Francis Martin O'Donnell[1] GCMM, GCEG, KC*SG, KM, KCHS, KCMCO (born in 1954)[2] is an Irish citizen who has served abroad as an international diplomat in senior representative positions with the United Nations until retirement, and later with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

[6] He currently continues to serve pro bono as an advisor to the Global Partnerships Forum[7] and is a listed endorser of the NGO consortium known as Nonviolent Peaceforce.

[22] At the end of the Cold War, he was requested in late 1991 to launch a rapid response capability for deploying UN Volunteers (UNV) to UN emergency operations worldwide.

[23] Overhauling recruitment methods saw the rapid deployment of thousands of UN volunteers to crisis zones,[24] where they became the front-line link between relief and aid delivery agencies such as UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, UNDP, and WHO and suffering war victims, refugees and internally displaced persons.

[31] True life stories from the field featured in Volunteers Against Conflict, a book praised by former presidents Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson, Jimmy Carter, and Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum.

[34] In 2000, he led UN/UNDP missions that helped the late Sergio Vieira de Mello lay the foundations for public administration capacity in East Timor before independence.

He organised a workshop with the Timorese leadership on 1 March 2000, that re-designed the UN administration in East Timor, leading to a reform of the UN mission by the Security Council.

[46] In 2002, he was appointed by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Resident Coordinator[47] of the UN system, and appointed by the UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown as Resident Representative of the UNDP in Yugoslavia/Serbia-Montenegro,[48] Following the Belgrade Agreement (2002) brokered by Javier Solana that restructured the remnant Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) into a looser state union of Serbia and Montenegro, O'Donnell held consultations with the president of the federal government of Yugoslavia and leaders of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, and organised a Strategic Roundtable on Governance Transition in Belgrade, featuring most of the signatories of the Belgrade Agreement, international experts on transition, and a large representation of government officials and the international community.

[53][54] The 2007 Ukrainian political crisis, which lasted from April to June 2007 was part of political stand off between coalition and opposition factions of Verkhovna Rada that led to the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election, culminating in a degradation of the parliamentary coalition under then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, as the President of Ukraine (Viktor Yushchenko) attempted to dissolve the parliament.

[63] An ambassadorial working group was formed[64] and a Diversity Initiative, under the leadership of the IOM and UNHCR, was established to provide a forum for developing anti-discrimination policies.

On completion of O'Donnell's three years' mission as Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Slovakia, the Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Miroslav Lajčák emphasised O'Donnell's contributions in favour of endangered and marginalised groups of people, and in protecting vulnerable groups such as the Romani people, supporting the integration of Roma children into the school system.

[74] In May 2013, on the occasion of the repatriation of the remains of the last reigning royal family of Yugoslavia, accorded a State Funeral by Serbia, O'Donnell laid a wreath at the cask of the late King Peter II of Yugoslavia, in his capacity as delegate of the Clans of Ireland and on behalf of Ireland's ancient royal and noble clans and historic families[75] After some years as a resource person/lecturer on matters of globalization, multilateralism, and governance, in October 2019, he was appointed as a director/trustee of the School of Civic Education in London.

These formed into an Association of Schools of Political Studies[78] to educate civil society leaders in the democratic values, and under the auspices of the Council of Europe.

[80] It was the principal advocate of the Palestinian cause in Ireland during the 1970s and the 1980s and played a key advisory and facilitative role in promoting Irish-Arab trade and cultural links.

[88][89][90] For over a decade, O'Donnell has been a contributor, participant or moderator of discussions at the Global Baku Forum, comprising primarily 80-100 current and former presidents and prime ministers, hosted annually by the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre, and periodically presenting/participating in the work of the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government.

In 2014, he also actively advocated for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity following Russia's annexation of Crimea, and addressed the Irish Oireachtas parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on 9 April 2014 on "The Current Situation in Ukraine", in Leinster House, Dublin.

The Forum was an informal summit on "Building Trust in the Emerging World Order" attended by over 60 influential current and former heads of states and governments, and about another 140 politicians and prominent global public figures.

Later in that year, on 20 November 2017, he moderated an international forum panel discussion in Brussels on "The Threats of Separatism to International Peace and Security",[114] comprising Victor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine (2005–2010) and former Governor of its National Bank;Dalia Itzik, President of Israel (2007, ad interim) & Speaker of the Knesset (2006), former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem; Prof. Hasan Muratović, Prime Minister of Bosnia & Hercegovina (1996–1997), and former university rector; Dumitru Braghiș, Prime Minister of Moldova (1999–2001); Robert Ilatov, Member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu Party; Nazim Ibrahimov, Minister/Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora, Azerbaijan; Jesús López-Medel Báscones, Former Chairperson of the Committee of Human Rights and Democracy of the OSCE; and Ali Hasanov, Public and Political Issues Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan.

[116] The panel consisted of Fernando Lugo, President of Paraguay (2008–2012); Ali Ahmadov, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan; Akramsho Felaliev, Vice Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan; Hikmet Çetin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey (1991–1994); Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi, former Diplomatic Advisor to the President of Italy and current Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Holy See; Maksatbek Toktomushev, Grand Mufti of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Hamad Amar, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset in Israel.

[120] He also presented a paper on Brexit "Parturition beyond Partition"[121] to an expert panel and the plenary meeting of the InterAction Council's 34th Annual Plenary Meeting on 30 May-1 June 2017 in Dublin,[122][123] co-chaired by Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, (1997–2008) and Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria (1999–2007), and has also participated in other IAC high-level expert meetings on social inclusion and migrants and refugees (Limassol, Cyprus, March 2019)[124][125][126] At the 37th Annual Plenary Meeting of the InterAction Council in Valletta, Malta, on 15–17 May 2023, O'Donnell presented proposals for the Malta Declaration that would ensue, and presented his monograph Desperate Hope - Reflections on Survival Pathways for Civilisation,[127] following a high-level panel on "A New Agenda for Peace and Security", chaired by Bertie Ahern[128] He delivered a talk on "Globalisation and Multilateralism" to seminars on Civic Education for a Society of Citizens, under the auspices of the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe, in Helsinki, Finland, 12 March 2018, co-sponsored by the Council of Europe, Finland (MFA) and the UK ([Foreign and Commonwealth Office]), and in Riga, Latvia 17–21 March 2019, hosted by the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga in collaboration with the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics.

[139][140] leading to the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act[141] O'Donnell inherited titles from his father, namely Lord of Fingal and Seneschal of Tyrconnell.

[145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154] O'Donnell co-organised the first webinar of the College of St Anthony of Padua, Leuven, held on 21 October 2020, under the theme Memorialising Émigré Dignity.