Ireland and Zambia: Over 60 years of partnership

The story of Ireland and Zambia’s relationship is one of partnership. It is based on deep connections, from the arrival of the first missionaries in Zambia through to the current relationships we have built and continue to foster, both at person – to – person and political levels. Over the last 60 years, Ireland and Zambia have worked together in the pursuit of inclusive development, education, healthcare, women’s empowerment, and democratic governance.

To mark 60 years of Zambia's independence and the longstanding friendship between Ireland and Zambia, the Embassy of Ireland has launched the Ireland-Zambia 60-Year Project. This is a chance to look back on our shared history, celebrate the people and the stories that connect us today.

Zambia’s founding President, Kenneth Kaunda, had strong personal relationships with Irish people in Zambia. Kaunda was close friends with Irish engineer Frank Ferguson and Zambia’s first Chief Justice James Skinner who was from Cork.

Before becoming President, Kenneth Kaunda actually visited Limerick in 1963. Following Zambia’s independence, Irish Jesuit Fathers Thompson and Walsh, along with James Skinner, arranged contacts with the Irish Government and a state visit to Ireland was planned.

Zambia and Ireland have always had a special relationship. Irish men and women have made lives in Zambia and many have contributed significantly to the social and economic development of Zambia and to the credit of Ireland. Irish men and women have come to Zambia as missionaries, lawyers, farmers, bankers, engineers, miners, teachers, nurses, doctors and other professions. We share just a few of those journeys and look forward to sharing more in the future.

"Ireland is not a small country. It is a big country, a great country because of the importance it puts on man as an individual."

-President Kaunda in Ireland, 24 November 1964 (Irish Independent)

For almost a century, hundreds of religious Irish men and women have come to Zambia to help communities all over the country. Irish Capuchin Franciscans first established a mission in Barotseland (now Western Province) in 1931; Irish Jesuits took a leading role in Southern Province from 1946 onwards, while Irish sisters from the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood first began providing health services in Northern Province the same year.

These pioneers were followed by many more, both clerics and lay volunteers, in the ensuing decades. Irish missionaries became prominent, often visionary, in both Zambia’s education and health sectors in particular.

The Wild Geese Society in Zambia was formed in 1963 by Conor McIntyrne, J.J. Hughes and Frank Ferguson as a social club for Irish men and women from all provinces of the island.

Christmas and St Patrick’s Day still mark the high points of annual revelry although the society tries to maintain a steady cultural offering throughout the year. The society has always supported deserving causes - the St. Patrick’s Day Ball, usually addressed by the Irish Ambassador and British High Commissioner each year, is the main source of funds.

The Society welcomes Irish and an increasing number of affinity Irish. 2025-26 Chair is Irish and Zambian pâtissière Róisín Lukwesa Lynch. We include some memories of days and nights out. Photos courtesy of the Wild Geese Society, Ross Ferguson and Mark Pearson.

Ireland’s diplomatic presence in Zambia reflects a long trajectory of deepening bilateral ties. What began as an Honorary Consulate in the 1960s and 1970s evolved into a Development Cooperation Office in 1980, and was later upgraded to a full Embassy in 2006. Zambia was among Ireland’s first priority partner countries when its development cooperation programme was launched in 1974.

Since the Office’s establishment in 1980, Ireland’s Overseas Development Assistance to Zambia has steadily increased decade by decade—surpassing accumulative €100 million by 2003, €300 million by 2013, and now totaling over €400million.

The Embassy’s current Mission Strategy (2023–2027) builds on this strong foundation while also resetting the relationship to respond to new opportunities, challenges, and shared ambitions.

The President of Ireland, Mary Robinson paid a State visit to Zambia in 1994. Mary Robinson was Ireland’s ground-breaking first female President from 1990 to 1997.

During the course of her extended visit in Zambia, Robinson visited communities and projects in Lusaka, Northern Province and Southern Province where she is greeted by Mayor of Lusaka Mr. Fisho Mwale.

Mary Robinson went on to become UN Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ireland and Zambia share a common commitment to international peace and security. From 1967 to 1972, four classes of Zambian Army officer cadets trained as Officers at the Curragh Camp in Ireland.

One of these cadets, Solomon Mumbi, went on to become Lieutenant General and Commander of the Zambian Defence Force in the 1990s. Lieutenant General Mumbi’s son was among the last (5th) class in 1995.

“It is natural that many new African republics [wish] their young officials receive training in a small, neutral country like Ireland. A country that does not have an imperial history. We offer a welcome to Ireland to these young men from Africa.”

-RTÉ

Lieutenant General Mumbi and his Irish comrades kept in touch over the years. A group of the Irish erstwhile cadets visited Mumbi in Lusaka in 2023 and in 2025, retired. General Mumbi visited Ireland, meeting with a former friend as well as commandant of the Curragh Camp .

