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Francis Martin O'Donnell | |
---|---|
President Genealogical Society of Ireland | |
Assumed office March 2024 | |
President Clan O'Donnell of Tyrconnell | |
Assumed office June 2024 | |
Director/Trustee School of Civic Education | |
Assumed office October 2019 | |
Chancellor/Seansailéir Order of Clans of Ireland | |
In office May 2014 –April 2015 | |
Director/Board Member Clans of Ireland | |
In office September 2012 –April 2015 | |
Ambassador of SMOM to Slovakia | |
In office 7 December 2009 –1 March 2013 | |
Preceded by | Mariano Hugo,Prince of Windisch-Graetz |
Succeeded by | Ottokarl Finsterwalder |
Seneschal of Tyrconnell | |
Assumed office January 2005 | |
Resident Coordinator UN/UNDP,Ukraine | |
In office 1 October 2004 –31 March 2009 | |
Preceded by | Douglas Gardner |
Succeeded by | Olivier Adam |
Resident Coordinator UN/UNDP,FRY/Serbia and Montenegro | |
In office 13 October 2000 –30 September 2004 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Nicola Harrington |
Personal details | |
Born | Dublin,Ireland | 12 March 1954
Relations | O'Donnell of Tyrconnell Cardinal Patrick O'Donnell Patrick Denis O'Donnell Denis O'Donnell Maurice Moynihan John Tyndall David P. Tyndall Mona Tyndall |
Alma mater | University College Dublin |
Occupation | Diplomat Director Consultant Author |
Website | www |
Francis Martin O'Donnell [1] GCMM,GCEG,KC*SG,KM,KCHS,KCMCO (born in 1954) [2] is an Irish citizen who has served abroad as an international diplomat in senior representative positions with the United Nations until retirement,and later with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He was elected President of the Genealogical Society of Ireland effective March 2024, [3] [4] and President of the O'Donnell Clan Association in June 2024 [5] He is a life member of the Institute of International and European Affairs (under the patronage of the President of Ireland). [6] He currently continues to serve pro bono as an advisor to the Global Partnerships Forum [7] and is a listed endorser of the NGO consortium known as Nonviolent Peaceforce. [8] He served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Slovak Republic from December 2009 to March 2013. [9] [10] [11] [12] He previously served as a United Nations official for 32 years,most recently as the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Ukraine,from 30 September 2004 until 31 March 2009,and previously in the same capacity in Serbia-Montenegro. [13] In early 2012,he was appointed to the Council of the Order of Clans of Ireland,and was elected its Chancellor in May 2014. [14] He also served on the Board of Directors,and completed both terms of office in April 2015. Since then,he has participated in Globsec,the InterAction Council,and is a regular participant,panellist or moderator in the annual Global Baku Forum. He is also a speaker and panellist on global policy issues at seminars and forums of the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe, [15] and is a director of the Board of Trustees of its School of Civic Education [16] [17] in London. He is a member of the Peacemaking Reflection Group of former senior UN officials under the auspices of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability. [18] He is an occasional guest speaker on Irish history and genealogy in Dublin,Madrid,Vienna,and at the Sorbonne in Paris. He is also a published author of a book and articles on global policy challenges,historical works and a first volume of poetry.
