Richard Ryan (Diplomat)

Richard Ryan ( born 1946 in Dublin) is an Irish diplomat.

Ryan attended the Oatlands College, studied at University College Dublin. From 1973 he began to work in the Irish Foreign Ministry. During his diplomatic career he held a variety of posts. Among other things, he was employed from 1974 to the Irish Embassy in Tokyo until 1977, worked from 1980 to 1982 on the Irish Mission to the European Communities and was finally from 1983 to 1989 worked at the Irish Embassy in London. In 1989, he was ambassador to South Korea, from 1994 to 1998 Ambassador to Spain with concurrent accreditation in Andorra, Algeria and Tunisia. Following Ryan was the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations in New York City, a position he held from 1998 to 2005. During this time, he was from 2001 to 2002, the representative of Ireland in the UN Security Council and served as Chairman of the UN Security Council Angola (UNITA ) Sanctions Committee.

In October 2005, Ryan was the Irish Ambassador to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative of Ireland to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Both a post he held until 2009 when he was succeeded by Mary Whelan.

Ryan is married and has three children.