Eamon Gilmore

Eamon Gilmore is the former European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights. He is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (2011- 2014). Since 2015, he has been the EU Special Envoy for the Peace Process in Colombia. He was a member of Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) from 1989 until 2016, and was Leader of the Irish Labour Party (2007-2014). He served on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (2004-2007) and was Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE (2012). Prior to his election to Dáil Éireann, he worked as a trade union officer (1978-1989), and he was President of the Union of Students in Ireland (1976-1978). He is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Law and Government in Dublin City University and in 2017 was Visiting Practitioner Chair at the School of Public Policy, Central European University, Budapest. He is a graduate (Psychology) of the National University of Ireland, Galway, which has also conferred him with an Honorary Doctorate in Laws. He has received several international honours and awards for his work on Peace and his leadership on human rights issues. Eamon Gilmore was born in 1955, grew up on a small farm in Caltra, County Galway. He has lived in Shankill, Dublin for most of his adult life. He is married to Carol Hanney and they have one daughter and two sons.