O'Donnell is the son of the late Patrick Denis O'Donnell,an Irish military historian and retired Commandant of the Irish Defence Forces who served briefly as a Military Observer with UNTSO [19]
Schooled in Jerusalem (Collège des Frères) and Dublin (St. Vincent's C.B.S.,Glasnevin),he grew up largely in Fingal,and retains interests there. [20] An honours graduate in Economics and Philosophy from the National University of Ireland at University College Dublin,O'Donnell read International Law and Diplomacy at postgraduate level in Geneva,and qualified in Disaster Management at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. [21]
O'Donnell joined the UN in 1976 on a volunteer assignment with United Nations Volunteers,running its programme in Sudan. He later served as a United Nations staff member in Lesotho,Mauritania,Niger,Switzerland,Turkey,and in United Nations Development Programme headquarters in New York. He then served as UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia &Montenegro and later in Ukraine until his retirement in 2009. [22]
At the end of the Cold War,he was requested in late 1991 to launch a rapid response capability for deploying UN Volunteers (UNV) to UN emergency operations worldwide. [23] Overhauling recruitment methods saw the rapid deployment of thousands of UN volunteers to crisis zones, [24] where they became the front-line link between relief and aid delivery agencies such as UNICEF,UNHCR,WFP,UNDP,and WHO and suffering war victims,refugees and internally displaced persons. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] The effort saved lives during the years 1992–1994 in Afghanistan,Angola,Bosnia,Cambodia,Ethiopia,Kenya,Liberia,Rwanda,Somalia,Sudan and other war-torn countries during the inter-ethnic wars that succeeded the Cold War's proxy conflicts. [31] True life stories from the field featured in Volunteers Against Conflict,a book praised by former presidents Nelson Mandela,Mary Robinson,Jimmy Carter,and Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta MenchúTum. [32]
Later based in Turkey,he helped assure the humanitarian corridor through Turkey into northern Iraq after the first Gulf War from 1994 to 1996,and coordinated earthquake relief in Turkey itself. [33] Subsequently,he held a senior emergency management role in UNDP headquarters in New York,and later led a systemic governance team for crisis countries,developing a new policy approach to tackle root causes for preventing crisis in vulnerable countries. [34]
In 2000,he led UN/UNDP missions that helped the late Sergio Vieira de Mello lay the foundations for public administration capacity in East Timor before independence. He organised a workshop with the Timorese leadership on 1 March 2000,that re-designed the UN administration in East Timor,leading to a reform of the UN mission by the Security Council. [35] O'Donnell organised the joint workshop between UNTAET and the Timorese leadership,the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT),on 1 March 2000 to tease out a new strategy,and identify institutional needs. The Timorese delegation was led by Jose Ramos Horta. The outcome was an agreed blueprint for a joint administration with executive powers,including leaders of the CNRT. The effort was the "two-day retreat" described in Samantha Power's 2008 biography of Sergio,"Chasing the Flame". [36] Further details were worked out in a conference in May 2000. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in East Timor,Sérgio Vieira de Mello,presented the new blueprint to a donor conference in Lisbon [37] on 22 June 2000,and to the UN Security Council on 27 June 2000. [38] On 12 July 2000,the NCC adopted a regulation establishing a Transitional Cabinet composed of four East Timorese and four UNTAET representatives. [39] The revamped joint administration constructed the institutional foundations for independence. [40] On 27 September 2002 East Timor joined the United Nations.
On 13 October 2000,O'Donnell arrived in Belgrade [41] [42] in the immediate aftermath of the overthrow of the régime of Milošević. There,as UNDP representative,he supported the new democratic forces in bringing stability to the remnant of the former Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro),preventing nascent conflict with marginalised ethnic Albanians in the Preševo Valley of southern Serbia,launching reintegration programmes,promoting human rights,and supporting reform of governance institutions [43] [44] [45] and supporting civil society. [46] In 2002,he was appointed by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Resident Coordinator [47] of the UN system,and appointed by the UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown as Resident Representative of the UNDP in Yugoslavia/Serbia-Montenegro, [48] Following the Belgrade Agreement (2002) brokered by Javier Solana that restructured the remnant Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) into a looser state union of Serbia and Montenegro,O'Donnell held consultations with the president of the federal government of Yugoslavia and leaders of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro,and organised a Strategic Roundtable on Governance Transition in Belgrade,featuring most of the signatories of the Belgrade Agreement,international experts on transition,and a large representation of government officials and the international community. [49] It was the first major public forum bringing together important political players to air crucial constitutional issues. [50] He also contributed to housing sector policy in south-east Europe. [51]
