Irish Republic Closes Vatican Embassy

[Calilasseia]

Courtesy of this post from another place (thanks to Aca for posting this one) ...

Irish embassy to the Vatican to be closed

The Government has decided to close Ireland's embassies to the Vatican and Iran as well as its representative office in Timor Leste.

In a statement this evening, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said that the decision followed a review of overseas missions carried out by the Department of Foreign Affairs, which gave "particular attention to the economic return from bilateral missions".

Mr Gilmore said that the Government was obliged to implement cuts to meet targets set out in the EU/IMF rescue programme.

He said the closure of the three embassies would save around €1.25m a year.

He said that while the embassy to the Holy See was one of Ireland's oldest missions, it yielded no economic return, and that Ireland's interests could be sufficiently represented by a non-resident ambassador.

More can be read here.

[JimC]

All countries should close their "embassies" to the Vatican; it should not be recognised as a "nation" at all. Typically, in Oz, the position is given to a retiring politician who happens to be a Catholic, and has brown-nosed the PM sufficiently; a few years of good pay, little work, and living in a very central European location. Parasites!

[charlou]

Holy See ... pffft.


Anyway, a good, pragmatic decision. Having embassadors live in foreign countries is an unnecessary expense, what with the communication technology we have now.

[Svartalf]

Buncha morons, diplomacy is NOT about economic returns.
While I sure hope that the Irish ambassador to Rome has enough free time to double as Ambassador to the Holy See (not that the pope is going to swallow the disrespect easily... let's hope he won't find petty ways to retaliate)...
Closing the Teheran Embassy is terminally stupid, unless Ireland intends to pull out every Irish subject living there, and to make it clear to all tourists that Iran should not be their destination of choice, because without an embassy in the country, those people become fair game.

[charlou]

Buncha morons, diplomacy is NOT about economic returns.
... snip ...
Closing the Teheran Embassy is terminally stupid, unless Ireland intends to pull out every Irish subject living there, and to make it clear to all tourists that Iran should not be their destination of choice, because without an embassy in the country, those people become fair game.

Good points.

[devogue]

Indeed. Stupid bastard Irish government leaving me with no protection in Iran, the Vatican and probably ceti alpha 5. Twats!

[Horwood Beer-Master]

All countries should close their "embassies" to the Vatican; it should not be recognised as a "nation" at all. Typically, in Oz, the position is given to a retiring politician who happens to be a Catholic, and has brown-nosed the PM sufficiently; a few years of good pay, little work, and living in a very central European location. Parasites!

"Southern European" surely?

[Svartalf]

Indeed. Stupid bastard Irish government leaving me with no protection in Iran, the Vatican and probably ceti alpha 5. Twats!

Shaddup you queen kisser you.

[klr]

"Officially", it's all about money. Unofficially ...

Good riddance. The Vatican is not a normal sovereign state in any sense of the word, and does not deserve the recognition that formal diplomatic relations brings.

Now, let's get rid of the Papal Nuncio.

[Svartalf]

Dangerous..
a) the Papal States maybe the oldest actual political entity on the European scene, and even though most of their possessions have been stripped from them, the implications of abolishing their sovereign state status entirely, especially on the part of 'enlightened' Western democracies would be incalculable, and would probably morally vindicate all sorts of evil, since we find that kind of things acceptable.
b) Whether you like it or not, the Vatican is a major diplomatic hub, equal to Paris, London, DC, NYNY or Moscow... cut yourself from it at your own peril.

[Schneibster]

I think there's some pretty bad feeling over the pedo scandals and the Church's manipulations to avoid prosecutions. I have to say that if some country, say in South America, was sexually abusing Irish children, and when caught, denying and avoiding, and the Irish decided to close their embassy there, no one would say "boo." Nor would there be any question why.

[devogue]

It's a non-story. Dragging the fuckers out of the state school system...now that would be more interesting.

[Geoff]

Dangerous..
a) the Papal States maybe the oldest actual political entity on the European scene, and even though most of their possessions have been stripped from them, the implications of abolishing their sovereign state status entirely, especially on the part of 'enlightened' Western democracies would be incalculable, and would probably morally vindicate all sorts of evil, since we find that kind of things acceptable.

The Papal states are the ones morally vindicating all sorts of evil.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Dangerous..
a) the Papal States maybe the oldest actual political entity on the European scene, and even though most of their possessions have been stripped from them, the implications of abolishing their sovereign state status entirely, especially on the part of 'enlightened' Western democracies would be incalculable, and would probably morally vindicate all sorts of evil, since we find that kind of things acceptable.

The Papal states are the ones morally vindicating all sorts of evil.

Ah, that old Way Back Fallacy again?

[Horwood Beer-Master]

...the Papal States maybe the oldest actual political entity on the European scene, and even though most of their possessions have been stripped from them, the implications of abolishing their sovereign state status entirely, especially on the part of 'enlightened' Western democracies would be incalculable...

Is simply not recognising a state the same as abolishing it's sovereign status?