Embassy of the Philippines, Dublin
The Embassy of the Philippines in Dublin was the diplomatic mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the Republic of Ireland. Opened in 2009, it was located at the fourth floor of Hainault House along the southern perimeter of St Stephen's Green in central Dublin.

Closed in 2012 due to a reduction in the Philippines' diplomatic presence worldwide during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III, the mission is scheduled to reopen in 2024.

History
Although diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Ireland were established in 1984, relations were initially conducted through an honorary consulate in Dublin.

A resident embassy in Ireland was not opened until the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, when the Philippine Embassy in Dublin was opened on July 9, 2009. Initially operating out of temporary office space at 77 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, it began offering consular services a week later. The Embassy then inaugurated its permanent chancery on November 30, 2010, coinciding with Bonifacio Day, with an open house for the Filipino community in Ireland being held two days before.

Expansion of the Philippines' diplomatic presence abroad during the Arroyo presidency was not without controversy: in 2010, Senator Franklin Drilon questioned the need for embassies in countries with small Filipino communities, including a number of countries in Europe, and called for a review of the Philippines' diplomatic presence worldwide. This would lead to the closure of ten posts under Arroyo's successor, Benigno Aquino III, and ultimately to the closure of the Embassy by October 31, 2012, which took effect nearly three months earlier on July 16, 2012. Ireland was then placed under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Embassy in London, with services provided through a reopened honorary consulate, although Filipinos in Ireland have asked for the Embassy to be reopened due to the limited services provided by the honorary consulate.

By 2019, the Philippine government had begun considering reopening a resident mission in Ireland, with Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announcing that the Philippine Embassy in Dublin would reopen as part of an expansion of the country's diplomatic presence under Aquino's successor, Rodrigo Duterte. On November 15, 2022, during budget deliberations for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Senator Loren Legarda announced that the Embassy was one of four missions that would reopen in 2024, and the DFA, spurred in part by the reopening of the Irish Embassy in Manila in 2021, itself confirmed during a debate on Ireland–Philippines relations at Trinity College Dublin on May 30, 2024, that a resident mission in Ireland would reopen in late 2024.

Staff and activities
The Philippine Embassy in Dublin was headed by Ambassador Ariel Y. Abadilla, the Philippines' first (and so far, only) resident ambassador to Ireland. A career diplomat who was appointed to the position by President Arroyo on February 17, 2009, he previously served as Consul General at the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu. His appointment was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA) on March 4, 2009, and he presented his credentials to Irish President Mary McAleese on June 29, 2009. Abadilla was subsequently recalled with the Embassy's impending closure, and at the time it closed it was headed by Hjayceelyn M. Quintana as chargée d'affaires.

With the embassy's impending reopening it is set to be headed by a new ambassador, Daniel R. Espiritu, who was appointed to the position by President Bongbong Marcos on August 4, 2024. Prior to becoming ambassador, Espiritu, a career diplomat, served as the DFA's assistant secretary for ASEAN Affairs. His appointment is currently pending before the CA, which will decide on his appointment on September 10, 2024.

See also
Ireland–Philippines relations
List of diplomatic missions of the Philippines
Filipinos in Ireland

References

External links
Official website of the Philippine Embassy in Dublin ()

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Category:Ireland–Philippines relations