Podcast in English
Audio Player
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

On Saint Patrick’s Day: an interview with HE John Biggar, Irish Ambassador to Bulgaria




HE John Biggar, Ambassador of Ireland to Bulgaria
HE John Biggar, Ambassador of Ireland to Bulgaria
John Biggar who is the Irish Ambassador to Bulgaria is also the ambassador of Ireland to Armenia and Georgia. He lives in Sofia with his family since October 2013. According to the embassy, about 3,000 Bulgarians live in the Republic of Ireland and 25,000 Irish nationals have bought properties in Bulgaria - mainly along the Black Sea. Small Ireland is home to nearly 4.5 million people, and people around the world with an Irish passport are over 40 million.

On the Day of St. Patrick, Ireland’s National Day, the Sydney Opera House, the Statue of Christ in Rio De Janeiro and the Great Wall of China will be illuminated in green lights as besides Ireland processions dedicated to the holiday will be held in New York, Moscow, Beijing, Berlin.

For the first time this year a Bulgarian town will honor the feast of St. Patrick - this is Chepelare in the Rhodope Mountain where for more than 20 years there are special friendly relationships between local people and Irish people who each year go skiing there. The municipal hall of Chepelare will be illuminated in green on the evening of March 17!

On the occasion of Ireland’s National Day BNR’s Assia Chaneva talks to HE John Biggar about his first impressions of Bulgaria, the similarity between Bulgarian and Irish people, about what he likes in Bulgarian traditions and also about the future of the EU. (The full interview is contained in the audio file.)



More from category

Pope Francis in Bulgaria in 2019

Catholics in Bulgaria fondly remember their meeting with Francis – the Pope of peace and mercy

Shepherd of the soul, priest of all with open hearts, modern prophet – these are some of the definitions with which Pope Francis remains in the memory of people regardless of affiliation and faith. In 2019, he visited Bulgaria,..

published on 4/22/25 4:30 PM

Dr. Spas Tashev presents a new study on the Bulgarian diasporas in Albania and Kosovo

"The socio-political processes among the Bulgarian communities in Albania and Kosovo from the early 19th century to the present, and the influence they have on the demographic development and territorial distribution of our compatriots in these..

published on 4/22/25 2:59 PM
Valeri Petrov

105th anniversary of the birth of Valeri Petrov – the Knight of Poetry

Today we mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of academician Valeri Petrov - poet, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and translator. Born in Sofia on 22 April 1920 under the name of Valeri Nissim Mevorakh, he graduated in medicine from Sofia..

published on 4/22/25 1:29 PM