Ireland and Zambia share common inherited legal systems and traditions. Irish lawyers were prominent in the early years of Zambian independence.

Once again, Irish lawyers and judges are connecting with Zambian counterparts through the partnership with Irish Rule of Law International.

The third Chief Justice of Zambia James John Skinner was born in Co. Tipperary in Ireland.

He joined the Northern Rhodesia Bar in 1951 and later UNIP, becoming a close confidant of President Kenneth Kaunda.

Skinner was Zambia’s first Minister for Justice and later Attorney General and finally became Chief Justice in 1969. As Chief Justice, Skinner clashed with the Zambian executive arm of Government and left Zambia. He remained friendly with Kaunda and later served as Chief Justice in Malawi until 1985. James John Skinner passed away in the UK in 2008.

Ireland’s local development programme began somewhat fortuitously in Northern Province in 1982 with the Kasama Dairy Farm. A Luapula irrigation project marked the start of many water-sanitation projects during the same decade.

We began deep and enduring partnerships on education and health in the 1990s. The 2000s saw new governance partnerships with local authorities and greater resourcing of the Province’s HIV/AIDS response. In the later part of that decade, the Embassy focus shifted to food and nutrition initiatives, increasingly through partner Gorta Self Help Africa.

After more than 35 years, the programme ended in 2018. The impact remains in the Province’s geography, the livelihoods made and in the memories of the people we reached.

Improving women’s health is one of the most powerful and transformative investments a society can make. When women have access to quality healthcare, especially during pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood, they are more likely to thrive, contribute economically and raise healthy families and nations. Ireland’s partnership with Zambia has long seen women’s health at the centre of many efforts.

In 2018, then Minister of Health, Hon. Dr Chitalu Chilufya, accompanied by Irish Ambassador to Zambia Seamus O’Grady, Kembe Member of Parliament Hon. Princess Kasune and ZNPHI Director Dr Victor Mukonka, officially opened the Dr. Lucy O’Brien Memorial Health Centre in Chibombo District.

Professor Mukonka, who studied in University College Dublin was appointed to serve on the WHO African Region Task Force on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health 2014-2017.

Ireland is known first and foremost in Zambia for the importance it accords to education at home and abroad. Many Zambians will be able to refer to Irish, mainly missionary, teachers in their educational journey.

Ireland has invested almost €150 million in Zambia to support Zambia upholding every child’s right to education. Investment has built schools, trained teachers, provided materials and developed curricula at primary and secondary level. It supports vulnerable children and kept girls in school. It has helped improve vocational training and provided Masters level education to many public servants.

Ireland is a strong supporter of the World Bank Girls Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods Project and its Keeping Girls in School Initiative in particular.

“A lot of girls drop out because of early marriages. When it comes to boys, they go into drug abuse. Studying in school has really helped us to stay away from these problems.”

-Grade 8 Keeping Girls in Schools Beneficiary

His influence in HIV/AIDS education policy is recognised globally. Fr. Kelly’s many honours include the first ever Zambian Presidential Award for outstanding individual contribution to education (2011) and the Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad (2012). UNZA awarded Fr Kelly its first Higher Doctorate Degree of Letters posthumously at a lecture theatre named in his honour in 2021.

He taught mathematics and physics at St. Canisius College, Chikuni and became principal. On completion of his PhD (Educational Psychology), Fr. Kelly became the first Zambian Dean of the School of Education at UNZA in 1975 (having attained Zambian citizenship in 1968). He became the University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor before returning to his passion for lecturing, research, supervision and writing for the School of Education in the 1980s.

Ireland-Zambia cooperation on food security began with dairy production in Northern Province in the early 1980s. It has transformed over the decades into a more integrated, climate-sensitive and people-driven approach today. Ireland’s support to agriculture and food systems has always tried to adapt to Zambia’s needs. Against the present backdrop of a changing climate and more regular shocks, Ireland and Zambia work together to improve livelihoods, build resilience and ensure no one is left hungry.

The food and nutrition element of the Northern Province local development programme with Gorta Self Help Africa looked at animal/crop health, value chains and markets more deliberately.

Ireland encourages Zambia to take an integrated food systems approach using the expertise of Sustainable Food Systems Ireland.

Ireland is on course in 2025 to have invested €400 million in Zambia since 1980 represented below by sector of investment. Development cooperation, which began in industrial modernisation soon shifted to more pro-poor efforts in health and education the 1980s. Projects and programmes were often implemented directly before moving more to use of Government systems in the 1990s and later pooling funds with other partners. Today, Irish development cooperation uses mixed channels in its support to development.

