Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
Incumbent Charles Flanagan since 11 July 2014
Appointer	President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holder	George Noble Plunkett
Formation	22 January 1919
Website	www.dfa.ie

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (Irish: An tAire Gnóthaí Eachtracha agus Trádála) is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Government of Ireland. The Minister's office is located at Iveagh House, on St Stephen's Green in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole. From 1922 until 1971 the title of the office was "Minister for External Affairs".

The current office holder is Charles Flanagan, TD. He is assisted by:

The department has the following divisions:

The Minister has responsibility for the relations between Ireland and foreign states. The department defines its role as: "The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministers of State and the Government on all aspects of foreign policy and coordinates Ireland's response to international developments. It also provides advice and support on all issues relevant to the pursuit of peace, partnership and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, and between North and South of the island, and to deepening Ireland's relationship with Britain."