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Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Part of Stay Ahead of the Games UK in Sweden

31st October 2012

Different kinds of inspiration

Being an Ambassador involves many different experiences. Going to see the new James Bond film was exhilarating, but even better was meeting members of the Swedish Paralympic team from London 2012 last Friday night. I’ve written in this space before about the spirit of the Paralympics, but to meet the individuals who embody it was truly memorable. It’s important that we build on the success of the Olympics and Paralympics.

The Government’s legacy programme is built around four key pillars:

  • A sporting legacy – harnessing the inspiration of the Games to boost community sport whilst also improving elite structures;
  • A social legacy – supporting community action projects and encouraging more people to volunteer after the Games;
  • An economic legacy – using the Games to create jobs, win new contracts, boost tourism and support the UK’s business interests around the world;
  • and An East London legacy – focusing on the long term regeneration of the host boroughs surrounding the Olympic Park.  75% of the Games budget has gone to local development.

To that we can add a green legacy; an ecological transformation of East London – vast areas of polluted wasteland transformed into the biggest new urban park built for more than a century.

There’s also a particular Paralympic legacy:

  • This includes improvements to the transport system to help people with disabilities travel more freely, and more opportunities for disabled people to play sport.
  • We’re spending more money on elite Paralympic sport than ever before.  Nearly £50m in the run-up to the Games.  These elite athletes will provide inspiration for others to get involved in sport regardless of their disability and help persuade those who run sport to give disability sport a greater priority.
  • We’re also spending on grassroots sports.  Sport England is investing £8m this year to help get disabled people into sport, through disability bodies like British Blind Sport and Cerebral Palsy Sport. As part of the School Games, children at participating schools (13,000, half of the country) will learn about and play Paralympic sport.

We also have our International Inspiration programme.  Launched in 2007, it has now reached more than 12 million people in 20 countries around the world, using sport to make a difference to communities.  A number of projects are focused on reaching out to disabled children, displaced children and children living in institutions.  We hope people around the world will benefit from London 2012.

1 comment on “Different kinds of inspiration”

  1. Dear Paul, 1st. of all – and I ´m honest – there ´s 1 fact of which I think that it ´s “strange” and makes me wonder : Since you ´ve invented this UK-Swedish – link you only get little response. This is – to me – really absurd for all yr. reports so far have 1 thing in common: They are excellent with a lot of “Background-Infos”. At least in my opinion. But the topic here is “INSPIRATION” and you ´ve wrote about the “Government´s Legacy Programme”.Personally , I do think that #1 is the most notable – for without harnessing THIS INSPIRATION of the games you can ´t boosting community sport or – logical – develop (carefully) a common TEAM- SPIRIT (or PARALYMPIC SPIRIT). # 2 is also important but not on this sportive-level.It ´s about a human “living-together” and the “Q.”: “How can I encouraging other people and convience them of how necessary volounteering is.”. “… If you help others- you are helping MORE yourself. ( as long as it ´s by your own wish)…”, Sigmund Freud, “Analize This”, Vienna, ´bout 1928. # 3 : Well I think that ´s the duty of every government AND esp. every economy to look out for new jobs or new business – markets.
    so they have to make clever PR FOR British -products…”It ´s real BRITISH “. I only have some problems with yr. last, 4th. topic: According to BBC London, Channel 4, the games budget hasn ´t been gone by 75% to local projects. If they are right it ´s about 45 %. Maybe an old German saying is the best answer: “…die Wahrheit liegt irgendwo in der Mitte…” ( “…the truth lies somewhere in the middle of it..”) To conclude : I just want to join you with yr. statement that “..all people of the world will (should ) benefit from London 2012…”. In this sense , bw, Ingo-Steven, Stuttgart

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About Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially. He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide…

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially.

He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and security roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Paul joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1993 as Desk Officer for Bosnia. As part of this role he was also Private Secretary to EU negotiator Lord Owen and his representative on Bosnia Contact Group.

His first foreign posting was to Paris in 1995-99 as Second Secretary Political. He was Private Secretary to the Ambassador and latterly part of the UK delegation to the Kosovo Rambouillet negotiations. Then he returned to London as Head of the Kosovo Policy Team, leading work on post-conflict policy in the EU, NATO, UN and G8.

Before his second overseas posting to New York in 2005, Paul held a variety of other EU policy and security appointments in London, such as Head of European Defence Section between 2000-01 and Head of Security Policy Department between 2002-04.

As Head of the Political Section in UKMIS New York, he advised on major policy issues for the UK on the Security Council and the UN World Summit, including the UK EU Presidency in 2005.

Paul returned to London in 2008 as Director, International Security for the FCO. He was responsible for policy on UN, NATO, European Security, arms control and disarmament, human rights and good governance.

Paul was British Ambassador to Sweden from August 2011 to August 2015 and then was Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO.

He was UK Ambassador to the EU for Political and Security affairs from 2017 to January 2020 and became Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020.

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