High Commissioner Saroja Sirisena presented Letters of Credence to the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins on 16 February, 2022 at a ceremonial event held at the official residence of the President Áras an Uachtaráin, accrediting her as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to Ireland resident in the United Kingdom.
The ceremony entailed the presentation of credentials, followed by a Guard of Honour provided by 1st Infantry Battalion, Renmore Barracks, Galway, and the playing of the national anthem of Sri Lanka by Army No.1 Band, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin. The High Commissioner was accompanied by her spouse Dr Sudath Talpahewa and Second Secretary Thimuthu Dissanayake at the High Commission.
The High Commissioner conveyed greetings of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to President Higgins recalling the friendly relations between the two countries and the historic relations between their peoples. President Higgins extended his wishes for the wellbeing of the President and the people of Sri Lanka. The discussion focused on intensifying the longstanding political, economic and cultural relations between Sri Lanka and Ireland including the educational relations that began with the establishment of Catholic schools by Irish Missionaries in Sri Lanka centuries ago.
High Commissioner Sirisena joined Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1998 and served as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Austria and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Vienna immediately prior to her appointment in London.
Her previous diplomatic posts include Consul General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai; Minister, Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Geneva; Minister Counsellor, Sri Lanka Embassy in Brussels, and First Secretary, Sri Lanka Embassy in Paris.
She is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, Australia and the École Nationale d’Administration in France, and is a past pupil of Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo.
High Commission of Sri Lanka
London
22 February 2022
