John Le Carre meets Bill Bryson with a touch of yes, Minister' - The Irish TimesEamon Delaney's controversial Number 1 bestselling exposé of backstage life at the Department of Foreign Affairs . From the lonely nights at the Soviet Desk to glamorous soirées during Ireland's presidency of the emerging European Union, Eamon Delaney kept his ear to the ground - a useful skill when wedged precariously between Iran, Iraq and Israel at the UN General Assembly. And more useful still when, at the Irish Consulate, he travelled the strange world of Irish America, doing battle with radical nationalists and having to indulge in a painful amount of céilí dancing. . . And then there was Northern Ireland, and the Peace Process of 1993-1995, where no amount of dining, spying and manipulation was spared in the pursuit of the ultimate goal - the greater good of officialdom. Hilarious and at times deadly serious, An Accidental Diplomat offers a wry and irreverant view of the backstage dealings at foreign affairs. When diplomacy turned the other cheek, Eamon Delaney kept his eyes peeled. . . luckily for us, he was taking notes. About the author:Eamon Delaney lives in Dublin where he is an author and freelance journalist. He has published three books with New Island: The Casting of Mr. O'Shaughnessy (2001), An Accidental Diplomat: My Years in the Irish Foreign Service 1987-1995 (2001), and Breaking the Mould (2009). He has been editor of the latest incarnation of Dublin news and opinion magazine Magill Magazine since its re-launch in late 2004.