To paraphrase L P Hartley, the Department of Foreign Affairs is a foreign country: they do things differently there. Most of our Government departments are obsessed with matters of local concern and the national interest, but the Department of Foreign Affairs tries to take a broader view. More than any other section of the civil service, it is aware of the obligations that go with our rights on the international stage.
Nowhere is this divergence more obvious than in the field of human rights, in which the department is taking a more active and formally structured interest.
It is two years since the department's human rights unit was set up, on foot of recommendations made in Dick Spring's White Paper on Foreign Affairs. Its main function is to provide an overview of Ireland's approach to international human rights issues; two committees have been set up to involve other Government departments, and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in that process.
For the first time, there is a Government minister with a specific brief for the area - Liz O'Donnell - and the human rights unit now has an input into all sections of the department's work. However, translating good intentions into practical advances has never been easy.
"You can talk all you want about human rights, but you have to have a physical presence on the ground, and you have to make the people party to your decisions," says John Rowan, the no-nonsense Northerner who heads the unit.
Responsibility for decisions on human rights still rests with the desk officers responsible for specific regions, but Rowan and his staff have the right to make recommendations first. If there is a difference of opinion, the matter goes to the political director of the section for adjudication. This hasn't arisen so far.
Thanks to the Celtic Tiger, more attention is being paid to Ireland, Rowan says. "In the past, we were like a flea on an elephant - nobody listened to us. But now, because of our economic profile, when we make a statement on human rights, it does attract a certain reaction."
At the same time, Ireland doesn't have the luxury of being "on the side of the angels" all the time, and Rowan predicts that the time will come when we have to "make a stand" for human rights at the expense of other interests.
One of the unit's main tasks is the compilation of reports to UN treaty bodies, such as the covenants on civil and political rights, and on economic, social and cultural rights. This work he likens to "painting the Forth bridge - once you've finished it, it's out-of-date and you have to start all over again."
The standing interdepartmental committee on human rights, which first met in February 1997, includes representatives from most Government departments. The Department of Foreign Affairs depends on other departments releasing material to the committee but trying to squeeze this information out of cautious civil servants is proving difficult.
"People tend to view our international obligations on human rights as outside their remit," says Rowan. "We tell them what we need but we don't always get a prompt response."
It's clear than Ireland Inc is still a long way from singing off the same hymn-sheet. On the issue of asylum-seekers, for example, there is a lot of water between the position of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice. While Liz O'Donnell favours allowing asylum-seekers to work, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue is opposed. If the two departments have broached this issue on the committee, the results are not evident.
The tables are turned in the Department of Foreign Affairs/NGO standing committee on Human Rights. On this committee, the department is more likely to take the minimalist position, as it comes under pressure from NGOs to act on a wide variety of issues. The most recent meeting, for example, covered Sudan, Turkey, refugees, the Belfast Agreement, the International Criminal Court and the Amsterdam Treaty.
The committee doesn't have powers to make recommendations, a situation that leaves it open to accusations that it is merely a talking-shop. However, Rowan is empowered to pass on its views to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
There was NGO pressure earlier this year for the Government to take a stronger line on Algeria and to break from the EU consensus on the issue. But Rowan responds that there was no point in taking such action if it would not have achieved anything and would only have been seen as "self-gratification".
He points to the death penalty as an issue where Ireland pushed successfully for a strong and coherent EU line, in the process persuading Britain to ratify the relevant international instrument.
The unit, which has a staff of four, is also responsible for ensuring that Ireland implements those international conventions it has not already ratified. This can be a frustrating business. Special legislation on torture is due to come before the Dail in December, thereby clearing the way for the ratification of the international convention on torture.
However, the decision by the Supreme Court to strike down parts of the equality legislation drawn up by the last Government has considerably delayed the ratification of the convention on the prevention of all forms of racial discrimination. A revised Employment Equality Act has been passed but the Equal Status Bill is still in limbo. Until that is enacted, Ireland will remain in the embarrassing position of being one of the few Western countries not to have signed this important convention.