Welcome to the New Zealand Irish Directory.

An Honorary Consul was first appointed to Auckland in 1976, and ten years later, in 1986, the area of responsibility was extended to cover all New Zealand and the seniority of the post raised to that of Honorary Consul General. The Consulate operates similar to an Ireland House, as seen in other countries where a fully accredited Embassy is the catalyst of Ireland's representation.

The Consulate office in Auckland offers a full range of services, including the issuing of Passports, Working Holiday Authorities, Visas and Foreign Birth registrations. Situated within the same office are the representatives of Tourism Ireland, Failte Ireland, Northern Ireland Tourism, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish New Zealand Trade Association, the New Zealand Ireland Fund and the Festival of Kerry. In addition, the Consulate maintains strong links with the St. Patrick's Festival Trust, the Lansdowne Club and the various Irish Societies scattered throughout the country. The Consulate also sponsors Irish programmes on community radio stations in Auckland and Wellington.

As a result of this strong Irish presence in New Zealand and helped by the great affinity which exists between New Zealand and Ireland, which is natural considering over 18% of the population is of Irish descent, the Consulate has become the contact point in providing information on Ireland. This interest in Ireland and things Irish, and the continuous communication from throughout the country, by phone, mail, email and personal visits to the office, prompted us to create a Directory of Irish connections and interests in New Zealand.

What a success it has been! The first Directory was in printed form and distributed in 2001. The demand was so great, and the need to maintain the Directory as up to date and as current as possible so imperative, a website was created which allows us to update the Directory contents regularly and frequently. We are very proud of the fact that in 2004 the Race Relations Commissioner awarded us a special certificate of congratulations for "a model website for information about one of New Zealand's most active cultural communities". We are also proud of the fact that we are rapidly heading for one million hits per annum.

We are very proud of our Directory as it is produced at no cost to the participants and we believe we are the only Honorary Consulate General anywhere producing such a source of information.

Enjoy your browsing and please do not hesitate to contact us if you find that some of our information is lacking or that we can improve the manner in which we present it.

Beatha agus Sláinte

Rodney HC Walshe ONZM. FNZIT.
Honorary Consul General