Brian Cahalane is the Consul General of Ireland for the Midwestern United States, based in Chicago, since September 2024, where he’s been enjoying his assignment representing Ireland in Chicago and the Midwest. Brian started his career in January 1992 working on development cooperation/aid issues before moving to Ireland’s Permanent Representation in Brussels in February 1994, where he assisted Ireland’s Ambassador to the EU dealing with internal policies, including Ireland’s 1996 Presidency of the EU. In August 1997, Brian returned to HQ, where he headed up the Private Office of the Secretary General of the Department, coordinating the SG’s interaction with ministerial offices and with senior colleagues at home and abroad. In September 1999, Brian was assigned as Policy Advisor to the Oireachtas/Houses of Parliament, where he advised leadership and the Joint Committees on Foreign and European Affairs on their work and on visits abroad, including to Chicago, Washington DC, and New York. In September 2001, Brian took up an assignment at Ireland’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland, where he dealt with human rights, disarmament, health, and trade and development issues, among others. In August 2005, Brian returned to HQ to work on UN, conflict resolution, and international terrorism policy issues. Brian went to Ireland’s Permanent Mission to the UN in August 2007, where he worked on Security Council and political issues, including those in the Middle East and Africa and other parts of the world faced with conflict and development challenges. In September 2011, Brian returned to HQ to work for four years on Northern Ireland issues in liaison with political and community figures in the North, including a year working at the Irish Government office in Belfast from September 2014 to August 2015. Brian moved to Ireland’s embassy in Washington, DC, in August 2015 as the lead officer for congressional liaison, Northern Ireland, and immigration issues, where he served until August 2020, participating in Ireland’s response to the transition from President Obama’s second term to President Trump’s first, which also included the onset of the Covid pandemic. In September 2020, Brian returned to Ireland’s Mission to the UN in NYC to serve on the advance team for Ireland’s term as an Elected Member of the UN Security Council, where he worked on a range of Middle East issues, including Israel-Palestine, Syria political, Lebanon, the Golan Heights, Yemen, and Libya (the latter two for the initial part of Ireland’s term). Brian returned to Washington, DC, at HQ in January 2023 to work on economic issues and returned to HQ in August 2023 to work in the Human Resources Division in support of colleagues on overseas postings, with a particular focus on accommodation, travel, and removals issues.