I was delighted to be appointed Irish Ambassador to the Russian Federation, and since my arrival I have been impressed by the extent at which links between Ireland and Russia are flourishing, particularly in the fields of business and culture. The actions of previous Irish Ambassadors and their staff, and the invaluable input from the Irish community in Russia should be lauded in this respect.

Working with my colleagues in the Embassy, we aim for this site to prove useful to visitors from both countries. The site contains a wide variety of information about links between Ireland and Russia, including on visas, cultural links, travel advice, tourism and our expanding trade relations.

The site contains useful links to other websites of organisations which specialise in aspects of relations between Ireland and Russia, including in the areas of trade and tourism.  I would refer visitors in particular to the website of Enterprise Ireland which is the Irish Government Agency specialising in trade promotion and whose Moscow office is situated within the Irish Embassy.

The Embassy is particularly keen to assist Russian travellers to Ireland.  We are hopeful that the recent re-commencement of a direct air connection between Russia and Ireland will increase the flow of visitors in both directions. I would refer our Russian visitors to the website of Tourism Ireland which is the Irish agency specialising in tourism promotion.

The Embassy is determined to provide an efficient visa processing service to assist travel to Ireland.  The Visa Office aims, subject to the fulfilment of visa conditions, to process visa applications within 5 working days.  Business visas are processed within a maximum of 3 working days.  Details of the visa process, are available on this site.

We welcome feedback from visitors to help us to shape what will be a regularly-updated and expanding website. I hope you will follow both the business and cultural diaries which are the key feature of the site. These will report on events that have taken place, and let you know about anything the Embassy and the Irish community have planned in the upcoming months.

Is mise le meas, С уважением,

Philip McDonagh
Ambassador of Ireland, Moscow