Building on the Missionary legacy, Ireland’s current support to gender equality in Zambia is wide-ranging and focused on systems change. Ireland’s approach puts a strong emphasis on young women’s access to information, choices, and services. Through multi-sectoral partnerships, Ireland supports access to reproductive health and rights.

Ireland also works with organisations like Build It International to ensure that women and girls have pathways into training and employment, including in male-dominated sectors like construction and technical education. These opportunities help shift gender norms and unlock income-generating potential for young women.

Ireland and Zambia share a common will to increase women’s political participation. Ireland works with the UN and with the Carter Centre to help Zambia increase participation of women, youth and persons with disabilities in political structures.

Looking ahead, Ireland remains committed to investing in the next generation of Zambian women. This means not only responding to the needs of today, but creating space for young women to lead, influence, and shape a more inclusive and just future—where equality is not an aspiration, but a lived reality.

Sr Francis Kieran Monaghan spent almost fifty years teaching in Zambia with the Religious Sisters of Charity from the 1970s. She spent the majority of her life in Zambia, working at the Roma Girls Secondary School in Lusaka. A pioneer in girls STEM teaching, Sr Kieran taught mathematics and religious education at Roma. Her many pupils fondly remember the inspirational role she played in their education and self-development.

Generations of Sr Kieran’s Roma girls have since gone on to become influential leaders in Zambian life. Sr Kieran founded the ExRoma Girls’ Association (EROGA), which continues to support the school. In 2019, Sr Monaghan was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Zambia since the early 1970s at the Zambia Women of the Year Awards.

Ireland and Zambia also support the UN focus on global human development in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Ireland, along with other cooperating partners has supported large-scale programmes in Zambia on gender equality, democracy strengthening and food security that have made real differences in human development. They continue to play a strong role in championing UN coordination and reform.

Covid-19 taught all Governments the importance of national health surveillance systems. Ireland supports the strengthening of Zambia’s systems through the World Health Organisation.

Ireland is a proud and committed member of the European Union. Our resident diplomatic presence since 1980 has always been part of the European family of States. Today we are one of seven resident Member States plus the EU Delegation.

2025 marks fifty years of EU-Zambia diplomatic relations with huge opportunity for the EU and Zambia to build joint partnerships and commitment to shared values.

Every year on 9 May, the EU and Member States mark Europe Day. The month of May allows us celebrate our European unity and cultural diversity with Zambians.

The EU Global Gateway now provides a powerful platform for economic development in Africa. The EU has already been a central partner in transport, water and energy infrastructure development in Zambia.

The Lobito Corridor project, working to upgrade a major infrastructure corridor connecting the Atlantic Port of Lobito in Angola to mineral-rich regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, holds great promise in connecting Zambia to international markets. By taking a 360 degree view, its commitment to human capital development is a central priority. This will remain a priority for Ireland.

Ireland supported semi-state exchanges to promote economic growth in Zambia during the early years of development cooperation. Over the years, Ireland shifted to a stronger focus on inclusiveness in economic cooperation. Today, Ireland recognizes the enormous potential of the private sector to unlock growth but maintains vigilance on inclusive growth.

The 2025 Africa Ireland Trade Horizons forum in Dublin brought together the best minds from Africa and Ireland to see the opportunities in agricultural food systems, green energies, digitisation, finTech and the EU`s Global Gateway. The forum highlighted huge potential and the importance of the private sector to drive growth beneficial to all.

“The relationship between Ireland and Zambia is a connection forged through creativity, trust, and the belief that when young people are given space to express themselves, extraordinary things happen. It is Zambian and Irish cultural diplomacy at its most meaningful”

- Adam McGuigan, Artistic Director Wake the Beast Productions

Barefeet Theatre show how art forms a bridge between Zambia and Ireland. Barefeet was founded by Irish and Zambian artists and a group of young people who shared experience of living on the streets of Zambia and a belief in the power of art for social change. Co-founder Adam McGuigan, understood the power of performance to transform lives from his own upbringing in a post-conflict society. The Irish community in Zambia and the Irish Embassy have been an active part of the journey from the beginning.

Zambia and Ireland share a deep love of sport, rooted in community spirit, national pride, and a belief in the power of sport to unite and inspire. In both countries, sport plays a central role in daily life—from local school matches to national competitions—bringing people together across generations and backgrounds. Whether it’s football in Zambia or Gaelic games in Ireland, or a combination of both!, sport is more than a pastime; it is a source of identity, resilience, and joy.

Irish missionaries were early promoters of organised sport in Zambian mission schools, laying the foundation for lifelong engagement in physical activity.

Since 1980, none of Ireland`s work in all of the areas showcased here would have been possible without our wonderful Zambian staff. Here are a few of our more recent memories.