As an element of the Foreign Service, the network Finnish Diplomatic Missions plays a central role in the development of a safe and predictable tomorrow for every Finnish citizen. Finnish Diplomatic Missions, established in various parts of the world, provide a wide range of services for Finns and the Finnish society.
The functions of Diplomatic Missions abroad fall into the following categories:
The Embassy of Finland in Dublin aims at promoting the relations between Finland and Ireland in many ways; the Embassy monitors the rights and interests of the Finnish Government, companies and citizens, and keeps the political decision-makers in Finland informed about developments in Irish domestic and foreign policy. The Embassy also promotes the knowledge about Finland in Ireland, including cultural exchange and cooperation.
Finland and Ireland share many features in today's European context; both countries are members of the EU, they are militarily non-aligned but active in UN peace-keeping missions, and they have strongly developing economies based on foreign trade with an emphasis on information technology.
The trade exchange between the two countries, which has before showed a fairly good balance, now shows a surplus for the advantage of Ireland.
The quick economic development in Ireland in recent years has created significantly increased economic wealth and this poses a challenge also for the Embassy regarding trade promotion. Increasing pruchasing power is reflected in more travelling and in a growing interest for Finnish design and products. Tourism between Finland and Ireland is expanding, unofficial figures estimate the numbers of Finns visiting Ireland annually to 25-30,000 whereas approximately 10, 000 Irish visit Finland.
