The government has formally put forward Phil Hogan as Ireland’s candidate to be the next Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Phil Hogan was European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development between 2014 and 2019.
When Ursula von der Leyen became President of the European Commission, Hogan was promoted to Trade Commissioner.
But a year later, in 2020, he was forced to resign for attending a golfing event in breach of Covid restrictions.
Since then, he has worked for US consulting firm, DLA Piper.
A return to frontline politics has long been expected.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is headquartered in Rome. It is responsible for international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
The government says Phil Hogan’s name for the job of Director General was chosen by an independent panel:
“A high-level independent selection board of four people, with expertise in agri-food policy, development cooperation, multilateral governance, international organisations and human resources, assessed the applications received.
Following a detailed evaluation by the selection board, Mr Hogan’s name as the highest-ranked candidate was provided to Minister Heydon, who submitted a Memo to the Government for consideration today. As a result, Phil Hogan’s name will now go forward as the Irish candidate for the UN position.”
Italy’s former Minister of Agriculture, Maurizio Martina, is also in the running for the job.
The EU’s Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization, Martin Selmayr, said Europe was putting forward “two excellent candidates for this important international position”.
“The EU and its Member States are by far the largest contributors to FAO and are reliable and predictable partners of the UN. We believe that in an increasingly uncertain and polarised world, multilateral cooperation on food, agriculture and fisheries is essential to fight hunger in the world”, Selmayr added.
The election is due to take place in summer 2027.