Transferred to Ukraine,O'Donnell presented his credentials to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma on 16 November 2004. [52] As Resident Coordinator,he was the designated representative of the UN Secretary-General and led the UN Country Team of UN agencies. Following the Orange Revolution,he fostered international support to the reform process under the auspices of UNDP through its Blue Ribbon Commission for Ukraine. [53] [54] The 2007 Ukrainian political crisis,which lasted from April to June 2007 was part of political stand off between coalition and opposition factions of Verkhovna Rada that led to the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election,culminating in a degradation of the parliamentary coalition under then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych,as the President of Ukraine (Viktor Yushchenko) attempted to dissolve the parliament. In light of impending political unrest,O'Donnell as United Nations Resident Coordinator,and following an earlier call to deepen democracy and liberalise the economy, [55] exceptionally issued an advisory statement of principles on behalf of the UN Country Team on 3 April 2007, [56] followed by a visit by former Estonian President Arnold Rüütel on 23 April. [57] [58]
O'Donnell called for greater awareness of the Holocaust, [58] [59] and decried antisemitism and discrimination against Jews, [60] [61] Muslims,migrants and minorities in many countries. [62] He was also instrumental in tackling racism and xenophobia in Ukraine,by organising regular consultations with the representatives of diplomatic missions and international organisations and jointly bringing this issue to the attention of Government. [63] An ambassadorial working group was formed [64] and a Diversity Initiative,under the leadership of the IOM and UNHCR,was established to provide a forum for developing anti-discrimination policies. As a result of concerted efforts,the Government stepped up its response to this challenge;an official repudiation of racism by President Viktor Yushchenko issued;the Government adopted an Action Plan on Counteraction to Racism;and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) established a special unit to counteract xenophobia and intolerance. [65] Policy advice was provided and best practices from European countries was shared with Government. There was a wide-scale information campaign,including broadcasting of public service announcements. [66]
O'Donnell also oversaw the establishment and implementation of the large UNDP-supported EU Border Assistance Mission between Moldova and Ukraine,which brought about substantial improvements in border management,including a curtailing of human trafficking,illicit weapons and other contraband smuggling,and corruption. [67] [68] He also coordinated UNDP co-operation under the BUMAD programme with Ukraine,Moldova and Belarus,to reduce illicit drug traffic. [69] O'Donnell drew attention to the negative impact of endemic corruption in Ukraine,on co-operation with its development partners. [70] He also launched a major programme for women's and children's rights,in collaboration with the EC,Council of Europe,and ILO. [71] The First Lady of Ukraine,Kateryna Yushchenko,in her farewell, [72] thanked Mr. O'Donnell for his work in Ukraine and co-operation with her Ukraine 3000 Foundation. She credited him that UN institutions repeatedly rendered support to the Foundation's initiatives related to education and culture. Also in 2007,the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation joined the United Nations Global Compact.
On completion of O'Donnell's three years' mission as Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Slovakia,the Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign and European Affairs,Miroslav Lajčák emphasised O'Donnell's contributions in favour of endangered and marginalised groups of people,and in protecting vulnerable groups such as the Romani people,supporting the integration of Roma children into the school system. [12] O'Donnell was awarded Slovakia's Golden Medal on 1 March 2013. The award was made in recognition of his personal contribution to the development of relations between the Sovereign Order and the Slovak Republic.
O'Donnell served as a director and board member of Clans of Ireland,the independent permanent authority established in 1989 to authenticate and register Irish Clans and historical families,under the patronage of the President of Ireland,and also served on the Council of its Order of Merit,latterly as its Chancellor,until the completion of his term in April 2015. As delegate of the Clan O'Donnell of Tyrconnell,he represented his Clan in 2012,2013 and 2014 in the annual Parade of Clans at the Mansion House,Dublin. [73] He was a keynote speaker at the O'Donnell Clan Gathering of 5–9 August 2013 in County Donegal,and presented research on the topic of the Ardfert expedition of 1601,as well as on a branch of O'Donnells who were Counts in France until extinct in 1879. [74] In May 2013,on the occasion of the repatriation of the remains of the last reigning royal family of Yugoslavia,accorded a State Funeral by Serbia,O'Donnell laid a wreath at the cask of the late King Peter II of Yugoslavia,in his capacity as delegate of the Clans of Ireland and on behalf of Ireland's ancient royal and noble clans and historic families [75]
After some years as a resource person/lecturer on matters of globalization,multilateralism,and governance,in October 2019,he was appointed as a director/trustee of the School of Civic Education in London. [76] The School was originally founded as the School of Political Studies (Московскаяшколаполитическихисследований) in Moscow in 1992, [77] which led to a proliferation of such schools across Central and Eastern Europe. These formed into an Association of Schools of Political Studies [78] to educate civil society leaders in the democratic values,and under the auspices of the Council of Europe. [15] The School has published several of his articles on its Sapere Aude website. [79]
