A tech-savvy public demands more transparency from government, and that foreign ministries can do a lot more to open up. Behind-the-scenes negotiations will always remain a vital part of the job - Fletcher mentions the recent Iran nuclear deal and the BelfastAgreement as examples - “but we do need to explain to people that that’s what we’re there for, and that it’s going on.”

The opening ceremony of the Giro d'Italia cycle race has taken place in Belfast.  The Giro d'Italia is one of cycling's most famous events and TV coverage is watched every year in 165 countries.

Northern Ireland has been suffering from annual outbreaks of violence as leaders of the divided region try to establish a long-term solution to the thorny issue of parades. The parades are held each year to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne, in which the Protestant King William III defeated the ousted Catholic King James II in 1690. After a stand-off between 5,000 marchers and the police, Unionist rioters set fire to cars and threw petrol bombs, bricks and other missiles at police, burned flags of the mainly Catholic Irish Republic and played sectarian tunes outside Catholic churches.