British ambassador to Ireland, Stewart Eldon, recently paid a visit to the Chicago area on another fact-finding mission and chatted about a number of topics with The Irish American Post. He became ambassador in 2003.

"I've been received very well here in Chicago and am looking forward to what promises to be an interesting, if exhausting program for the rest of my trip. I hope it will be a two-way process and that my experience in Dublin over the last two years will allow me to offer some useful insights to those I meet," he emphasized. 

"The U.S. government has played a very helpful role over Northern Ireland and so it's very important for somebody in my position to get a feel for what Irish-America is thinking," said Eldon, who tries to visit the States every two years and was last here in the fall of 2002. In addition to Chicago, Eldon visited Washington, New York and Boston after Chicago. The tight schedule didn’t leave much time for sightseeing.

The ambassador knows Peter Hain, the new Irish secretary of state, both from his time in the Welsh office in the ‘90s and when he was a Foreign Office minister dealing with Africa and Europe. "I have been able to spend a bit of time with him since his appointment to Northern Ireland and know that he is much looking forward to the job," Eldon said. 

"He has a very high caliber ministerial team and he, and they, will, I know, be anxious to make a real difference," according to the ambassador, who added that Hain almost immediately after his posting had one good session with his Irish opposite number in Dublin and has met the Taoiseach both there and at a meeting of the British Irish Council in the Isle of Man. 

"As you know, the two governments already work closely together over Northern Ireland, and some good relationships are forming between the new British team and their Irish counterparts," he said. 

As with areas of public opinion in the United Kingdom, there are some concerns in Ireland over Iraq. But this hasn't manifested itself in any animus against Northern Ireland members of the British Forces serving in Iraq, he said. 

Eldon also passed along some observations on the increasing 
security demands on peacekeepers in African conflicts, many of whom are Irish or from Northern Ireland. Like the UK, Ireland is a strong supporter of the United Nations and has a very distinguished record in peace keeping, he indicated. "The Irish contingent in Liberia is doing an excellent job under difficult circumstances and the Defense Forces are contributing to a number of other operations too. I hope this will continue," Eldon added. 

Eldon said his ambassadorship has turned out to be an excellent position. "It's certainly not a run-of-the-mill diplomatic posting. Our shared history sees to that," he said. "The UK/Ireland relationship is extraordinarily diverse and complex. An opinion survey published last year by the embassy and the British Council in Dublin showed that 85% of the Irish successor generation have friends or relatives living in the UK. We are intertwined to the point where we simply cannot be apart. So it's hard to fit everything into only a 24-hour day," Eldon laughed.

Although he’s in and out of Irish government offices a lot, a great deal of business is done on the telephone or in informal settings, Eldon explained. He travels around as much of the country as he can. This year, there has been a lot of focus on Cork, because the city is this year’s European Capitol of Culture. But a week in Donegal learning Irish has become a regular fixture and there have been visits to Limerick (which the Princess Royal visited last year), Galway, Killarney and Wexford, as well as many other places. 

"And Ireland wouldn't be Ireland if the trips had been entirely official," he chuckled His family has adjusted to its new home, loving Dublin. "Rugby is, of course, a major draw. But I'm learning fast about hurling, which I think is a wonderful game to watch. It was nice to be present at last year’s final as a guest of the GAA," he said. 

Since London is very close, he travels back about once a fortnight for meetings and other duties, as well as visiting other parts of Britain for a variety of engagements. "And I couldn't do my job without having a pretty good idea of opinion in Northern Ireland. So I am up there quite often, too, and not just in Belfast," Eldon said, citing his talk at the Derry Chamber of Commerce annual dinner as an example "And people from Northern Ireland are often down in Dublin too. Contacts of this sort can only be of benefit," he continued. 

"One agreeable part of the job has been to see just how strong the UK/Ireland relationship has become. There are a number of factors underlying this," said the ambassador. "The first is Europe, on which our shared membership of the EU has set a new and more equal backdrop to the relationship. We are equal partners in a shared European endeavor, and our common heritage and shared common law background mean that we generally expect similar things from the Union," he said. 