O'Donnell proposed an Irish-Arab Society in November 1968,and it took shape through a group of Irish and Arab friends. [80] It was the principal advocate of the Palestinian cause in Ireland during the 1970s and the 1980s and played a key advisory and facilitative role in promoting Irish-Arab trade and cultural links. With its support,Ireland established diplomatic relations with 12 states in the Middle East and North Africa between 1974 and 1976. [81] He contributed towards the first White Paper on Irish Foreign Policy "Challenges and Opportunities Abroad",published in 1996,and is listed on page 342. [82] He is a life member of the Institute for International and European Affairs [6] and has participated in its work. [83] Since the early 1990s,O'Donnell has participated in global peace advocacy [84] [85] and inter-faith dialogue [86] [87] He has served as advisor to the Nonviolent Peaceforce (Brussels),and as strategic advisor to the Global Partnerships Forum (New York City). He also attended the philanthropy roundtable of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2009 and is a frequent contributor to international youth conferences. [88] [89] [90]
For over a decade,O'Donnell has been a contributor,participant or moderator of discussions at the Global Baku Forum,comprising primarily 80-100 current and former presidents and prime ministers,hosted annually by the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre,and periodically presenting/participating in the work of the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government. In 2014,he also actively advocated for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity following Russia's annexation of Crimea,and addressed the Irish Oireachtas parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on 9 April 2014 on "The Current Situation in Ukraine",in Leinster House,Dublin. [91] He called for a robust and coordinated international response on Irish radio programmes:TodayFM,in English; [92] Raidióna Gaeltachta,the national radio station in the Irish language, [93] and on RTÉ1, [94] as well as on Serbian TV,RTS. [95] His letter on the crisis was published by the Financial Times on 17–18 April 2014,to coincide with the "Quad" talks (EU,US,Russia,&Ukraine) in Geneva. [96]
O'Donnell participated on 27–29 April 2015 in the 3rd Global Baku Forum on 2–29 April 2015 hosted by the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre in Azerbaijan. The Forum was an informal summit on "Building Trust in the Emerging World Order" attended by over 60 influential current and former heads of states and governments,and about another 140 politicians and prominent global public figures. [97] He also participated in the 4th Global Baku Forum on 10–11 March 2016, [98] [99] moderating a panel discussion on Ukraine, [100] [101] and comprising Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga,President of Latvia (1999–2007),Co-chair of NGIC and President of the Club of Madrid;Viktor Yushchenko,President of Ukraine (2005–2010);Bronisław Komorowski,President of Poland (2010–2015); [102] Bertie Ahern,Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland (1997–2008);Viktor Zubkov,Prime Minister of Russia (2007–2008) currently chairman of Gazprom;and Daniel Ioniță,State Secretary for Strategic Affairs,Romania, [103] [104] [105] [106] [107]
He also participated in the VIII High-Level Meeting in Andorra la Vella,12–14 June 2016,and moderated two of the four panels of current/former Heads of State/Government and other eminent global leaders [108] [109] These were:(a) the panel on "Re-thinking Globalisation" comprised Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed,Prime Minister of Somalia (2013–2014);Amre Moussa,Secretary-General of the Arab League (2001–2011);Ana Blazeska,State Secretary for European Affairs,Republic of Macedonia;Ismail Serageldin,Director,Library of Alexandria (Egypt),and former Vice President of the World Bank;Iveta Radičová,Prime Minister of Slovakia (2010–2012);Manuel Montobbio,Ambassador of Spain to Andorra;and Zlatko Lagumdzija,Prime Minister of Bosnia-Hercegovina (2001–2002);and the panel on "The Trump Effect",comprising Boris Tadić,President of Serbia (2004–2012);Eka Tkeshelashvili,Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia (2010–2012),Kateryna Yushchenko,First Lady of Ukraine (2005–2010),and Vaira Vike-Freiberga,President of Latvia (1999–2007) and current President of the Club de Madrid [110] [111]
At the IX High-Level Meeting in Sarajevo,22–23 November 2016,on "The European Peace:What is the Recipe for a Strong Union for All",he participated in the Panel on "Getting Multiculturalism in Europe Back on Track",moderated by Dr. Franco Frattini,Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy (2002–2004),along with Emil Constantinescu,President of Romania (1996–2000),Dr. Ismail Serageldin,Farida Allaghi,Libya's Ambassador to the European Union,and Ambassador Jakob Finci,Head of the Jewish Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina. [112]
