By Dean Buckley
One of Ireland’s official state representatives in Egypt plays a crucial role in transporting goods in and out of Israel during its onslaught on Gaza.
Ireland’s honorary consul in Alexandria, Hisham Helmy, is a partner in the United Arab Emirates-Israel land corridor established as an alternative to Red Sea shipping sea routes disrupted by Houthi attacks since October 2023.
At the weekend Egyptian authorities detained Irish activists including People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy participating in a global march to Gaza – with Murphy detained again today, his passport seized.
‘Which earlier today advised Paul Murphy to present at a Cairo police station’
Hisham Helmy is accredited to provide consular assistance to Irish citizens and promote Irish trade as the state’s honorary consul in Egypt.
An official diplomatic representative, he’s served in the role since 1990 when former foreign affairs minister Gerry Collins, uncle of Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins, appointed him.
Helmy is the founder and president of logistics company WWCS which has partnered with an Israeli logistics startup as part of the land corridor.
WWCS and Helmy signed a deal in December 2023 with Israeli logistics company Trucknet to transport cargo across the Israel-Egypt border. The deal is part of an international effort to circumvent Red Sea shipping routes and marked Egypt’s first role in the land corridor.
Helmy is accredited to the Irish Embassy in Egypt – which earlier today advised Paul Murphy to present at a Cairo police station before he was again detained – and his 35 years in the position makes him the second-longest-serving of Ireland's honorary consuls.
Unlike career diplomats, consuls are not state employees and do not draw a salary or hold a pension. They receive an annual honorarium of €1,125, retain half of all fees charged for consular services and can claim expenses on communication costs.
They are official diplomatic representatives of the governments they serve, with obligations and protections secured in international law by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
Ireland currently has over eighty honorary consuls in more than fifty countries, often in those where the state would otherwise have no diplomatic representation.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has been contacted for comment.
