Vatican embassy among cheapest to run

A total of 69 Irish embassies cost the State more than €76m to run in 2011, but the Vatican embassy, controversially closed as a government money-saving measure, was among the cheapest.

In fact, Ireland’s most expensive foreign mission — its permanent representation to the EU in Brussels, run at a cost of €9.3m last year — came in more than 15 times higher than the €589,300 cost of the embassy to the Holy See.

Last weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Vatican closure arose because of the “need to bring about greater savings”.