Ireland

Let me at the very outset extend to Mr. Opertti our warm congratulations upon his election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty- third session. We are particularly pleased to see presiding the Foreign Minister of Uruguay, a country with which Ireland has always enjoyed the friendliest of relations. His rich experience in politics, education, diplomacy and the law will serve the Assembly well as he directs its work for the coming year. Also on behalf of the Irish people, I wish to pay a particular tribute to the Secretary-General for the thoughtful and determined leadership which he has brought from the African continent to the discharge of his most challenging office. Commitment to the work of this Organization is a central part of Ireland?s foreign policy and of her place in the world. Irish people strongly support that commitment. We feel close bonds with the United Nations. With many like-minded countries, we have striven to uphold and develop the universal role of the Organization for the promotion of peace, development, international cooperation and human rights. These purposes are linked in the Charter and they are linked in reality. All around us, side by side with rapid technological and material development, we see in every region of the world uncertainty, insecurity and conflict. Our attention has been gripped this year by the severe economic and financial difficulties which are besetting developed and emerging markets as well as economies in transition. The full effects of these difficulties have yet to play themselves out. We are all affected. More than 1 billion people struggle to survive on less than a dollar a day. Environmental degradation and natural disasters wreak unnecessary havoc on entire nations. Meanwhile, obscenely disproportionate levels of resources are diverted to fuel the arms trade and supply the unjustifiably large arsenals in parts of the world that can least afford it. Human rights remain to be fully respected in all regions. I think that these realities are among the root causes of the conflicts confronting us today. If the new millennium is to open with real prospects of alleviating such conflict situations, it is the root causes which we must together tackle; prevention is always better, and certainly less costly, than cure. As my Swedish colleague has said, the Austrian Presidency has spoken and addressed the Assembly on behalf of the 15 Member States of the European Union, expressing our position on many issues. Nevertheless, I will focus my remarks on a number of issues which are of particular importance to the country which I represent. We should all acknowledge that there can be no real peace or security without development. Development is about dignity and offering impoverished people around the world the chance of a better life now and better prospects for their children. This is not too much to ask. Its achievement, however, requires a new partnership of international engagement and commitment. All of us must share a determination to break down the walls of exclusion and marginalization that divide our world. A new partnership must address not only aid flows but also the crippling problem of debt. It must assist developing countries to participate on a fair basis in the world economy. Development cooperation is not only about reducing unacceptable levels of poverty. All countries, developed and developing alike, must together address shared priorities that affect all our countries and all our peoples. An integrated approach is called for, as previous speakers have mentioned. In this context, I welcome in particular the seminal report of the Secretary-General — I have already welcomed it in a committee today — on the causes of conflict and sustainable development in Africa. We will work actively with other Member States to ensure that this report receives the strongly positive response it deserves. I will allude for a moment to Ireland?s development cooperation programme, if I may. As for Ireland?s contribution, it is with some pride that I can say that we have one of the fastest growing development cooperation programmes in the world today. The Irish Government is committed to reaching the United Nations target for official development assistance — that is, 0.7 per cent of gross national product — and I think it?s fair to say that we are fully determined to make further progress towards this goal in the coming years. Last week, my Government agreed on a package of debt alleviation measures for developing countries, in the multilateral and bilateral fields, amounting to some $46 million, which is a considerable sum of money for a country the size of Ireland, and I think it was a measure 36 of the bona fides of our intention in this whole area of development cooperation. For Ireland, support for development cooperation means, by definition, support for the United Nations in this vital area. The United Nations has only the resources which the Member States give it. These must reflect our political commitment to confront challenges. I think that is why declining contributions to core resources for United Nations funds, programmes and agencies are a matter of deep and grave concern. For its part, Ireland has increased significantly the level of its commitment. I am pleased to say that our Development Assistance Programme now supports 32 funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, compared to 13 just five years ago. I pledge before this Assembly the continuation of Ireland?s support in that regard. Again, the question of disarmament and nuclear disarmament was raised by my Swedish colleague, the previous speaker. The end of the cold war provided the international community with a unique opportunity to accomplish the final elimination of nuclear weapons and to usher in a nuclear-free world. Yet, while the past 10 years have witnessed important steps to reduce nuclear arsenals, there has been no clear commitment on the part of nuclear- weapon States to proceed rapidly to nuclear disarmament, as required by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Ireland?s advocacy of nuclear disarmament has been