David Donoghue

Ambassador David Donoghue had a long and varied career in Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs.

He was involved in the Northern Ireland peace process for many years. He was one of the Irish Government’s negotiators for the groundbreaking Good Friday Agreement (1998), which has provided a political framework for lasting peace and stability in Northern Ireland.

Ambassador Donoghue served at different times as the Irish Ambassador to Russia, Austria and Germany. From 2001 to 2004 he was the Director-General of Ireland’s development co-operation programme, today known as Irish Aid. He also served as Political Director from 2009 to 2013, a post which gave him responsibility for Ireland’s overall foreign policy.

From 2013 to 2017 Ambassador Donoghue was the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations in New York. At the request of the President of the General Assembly, he served as co-facilitator (with Kenya) for the UN negotiations, which led to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015. He also served as co-facilitator (with Jordan) for the negotiations, which resulted in the New York Declaration on large movements of refugees and migrants adopted at a special summit in September 2016.

Ambassador Donoghue retired from the Irish Foreign Service in September 2017. He is actively involved in the processes arising from the New York Declaration, which gave rise, respectively, to a Global Compact on Refugees and a Global Compact on Migrants. He is contributing to the work of a number of think tanks and academic institutions.

Last updated: 2018