At the 5th Global Baku Forum in March 2017:he participated in a panel on "Extremism and populism as threats to international security" moderated by Kateryna Yushchenko, [113] First Lady of Ukraine (2005–2010),and including Emil Constantinescu,President of Romania (1996–2000);Laimdota Straujuma,Prime Minister of Latvia (2014–2016);Hikmet Çetin,Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (1978–1979,1995) and Speaker (1997–1999),Foreign Minister (1991–1994);Scilla Elworthy,founder of the Oxford Research Group;Alexander Likhotal,former President of Green Cross International;and Farida Allaghi. Later in that year,on 20 November 2017,he moderated an international forum panel discussion in Brussels on "The Threats of Separatism to International Peace and Security", [114] comprising Victor Yushchenko,President of Ukraine (2005–2010) and former Governor of its National Bank;Dalia Itzik,President of Israel (2007,ad interim) &Speaker of the Knesset (2006),former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem;Prof. Hasan Muratović,Prime Minister of Bosnia &Hercegovina (1996–1997),and former university rector;Dumitru Braghiș,Prime Minister of Moldova (1999–2001);Robert Ilatov,Member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu Party;Nazim Ibrahimov,Minister/Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora,Azerbaijan;Jesús López-Medel Báscones,Former Chairperson of the Committee of Human Rights and Democracy of the OSCE;and Ali Hasanov,Public and Political Issues Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan. Later that day,O'Donnell participated in a panel on Cybersecurity in European Politics,along with former President of Ukraine,Victor Yushchenko (2005–2010) on 20 November in the European Horizons' Youth Summit 2017 in the College of Europe in Bruges. [115] At the 6th Global Baku Forum,14–17 March 2018,he moderated the panel on "The Religious and Cultural Divide:What role for Political Leadership?". [116] The panel consisted of Fernando Lugo,President of Paraguay (2008–2012);Ali Ahmadov,Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan;Akramsho Felaliev,Vice Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan;Hikmet Çetin,Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey (1991–1994);Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi,former Diplomatic Advisor to the President of Italy and current Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Holy See;Maksatbek Toktomushev,Grand Mufti of the Kyrgyz Republic,and Hamad Amar,Deputy Speaker of the Knesset in Israel. He has also participated in the 7th Global Baku Forum,14–16 March 2019.
O'Donnell moderated the panel on "Globalisation and Growing Inequalities" at the IX Global Baku Forum on "Threats to the Global World Order" in Baku,Azerbaijan on 18 June 2022. [117] The panel included Rosalía Arteaga Serrano,former President of Ecuador,Laimdota Straujuma,former Prime Minister of Latvia;Emil Constantinescu,former President of Romania;Katalin Bogyay,President of the 38th Session of the UNESCO General Conference;Mats L. Karlsson,former Vice-President of the World Bank;and Garry Jacobs,President of the World Academy of Art and Science;. [118] [119] At the X Global Baku Forum on the theme "The World Today - Challenges and Hopes",he moderated the Panel 9 - "The Search for Peace,Stability and Development in the Middle East and Beyond",comprising Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud,Amr Moussa former Secretary General of the Arab League,and Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu,former Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,with robust interventions by Ehud Olmert,former Prime Minister of Israel,Dalia Itzik former interim President of Israel and Speaker of the Knesset,and Gila Gamliel,serving Minister of Intelligence of Israel,inter alia. [120]
He also presented a paper on Brexit "Parturition beyond Partition" [121] to an expert panel and the plenary meeting of the InterAction Council's 34th Annual Plenary Meeting on 30 May-1 June 2017 in Dublin, [122] [123] co-chaired by Bertie Ahern,Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland,(1997–2008) and Olusegun Obasanjo,President of Nigeria (1999–2007),and has also participated in other IAC high-level expert meetings on social inclusion and migrants and refugees (Limassol,Cyprus,March 2019) [124] [125] [126] At the 37th Annual Plenary Meeting of the InterAction Council in Valletta,Malta,on 15–17 May 2023,O'Donnell presented proposals for the Malta Declaration that would ensue,and presented his monograph Desperate Hope - Reflections on Survival Pathways for Civilisation, [127] following a high-level panel on "A New Agenda for Peace and Security",chaired by Bertie Ahern [128]
He delivered a talk on "Globalisation and Multilateralism" to seminars on Civic Education for a Society of Citizens,under the auspices of the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe,in Helsinki,Finland,12 March 2018,co-sponsored by the Council of Europe,Finland (MFA) and the UK ([Foreign and Commonwealth Office]),and in Riga,Latvia 17–21 March 2019,hosted by the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga in collaboration with the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics. [129] He addressed the subject of globalisation again under the theme "In the Search of Lost Universalism" at the Berlin Forum 2018,under the auspices of Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe and hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation,Berlin,26–27 November 2018. [130] [131] He also presented reflections on Multilateralism and the Future of Global Governance,in a conference presentation,for the subsequent 6th International Berlin Forum In Search of Lost Universalism,held by Zoom online,on 21 November 2020 by the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe in collaboration again with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.. He lectured on "The Ecology of Multilateralism" at the Segovia Seminar of the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe,held in Spain on 26–29 May 2019. . O'Donnell was a panellist in the presidential symposium on "The Idea of Europe" ,held under the auspices of the President of Lithuania,Gitanas Nausėda,in Kaunas on 25 November 2022,and including the presidents on Latvia,Egils Levits;Poland,Andrzej Duda;and Romania Klaus Iohannis,along with online addresses by the President of the European Commission,Ursula von der Leyen,and the President of Ukraine,Volodymyr Zelenskyy .
