Marie Louise O’Donnell Becomes Latvia’s Honorary Consul in Ireland

Marie Louise O’Donnell Becomes Latvia’s Honorary Consul in Ireland

Yesterday. On June 30, a reception was held in honor of the new Latvian Honorary Consul in Ireland Marie Louise O’Donnell, hosted by the Ambassador of Latvia to Ireland Jānis Sīlis.
Representatives of the diplomatic corps, representatives of higher education institutions, honorary consuls of other countries and representatives of the Latvian community had gathered at the reception.

Honorary Consul of Latvia Marie Louise O’Donnell is a prominent figure in Irish society. She is a member of a number of broadcasters, a politician who has been a member of the Irish Parliamentary Senate (Seanad Éireann) for nine years until 2020, where she was once run by Prime Minister Enda Kenny. The new honorary consul has studied educational sciences, languages, contemporary theater and acting. For more than 20 years, she has been a lecturer at Dublin City University (DCU), where she has taught a range of communication and art courses, including radio documentary filmmaking, storytelling and public speaking. She also has an extraordinary contribution to the creation of the DCU Art Center Helix.
At the reception, Marie Louise O’Donnell addressed the audience very freely and openly, saying that she was extremely honored and grateful to be elected Honorary Consul. She said that she had visited Latvia and that our country surprised her with its beauty, purity, historical architecture and forests. Marie Louise emphasized that Ireland and Latvia had an enormous amount to learn from each other as they enriched themselves. She added that learning from other countries should never be stopped.

The Honorary Consul repeatedly noted the importance of communication in establishing and maintaining mutual contacts. She described her main task as “helping to bring people together”, stressing that it is always very important to meet people “face to face”. Marie Louise undertook to promote co-operation between Latvia and Ireland in art, business, society and to bring energy, joy, humor, faith and mutual trust in this process.
Edīte Medne, Counselor at the Latvian Embassy in Ireland, told the portal that Latvia has not had an honorary consul in Ireland for many years, so it is now a special satisfaction to have Marie Louise O’Donnell confirmed in this position. After the Honorary Consul George McCullagh worked here from 1996 to 2009, it was not possible to find a person who would be ready to perform these duties.
Who is an honorary consul? He is a Latvian or foreign citizen with an excellent reputation, who is entrusted with the task of performing representative and consular functions on behalf of the Republic of Latvia. In this position, the honorary consul does not become an official or a member of the ministry, nor is he a diplomat. Honorary consuls of Latvia do not receive remuneration for the performance of their duties, they perform these duties voluntarily. In addition, the material support required for the performance of their functions is not paid from the Latvian state budget.
The Institute of Honorary Consuls plays an important role in promoting international economic and cultural relations, it is also important in cases where Latvian citizens need consular assistance, although this applies more to countries where there is no Latvian embassy.

/ from www.baltic-ireland.ie/