Senior diplomat known for his erudition and quick wit

Padraic MacKernan:PÁDRAIC MacKERNAN, who has died aged 69, was a former secretary general of the Department of Foreign Affairs, having previously served as Ireland's ambassador to both the United States and the European Union. He subsequently served as ambassador to France.

During his term as secretary general he was involved in an unprecedented public dispute with the then minister for foreign affairs, David Andrews, over staff promotions and transfers.

Mr Andrews offered him early retirement at the height of the row in 1998, and other inducements, such as ambassadorial appointments, were also suggested to him to get him to leave his position.

A major bone of contention was that three promotions were made by ministerial direction, and Pádraic MacKernan stated that the manner in which senior officials had been transferred was “unprecedented”.

The row was formally ended when Mr Andrews issued a statement expressing regret – on both their parts – over the controversy. Both men affirmed their determination to work together in the continuing implementation of Irish foreign policy.

Born in Limerick in 1940, Pádraic MacKernan was educated at Crescent College and University College Galway, where he honed his debating skills. He graduated with a BA in French and English in 1962, and continued his studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. He studied the works of Jean-Paul Sartre for his master’s degree.

He joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1964. The following year he was posted to the US where he served in the consulates in Boston from 1965 to 1969 and New York from then until 1974.

When the Troubles erupted in 1969, he helped to draft the Irish case when minister for foreign affairs Patrick Hillery addressed the UN Security Council. After Bloody Sunday in 1972 he accompanied Dr Hillery to Washington and Ottawa to seek the support of the US and Canada for the Irish position.

Returning to Dublin in 1974, he concentrated on EU affairs. In 1980 he was appointed assistant secretary and political director of the department.

Busy in the lead-up to the Single European Act, observers say he succeeded in walking a fine line between making a political commitment to European security and leaving Irish military neutrality more or less intact.

He was also engaged in a wide range of international negotiations, including arms control and disarmament, the Middle East conflict and East-West security and co-operation.

Appointed ambassador to the US in 1985, he played a pivotal role in lining up Congress members’ support for the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

He was appointed Ireland’s permanent representative to the EU in 1991. An early test concerned the Maastricht protocol, when the government sought an anti-abortion amendment to the Maastricht Treaty but secured only a Solemn Declaration. The currency crisis of 1992 was another fraught episode. Ireland’s “hard currency” policy proved to be unsustainable and the government was forced into an embarrassing climbdown.

There was further embarrassment when the government’s insistence that £8 billion in EU structural funds had been secured turned out to be wishful thinking.

Such was the hurly-burly of Brussels, and Pádraic MacKernan adapted quickly. Highly respected by his fellow ambassadors to the EU, he was always accessible to journalists.

He returned to Dublin in 1995 to become secretary general of the department.

At the time a former minister for foreign affairs described him as “very shrewd, very able, widely experienced and well fit for the job”.

Early on he oversaw the opening of more than 20 missions in Europe, Latin America and Asia. He also directed the campaign for Ireland’s election to the UN Security Council.

Ireland’s presidency of the EU in 1996 and the Northern peace process were other priorities during his tenure.

In 2001 he was appointed ambassador to France, where he was notably successful in promoting Franco-Irish relations in the political, economic and cultural areas. He retired in 2005.

His predecessor as secretary general, Noel Dorr, described him as “intellectually very gifted – brilliant even, erudite, amusing, unpompous”, adding that he could be “argumentative, and combative even, with opponents, when he believed he was right”.

Known for his quick wit, once when a minister proposed a visit to Indonesia during the last week in July, he pointed out that this clashed with Galway Races and suggested that the minister was putting “Djakarta before the horse”.

He kept pets on his various postings. In New York he almost lost a cat which fell out a 14th-floor window only to be saved when a first-floor canopy broke its fall.

He was widely read with an extensive knowledge of history, literature and philosophy. He liked to holiday in Connemara, where he could devote time to angling.

His Limerick roots were important to him, and throughout his life he remained in touch with many old friends from his home town.

His achievements in France were recognised when he was honoured as a Grand Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.

Last year he returned to NUI Galway where an honorary doctorate was conferred on him. Prof Patrick Finnegan said that during his diplomatic career, Pádraic MacKernan had displayed courage and wisdom, while his political judgments were delivered with erudition and wit.

He is survived by his wife Caitríona (née Gavin) and sons Dónal, Colm and Dara.

Pádraic (Paddy) MacKernan: born April 24th, 1940; died January 25th, 2010