Welcome Message
A chairde, الاصدقاء الاعزاء , Dear Friends
I am deeply honoured to serve at Embassy Amman as Ireland’s second resident Ambassador of Ireland to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and as the first female Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq (on a non-resident basis). I would like to thank the leadership and governments of Jordan and Iraq for their ongoing positive engagement and support to me in this role.
During my tenure as Ambassador, I look forward to continuing to work with the excellent Embassy team across a range of priorities across political, humanitarian, cultural, consular and trade issues. My family and I have received an extremely warm welcome in Jordan, our home for the next number of years, which reflects the expansive generosity of the people in this beautiful country. I have experienced the same generosity and warmth during visits to Iraq.
On economic links, we continue to work closely with the European Union (EU), including through the EU Delegations based in Amman and Baghdad, on implementing economic reforms to assist with building trade links. The Embassy enjoys a strong relationship with the Jordan Ireland Business Association (JIBA) to identify bilateral business opportunities in Jordan and Iraq and we have jointly organised a number of events and have supported a number of visits to Ireland since my arrival in September 2022. One of the highlights was the launch of a Doing Business in Jordan Guide for Irish investors in March 2023, developed in partnership with the Jordanian Ministry of Investment, JIBA and Enterprise Ireland. This guide provides a roadmap for our business and trade priorities and key sectors for growth including ICT, Tourism, Pharmaceuticals, Food and Agriculture and Mega Projects.
As well as both the EU and Ireland’s ongoing humanitarian support for UN agencies in Jordan and Iraq, including the response to the Syrian crisis and to UNRWA for Palestinian refugees, the Embassy supports a number of development projects and initiatives. One example of this is the Jordan Young Scientists (JoYS), a national project aimed at supporting young people in STEM with an annual competition and exhibition held each year to highlight winning projects. This initiative is based on BT Young Scientists, which has been in place for over 60 years. The prizes for the top winners from Jordan includes a visit to Ireland each year. More information about JoYS can be found here.
Providing excellent consular services is a key function of the Embassy and details about our consular services can be found here. I would like to take the opportunity to highlight our request that all Irish citizens residing in Jordan and Iraq to register contact details here. For contact in an emergency please call +962 799732370.
Irish cultural highlights since my arrival have been the inaugural Irish Film Festival in October 2022 in and the visit by Riverdance for absolutely mesmerising performances showcasing Irish dance and music at the Roman Theatre in downtown Amman in September 2023. I intend to build on these events to further the diversity and quality of Ireland’s cultural offering.
I would like to acknowledge all the interactions with the vibrant, friendly and welcoming the Irish community, including the Jordan Irish Association.
As always, I welcome input and commentary on what you think we can be doing more of in Jordan and Iraq. I encourage you all to engage with us via our social media channels (on Facebook, Instagram and X), @IrlEmbJordan @IrlAmbJordan. You can also contact the Embassy by email: AmmanEm@dfa.ie.
Le gach dea-ghuí,
Marianne Bolger