Global Ireland Strategies

The Government has published the final review of the Global Ireland Strategy 2018-2025 in December 2025.

Expanding our missions

1. 26 new diplomatic missions opened around the world
2. New flagship Ireland House opened in Tokyo in 2024
3. Ensure increased impact in shaping the future direction of the EU, its policies, budgets, programmes and legislation in areas that are of strategic importance to Ireland.
4. Maintain ongoing support among our international partners for Ireland’s unique concerns in the negotiations on Brexit – including on the peace process and Northern Ireland – and our interest in a deep and comprehensive future relationship with the UK.
5. Maintain a strong relationship with the UK and its constituent parts as it leaves the EU – mitigating potentially negative impacts for the country.
6. Enhanced Ireland's impact in shaping the future direction of EU policies, budgets, programmes, and legislation, particularly in preparation for Ireland's Presidency of the EU in 2026, and via our ongoing Presidency of the Eurogroup, our programmes to mark EU50, and through increased representation of Irish citizens in the EU institutions.
7. Strong foundations in place for Irish as an official language of the EU and continue to raise awareness about the opportunities arising from this status for the language among the public, officials, and elected representatives.
8. Fully implemented five whole-of-government regional strategies and two country-specific strategies.
9. Developed a new regional strategy for the Middle East and North Africa.
10. Increased diversification in trade and investment flows, generating greater economic opportunity for Ireland, including in countries and regions in which Ireland is currently less well-known.
11. New health attaché posts in Brussels and Geneva to increase engagement in EU and WHO global health planning and coordination.
12. Developed a comprehensive cross-Government attaché programme placing experts in Technology, Science, International Education, Research and Innovation, Migration, Climate, and Culture in targeted Missions around the world.
13. Built on the legacy of our UNSC term and Council of Europe Presidency by seeking election to the UNHRC for the 2027- 2029 term and through our leadership role as co-facilitator for the negotiations on the political declaration of the UN SDG Summit in September 2023.
14. Advance Ireland’s economic and trading interests in multilateral contexts, including the WTO and OECD. Secure greater support for a rules-based world trading environment, benefiting Ireland’s exporters, supporting inward FDI and increasing opportunities for our enterprise and people.
15. Delivered a comprehensive programme of engagements at Expo 2025 Osaka.

16. Advanced Ireland’s values and signature foreign policies, including the promotion of peace, disarmament, human rights, greater equality, and justice, developing our strategic interest in a safer, more peaceful, more equal, more prosperous world; and providing the basis for a successful campaign for election to the UN Security Council.

17. Ongoing contribution to the global fight against poverty and hunger, and the promotion of equality and justice and sustainable development, amplified in line with a well-managed expansion in our aid programme, working towards 0.7% of GNI by 2030.

18. Delivered on Ireland's pledge during UNGA week 2022 to contribute an additional €50 million to combat child wasting over 3 years (2022-2024).

19. More than doubled our overall Climate Finance spend to at least €225 million per year by 2025.

20. Implement a global communications strategy that is coordinated across all relevant stakeholders in order to present a unified image of Ireland as a good place in which to live, work, do business, invest and visit.

21. Develop an enhanced Ireland House model both online (www.ireland.ie) and with relevant missions, and establish www.ireland.ie as the central digital hub for information relating to the Government’s international engagement, providing a platform for showcasing Ireland.

22. Develop Global Ireland digitally, including a comprehensive social media programme, and a corresponding media communications programme with targeted media partnerships, to promote Ireland internationally.

23. Implement a programme to optimise the visual identity for Ireland’s embassies, consulates and other missions, fully aligned with the new streamlining of the Government of Ireland identity at home.

24. Deliver consistent global image and messaging for Ireland through leveraging data on and insights into perceptions of Ireland.

25. Expand Ireland’s digital reach into 10 new tourism markets.

26. Implement integrated communication strategy for Ireland internationally with ireland.ie as the primary digital platform.

27. Expand the digital reach of exporting firms through Enterprise Ireland’s Irish Advantage campaign to 40+ sectors and 70+ markets.

28. Improve Ireland’s ‘brand’ reputation and recognition on relevant country brand and sector-specific indices (e.g. FDI reputation, Tourism reputation, Agri-food reputation, etc.).

29. Grow Culture Ireland-supported activities internationally to reach live audiences of 5 million, and media/online audiences of 20 million per annum.

30. Establish Irish Cultural Centre networks in all priority markets.

31. Support Irish Arts Centres in New York, Paris and London.

32. Expand assistance for promoting Irish arts and culture internationally, implementing Culture Ireland's 2022-2025 strategy, appointing Cultural Officers in seven new locations, and furthering the development of international cultural capital projects.

33. Implemented a major Irish cultural season in Germany 2024 in partnership with Culture Ireland.

34. Implement an annual programme of region-specific international campaigns promoting Ireland’s culture and media to new and growth markets and audiences, over the period 2018-2025.

35. Reset our tourism targets and launch a new tourism strategy in 2023, including with new ambitions for sustainable tourism and for emerging markets.

36. Attract major sporting events to Ireland and ensure Team Ireland benefits and linkages.

37. Accelerate diversification of FDI source markets, doubling growth in IDA-supported project investments from non-US markets in the period 2018-2024.

38. Accelerate diversification of export markets by Enterprise Ireland clients, with the ambition to:

• double the total value of EI client exports outside the UK from the 2015 baseline by 2025
• double Eurozone exports by 2025
• increase the diversification of client exports into new markets, with at least 70% of exports going beyond the UK by 2025.

39. Progress implementation of the new trade and investment strategy: Values for Ireland, Values for the World (2022-2026), including:

• a highly collaborative joined-up approach to country engagement with refreshed ‘Local Market Teams’ covering 35 key markets across the world
• an annual Global Ireland ‘all of Government’ trade mission, 2023-2025.

40. Develop the tourism sector, including by tripling revenues from developing markets, including China, to €600 million a year by 2025, and doubling revenue from both the US and German markets by 2025.

41. Diversification of FDI source markets, doubling growth in IDA-assisted project investments from non-US markets from a 2018 baseline.

42. Achieve the export diversification targets set in 2018 to accelerate diversification of export markets by Enterprise Ireland clients with the ambition to double the total value of EI client exports outside the UK from the 2015 baseline by 2025; double Eurozone exports by 2025; and increase the diversification of client exports into new markets, with at least 70% of exports going beyond the UK by 2025 with a value of €21 billion.

43. Develop and diversify international markets and achieve export growth targets set out in the Food Vision 2030 strategy, Ireland’s ten-year strategic development plan for the agriculture, food, drink, and fisheries sectors.

44. Accelerate progress towards the target of having international students represent 15% of the total full-time student population.

45. Reset our international education targets and launch a new International Education, Research and Innovation strategy in 2023.

46. Increase the economic output value of international education to the Irish economy to €2.7 billion per annum by 2025.

47. Introduced a curricular specification for new learners of Mandarin Chinese for the Leaving Certificate and curricular specifications for heritage speakers of Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese, with implementation in 2020 for first Leaving Certificate exam 2022.

48. Increase the number of post primary schools offering two or more foreign languages and increase the number of students sitting two languages for state examinations by 25% by 2026. A

49. Increase the proportion of higher-education students studying a foreign language, in any capacity, as part of their course to 20% by 2026.