Irish embassies spent €600k on nearly 900 St Patrick's Day events
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (right) presents US President Joe Biden with a bowl of Shamrock during this year's St Patrick's Day reception at the White House in Washington DC. The Irish embassy in Washington DC had the largest single spend with its 34 events coming in at €55,000. File photo: Niall Carson/PA
Ireland's embassies and missions across the globe delivered almost 900 Saint Patrick's Day events for just over €600,000.
Figures released to the under freedom of information show that events were held in nearly every mission, with the 896 events costing less than €700 each on average for a total of €618,152.
The Irish embassy in Washington DC had the largest single spend with its 34 events coming in at €55,000, while the embassy in Mexico's 14 events came to €35,000. The embassy in London carried out 41 events for €27,800. Ireland's consulate in Chicago ran 21 events for just €1,696.
The figures do not include the cost of sending ministers abroad for the national holiday, though in 2022 these came to about €175,000.
The figures also show the cost of setting up 11 new Irish missions across the world in 2022. In total, some €6.5m was spent setting up the missions, with Los Angeles the most expensive at €1.95m.
Around €960,000 was spent on the establishment of the embassy in Kyiv, which opened just six months before the Russian invasion, while the mission in Manila cost €723,000 to establish and one in Frankfurt, Germany cost €715,000.
The Department of Foreign Affairs also opened offices in Dakar, Senegal, Lyon, Manchester, Miami, Rabat, Tehran, and Toronto in 2022.
Under the Global Ireland Strategy, Ireland is planning on opening new missions in Milan, Munich, and Islamabad, with decisions on future missions to be made in the near future. The strategy also lays out plans for three new Ireland Houses in Tokyo, New York, and London.
The Tokyo Ireland House is currently under construction and figures made available to the show that as of June 30 this year, around €16m has been spent on that facility which will house the Irish Embassy as well as the IDA, Bord Bia, and Enterprise Ireland.
This includes the €7.7m purchase of the site and €8.25m in building costs thus far. The project is due to cost a little over €21m.
In May, Tánaiste Michéal Martin announced a plan to advance the London House, which will see Ireland leave its landmark building near Buckingham Palace after 75 years. It is understood that a site in central London has been earmarked but that a committee will oversee the establishment of the new Ireland House, the 22nd across the globe.
