On Wednesday afternoon, Trinity’s Philosophical Society welcomed Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ireland’s current ambassador to the United States Of America. Nason has served in Brussels, New York, Paris, Vienna and Helsinki.
She previously led Ireland’s successful campaign to earn a seat in the United Nations Security Council.
In 2018 and 2019, Ambassador Nason chaired the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Nason also served as Second Secretary-General in the Department of Taoiseach from 2011 to 2014, earning her the title of highest-ranking female public servant in Ireland at the time.
The Phil awarded Ambassador Nason with the Honorary Patronage Award to recognise her time in leading Ireland on the UN security council, and how it has affected and resonated with students.
Nason recounted her last two years on the UN security council, calling Ireland “a very small state, with a very big voice”. She addressed the consciousness and humanity her team brought to the “hierarchy of human misery” that sat at the famous United Nations horseshoe table. S
he explained she believed her time on the council helped her team connect the political weight of the EU side of Ireland with the Irish side of lived experience and history. Nason then went on to discuss the major accomplishments her and her team had accomplished in the last two years participating in the security council.
The team managed to get elected to the council (a battle in and of itself), obtain authorisation for humanitarian assistance in Syria, assist the humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia, deliver a resolution on the ‘transition period’ of peace-keeping, and pioneer a spot for women to be a part of every future UN agreement. She finished off her speech by leaving students with the words of Samuel Beckett, former Phil member: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Answering questions asked by Ellen McKimm, President of the Phil, Ambassador Nason touched upon the question of the credibility of institutions, something she said we don’t see on as big of a scale in Ireland due to the involvement and consciousness of the people at a grassroots level. She encouraged students to continue to engage at all levels, express their views, and participate in and protect their democracy.
When McKimm asked Ambassador Nason about how being a woman has affected her throughout her career, she replied “if you can’t see it, you can’t be it”. She expressed the importance of having role models in positions of power for women to look up to, talking about how she was in one of the first classes at Maynooth University to have female students.
When she joined the foreign ministry, there was one other female ambassador. She expressed that this made her more determined to have women beside her in her line of work.
Ambassador Nason finished her time speaking with the Phil by encouraging students to never give up. “Hope is a very fragile thing”, she said, encouraging students to keep faith in the idea of public service and the idea that you can actually make a difference.
