Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)

The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( _ga. Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha) is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Ireland. Its headquarters are at Iveagh House, on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole.

The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Micheál Martin, TD. He is assisted by two Ministers of State:
*Peter Power, TD – Minister of State for Overseas Development
*Dick Roche, TD – Minister of State for European Affairs

The Minister is one of the most important members of the Irish cabinet, with responsibility for the relations between Ireland and foreign states. From 1922 until 1971 the title of the office was "Minister for External Affairs".

Overview

Within the department there are a number of divisions:
* Finance Unit – oversees the financial control of the department.
* Anglo-Irish Division – deals with Anglo-Irish relations and Northern Ireland.
* Cultural Division – administers the state's Cultural Relations Programme.
* European Union Division – coordinates the state's approach within the European Union (EU).
* Passport and Consular Division – is responsible for the issuing of passports to Irish citizens.
* Political Division – is responsible for international political issues and manages the state's participation in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy.
* Protocol Division – is responsible for the organisation and management of visits of VIPs to the state and of visits abroad by the President of Ireland.

List of office-holders

Footnotes

ee also

*Irish cabinets since 1919

External links

* [http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/ Department of Foreign Affairs]