Robin Anthony Barnett CMG (born 8 March 1958) is a British diplomat, who served as the British ambassador to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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 ...

, and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Early life

Robin Anthony Barnett was born on 8 March 1958 to Bryan Anderson Barnett and Marion Barnett. Barnett attended the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1979.

Career

Barnett joined the

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 ...

in 1980.

Ambassador to Romania

Barnett was appointed the

British Ambassador to Romania The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Romania is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in Romania, and head of the UK's diplomatic mission in Romania. The official title is ''His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to Romania''. ...

in 2006, and served in this role until 2010.

Ambassador to Poland

Barnett served as the British Ambassador to Poland from 2011 to 2016.

Ambassador to Ireland

He succeeded

Dominick Chilcott Sir Dominick John Chilcott (born 17 November 1959) is a British diplomat who was Ambassador to Turkey from 2018 to 2022. Early life He went to the Catholic independent school, St Joseph's College, Ipswich, later also attended by his broth ...

as Ambassador to Ireland in 2016.

Personal life

Barnett married his first wife, Debra Marianne Bunt, in 1989. The marriage was dissolved in 1999. Barnett married his second wife, Tesca Marie Osman, in 1999. Barnett has a son and a stepson. He is a supporter of

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Barnett had a framed Manchester United jersey, signed by

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

, on his office wall during his time as ambassador to Ireland.

Honours

He was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) in the

2006 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to c ...

list.United Kingdom:

References

Living people 1958 births 20th-century British diplomats 21st-century British diplomats Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Ireland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Poland Alumni of the University of Birmingham Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George {{UK-diplomat-stub