Pádraig MacKernan

Pádraig Mack Ernan ( born April 24, 1940 in Limerick, † 25 January 2010) was an Irish diplomat.

Mack Ernan attended Crescent College and graduated in 1959 at University College Galway. In 1962, he received his Bachelor of Arts with honors. He then continued his studies at the Sorbonne and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris and received this in 1963 a Master of Arts with honors.

In 1964 he started in the diplomatic service of the Irish Foreign Ministry to work. A year later he was working as Vice Consul at the Irish Consulate in Boston. In 1968 he moved to the Irish Consulate General in New York City. In 1974 he returned to Dublin. 1985 he was appointed Irish Ambassador to the United States with concurrent accreditation as a non- resident ambassador to Mexico. In this role, he campaigned in Washington, D.C. for the Anglo - Irish Agreement. 1991 Mack Ernan the Irish Ambassador to the European Union and represented his country at the negotiations on the Maastricht Treaty. When he returned to Dublin in 1995, he became Secretary General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure, the openings fall of more than 20 diplomatic missions in Europe, South America and Asia. In 2001 he moved to the post of ambassador to France and held it until 2005, when he retired. In recognition of his services to the Franco- Irish relations him the Ordre national du Mérite was awarded.

In June 2009, Mack Ernan an honorary doctorate from University College Galway was awarded. He was married and had three sons.