Damian Roderic Todd (born 29 August 1959) is a career British diplomat who has served as Ambassador to Slovakia, Ambassador to Poland, Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands and High Commissioner to Cyprus.

Personal and career

Todd attended

Lawrence Sheriff School Lawrence Sheriff School (LSS) is a boys' grammar school in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. The school is named after Lawrence Sheriff, the Elizabethan founder of Rugby School. The school was founded in 1878, in order to continue Sheriff's original ...

, Rugby, then studied History at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

, and entered the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1980. His diplomatic postings included: * 1981–1984 British diplomat in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

and

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

* 1985–1987

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

(FCO), European Department * 1987–1989 British Embassay in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

* 1989–1991 FCO, Economic Relations Department * 1991–1995 British Consulate in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

* 1995–1997

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

and head of 2 EU policy departments * 1997–1998 FCO, Deputy Head of Economic Relations Department * 1998–2001 HM Treasury and head of 2 EU policy departments * 1999–2001 British representative on the European Union Economic Policy Committee * 2001–2004 British Ambassador to

Slovak Republic Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's ...

* 2004–2007 FCO, Finance Director * 2007–2011 Ambassador to

Republic of Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

* 2010–2011 Regional Director for FCO Central Europe Network * 2011–2013 Governor of the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

* 2014–2016 High Commissioner to

Republic of Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third lar ...

In 2016 Todd left his post in Cyprus for personal reasons. He was replaced by Matthew Kidd who had preceded Todd as High Commissioner.Ric Todd steps down as British High Commissioner in Cyprus
''Famagusta Gazette'', 6 June 2016

Criticism

Many Turks Islanders, including the Turks and Caicos Islands Conservation Society, criticized Todd's environmental record. While acting as Governor of Turks and Caicos, Ric Todd unilaterally amended a long-standing provision in Turks and Caicos law that prohibited the importation (and non-natural exploitation) of marine mammals in Turks and Caicos. Despite the United Kingdom's ban on performing captive animals, Todd's amendment specifically allows for the importation and use of marine mammals for the purpose of "display, exhibition and performance" – the principal marine mammal this may be targeted towards is a likely

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

attraction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Ric 1959 births Living people People educated at Lawrence Sheriff School Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Slovakia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Poland Governors of the Turks and Caicos Islands High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Cyprus People from Crawley