Irish Ambassador to Canada Declan Kelly
Expects to Visit Western Canada in May
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IRISH AMBASSADOR to Canada: Declan Kelly
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By MAURA McCAY
The Irish Ambassador to Canada, his Excellency Declan Kelly, is expected to make his first trip to Western Canada this Spring.
Speaking to The Celtic Connection, Ambassador Kelly said he is looking forward to the visit. He said, "Following my visit to British Columbia, I will travel to Alberta.
"I look forward in particular to meeting with what I know are very active and vibrant Irish community organizations in both provinces.
"In addition to meeting with Irish groups, I will also meet with local political and business contacts. The strong economies in B.C. and Alberta offer good opportunities for Irish companies and we are looking to develop this potential for Irish companies in the West."
Ambassador Kelly arrived in Ottawa in 2007 to take up his current appointment, and he brings with him a wealth of experience in the North American region.
He previously served in Ottawa as Charge d'Affaires from 1989 to 1990 and in San Francisco as Consul General from 1992 to 1998. He went on to become Ambassador of Ireland to Australia in 2002 where he also served concurrently as Ambassador to New Zealand and Fiji.
Kelly has many fond recollections of his earlier postings in both Ottawa and San Francisco. He also recalls visits to Seattle where he said, "my good friend John Keane always looked after me very well."
"Ottawa was my first overseas posting," he said, "I arrived here in 1985 with my wife Anne and three children, Ruth 11, Declan 7 and Richard 5.
"We all have very happy memories of that period. I bought a Bonair camper and did some great trips including Ottawa to the Rockies. We went to British Columbia over Kicking Horse Pass and another year we went out east as far as PEI.
"I believe these trips gave me a sense of the real Canada. I was very impressed by the quality of the Canadian Provincial parks."
Speaking about the value of that earlier experience, Kelly reflected, "I was the number two in the Embassy at the time, covering trade and press issues. Canadian journalists Mike Duffy and Don Newman were contacts back then and I have since renewed my friendship with them.
"There is no doubt my previous posting has been a great help to me in my new assignment.
"Incidentally, my two sons have already visited, Declan with his wife Lisa and our first grandchild, Isabelle, born last year. "Richard visited at Christmas, 2006. My daughter Ruth and her husband will visit us in May. All the kids have very happy memories of life in Canada - they are all excellent skiers and skaters having learned here."
Ireland and Canada enjoy excellent relations at all levels and Ambassador Kelly said his goal is to build on this foundation.
At the Embassy, there are three diplomatic officers including the Ambassador and five locally engaged staff. They have a very busy consular operation, providing passports, visas, foreign birth registrations and a host of other issues.
They also provide a 24/7 - 365 day operation involving emergency service at weekends. Kelly said, "I am very proud of the excellent service provided by our local staff, often in very difficult circumstances."
Along with his diplomatic colleagues, Karl Gardner and David Keating, Ambassador Kelly works on trade and commercial issues and follows the trends in the Canadian political system, at federal and provincial level.
He said, "the Irish community groups throughout this vast country provide us with help in all areas of our work and their insights and contacts are very important to us. We also work closely with Enterprise Ireland and Tourism Ireland."
The Embassy maintains regular contact with individuals and organizations throughout Canada, including in the West.
In closing, Ambassador Kelly commented on the current change of leadership taking place in Ireland with the resignation of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
He said, "the Taoiseach designate was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2004. Between 2000 and 2002, I was Director of Press and Information at the Foreign Ministry at which time I worked very closely with Minister Cowen and travelled with him to many parts of the world.
"He is very committed to the Irish abroad and it was during his time that the Irish Abroad Unit was established in the Foreign Ministry. He will be the first Taoiseach from Offaly."
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