consistent and unrelenting. We have been the strongest protagonists of the achievement of the goals of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Ireland proposed in 1958 and was the author of at that time. We must begin to take certain fundamental steps now to achieve the NPT?s non- discriminatory and universal application. We cannot enter the third millennium with the prospect that nuclear weapons will be considered legitimate for the indefinite future. That is why Ireland has, this year, joined with seven like-minded States — Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa and Sweden — to launch the declaration “Towards a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World: The Need for A New Agenda”. The steps called for in the New Agenda are premised on a clear and unambiguous commitment to be undertaken by the five nuclear-weapon States to engage in nuclear disarmament negotiations within an entirely new context. They are also premised on a similar commitment by the three nuclear-weapon-capable States — India, Pakistan and, of course, Israel — not parties to the NPT. This session of the General Assembly provides a unique opportunity to give substance to proposals such as those contained in the Joint Ministerial Declaration of 9 June. My colleagues and I have therefore prepared a draft resolution which sets out an agenda for the definitive elimination of nuclear weapons for all time and which we ask the Assembly to consider and adopt in the First Committee. On the question of landmines, coincidentally and fortuitously, last week I presided over a landmine conference in Dublin while the International Campaign to Ban Landmines was meeting in my own capital city to develop a civil-society-based landmine monitor. We received the welcome news that the fortieth ratification of the landmines Convention had just taken place. We now have a total ban in place and can set our minds to eradicating these obscene instruments and their consequences. The inexcusable delay in addressing the question of landmines was a glaring failure of the international community to look squarely at an issue of human security which was fundamental to development. Another example is the persistence of expenditure on arms in certain countries, which is out of all proportion to social spending. This state of affairs must cease and the arms trade that feeds it must be curtailed. I would personally like to see it stopped and put out of existence. On the question of human rights, a further and very pervasive root cause of instability and conflict is inadequate respect of the very rights of which I am speaking. There are too many specific instances of human rights abuse in every region of the world. There are hopeful signs — for example, in Nigeria and East Timor — but elsewhere the situation remains bleak. In this, the fiftieth anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we must reaffirm our collective commitment to promoting respect for these rights and freedoms by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal recognition and observance. The Universal Declaration, in my view, is as relevant today as it was five decades ago when it was drafted by the representatives of developed and developing countries with important input from members of civil society. It is a universal benchmark. 37 We all have questions to answer. The first might be: How have we lived up to the standards set out in the Universal Declaration? What steps have we taken to build on the Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted five years ago by consensus at the Vienna Conference, which specifically reaffirmed the right to development? These are some questions that we might well ask ourselves during the current session of the Assembly. On the question of capital punishment, another important human rights issue is the abuse of the death penalty. Ireland will continue to work for the universal abolition of capital punishment. We welcome the fact that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, again at its recent fifty-fourth session, addressed this issue directly. We also welcome the adoption in July of the Statute for the International Criminal Court at the international conference hosted so effectively by Italy. This is truly a landmark development. Nobody is and nobody should be above the law. We fervently hope that the Statute will enter into force on the earliest possible date and that it will secure universal adherence. Finally, let me join with those many others who have given support and encouragement to the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The promotion of international cooperation in this key area must remain one of this great Organization?s first priorities. On the question of conflict prevention, I now turn to the maintenance of international peace and security, which, of course, is the prime responsibility and prime aim of the United Nations. The painful experiences of this decade — notably in the former Yugoslavia, Africa and the Middle East — have prompted much soul-searching and, of course, analysis. In Kosovo, we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe which could replicate the horrors of Bosnia. The international community must take urgent and effective action within the framework of the United Nations to ensure that our worst fears are not realized. Another humanitarian disaster faces us in Sudan. Recently, I saw for myself the terrible suffering of its people. I visited the epicentre of the famine in Ajip in southern Sudan, having spent three hours getting there from a town called Lokichokio in northern Kenya, which was a staging post for aid for that part of the terribly blighted country of southern Sudan. It is not acceptable that we allow this tragedy to continue. One of the essential conclusions, here again, is the need to address the origins of conflict and not just the symptoms. Foresight and adaptability are necessary. In this context, I welcome in particular the emphasis which the Secretary-General has placed on the need to tackle the root causes of conflict in all their complex diversity. We support his strengthening of United