"We are solidly together on most issues, including taxation, the majority of labor and social legislation, justice and home affairs portfolios and the development of the EU-US relationship, and welcome the latest business dimension. Led by the two prime ministers, we worked very closely together during last year's excellent Irish presidency. This year's UK G8 and EU presidency priorities of Africa and the environment strike a significant chord in Ireland, Eldon added. 

He said that the second leg of the relationship is trade. "The economic dimensions are staggering. And it's a two-way street. Ireland is the fourth largest export market for the UK. And it is now the fifth largest Inward investor to the UK in terms of jobs created," he continued. "Trade between the North and South of Ireland has now increased to Euros 2.3 billion. That is an important part of underpinning peace to which I'm personally very committed. Obvious economic benefits, coupled with improved person to person links, are the key to a lasting future," Eldon explained. 

"Finally, our mutual endeavor over Northern Ireland has been an important part in normalizing the relationship. The Good Friday Agreement has done much to overcome the burden of distrust and conflict which has often marked our shared history," he went on. 

"The British government's view has always been that the people of Northern Ireland and, indeed the people of Ireland as a whole, voted for an inclusive power-sharing executive that is the basis on which both governments plan to proceed," Eldon said. 

The British and the Irish governments are clear that the main obstacle to achieving this is the Provisional IRA's continued involvement in criminal and paramilitary activity, according to the ambassador. "That must now come to an end once and for all to allow further progress. But despite the current difficulties we shouldn't loose sight of the fact that much progress has been made. Northern Ireland is different today, not least because no one is seriously talking of a return to violence. We must build on that and build on it as quickly as we can." 

Links between the two countries are growing fast in very many areas, according to Eldon. "The depth, diversity and complexity of the relationship is truly remarkable. We can't and shouldn't ignore the lessons of our shared history. But it's important to look forward rather than endlessly chewing over the past. A lot of people are working hard to do just that and to promote reconciliation within the Island of Ireland. If I can contribute to these objectives during my time in Dublin, I shall leave happy at the end of my posting," he concluded. 
 

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Biography: Stewart Eldon

Born in 1953, Stewart Eldon was educated at Pocklington School in Yorkshire and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he gained a starred First in Electrical Sciences in 1974. He spent two further years at Cambridge engaged in research on semiconductor lasers, for which he was awarded a masters of science degree in 1976.

On joining the diplomatic service in 1976, Eldon was posted to the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations. Further periods of work on UN matters followed in London and New York before he was posted to the political section of the embassy in Bonn in 1978.

After returning to London in 1982 on promotion to First Secretary, Mr. Eldon spent 18 months dealing with Irish affairs before serving for nearly three years as private secretary to Baroness Young, who was at that time Minister of State in the FCO and deputy to Sir Geoffrey Howe. Eldon was posted back to the UK Mission in New York in 1986, where he covered African and Asian affairs in the UN Security Council and General Assembly and acted as deputy head of chancery.

In August, 1990, Mr. Eldon returned to the FCO as assistant head of middle Eastern Department. He served as Deputy Crisis Manager during the Gulf War and was awarded tile OBE in the Gulf Honors List in 1991. In December 1991, on promotion to Counselor, lie was seconded to the European Secretariat of the Cabinet Office and involved in both the aftermath of the negotiations on the Maastricht Treaty and tile UK EU Presidency in 1992.

Eldon spent the academic year 1993-1994 as a Fellow of the Centre for International Affairs of Harvard University. He has also had papers published by the Royal lnstitute of International Affairs in London.

From October, 1994, Mr. Eldon served as counselor and head of the political section of the UK delegations to NATO and the Western European Union in Brussels, where he worked on European defense issues, the enlargement of NATO, and the Alliance's outreach to the Fast. In September, 1997, he returned to the FCO on promotion as Director (Conferences). with responsibility for coordinating the arrangements for the four major Summit Conferences held in the UK between October 1997 and June 1998.

Eldon was appointed Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, with the personal rank of Ambassador, in September, 199S. He was made a CMG in the 1999 New Year's Honors List.

In 2003, Eldon was been appointed UK ambassador to Dublin, following Sir Ivor Roberts. 

Eldon married Christine Mason in January, 1978. They have two children: a daughter (1982) and a son (1985).