Phil Hogan has been nominated as Ireland’s candidate to be the next Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Hogan, who grew up on a farm in Co. Kilkenny, is a former European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development.

He is also a former European Commissioner for Trade, a role he resigned from in 2020 following the 'Golfgate' incident which related to an Oireachtas golf society event which took place during Covid-19 restrictions.

Hogan, a former Fine Gael minister, has always maintained that he "broke no regulations" during this period.

Hogan

The government today (Tuesday, March 3) confirmed its decision to back Hogan for the top UN job.

In January the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) had publicly advertised the position "with clearly defined eligibility criteria and timelines".

DAFM outlined today that a "high-level independent selection board of four people, with expertise in agri-food policy, development cooperation, multilateral governance, international organisations and human resources, assessed the applications received".

The department said that "following a detailed evaluation by the selection board", Hogan’s name as the highest-ranked candidate was provided to Minister Martin Heydon, who submitted a memo to the government for consideration.

"As a result, Phil Hogan’s name will now go forward as the Irish candidate for the UN position," DAFM outlined.

According to DAFM there "is significant interest among EU member states in putting forward a strong European candidate for the forthcoming election, which will take place in the summer of 2027".

It has been fifty years since the FAO has had a Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation from a European country.

DAFM highlighted today that "Ireland has a record of positive engagement with the FAO, and was encouraged by EU partners to consider putting forward a candidate".

The department stated: "In recent years, Ireland has significantly strengthened its engagement across the UN system on food security, nutrition, agriculture and humanitarian response.

"This includes enhanced cooperation through DAFM with the FAO and the World Food Programme, two key UN organisations in the field of agriculture, food security and emergency food assistance".