In a groundbreaking move Ireland has appointed its first ever female ambassador to the U.S.

Ambassador Anne Anderson is currently the permanent representative of Ireland to the United Nations. Current ambassador to the U.S. Michael Collins will become Ambassador to Germany. David Donoghue becomes UN Ambassador.

Previously Anderson was Ireland’s ambassador to France. Anderson, a native of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, joined the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in 1972 and has held posts in various parts of the world, including Washington, D.C., Geneva and Brussels.

From 2001 to 2005, Anderson served as permanent representative to the European Union in Brussels, before which she was Ireland’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

There her responsibilities also included chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1999-2000); vice president of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)(1997); and chair of the trade policy review body the World Trade Organization.

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Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree from University College Dublin, and a diploma in legal studies at Kings Inns, Dublin.

“I feel a tremendous sense of privilege in representing Ireland abroad. At the UN, there is real respect for what we stand for,” Anderson says.

“Ireland is seen as a country that struggled, survived, prospered, and understands the imperative to give back. We are a strong and principled voice on all the big issues — development, disarmament, human rights. I am proud to sit behind the Irish nameplate.”

Brendán O Caollai has been appointed Consul General in Boston. Previously O Caollai was Deputy Consul General in New York and was joint head of the International Fund for Ireland at the Department of Foreign Affairs. He is well known in Irish American circles.

Meanwhile, Philip Grant has been appointed Consul General in San Francisco.