Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Dublin Embassy Closes After Only 3 Years
16 Jul 2012
After a short, but troubled and costly existence, the Philippine Embassy in Dublin has closed its doors to the public.
Its website says that as of 16th July 2012, the embassy will be closed to all new business. The exception will be for three dates, 20th, 27th and 31st July 2012 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm for the release of passports already applied for.
As of the 1st August, the embassy will be closed for all business, although it is expected there will be a skeleton staff tidying up any loose ends.
The Irish Tricolour will still fly outside Hainault House, but the Philippine flag is to come down for the last time as the embassy in Dublin's St Stephen's Green is to shut its doors
For any Filipinos in the Republic, this now poses a serious problem, especially for passport renewals.
The situation is now that all new passports issued are machine readable, and applicants have a special photograph taken along with prints of both thumbs. This can only be done by personal appearance at a facility that has the required specialist machine.
Although not yet given control of Philippine affairs in the Republic of Ireland officially, the embassy in London will be handling things in reality, which means that Filipinos in Ireland will be required to travel to London to renew their passports.
Those who only have a Filipino passport will then have to get a visa to travel to London. Another anomally is that to travel to the north a visa is also officially required.
Sources within the embassy in London have said that until things are officially settled, any Filipinos in Ireland who have a passport with less than 6 months to run should post it to London, where there will be a one year extension put on it and sent back. This will allow the holder to either go on holiday to Manila or go to another embassy to renew the passport.
There are outreach programs conducted by the London embassy, including to Northern Ireland, and although there are none planned for N. Ireland or the Republic of Ireland in the near future, this is one possibility.
The embassy in Dublin only opened in 2009, and was in temporary premises until embassy staff moved into Hainault House in 2010.
As things stand at the moment, when the embassy closes, there should be an honorary consul appointed to handle most affairs. This will be on the recommendation of the embassy in Dublin to the Dept o Foreign Affairs in Manila until London officially takes over. This has the rumor mill in the Republic working overtime, with one story doing the rounds that a bankrupt businessman with very close family links to the Dublin embassy staff is the front runner.
The obvious choice would really be John Ferris, who handled the job for many years before the embassy opened up, and is popular and respected among Pinoys in Ireland on both sides of the border.
His wealth of experience, and his energy, should put him in good stead except for the fact that he fell out with former Ambassador Abadilla over what many saw were serious failings in the embassy, and its profiligate spending sprees. The acquisition of two top of the range BMW's left a very bad taste and was only one of the perceived failings, along with the ambassador's frequent visits to golf courses.
There is also an Irish professional (who is an accountant and a lawyer) married to a Filipina who would also be a good choice, James Norton.
The embassy closure is part of government money saving schemes.
The Dublin embassy served 16,000 Filipinos. However, the embassy in the Portugese capital of Lisbon is remaining open. There are only 4,000 Filipinos in Portugal, with the ambassador appearing to spend more time in France and the USA than in Portugal.
The DFA has confirmed it would be closing down Philippine embassies in Palau; Venezuela; Sweden, Cuba, Romania; and Finland, as well as the consulates general in Barcelona; Frankfurt and Saipan as well as the Dublin closure.
I am ignorant of the rumours, but it seems to me
(from what I read on this very same website here:
http://www.balitapinoy.net/journal/746014/Dual_Citizenship_Problems_Revealed_For_Filipinos
)
that John Ferris may be too honest and plain-speaking to be even an honorary member of the diplomatic corps...
What a pity!
in reply to the comments of jov quio in ref john ferris . john ferris is a fine and honest man who has served the filipino community in ireland with great success . i did not see him buying two bmws at filipino expence like the filipino embassy did .john ferris would always travel on public transport .
john ferris is the nearest thing to a saint and it would be an honour to see him serve the filipino community again .
the advice he gives to people in his emails and regular email up dates are second to none .
don't belittle a great man that you know nothing about .and there is a lot of filipinos that would back this .
keep up the good work john ferris .
@buyog...mahirap naman atang maniwala sa mga hearsay, tsismis o sabi-sabi lang. Dapat kungkreto at credible yung pinanggagalingan ng mga balita o impormasyong yan para nakakasiguro naman tayo. Kahit sino kasi, pwede namang magsalita ng kahit ano. So far, wla akong nahahagilap na opisyal na balitang ipinasara ang embahada ng dahil diyan..ang pagkakasabi lang dahil nagtitipid daw ang gobyerno natin. Wala rin akong nabasang ganyang statement mula sa DBM.
@bugoy..nasasabi ko kasi may nagsabi sa akin..share ko lang dito nalalaman ko..pero ito link ng bahay na tinirahan ni Amba Abadilla..http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/property-plus/the-high-life-1408000.html
buyog, paano mo naman nasabing may nasilip ang DBA sa Maynila tungkol dito? Meron ba silang ipinahayag na balita o official statement tungkol dito? Meron ba silang inanunsyong expose o paglilitis na msyading malaki ang gastos ng embahada, meron bang ebidensyang nagpapatunay dito? Saan mo naman nakuha yang pahayag na yan? Baka pwede mo naman kaming liwanagan at bigyan ng link tungkol sa balitang yan. Salamat.
Jov Quio..di nalang ako mag english kasi di rin ako magaling..pero sinarado ang embassy natin kasi nakita sa DBM Manila na masyadong malaki ang gastos,travel expenses,renta ng palasyo ni Amba Abadilla at saka kotse nya na mas mahal pa kay PNOY..sa pagkaka-alam ko ang rent ni ambassador Abadilla sa Bahay nya sa ABBOTS Hill Malahide ay 6,500.00 euro/month paki multilpy nga? magkano sa peso?..
Diko ko po maintindihan sinasabi nyo masyadong malalalim ang english diba po Filipino kayo bakit di nyo po sabihin sa sarili nating wika. Mas maganda po yun.
This is so unfair for us who work and lives here in the Republic of Ireland. If ever Mr. John Ferris would be reappointed as Honorary Consul, which I doubt, because of his promotion of divisiveness among the Filipino communities and making bias comments for other groups, he had actually failed himself by ethical standard of an Honorary Consul. Never mind your so-called wealth of experience, but the main problem remains, we are all stuck here in the republic. Who ever decide the closure doesn’t even consider how hard for us to apply for a visa to the UK and how are we treated upon entry. One of the reasons why almost none of us wants to pass thru Heathrow whilst going on holiday.
A band wagon attitude exist here in Ireland regarding the disgusto for the embassy's existence, promoted by one person who was very much affected by their presence. Nobody even thought that the embassy could not spend funds not allocated to the entity by our own government. Justifications for funds are a gargantuan task to any government official. And it is wrong to upheld only one side of any story which most Filipinos abhors to. We are all in deep s 't with the closure of our embassy here in Dublin. Please note, not all of us are in the fallacy of wrong doings and spending spree of Phildublin embassy.
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