Envoys post blog on Irish president’s historic U.K. visit

To celebrate a diplomatic achievement realized by their respective countries, the ambassadors of Britain and Ireland did something special: They shared blogging duties.

After all, what better way, in the age of Twitter and Facebook, to celebrate the historic visit of Irish President Michael D. Higgins to the U.K., the first ever by an Irish president?

Irish Ambassador to South Korea Aingeal O’Donoghue and British Ambassador to South Korea Scott Wightman posted a joint blog on the historic visit, which included a sit-down with Queen Elizabeth II and took place from Tuesday to Friday.

“As diplomats, much of our professional lives are spent living far away from home and taken up by addressing the big international challenges of the day, forging relations with countries distant from our immediate neighborhoods,” the envoys said in the blog post.

“The occasion of this visit by President Higgins reminds us that often our closest international partners are actually our next-door neighbors.”

The visit is remarkable because Anglo-Irish relations have been heavily marked by a troubled history, including conflict over the independence of the Irish Free State in 1919 and Northern Ireland.

Higgins is the first head of state that Queen Elizabeth II has officially hosted for an official state visit since President Park Geun-hye met her in November 2013.

“History matters, of course. It is as relevant and powerful in Ireland and the United Kingdom as it is elsewhere in the world, including in Korea and Northeast Asia,” the two envoys said in the joint blog.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)