Árd-Chonsalacht na hÉireann
Telephone: (415) 392-4214
Fax: (415) 392-0885
E-mail: SANFRANCGExternalEmail@dfa.ie

   

Consulate General of Ireland
One Post Street, Suite 2300
San Francisco CA 94104
Ireland's Consulate in San Francisco | Ireland.ie | Ireland.ie

Micheál Smith

Consul General of Ireland

Micheál Smith assumed duty as Consul General of Ireland to the Western United States, based in San Francisco, in August 2022. He has had the honour to work for Ireland across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States, identifying emerging markets, creating opportunities and strengthening Ireland’s global footprint.

His first ever job, through school and university (and any time home), was working weekends and holidays in his family’s butcher’s and deli in Camlough, an experience that grounded his professional life in community, hard work and enterprise. He began his public service career as an economist in the Department of Communications and Energy in Dublin. He subsequently joined for a period the Department of Foreign Affairs as First Secretary at the Embassy of Ireland in Singapore, where he held Asia-wide economic responsibilities. During this period, he helped design Ireland’s first pan-Asian Economic and Innovation Programme. He went on to establish and lead IDA Ireland’s first ASEAN+ office, directing strategic engagement across the region.

Micheál later moved to the United States, where he supported IDA Ireland’s work across the US Mid-West, South and South-East, assisting companies entering the European and EMEA markets and strengthening executive-level relationships with major US multinationals with operations in Ireland.

From 2017 to 2020, he held an economic policy and development leadership role in the Middle East before returning to Dublin to lead Global Ireland in the Department of Foreign Affairs. In that role, he drove efforts to widen and deepen Ireland’s international influence, overseeing embassy and consulate expansion, Ireland’s participation at Expo 2020, the development of ireland.ie, and initiatives to promote Ireland as a destination to visit, live, work, study, invest and innovate, in line with the Government’s Global Ireland 2025 strategy.

Micheál holds a BSc in Business and Economics from Queen’s University Belfast and an MSc in Economic Policy Studies from Trinity College Dublin. He is from County Armagh.

He has recently been appointed Ambassador of Ireland to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen.

Micheál and Claire, his wife of 20 years, have four children: Sophie, Senan, Conan and Oisín. As a family, they enjoy adventure, GAA, football, handball, music, swimming, hiking, squash and golf.