Nations early-warning mechanisms and his prioritizing of preventive diplomacy. The many strengths and capabilities of the United Nations and the regional organizations in the area of conflict prevention must be harnessed and focused to achieve greater use of resources. The General Assembly, for its part, is placing ever greater emphasis on conflict prevention. It has commended not least the efforts of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and acknowledged the contribution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a regional organization which Ireland fully supports. On the question of peacekeeping, in this, the fiftieth anniversary year of United Nations peacekeeping, I want to pay tribute to the peacekeepers who currently serve the Organization. They do so often in very difficult and dangerous circumstances. Too many have made the ultimate sacrifice. Since 1958, Ireland has been at the forefront of United Nations peacekeeping. In this period, some 40,000 Irish peacekeepers have served with the Organization across the world. Seventy-five of my fellow Irishmen have given their lives. Among Member States, Ireland is currently one of the leading troop contributors. My President, Mrs. Mary McAleese, in one of her earliest official engagements, visited our peacekeepers in Lebanon. Again, this underlines Ireland?s active commitment to bringing peace to that part of the world. The world continues to need United Nations peacekeeping, but its operations must be based on sound mandates and have solid political and financial support. Colleagues have mentioned the question of United Nations reform. Mobilizing the political will to tackle the interrelated causes of insecurity and conflict, I believe, is only the first step. The United Nations as an institution must be strengthened and given the necessary resources to carry through its work. Timely funding by Member States is a prerequisite. 38 Ireland believes that the reform process should not be viewed as a cost-cutting exercise. The wretched expression “downsizing” comes to mind. It is about making the Organization more effective in the discharge of its Charter functions, especially in the economic, social and humanitarian fields. I welcome the progress achieved to date. Ireland will continue with other like-minded States to build partnerships among the membership so that real progress can be achieved. We have views in relation to the area of Security Council reform. A reinvigorated United Nations must include a reformed Security Council that reflects the realities and the needs of today?s world. We believe that the Council must work more transparently and that its membership should be enlarged to ensure a more equitable representation. To this end, we have joined with a group of like-minded States in putting forward a number of specific proposals. We will continue to work for an agreed outcome on this issue of crucial importance to the future of this Organization of ours. On the question of Ireland?s candidature, Ireland believes that all Member States — small, like ourselves, as well as large — should have an opportunity to serve on the Security Council, the body on which the Members of the Organization have conferred primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Assembly will be aware that Ireland has presented its candidature for non-permanent membership of the Security Council for the two-year term 2001-2002. Throughout its membership of the United Nations, Ireland has worked to play a bridge-building role among Member States. As a member of the Security Council, Ireland?s approach would similarly reflect the interests of the totality of the broad spectrum of the membership. I can give the Assembly some good news about Northern Ireland. My predecessors have by custom informed this Assembly of our efforts to help promote peace in Northern Ireland. It is my deep privilege, therefore, to convey an account of a breakthrough of great importance: the Agreement reached by the British and Irish Governments and eight Northern Ireland parties in Belfast on Good Friday, 10 April 1998. The Good Friday Agreement marks a historic new beginning in relations within Northern Ireland, between the North and the South of the island and between Ireland and Britain. It has brought us all a new sense of hope. We have begun the long walk out of the dark night of division and conflict into the bright sunlight of partnership and harmony. As somebody who has spent almost 40 years in political life seeking to encourage such a journey, I am immensely gratified by this development. The Agreement is a complex document, a careful set of checks and balances, a parity of pain and gain. Striking that balance of pain and gain on both sides was, in large part, the task of the main political parties in Northern Ireland. Their decisions called for political courage and most serious and genuine leadership, which they gave in abundance. But they could not have been taken without trust and vision, too — trust, where before there was only suspicion, and vision, where before there had only been self-interest. The leadership of these peacemakers in Northern Ireland deserves the warmest commendation of this Assembly. With the participants drawn from the full spectrum of the political landscape, what we were addressing in the negotiations was a complex range of problems and perspectives, each with its deep roots in history. If these competing issues were to be addressed satisfactorily, we knew the final Agreement would itself have to be complex, broad-based and balanced. Achieving agreement in these circumstances was a major challenge for all of us involved in the long, tortuous and difficult negotiations. As one of those privileged to have had such a role, I can verify that there were times during the long days and nights in Castle Buildings, Belfast, when success seemed like some distant dream. But the determination of all sides not to be deflected was stronger than any obstacle. On the dawn of Good Friday, the dream of agreement finally became a reality. Critically, the Agreement was emphatically endorsed by the people of Ireland, North and South, in