Ambassador of Ireland to Canada

John Concannon is Ireland’s newest Ambassador to Canada, Antigua and Barbuda and Ambassador Designate to Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Saint Lucia, having taken up duty in August of 2024. Ambassador Concannon previously held the role of Director General of the Global Ireland and Economic Division in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

John has held numerous leadership roles across both public and private sectors. Following a successful tenure in various management roles with Unilever, John returned to Galway as CEO of Ireland West Tourism in 2004. He led the merger of the Regional Tourism Authorities in 2006 in the role of Director of Regional Development for Fáilte Ireland, and following this, he took up the role of Director of Market Development with the National Tourism Development Authority. In 2014 he was appointed Director of the “Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme”, the largest cultural initiative undertaken in the history of the State, and subsequently led the development of the “Creative Ireland” programme, to mainstream culture and creativity across public life. Following this, John was appointed as Director of Strategic Communications in the Department of An Taoiseach.

He was selected as Irish “Marketer of the Year” in 2011 for his work marketing Ireland, and was nominated again in 2013 as the creator of “The Gathering”. He has been centrally involved in three Civil Service Excellence Award winning programmes, namely Ireland 2016, Ireland’s Covid-19 communications response, and Ireland’s successful campaign to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

John is passionately committed to the wider community and social development of Ireland. He served as Vice President of University of Galway, Chairman of Cope Galway, and Chairman of Gaisce – The President of Ireland’s Award, Chairman of the Galway Age Friendly Initiative, a Co-Creator of Ashoka Ireland’s ChangeNation, a Director of ChangeX.org social enterprise, including completion of a term as a Board Member of Connacht Rugby.

John is a graduate of Galway University, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master’s Degree in Business Studies, and a Postgraduate Higher Diploma in Marketing Practice.