The European Commission has appointed Mairead McGuiness, as the new EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion outside the EU.

The appointment has been welcomed by advocates, although it took a long time to be filled.

“Over the past year, violations of religious freedom have escalated significantly across the globe—from discriminatory government crackdowns on Christians in India to the extreme and often deadly violence faced by Christian communities in Nigeria. The prolonged absence of an envoy raised concern among human rights advocates who warned that the EU was leaving a critical tool of its human rights diplomacy unused,” said religious freedom advocates, ADF International.

The position had been vacant since the beginning of the current Commission term in December 2024, and indeed, for about four of the ten years since the position’s inception in 2016.

Last month McGuinness who previously served as Ireland’s EU Commissioner and as a Vice-President of the European Parliament said she withdrew from last year’s Irish presidential election campaign as a result of a severe bout of post-viral fatigue syndrome, but she now feels “hale and hearty”.