Frederick Henry Boland

Nationality

Ireland

Date of Birth

1904

Date of Death

1985

Political
Preference

Frederick Henry Boland was born in Mitcham and studied law at Trinity College and King’s Inns, and received an LLM degree from the University of Dublin. Boland was an Irish civil servant and diplomat, and served as the first Irish Ambassador to both the United Kingdom and the United Nations (UN). From 1960 until 1971, he was president of the General Assembly of the UN.

During World War II, Boland was responsible for defending Irish neutrality, though with an Anglophile stance. After the war came to an end, Boland became secretary to the Department of External Affairs from 1946 to 1950. During his tenure Ireland greatly expanded its foreign diplomatic representation. In 1949 Boland was in part responsible for Ireland’s Long-Term Recovery Program, which enabled the state to get loans from the Marshall Plan. From 1950 to 1955 Boland served as ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Boland believed in a more open attitude towards European countries and changed Irish path of political and military isolation. He agreed upon long-term economic integration with the emergence of the Council of Europe. Boland argued for a closer relationship between the Consultative Assembly and the Committee of Ministers.