Anne Anderson

Anne Anderson (born July 1952) is a former Irish diplomat. She was the 17th ambassador of Ireland to the United States. She has also been Ambassador of Ireland to the United Nations, the European Union, France, and Monaco, the first woman to hold each of these positions.

Personal life

Anderson was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, in July 1952. The family moved to Kilkenny when she was eight, and then to Portrane, County Dublin, when she was 11. She graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Arts degree (history and politics) at the age of 19, in 1972 She has one adult daughter, Claire Anderson-Wheeler. Anderson is divorced; her partner is Frank Lowe, in New York.

Career

Anderson joined the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in 1972. She was third secretary and then first secretary in the Department's Economic Division from 1972 to 1976. She moved to Geneva, where she was first secretary of Ireland's Permanent Mission to the United Nations from 1976 to 1980, including a six-month assignment in Belgrade. the fourth woman to earn the honour (Eleanor Roosevelt was the first). Her term at the commission coincided with former Irish president Mary Robinson's term as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. by the Irish government on 15 January 2013. She arrived in Washington, D.C. in August, Anderson's stated agenda during her term in Washington included attention to U.S. immigration reform and its potential for undocumented Irish and other immigrants to achieve legal status. She focussed on economic matters and hoped to increase mutual trade, investment, and tourism between the two countries. She was also interested in exploring and building Ireland's cultural identity in the U.S. context by working with the cultural community. At the invitation of UN Secretary General António Guterres, Anderson subsequently joined his advisory board for the Peacebuilding Fund for 2018/2019; she also currently serves on the board of advisers of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University; on the board of directors for the Druid Theatre Company; and as an independent director on the board of directors of Smurfit Kappa. She is the author of Thinking With My Pen: Speeches from a Life in Diplomacy.