Dominic Meiklejohn

Part of UK in USA [New York]

22nd March 2010 New York, USA

St. Patrick’s Day

St Patricks Day in New York is something everyone should see once.  I was once told that about 500,000 New Yorkers can claim Irish ancestry.  Each 17 March, it feels more like a few million. 

 
For us, St Patricks Day brings in visitors from Northern Ireland, including Shaun Woodward MP and Martin McGuinness MP MLA.  With progress in the peace process, promoting Northern Ireland falls largely to the local offices of the Northern Ireland Executive.  The Consulate helps with the promotion of Northern Ireland as a great place to invest.  We hosted Arlene Foster, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, at an event that brought together American business people and Northern Ireland trade officials.
 
I spent the first half of St Patricks Day itself in New Haven, spending time at Yale University with colleagues from UK Borders Agency.  The Points Based system has thrown up a few questions for American academics, students and researchers wanting to visit or study in the UK.  We’re trying to get the message out as widely as possible that the new system is manageable- and that it really helps to look carefully at the guidance and to get the paperwork right.
 
Generally, this blog is about what we do outside the Consulate- after all, who really is interested in budget arguments, sorry discussions?  But a fair bit of my working life is spent dealing with the people issues that an office of just over 100 people generates; and the associated housekeeping.  This week we bid farewell to the 2009/2010 year of Mountbatten interns.  At any one time we have about a dozen Mountbattens working for us.  We get a huge amount from having them here (reducing our average age by about ten years).  And they tell me that they find their year with us rewarding too.  So goodbye Clarice, Emma, Suzi, Craig, Max, Cat- and good luck for the future.  A warm welcome to your successors.
 
Next blog- sport, including some ill-advised athletic activity by the author.

About Dominic Meiklejohn

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise…

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990. After working for the European Community Department, I learned Polish and began a posting at the British Embassy Warsaw, where I headed the British Know How Fund for Poland (1993-96). In 1997, I worked for the OSCE Mission in Albania, before heading up the India team in the South Asian Department of the FCO. In 2000, I was posted as First Secretary to the British Embassy Warsaw, with a particular focus on European Union issues in the run-up to Poland’s accession to the EU. In 2003, I returned to the UK as Deputy Head of the Environment Policy Department. From 2004-2005, I led the FCO’s Knowledge Management Programme. During this period, I led two deployments of the FCO’s Consular Rapid Deployment Team– to Sri Lanka, after the tsunami in 2004 and to Pakistan, after the earthquake in 2005. From 2006-2007, I served as Deputy Consul-General, Basra, Iraq. From June 2007 I worked with the FCO’s Change Unit.

I took up my current appointment on 22 January 2008. My wife Joanne and I are the proud parents of Olivia. Outside of the office, I cycle around Manhattan, play soccer (football) and, when parenting duties allow, enjoy the cultural riches offered by New York. I try hard to understand baseball.

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