Welcome Message
On behalf of the team at the Embassy of Ireland in Budapest, welcome to our website.
It is a huge honour to represent Ireland in Hungary. Over my term, our states will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations. But our ties date back to at least the Middle Ages. Through their long pursuits of freedom, Hungarian and Irish political leaders often drew inspiration from each other. In the early 19th century, Lajos Kossuth wrote admiringly of Ireland's Liberator, Daniel O'Connell. Decades later, Irish nationalists, notably Arthur Griffith, drew inspiration, in turn, from Kossuth, Ferenc Deák and others, while William Butler Yeats lauded the bravery of the 1848 revolutionaries, offering ''libations from the Hungary of the West.''
Another of Ireland's great writers, James Joyce, made Szombathely the ancestral home of his most famous creation, Leopold Bloom, the Jewish everyman protagonist of Ulysses. Bloomsday is celebrated in the western Hungarian city each June, most recently with the unveiling of several remarkable murals. Equally remarkable are the artworks of Ferenc Martyn, a descendent of the Martyns of Galway, and György Kurtág's recently premiered opera Endgame, an inspired interpretation of Samuel Beckett's masterpiece. As Ambassador, working with a network of outstanding Irish studies scholars here, I hope to build on those deep foundations, celebrating our rich past, while linking a new generation of Irish and Hungarian artists.
2023 is a significant year for Ireland, as we mark a century as an active member of the international community in the promotion of democracy, peace and security, and a half century as a member of the European Union. Next year, I look forward to celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hungary's own accession to the EU, under Ireland's 2004 Presidency, and to working across Hungary's EU Presidency term to advance our shared interests and our community's fundamental values.
Interpersonal relations are at the heart of all we do as diplomats. Since 2004, 10,000 Hungarians have made Ireland their home, contributing hugely to our society. Although smaller in scale, the Irish community here in Hungary is no less impactful, celebrating our culture through Gaelic games, arts and language, and promoting commerce through the Irish Hungarian Business Circle. Whether you are a permanent resident or amongst the tens of thousands of Irish tourists who holiday in Hungary annually, our Embassy's highest priority is to support our citizens, above all through our consular services.
I encourage you to reach out to us with ideas on how we might better do so, as well as questions and comments, and to follow us on X or on Facebook.
Köszönöm szépen!
Ragnar Almqvist
Ambassador-designate of Ireland to Hungary, Kosovo and Montenegro
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Thar ceann na foirne ag Ambasáid na hÉireann i mBúdaipeist, fáilte romhat chuig ár suíomh Gréasáin.
Is rí-mhór an onóir é ionadaíocht a dhéanamh d’Éirinn san Ungáir. Le linn mo théarma, ceiliúrfaidh ár stáit 50 bliain de chaidreamh taidhleoireachta. Ach bhíodh naisc eadrainn thiar sna Meánaoiseanna, ar a laghad. Is minic a tharraing ceannairí polaitiúla na hUngáire agus na hÉireann inspioráid óna chéile trí thóraícht fhada na saoirse. Go luath sa 19ú haois, scríobh Lajos Kossuth le meas faoi Fhuascailteoir na hÉireann, Dónall Ó Conaill. Fiche bliain ina dhiaidh sin, tharraing náisiúnaithe Éireannacha, Art Ó Gríofa go háirithe, inspioráid, ina dhiaidh sin, ó Chossuth, Ferenc Deák agus eile, agus mhol William Butler Yeats crógacht réabhlóidithe 1848, ag tairiscint ‘‘libations from Ungary of the West’’.
Rinne duine eile de mhórscríbhneoirí na hÉireann, James Joyce, Szombathely mar áras sinsearach an charachtair is cáiliúla uaidh, Leopold Bloom, príomhcharachtar Giúdach Ulysses. Déantar Lá Bloom a cheiliúradh in iarthar chathair na hUngáire gach Meitheamh, le déanaí nuair a nochtadh roinnt múrmhaisithe suntasacha. Saothair ealaíne Ferenc Martyn, duine de shliocht Martyns na Gaillimhe, agus an ceoldráma den chéad uair le déanaí György Kurtág Endgame, léiriú spreagtha ar shárshaothar Samuel Beckett, táid chomh suntasach céanna. Mar Ambasadóir, agus mé ag obair le gréasán scoláirí den scoth i léann na hÉireann anseo, tá súil agam tógáil ar na bunsraitheanna doimhne sin, ag ceiliúradh an ama shaibhir atá caite, agus ag an am céanna chun glúin nua ealaíontóirí Éireannacha agus Ungáracha a nascadh lena chéile.
Is bliain shuntasach í 2023 d’Éirinn, agus sinn ag ceiliúradh céad bliain mar bhall gníomhach den phobal idirnáisiúnta i gcur chun cinn an daonlathais, na síochána agus na slándála, agus leathchéad bliain mar bhall den Aontas Eorpach. An bhliain seo chugainn, táim ag tnúth le ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar 20 bliain d’aontachas na hUngáire féin leis an AE, faoi Uachtaránacht na hÉireann in 2004, agus le bheith ag obair ar fud théarma Uachtaránacht AE na hUngáire chun ár leasanna comhroinnte agus bunluachanna ár bpobail a chur chun cinn.
Tá caidreamh idirphearsanta i gcroílár gach a ndéanaimid mar thaidhleoirí. Ón mbliain 2004 i leith, chuir 10,000 Ungárach fúthu in Éirinn, rud a chuireann go mór lenár sochaí. Cé gur lú a líon, is mór an tionchar atá ag pobal na hÉireann anseo san Ungáir, ag ceiliúradh ár gcultúir trí chluichí Gaelacha, trí ealaíona agus ár dteanga, agus ag cur na tráchtála chun cinn tríd an gCiorcal Gnó Éireannach-Ungárach. Pé acu an i do chónaí go buan tú, nó tú a bheith i measc na mílte turasóirí Éireannacha a théann ar saoire san Ungáir go bliantúil, is é an tosaíocht is airde atá ag ár nAmbasáid ná tacú lenár saoránaigh, thar aon rud eile trínár seirbhísí consalachta.
Molaim duit teagmháil a dhéanamh linn le smaointe maidir le conas is féidir linn é sin a dhéanamh níos fearr, chomh maith le ceisteanna agus tuairimí, agus sinn a leanúint ar X nó ar Smutleabhar/Facebook.
Köszönöm szépen/Go raibh míle maith agaibh!
Ragnar Almqvist
Ambasadóir ainmnithe na hÉireann chuig an Ungáir, an Chosaiv agus Montainéagró