Robin Barnett

Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

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11th June 2013 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

Anniversaries: why history matters.

It has been another really busy but rewarding week for me. The highlights included reminders of history, a visit to Poznan and further evidence of the potential to increase trade and investment with Poland. The Fourth of June was both the anniversary of the historic 1989 elections in Poland when Solidarity won a remarkable victory […]

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23rd April 2013 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

Seventieth Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

19 April marked the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This was an extraordinary demonstration of heroism by a small group of Jewish resistance fighters against overwhelming odds. For nearly a month, they held out against some 2000 German soldiers with heavy weapons. Remarkably, a small group of the resistance fighters survived. The commemoration […]

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27th March 2013 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

The multi-faceted life of an Ambassador

It has been a busy time for both me and the wider Embassy team. A recent Tuesday found me trying not to confuse the financing of energy investment in Poland with a trilateral Afghan, Polish, British roundtable on progress and next steps in Afghanistan. Both are really important. Poland and the UK both need to […]

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8th March 2013 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

Happy International Women’s Day!

I am delighted to introduce today’s guest blog by an old friend, Dorota Mitrus*, who made an important contribution to helping promote effective democratic participation in Poland post-1989 and is now engaged in promoting democracy and effective governance in many other countries. Her blog speaks for itself. What I would like to stress is that […]

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24th January 2013 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

PM Cameron’s speech on Britain and the EU

You will of course be aware that David Cameron, our Prime Minister, delivered a major speech on Europe in London on 23 January.  It has received a lot of coverage in the Polish media and Foreign Minister Sikorski commented on it on 24 January. The speech is a very clear commitment to keeping the UK […]

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24th January 2013 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

Przemówienie premiera Camerona o Wielkiej Brytanii i Unii Europejskiej

Na pewno są Państwo świadomi, że nasz premier David Cameron wygłosił 23 stycznia w Londynie ważne przemówienie na temat Europy. Polskie media poświęciły temu przemówieniu dużo uwagi, a 24 stycznia przemówienie skomentował minister spraw zagranicznych Radosław Sikorski. Przemówienie to w bardzo jasny sposób mówi o przywiązaniu do koncepcji pozostania Wielkiej Brytanii w Unii Europejskiej, w […]

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21st December 2012 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

Merry Christmas and Wesołych Świąt

December has certainly not been a quiet month for the Warsaw Embassy team. Just a few examples. We were extremely proud to be awarded the Medal of the Friends of Integration by the prestigious Integracja Foundation at their annual Gala last week. This reflects our work over several years to support the Polish government, Parliament […]

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25th November 2012 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

Preventing sexual violence including in armed conflict

The following is a guest post by Stana Buchowska PhD on the serious issues of human trafficking and violence against women. It is an admirable analysis of a complex problem. Let me add a word on our Foreign Minister’s initiative on preventing sexual violence in armed conflict. When we think of armed conflict, we think […]

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22nd November 2012 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

GREAT opportunities on offer in Poland and the rest of Emerging Europe

After a week talking to businesses and enablers in London, Preston and Glasgow, I am convinced that we are seeing an upsurge of interest in the opportunities on offer in Poland and the rest of Emerging Europe. But we are also seeing British success today. The big story of the week was the delivery of […]

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19th November 2012 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

Tolerant: we must be!

Ambassador Robin Barnett with Marta Makowska (bronze medallist in fencing, London 2012 Paralympic Games)

Friday was the International Day of Tolerance. To mark this occasion, we held a party in the Embassy, which also served as the launch event for a fabulous photo exhibition recalling the superb British and Polish performance at the London Paralympics. I underlined how important a role tolerance plays in any civilised society and how […]

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About Robin Barnett

Robin Barnett was British Ambassador to Ireland from 2016 to 2020. Between 2011 - 2016 he held the post of British Ambassador to Poland and his career has previously concentrated…

Robin Barnett was British Ambassador to Ireland from 2016 to 2020. Between 2011 - 2016 he held the post of British Ambassador to Poland and his career has previously concentrated on Central and Eastern Europe and multi-lateral diplomacy.

Robin began his career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1980 as Desk Officer for Indonesia and the Philippines. In addition to Ireland, he has been posted to Vienna, New York and Bucharest, where he was Ambassador. He has also served as Director of UK Visas and Managing Director of the Business Group in UK Trade and Investment

Robin studied Law at Birmingham University. He has a son and a stepson and is a great admirer of Sir Alex Ferguson and a supporter of Manchester United.