A Century of Diplomacy and Friendship

Just over one hundred years ago, the fledgling Irish Free State sent Mr. Timothy Smiddy to Washington, D.C. Ambassador Smiddy was the new Irish state’s first ever diplomatic representative, taking up duty in the first country to formally recognise the newly-independent Irish State.

For Ireland, taking our place among the nations of the world meant taking our place in Washington, D.C.

Ireland’s deep ties with the United States stretch back beyond the founding of our respective countries. Of the fifty-six signatories of the Declaration of Independence, three were born on the island of Ireland: Thomas McKean, Charles Carroll, and James Smith.

Irish independence owes much to the ideals of liberty, democracy, and equality of opportunity so eloquently expressed in this country.

As I reflect on 100 years of Irish-U.S. diplomatic relations, it is clear that our histories are interwoven, because our people are so deeply intertwined. Today, 31.5 million people claim Irish ancestry in the United States. Over the years, as our people travelled back and forth across the Atlantic, they carried with them what was precious, including their hopes, their beliefs and their values.

Our shared belief in the promise and prospects for peace helped shape a brighter future for all on the island of Ireland. The United States’ deep and sustained engagement with Northern Ireland has been one of the most significant success stories in American foreign policy. It is, quite simply, a signal achievement of administrations from both sides of the aisle.

U.S. support for the “just and peaceful solution” that President Ronald Reagan spoke of on St. Patrick’s Day 1981 came from both sides of the aisle. Countless visits over the years by U.S. elected officials showed the people of Ireland, north and south, that they would not tread the path to peace alone.

At the most critical junctures in the 1990s, the intervention of the United States drove the process forward, when few others could have done so. U.S. influence brought reluctant personalities and parties back to the table when the talks process seemed on the verge of collapse. We needed you.

The contribution of the United States has helped a whole generation grow to adulthood outside of the shadow of violence. It has opened a world of “unlimited possibilities” that President Joe Biden spoke of on his visit to Belfast in 2023. Together, we have built the basis for a bright and prosperous future.

A century ago, when the United States first recognised Ireland as an independent state, we were a small, poor country on the edge of Europe.

When our diplomats first came to Washington, D.C., one of their earliest priorities was to secure a pathway to a better life in America for those who could not find work at home. While we no longer emigrate in the numbers that we once did, we want to work to continue to offer opportunities for our people to experience our respective cultures.

Now, Ireland is one of the most prosperous, creative and dynamic economies in the world. It is a place to which people from across the globe move in search of a better life. The United States has played an essential role in this transformation.

Today, the economic relationship between our two countries is deeply integrated and mutually beneficial. Ireland is the seventh largest source of Foreign Direct Investment in the U.S., with investments in 2023 exceeding $320 billion and more than 700 Irish firms employing over 100,000 people across the fifty states.

In terms of U.S. Foreign Direct Investment, Ireland offers U.S. companies not only a strong return on its investment due to a pro-business environment and skilled workforce, but also strategic access to European markets and a collaborative environment fostering innovation and growth.

As our ties have grown, so too has our footprint, and we are now represented at Consulates in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Through our expanding diplomatic network, we have woven new cultural, economic, and people-to-people threads into the tapestry of our relationship.

We want to work to continue to grow the opportunities for people to experience our respective cultures.

As we enter the second century of our relationship with the United States, we look forward to working with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Our government and our people will work once again to strengthen and enhance the bond between the United States of America and Ireland, which President-elect Trump said “thrives, inspires and endures."

And, together, I am confident we will succeed.

Geraldine Byrne Nason is Ireland's Ambassador to the United States.