University honours one of Ireland’s truly cultured civil servants

Released: Friday 11th July 2008 at 16:45

One of Ireland’s most respected civil servants has been honoured by the University of Sunderland
Derek Hannon has spent more than 20 years with the Irish Foreign Ministry, and is currently First Secretary in the Culture Office with the Irish Embassy in London.

He has been a great supporter of the North-East’s cultural links with Ireland and works closely with the University of Sunderland on its annual Irish Studies Conference.

Mr Hannon was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1960. He read English and History at University College Dublin, graduating with a BA and MA in History.

He joined the Irish Foreign Ministry as a Third Secretary in 1986. He was
posted to the Holy See (Vatican) between 1988-1992, a time of great change in Europe when the Berlin Wall was coming down and a Polish Pope was presiding at the Vatican.

Between 1995 and 1999 he was centrally involved in opening Ireland’s first resident embassy in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. He has been working at the Irish Embassy in London since 2004.

He returns to Ireland in the summer to take a senior post at the Irish Foreign Ministry in Dublin.

Mr Hannon religiously attends the university’s annual Irish Conference and Festival – the largest independent festival in the UK.

The university honoured Mr Hannon today with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts for his outstanding work in supporting Irish cultural and educational links across the UK.

Professor Peter Fidler, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sunderland, said: “Derek has been a wonderful ambassador for Irish culture across the UK and Europe, particularly in Sunderland where he has enjoyed a close relationship with the university. We are delighted to be able to pay our own tribute to him today.”

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