Bulgaria and Ireland may seem a whole continent apart, but they share a few things in common – in the first place, they belong to the prestigious club of countries that the European Union is today.

In connection with the Feast of St. Patrick (17 March), the patron saint of Ireland, Assia Chaneva talked to  the Ambassador of Ireland to Bulgaria HE Michael Forbes covering a range of topics - from the EU agenda and how he sees Bulgarians to Bulgarian-Irish contacts in culture.

First of all, a look into the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Ambassador’s agenda:

Part of an ambassador’s work is meeting with ordinary people. Michael Forbes shares his impressions of Bulgarian negativism despite obvious achievements, and … of Bulgarian bagpipes in the Rhodope Mountains.

Finally, a closer look at Bulgarian-Irish joint projects in culture:

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Michael Forbes has been Ireland’s Ambassador to Bulgaria since October 2016. He is also the Ambassador of Ireland to Armenia and Georgia where there are no embassies of the Republic of Ireland. Previously Michael Forbes has served as Permanent Representative of Ireland to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and Permanent Delegate of UNESCO in Paris. From 2009 to 2012, he was the Director for Europe and Asia at the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Prior to that he served as Ireland's Ambassador to Israel.