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Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Part of UK in Sweden

28th March 2013

Iron, Ice and Innovation

This job takes me to a range of interesting places but it is not often in the space of a few hours that I end up 500 metres underground and then in a bedroom five degrees below freezing!

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LKAB mine in Kiruna

Such was my contrasting experience on my visit to Kiruna this week. As guest of LKAB, which produces over 90% of all the iron ore mined in Europe, I visited the Kiruna mine and saw the combination of high technology and innovation that produces almost 30 million tons of iron ore every year.

Part of the town of Kiruna will soon be moved a few kilometres to the east as a result of the need to continue the huge mining enterprise in the town.

Later that same day I was privileged to visit the fantastic Ice Hotel just outside Kiruna. It was amazing to see so many beautiful sculptures in ice, by designers from around the world include the UK.

Beautiful ice sculptures at the Ice Hotel in Sweden
Beautiful ice sculptures at the Ice Hotel in Sweden

It struck me that here was a town being partially dismantled and moved to cope with the demands of industry, and here was a hotel made out of ephemeral products, which will disappear entirely in a few months time only to be recreated in another form at the end of the year.

It made me focus on the importance of change and innovation.

That was also a theme of the second day of my trip to Kiruna where the local municipality and small business association introduced me to a range of impressive small companies operating in Kiruna with products as diverse as toilet paper holders for the disabled, space tourism, the removal of toxic sewage and pills to treat plaque in dogs, cats and humans!

We hope some business opportunities to and from the UK will arise from the contacts that happened here.

1 comment on “Iron, Ice and Innovation”

  1. Dear Paul, after I had read your proper report I only find one word cause of the hard work of these man near Kiruna: RESPECT!
    BW, Ingo-Steven Wais, 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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