Alarmed that the United Nations Security Council has not been able to reach agreement on a draft resolution put before it on COVID-19,O'Donnell is one of the signatories of the global appeal by world leaders to "Support the UN Secretary-General's Urgent Call for an Immediate Global Ceasefire amid the COVID-19 Pandemic". The appeal calls "to put armed conflict on lockdown and to come together to focus on the true fight of our lifetime". [132] O'Donnell was a signatory of the letter démarche of 15 April 2022 of former senior UN system staff urging UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to act decisively and politically on the Russian aggression against Ukraine,following which he visited Moscow and Kyiv and in a follow-up démarche to the G20 leaders meeting in Bali . O'Donnell has participated in the subsequent multiple debates,appeals and démarches undertaken by the Peacemaking Reflection Group of former senior UN officials convening under the auspices of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability [133] including appeals to and for the Secretary-General of the United Nations,appeals for securing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,statements on the Israel-Hamas War,and contributions to the New Agenda for Peace. [134]
O'Donnell has contributed to various print and broadcast news outlets. [135] [136] [137] [138]
Based on his original research into various subjects,several of his articles on historical matters have been published in scholarly journals in Ireland,such as The Irish Sword –Journal of the Military History Society of Ireland,and the Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society,and on the academic networking site Academia.edu. The Law Reform Commission has noted his work. [139] [140] leading to the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act [141] O'Donnell inherited titles from his father,namely Lord of Fingal and Seneschal of Tyrconnell. [142] [20] [143] O'Donnell also addressed the 2nd International Colloquium on Nobility , [144] hosted in Madrid by the Real Asociación de Hidalgos de España,21 October 2017,on the subject of "Irish Nobility and Armigerous Families" and also advocated for participating organisations to register their heraldic and nobiliary traditions under UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. [145] [146] [147] [148] [149] [150] [151] [152] [153] [154] O'Donnell co-organised the first webinar of the College of St Anthony of Padua,Leuven,held on 21 October 2020,under the theme Memorialising ÉmigréDignity. [155]
In 2018,Academica Press published his book The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell –A Hidden Legacy,to the acclaim of several Irish historians and genealogists. [156] [157] [158] He has extensively commented on the recent Spanish archaeological investigations for the remains of Red Hugh O'Donnell in Valladolid [159] [160] [161] [162] His first volume of poetry No Man's Land - Selected Poetry &Art was published in early 2020. [163] In 2023,his monograph Desperate Hope - Reflections on Survival Pathways for Civilisation [164] was presented to the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government at its 37th Annual Plenary Meeting in Valetta,Malta,in support of its Malta Declaration on Multilateral Solutions for a Better Future. [165]
O'Donnell was elected Fellow of the Genealogical Society of Ireland (FGSI) on 1 December 2022, as announced in its Gazette. [176]
Niall Garve O'Donnell was an Irish nobleman and soldier, alternately a rebel against and ally of English rule in Ireland. He is best known for siding with the English against his kinsman Hugh Roe O'Donnell during the Nine Years' War.
