11 million illegal immigrants, over 50,000 of whom are believed to be Irish. On 17 June 2014, Gilmore travelled to Washington D.C. for two days of meetings, most of which focused on Republican members of the House of Representatives. Croke Park agreement In December, Gilmore once again put his support behind the Croke Park Deal on public sector pay and conditions. The dismissal of a renegotiation of the deal came in light of comments from Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte that the deal could be renegotiated along with calls from junior Fine Gael TDs that the agreement should be scrapped. Retirement from Irish politics and afterwards On 2 June 2015, Gilmore announced that he would not be contesting the 2016 general election. In February 2016, he was appointed as adjunct professor in the School of Law and Government in Dublin City University. In 2017, he was Visiting Practitioner Professor of the School of Public Policy in the Central European University, Budapest. He has also lectured at universities, think tanks and public policy conferences throughout Europe, the UK, the US, Latin America and Africa. He is also a Member of the External Advisory Board of the National University of Ireland, Galway and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Alpbach Forum in Austria. European Union Special Representative On 1 October 2015, Gilmore was appointed by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini as European Union Special Envoy for the Colombian Peace Process. On 19 February 2019, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini nominated Eamon Gilmore to be European Union Special Representative for Human Rights. His nomination was approved by the Foreign Affairs Council on 20 February 2019. Awards and honours In 2015, Gilmore was named by the Washington-based "Foreign Policy" Magazine as one of the 100 leading Global Thinkers for his role in Ireland's Marriage Equality Referendum, which approved same-sex marriage. In 2016, he was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate in Laws by his alma mater, the National University of Ireland, Galway. The Government of France has made him an Official of the Légion d'honneur. Colombia has honoured him with the Order of San Carlos (Gran Cruz) for his work on the Peace Process. References External links Eamon Gilmore's page on the Labour Party website 1955 births Living