Ambassador Alison Kelly
Ambassador Kelly has been Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic and to Ukraine since 2012. She presented credentials to President Václav Klaus on 28 February 2012 and to President Viktor Yanukovych on 2 July 2012.
Message from Ambassador
A Chairde, dear Friends,
It is a great honour to represent Ireland as Ambassador to the Czech Republic and to Ukraine, based in Prague.
There are strong and vibrant links between Ireland and the Czech Republic, which date back to earliest times and our shared Celtic heritage and stretch through centuries of turbulent history in both countries. Irish music has been a traditional point of contact between our peoples over many years and membership of the European Union has strengthened the bonds over the past decade.
My aim as Ambassador is to do all that I can to develop and enhance Ireland’s bilateral relationships with the Czech Republic and with Ukraine in the economic, cultural and social spheres.
I warmly welcome your ideas and proposals and your feedback on our work.
I look forward to continuing to work with you,
Sincerely, le gach dea-ghuí,
Alison Kelly
Ambassador's Biography
Alison Kelly took up duty in Prague in February 2012. She is concurrently Ambassador to Ukraine.
Ambassador Kelly was born in Drogheda, Co Louth in 1953. She graduated from University College, Dublin in 1973 with a Bachelor of Social Science degree and from the College of Europe in Bruges in Belgium in 1974 with a Certificate in Advanced European Studies. She joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1974.
The Ambassador’s previous assignments include:
2007-11 Deputy Political Director and Director for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Department of Foreign Affairs;
2003-7 Political Counsellor, Embassy Washington
1998-2002 UN Director, Department of Foreign Affairs; concurrently Africa Director 1999-2000
Earlier assignments include The Hague (1976-9), Cairo (1983-6), CSCE/OSCE in Vienna and other locations (1986-89, 1990-1993 and during the Irish EU Presidency in 1996), Madrid (1993-7) as well as in the Economic, Information and Political Divisions at Headquarters.
Career highlights include responsibility for the Diplomatic Conference in Dublin in 2008, which adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and her successful chairmanship of the negotiations on the Middle East at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in 2010.
Ambassador Kelly’s key priorities in her current assignment are to strengthen the bilateral relationships with the Czech Republic and Ukraine in all dimensions, to promote Irish economic interests and to protect the interests of Irish citizens and companies.