In the 1980s, the Government of Ireland made representations to the Government of the Philippines concerning the welfare of missionaries in the Philippines. Due to the presence of a strong common dominant faith, the Catholic faith, the Philippines has been described as “a sort of Catholic Ireland located off the coastline of Asia". A strong cultural link between the two countries is that many people in the Philippines have been educated by Irish missionaries. Irish missionary and charitable organisations such as Trócaire were involved in opposition to the Marcos regime in the Philippines. In 1984, the two countries established formal diplomatic relations.
On 18 June 1990, Mr John Ferris was appointed the Philippine Honorary Consul for Ireland. He was sworn into office by His Excellency Thomas T. Syquia at a ceremony held at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin. He would become for the Filipinos not only an exemplary honorary consul for 20 years but a self-appointed watchdog for the cause of Filipinos and other immigrants in Ireland. To this day, his free services as Peace Commissioner are accessible on Facebook and in his Saturday clinic on Capel Street in Dublin. More than 5,000 happy friends on Facebook and clients who attend his clinic get their consular problems eased and many times solved. He has helped thousands of Filipino workers in handling their queries and complaints on employment and visa matters.
On 30 May 2009, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, then President of the Philippines, swore in Ariel Abadilla as the country’s first full-time resident ambassador to the Republic of Ireland. The appointment followed the announcement by the Department of Foreign Affairs of plans to open more embassies and consulates in an effort to reach out and be of service to the ever-growing number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The 2009 initiative saw new embassies established in Ireland, Portugal, Finland, Poland and Syria, and consulates opened in Macau, Chongqing and Chengdu in China. Ambassador Abadilla presented his letter of credence on 29 June 2009 to Mary MacAleese, then President of Ireland, in a ceremony held at the State Reception Room of Áras an Uachtaráin in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Ambassador Abadilla was accompanied by his daughters, Marienette and Katherine, and Consul General and Minister Hjayceelyn Quintana who also took her post in Ireland.
The new ambassador was given military honours at the Aras. Sadly and unexpectedly, the worst recession in living memory struck the world in 2008. Due to financial and organisational burdens the Philippine embassy in Dublin was forced to close down in July 2012. A new Honorary Consul, Mark Christopher Congdon, was appointed in October 2012. On 23 August 2018, The Embassy of the Philippines in the United Kingdom invited interested parties to apply for the post as Honorary Consul of the Philippines to the following jurisdictions: Edinburgh, Scotland, The Channel Islands, and Dublin, Ireland. The Philippine Consulate in Dublin is currently closed.
From 2013 to this day, the Philippine Embassy in London conducts Outreach Missions in Ireland 3-5 times a year in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. These missions are facilitated by community organisations such as APO, ENFiD-Ireland, and Outreach Ireland. However, vital embassy services can only be carried out at the Philippine Embassy in London which currently has diplomatic jurisdiction over the Republic of Ireland.
