David Neligan, the former head of the Anglo-Irish section of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who has died aged 90.
Born: July 14th, 1935
Died: August 18th, 2025
David Neligan, who has died aged 90, was one of the most consequential Irish diplomats of the past 60 years. He was ambassador to Japan, and for five years head of the Anglo-Irish section of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) during one of the most difficult stages in relations between Ireland and the UK at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
A brilliant linguist, Neligan, after school at St Columba’s College, Rathfarnham, had taken a first in modern languages at Trinity College Dublin, in 1958. There, he excelled as an athlete, winning the Irish triple jump championship four years in a row from 1956 to 1959.
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