Former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has been appointed as Ireland's first Roving Ambassador, and special envoy for conflict resolution in Timor Leste, formerly East Timor.
The announcement was made by Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern.
Mr Ahern is on a visit to Timor, whose prime minister survived a gun attack last week.
Under Ireland's Conflict Resolution Initiative, the Government hopes to share lessons learned from the peace process with other partner states which have suffered similar conflicts.
Timor is the first such partner.
