britain’s waning influence compared to far less well staffed Irish operation.
“The most illustrative case study of Britain’s struggles in Washington was the failure to successfully project the government’s view on Northern Ireland and the Brexit process in Washington against accusations it was endangering the Good Friday Agreement, first over the so-called “backstop” and then over the Internal Market Bill,” the report by the thinktank, Policy Exchange says.