Welcome Message
Welcome to the website of the Embassy of Ireland in Chile.
I hope you find this site informative about Ireland, the services the Embassy offers, and the rich potential for deeper connections between Chile and Ireland.
Ours is an inter-twined history going back centuries, to even before Bernardo O’Higgins’ father, Ambrosio, left county Sligo in Ireland and eventually made his way to Santiago and Concepción. It was Bernardo O’Higgins – together with Juan MacKenna from Monaghan, and many others – who would go on to have the most profound impact in Chile’s fight for independence and early years as an independent state.
Bernardo was a big believer in forging deeper connections between Ireland and Chile. In 1823, he wrote to a friend, John Doyle, that: “I think there are no two countries better inclined to complement each other than Chile and Ireland.”
Over the decades that followed, many women and men from Ireland, or of Irish heritage, sought to deliver on those ambitions. This included religious missionaries, and prominent figures in politics, business and the arts.
The Embassy is hugely grateful for those manifold contributions from our diaspora, and from our Irish community in Chile today, as we now seek to help write the next chapter in the special relationship between Chile and Ireland.
We look forward to continuing our work with the Government and people of Chile, with the Chilean Embassy in Ireland and with all the Irish state agencies or North/South Bodies – Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia, the IDA, Tourism Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, Culture Ireland and others – responsible for trade, investment, tourism, research & education cooperation, promoting Irish culture and so many other aspects of our multi-faceted relationship today.
There is much more we can accomplish – and we look forward to you, friends of Ireland and Chile, assisting and advising as we go. ¡Vamos!
Le gach dea-ghuí / Los mejores deseos,
Colum Hatchell
Ambassador
Biography
Colum Hatchell presented his credentials to President Gabriel Boric in September 2023. He is Ireland’s second resident Ambassador in Chile. He is also Ambassador of Ireland to Peru and to Ecuador.
In his career with Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Colum has represented the Irish Government in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and North America. His previous posting was in the Irish Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, where he worked on Brexit, in particular the negotiation of what became the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). This was Colum’s second posting in the Irish Perm Rep; together with a stint in the European Parliament and private sector experience before joining DFA, he has over 10 years’ experience in EU affairs.
He has also served abroad at the Embassy of Ireland in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the Embassy of Ireland in Kampala, Uganda; as well as at Ireland’s Consulate General San Francisco.
At Headquarters, Colum has served as a Director in the Corporate Services Division, in addition to positions in the Human Resources Division supporting Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Department, in the Strategy Unit, and on bilateral economic relations.
Colum is a graduate of University College Cork and the College of Europe, Bruges. He is married to Steffi and they have two children.