The US Consul General is preparing to leave the north to take up one of Biden administration’s top posts.
Paul Narain has been invited to work as executive assistant to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken – working in Washington DC on the so-called Seventh Floor, shorthand for the most senior leadership of the US State Department.
Mr Narain took up the consul general post in August 2021, succeeding Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau.
He had been due to serve another year of a three-year term in Belfast before the State Department opportunity arose.
Immediately before coming to the north, he served as political & economic counselor at the US Embassy in Sweden.
In a diplomatic career spanning two decades, previous postings have included the embassies in Pakistan, India, Greece and Azerbaijan.
In Washington, the highly-regarded diplomat has served in the Operations Center (the State Department’s crisis management hub) and on the executive staffs of Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton.
In an interview earlier this year, the married father-of-one spoke of Washington's long-standing commitment to the north and its role an "honest broker" in the peace process.
“This might be a relatively small place, but it’s very important to the United States and that will always be the case," he told Business Eye magazine.
His only previous visit to Belfast was with Hilary Clinton's staff in 2009 when the US secretary of state addressed the Stormont assembly.
“We’ve loving it here," he remarked.
"The hospitality of the people is legendary and it doesn’t disappoint. Then there’s the scenery. But what excites me more than anything else about Northern Ireland is the potential this place has. It’s huge."
Mr Narain's successor is expected to be appointed in the coming weeks.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood described the departing US consul general as “an outstanding advocate for the north”.
The Foyle MP said he was confident Mr Narain would remain a “friend and ally in his new role”.
“The appointment of Joe Kennedy as Special Envoy, the visit of President Biden and the groundwork for the investment conference later this year have been significant achievements that will make a difference here,” Mr Eastwood said.
“I wish Paul every success in his new position within the administration."
