Thursday, July 24, 2014

NEWLY-appointed minister for foreign affairs and trade Charlie Flanagan was asked to be the “voice of Ireland abroad” by taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Minister Flanagan became the first Fine Gael foreign affairs minister since Peter Barry in 1987 on Friday 11 July. It was a move that surprised no-one more than the Laois man himself.

Only two months previous, he had been appointed minister of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

As foreign affairs minister, he was plunged straight into work dealing with the annual 12^th of July parades issue in the North. Over the last week, he has been handling the country’s response to the violence in Gaza and Israel and the air disaster in the Ukraine, which claimed the life of an Irish woman.

Minister Flanagan (57) described the position both as a “great privilege” and a “great challenge” and the last week as a “whirlwind.”

“It’s an extraordinary experience to be appointed minister, but to be appointed to two different ministries in two months is even more extraordinary; it’s perhaps unprecedented.”

Prior to the reshuffle, minister Flanagan had been preoccupied with the impending Mother and baby inquiry.

“I was involved in setting the terms of reference for the Mother and baby inquiry. I was not expecting a call. I was not expecting to be dropped.”

When he received the call that the taoiseach wanted to meet him, he believed it was to have a review of his time so far in the ministry.

“He asked me how I felt I had done in the Department of Children. I said I felt I had done well and he agreed.

“He asked me to do this very important job not just for the government but for the Irish people.”

Minister Flanagan said that the taoiseach had asked him to be “the voice of Ireland abroad.”

Minister Flanagan said that his appointment “is an appreciation and reflection of the level of loyal support and encouragement thousands of Laois people have given me over the years.”

The news of his appointment was greeted with delight by minister Flanagan’s mother, Mai, his wife Mary and daughters Sophie and Olwyn.

It was immediately back to work for the new minister after he received his ministerial seal from President Michael D Higgins.

“I was straight into Iveagh House on the evening of the appointment, having just come back on the cabinet bus from Aras an Uachtaráin. I spoke to the secretary of state (for Northern Ireland) Theresa Villiers. I followed that up with a round of phone calls with party leaders in the North, as the situation was quite tense.”

He will be visiting Belfast next week, where he will hold his first meeting.

He has also met with the Israeli ambassador and talked with the Egyptian foreign minister about the violence in the Middle East.

“What is happening in the Middle East is obviously horrific. I had an hour-long meeting with the Israeli ambassador and I addressed the Dáil on the current issue. I am very concerned with the current situation in Israel and Gaza, both the unacceptable rockets fired from Gaza into Israel and equally the high level of civilian casualties.”

Minister Flanagan said that the priority was the “rapid de-escalation of the crisis and the earliest possible end to the violence.”

“I would ask the two parties to engage with the Egyptian initiative of the ceasefire proposal. Israel accepted and I regret the proposal was rejected by Hamas.”

Last week, the lives of 298 people, including that of Irish woman Edel Mahady, were lost when the Malaysian MH17 passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine.

Minister Flanagan said that he had been in regular contact with her family over the weekend. He said that Ireland was a stakeholder in what now took place and called for an “independent, international and free investigation.”

The North continues to be the dominant issue for the department, while Britain’s uncertain future in the EU is also a pressing concern, according to Minister Flanagan.

The new ministry also includes the trade brief.

Minister Flanagan said that Ireland’s embassies were the “front of house” for foreign companies looking to invest and he said that he would play his part in increasing exports.

He said: “The restoration of Ireland’s reputation internationally and building the economy is fundamentally important.”

In regards to his constituency work, minister Flanagan admitted that he would not be able to devote as much time and it would be a matter of “juggling” his responsibilities.

However, he said: “I will not be found wanting. I have a full-time office in Portlaoise and my regular clinics in Mountmellick will remain.”

Minister Flanagan said that he had a “good staff, a good team” to assist in his constituency work.

He added that he wanted to change the perception of some that the department was an “ivory tower.”

Minister Flanagan said that he intends to launch a school project to highlight the important work the department does.

“The profile of Department of Foreign Affairs is where you go if you lose a passport or when you have misfortune abroad. It’s so much more than that.”

The history of the foreign affairs office is an important one for minister Flanagan and the Flanagan family.

Liam Cosgrave served as external affairs minister in the 1950s before becoming leader of Fine Gael in the 1970s when minister Flanagan first joined the party. Mr Cosgrave (93) was a close friend of minister Flanagan’s father Oliver J and appointed him to cabinet as minister for defence.

Kevin O’Higgins is the only other Laois man to have served in the role as minister for external affairs.

The Stradbally man was assassinated on 10 July 1927, virtually 87 years to the day that minister Flanagan received his ministerial seal. Only weeks ago, minister Flanagan had stopped at a portrait of O’Higgins in the Dáil to reflect before going into his first cabinet meeting as children’s minister.