Biography
Micheál Smith, from County Armagh, is Ireland's Consul General to the Western United States.
Prior to moving to San Francisco, Micheál was Director of Global Ireland in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) where he led efforts on widening and deepening Ireland's international influence and amplifying Ireland as a place to visit, live, do business, invest, study, innovate and enjoy!], as set out in the Government’s Global Ireland 2025, through leading Ireland’s Embassy/Consulate expansion, Ireland’s presence at Expo 2020, the development of ireland.ie, increasing Irish citizen engagement with Ireland’s global role among other initiatives
He started his career as an Economic Analyst in the Department of Communications and Energy based in Dublin before taking up a First Secretary role in the Embassy of Ireland in Singapore, with Asia-wide economic responsibilities. Micheál went on to establish IDA Ireland’s first ASEAN office, which he led for 3 years.
Micheál then moved to help drive IDA Ireland’s efforts in the US, focusing on the US Mid-West, South and South-East. For four years he worked with companies entering the Europe and EMEA markets for the first time as well as maintaining and enhancing Ireland’s relationship at executive level with many leading US MNCs already present in Ireland.
From 2017 to 2020, Micheál was in a senior economic policy and development role in the Middle East before returning to DFA in Dublin.
His first ever job, through school and university, was working weekends and holidays in his family’s food business.
Micheál holds a BSC in Management (Business & Economics) from Queen’s University Belfast and a MSC in Economic Policy Studies from Trinity College Dublin. He is married to Claire and they have four children - Sophie, Senan, Conan and Oisín. The family enjoy GAA, soccer, music, swimming, hiking, golf (Dad mostly!), and running.