Manus O'Donnell was a Gaelic Irish lord and King of Tyrconnell. After his father Hugh Dubh's death in 1537, Manus succeeded as Tyrconnell's ruler. In 1555 he was imprisoned and deposed by his son Calvagh, who effectively took over the kingdom's leadership. Manus died during his imprisonment in Lifford.
The Flight of the Earls took place in September 1607, when Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, and about ninety followers, left Ulster in Ireland for mainland Europe. Their permanent exile was a watershed event in Irish history, symbolizing the end of the old Gaelic order.
Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, was an Irish Gaelic lord and the last King of Tyrconnell prior to the Plantation of Ulster. He succeeded his older brother Hugh Roe O'Donnell and in 1603 became the first to be styled the Earl of Tyrconnell. In 1607, following their defeat in the Nine Years' War, Tyrconnell and his wartime ally Tyrone fled Ireland for mainland Europe. Tyrconnell died of a fever shortly after settling in Rome.
Donegal is a town in County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th century, Donegal was the "capital" of Tyrconnell, a Gaelic kingdom controlled by the O'Donnell dynasty of the Northern Uí Néill.
Hugh Roe O'Donnell II, also known as Red Hugh O'Donnell, was an Irish clan chief, Lord of Tyrconnell, and senior leader during the rising of the Irish clans against English rule in Ireland known as the Nine Years' War (1593-1603).
The O'Donnell dynasty were the dominant Irish clan of the kingdom of Tyrconnell in Ulster in the north of medieval and early modern Ireland.
Irish royal families were the dynasties that once ruled large "overkingdoms" and smaller petty kingdoms on the island of Ireland. Members of some of these families still own land and live in the same broad locations.
Tyrconnell, also spelled Tirconnell and Tirconaill, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland. It is associated geographically with present-day County Donegal, which was officially named County Tirconaill between 1922 and 1927. At times it also included parts of County Fermanagh, County Sligo, County Leitrim, County Tyrone and County Londonderry at its greatest extent. The kingdom represented the core homeland of the Cenél Conaill people of the Northern Uí Néill and although they ruled, there were smaller groups of other Gaels in the area.
Hugh Maguire was an Irish nobleman and military commander who served in the Nine Years' War. As Chief of the Maguire clan and Lord of Fermanagh, he was the first of the Gaelic chiefs to openly rebel against Elizabeth I's conquest of Ireland.
Hugh Albert O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell was titular King of Tír Conaill, and son of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell whose title was however attainted in 1614. In adult life, he used the style Earl of Tyrconnell, Baron of Donegal and Lifford, Lord of Sligo and Lower Connaught, and Knight Commander of the Order of Alcántara.
Patrick Denis O'Donnell was an Irish military historian, writer, former UN peace-keeper, and Commandant of the Irish Defence Forces.
Denis O'Donnell was an entrepreneur in County Kerry, Ireland, in the early 1900s. He was the organiser, co-founder and first manager of the Lee Strand Cooperative Creamery.
David P. Tyndall was an Irish businessman in the 20th century, and played a major role in helping modernise the wholesale and retail grocery trade, consolidate it, and enable the family grocery shop owner adapt to the advent of supermarkets.
Hugo O'Donnell y Duque de Estrada, 7th Duke of Tetuán, GE, OM, is a Spanish peer and historian who was the vice president of the International Commission for Maritime History, censor of the Real Academia de la Historia, and elected member of the Royal Historical Society.
Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell was an Irish Gaelic lord. He was The O'Donnell of his clan, and king of Tyrconnell in Tudor-era Ireland.
Sir Donal Dubh O'Donnell was a member of the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell in modern-day County Donegal. He was the eldest son of Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell, the Lord of Tyrconnell for much of the reign of Elizabeth I.
Cathbarr O'Donnell was an Irish nobleman and member of the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell.
Nuala O'Donnell was an Irish noblewoman of the O'Donnell dynasty who took part in the Flight of the Earls. She was known as "the Lady of the Piercing Wail".
The Irish College of St Anthony, in Leuven, Belgium, known in Irish: Coláiste na nGael i Lobháin, Latin: Hibernorum Collegii S. Antonii de Padua Lovanii, French: Collège des Irlandais à Louvain and Dutch: Iers College Leuven, has been a centre of Irish learning on the European Continent since the early 17th century. The college was dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua.