When we consider what it means to put diplomacy into action, our imagination probably turns to the high-stakes negotiations and clandestine conversations that Ambassador Kate Wyler routinely finds herself involved in. I’ve never served in such a role, so I don’t know for sure, but something tells me that what we see on Netflix is not what the usual day of a career foreign service officer, for any nation, looks like.
Instead, I like to think a lot of this work is happening at the local level, professionals putting their incredible skills to work to build meaningful relationships that bring the world a little bit closer together.
That’s why I was so excited last week to be a part of Ireland Deputy Consul General Roisin Leonard’s first visit to New Jersey. We didn’t need to know any codewords or secret knocks for the places we went; there would be no catastrophic events based on the conversations we had, and the existence of the planet was never put in peril.
Instead, over the course of a day on Friday we visited a coffee shop in Hoboken where the Deputy CG got to chat with three outstanding women, one Irish born two very proud of their Irish roots about every day issues that matter to them; we visited the Hoboken Library where Director Jenny Pu showed us around the amazing community asset and regaled us with how she grew to love the Irish; and finally the Jersey City Police Department’s headquarters where Chief Robert Kearns, proudly wearing his building swipe card with a lanyard branded by Garda Siochona, showed her around and gave her an inside look at community policing. As two bonuses, Deputy CG Leonard was introduced to Hoboken pizza and got to walk down Washington Street as children and families gathered in costumes for the annual Ragamuffin Parade.
Of course, there is so much more to New Jersey than just Hoboken and Jersey City, and indeed Deputy Consul General Leonard and her colleagues across the US have the challenge of getting to know diverse communities in all 50 states. The point, therefore, is that the Irish government, through its Department of Foreign Affairs and its diplomatic corps, has placed value on these local relationships.
It’s this soft diplomacy that they engage in so expertly that keeps Ireland, though small in size, playing a huge role in global affairs. From attracting inward investment to helping their own indigenous companies find platforms for overseas growth, to being viewed as a nation where all families can thrive in healthy, well-educated, and prosperous communities, and finally to being considered a generous and loving people that have positively impacted others around them, whether domestically or abroad, that opens the doors for the Irish.
Hopefully, Deputy Consul General Leonard’s visit to New Jersey played a small part in advancing these outcomes, and it all started with a cup of coffee!
