Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason: Be true to yourself

Geraldine Byrne Nason, new Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations. Picture: United Nations

I am the eldest of three children, my sister Mary is a psychologist and my brother Anthony is a doctor, a cancer specialist. I am a Drogheda girl and proud of my roots. My parents Helen and Gerry were both born and raised in Drogheda and instilled in me a sense of loyalty to the town. I was very emotional when I was awarded the Freedom of Drogheda in 2020. They would have been so proud. 

Growing up, my dad worked with the Drogheda Independent Newspaper and was an avid Drogheda United supporter - and Leeds fan! He was passionate about international affairs and was a community activist. He kept the same book on his bedside table at all times, and years later I realised that book was ‘Markings,’  a journal by Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN Secretary-General, which was discovered after his death. 

Given my role now, I often wonder if that was prophetic. My mum was artistic and a gifted singer who unfortunately never had her voice trained, but was at the heart of several choral groups and loved to travel internationally to compete. I am married to Brian Nason, a retired Ambassador, and our son Alex is a 21-year-old political science undergrad at NYU who is passionate about all things political. He’s a huge fan of President Joe Biden.  

Growing up in Drogheda in the 70s, diplomacy wasn’t at the top of the career advisors’ list of choices for me. But, looking back, both at second and third level I was an avid debater and big consumer of newspapers and current affairs programmes. The seeds were probably sown there. My first love was literature and my BA and MA were both in English literature. My dream as a student was to continue to work in the academic field, so the halls of universities still beckon me. However, just as I was offered a place as a young diplomat in the Dept. of Foreign Affairs, I was also successful in a competition to be a Keeper of Manuscripts in the National Library. Having spent my entire career travelling for work, I sometimes muse how different things might have been had I taken either of those roads.

The greatest challenge I’ve faced professionally is Ireland’s election to the UN Security Council. Personally, juggling being a wife, a mum and an Ambassador everyday is a challenge.  

My earliest memory is Irish dancing. I was a competitive Irish dancer from four years old, succeeding my mum who was a champion dancer in her day. I can recall maybe aged five or six being brought to dance in the open air on the back of a truck at Feis na Bóinne. I can still remember my dad lifting me down after I’d danced, my mum’s warm hug, and being put back up on the truck when I won a medal! It’s a vivid, happy memory.

I have always had a strong work ethic. I studied very hard, sometimes too hard, and I practiced my Irish dancing for that extra hour when everyone else was on a break. I still am often first in the office and last out at night. I believe that hard work pays off, and I’ve usually been right on that.

I would like to think my greatest quality is my resilience. Like everyone, I’ve taken knocks, but I learned from my parents to stand my ground and to never, ever give up and some would say to never take no for an answer! I channel my inner Beckett.  Try again. Fail again. Fail better.  

The lesson I would like to pass on is to be true to yourself. I think it’s so important in such a fickle world where fashions, personalities and trends can be all-consuming. Having a set of core beliefs and personal values matters. Integrity matters. Knowing who you are and what defines you matters. My mentor as a student at St Patrick’s College Maynooth was my English Professor Pete Connolly. He showed me that being authentic in my person and in my expression was the key to so much. I owe him a great debt of gratitude. 

Both of my parents and the Presentation sisters who educated me In Our Lady’s College Greenhills also instilled in me a true sense that I although I was a small town convent-educated girl who went on to attend a small university, I held the world in myself as long as I stayed true to my principles.

My proudest achievement is my son, Alex. I have seen him mature into a wonderful, grounded young man who is clear and strong in his own values. He has a real sense of self. I know his generation can set the world alight.

The person I turn to at the end of a long day is my husband or son. During the day it’s one of the members of my, young, brilliant and energetic team members in New York, who buoy me up every day.

What surprises me is cynicism at a global level. I wasn’t naïve before we joined the Security Council, I had thirty years of diplomacy under my belt, but I have been truly surprised, shocked, by the cynicism I see play out, in particular when innocent lives are at stake. I am a committed pacifist and a humanitarian. I abhor the human tragedy we discuss every day. I continue to be shocked by the range of cynical geostrategic ploys some use in the face of such tragedy.

Climate change has impacted how I and my family live. We strive to make personal choices that are climate-conscious. My reusable bags come everywhere, and we make dedicated efforts to reduce energy use at home, avoid single-use plastics, and recycle as much as the city allows. We also support companies and products which have divested their fossil fuel assets.

I would like to be remembered as a loving wife and mother who never stopped striving to serve her country well.

• Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason is the keynote speaker at the Women in politics - Be the She Change organised by Cork City Council’s Women’s Caucus on Wednesday November 17 from 12:00pm to 1.30pm, hosted on www.corkcity.ie. You can register for the webinar on Eventbrite.