British ambassador to leave diplomacy but remain in Dublin after ‘falling in love with city’

British ambassador to Ireland Paul Johnston has announced he and his wife will continue to live in Dublin after he leaves his role in September.

Mr Johnston said at a garden party at the ambassador’s residence to mark King Charles’s birthday that they had “so fallen in love with the city” that they had decided to stay in Dublin permanently.

In his speech, he said: "That’s very much what it’s felt like for Nicola [his wife] and me in Ireland – that the people we’ve met have been the highlight of our time here.

"And it’s primarily because of the people that we’ve met that we’ve taken quite a big decision."

He has served in a number of diplomatic roles prior to his appointment as envoy in Dublin in 2020, including as the UK ambassador to Sweden from 2011 to 2016 and as the deputy permanent representative to Nato from 2016 to 2017.

Mr Johnston says he will be taking up a new, non-diplomatic job in Dublin later this year.

He came to Ireland five years ago during the height of the Covid pandemic and he was at the centre of often very difficult British-Irish relations over the UK’s departure from the European Union.

He said he cannot yet disclose what role he will take up later this year as it is “subject to a UK government approval process”.