referendums held on the same day, the first time that has happened on the island of Ireland since 1918. One of the profound consequences of this democratic endorsement is that never again may the name of the people be invoked as a basis for the shedding of blood in my country and on my island. From now on, it is manifest that the only legitimate force is the force of reason and persuasion. The Good Friday Agreement is a blueprint for our future. Indeed, it may be a blueprint for other regions? futures. But a blueprint can be successful only if it is translated from word to deed. That vital process of implementation is the next great challenge and one that we are all now actively addressing. Some elements of the 39 Agreement are already in place. The new Northern Ireland Assembly has been elected and the 108 members have taken their seats. Dramatically symbolizing the new era of partnership, David Trimble and my good friend Seamus Mallon, each representing the two major traditions, have been appointed First Minister and Deputy First Minister, respectively. The Assembly has made an encouraging and constructive start. Work is also proceeding on many of the other elements of the Agreement. But institution-building alone, important as it is, will not be enough. The appalling atrocities of last summer, which saw the horrific burning to death of three young boys, the Quinn brothers, and the merciless massacre and slaughter of 29 people in Omagh underline the reality that the Agreement on its own does not guarantee peace. More than anything else, what is also required is what Seamus Mallon calls a new politics. At the heart of that new politics must be a determination to work in a new way for the wider good. All of us have constituencies to represent, but we must find new ways to balance that requirement with the needs of the wider society. That, I would suggest, is what partnership means. That, I would suggest, is what partnership is all about. It also shows how trust and reconciliation are built. If the new politics is to work on the island of Ireland, we must seek to develop, on the basis of mutual respect, new ways of listening to each other; new ways of talking to each other; new ways of understanding each other; and, critically, new ways of working together. We are bringing this century to a close. The existence of this great Organization of States devoted to peace reflects the turbulence of the decade. Great progress has been made, but a great price has also been paid. Each of us in our own way has had to grapple with the instinct to war and division. The experience of Ireland echoes the experiences of so many other States. We realized our desire for independence in the wake of the Great War. Our birth as a State was darkened by the horrors of civil war. We in the South of the island overcame our divisions, channelled our differences into peaceful politics and have significantly prospered. In the North, divisions and fears were not challenged. They festered and brought us almost three decades of violence. The peace process allowed us to challenge and resolve the fears and divisions generating the conflict. The Agreement is a watershed, a harbinger of the new era that coincides with the millennium. It is a great, historic rapprochement between nationalism and unionism. All the participants in the negotiations together have achieved a great thing. But it is vital that we say to one another, as I am now again saying to the unionist community, that we recognize that a new era has dawned, in which all the old shibboleths and the old rhetoric must be replaced by a new dialogue, by a new partnership. It is precisely in this spirit of the new politics that we must approach the inevitable difficulties that will arise from time to time, including at present those relating to the establishment of the “shadow” executive in Northern Ireland and to decommissioning. It is in the interests of all of us who support the Agreement that we resolve the difficulties to the satisfaction of all concerned. If one side “wins”, everybody loses. That was the approach that secured the Good Friday Agreement. If one side “wins”, everybody loses. I should like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the role of the international community in bringing about the Good Friday Agreement, in particular that of the independent chairman, former Senator George Mitchell of the United States of America, former Prime Minister Harri Holkeri of Finland and General John de Chastelain of Canada. Their contribution was immense, and General de Chastelain?s contribution continues to be. The support and solidarity, through the process of our partners in this Assembly, and, in particular, of our partners in the European Union — the President of the Commission and the Presidencies of the European Union — have been unparalleled in their contribution, as were the warm and encouraging words of the Secretary-General of this Organization. We deeply appreciate it. I want in particular to record our very special gratitude to the President of the United States, Mr. Bill Clinton, for his personal commitment to the cause of peace in Ireland and for the exceptional solidarity with the peace process he has displayed at all times throughout his presidency. He took the opportunity, when he addressed this Assembly last Monday, to mention Northern Ireland and Ireland on three or four or five occasions. I think that was an indication of the type of commitment he has and will continue to have in the Northern Ireland peace process. Finally, I would like to underline the central and crucial roles played by my own Taoiseach, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, and by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the closing days of the negotiations. Their particular role was historic and, in my respectful view, heroic. 40 I want to say that, in the spirit of the Charter of this Organization, we are ready to reciprocate the solidarity of the international community by way of sharing the lessons of our experience with others, should that be considered helpful. It would be a source of immense additional satisfaction to Ireland, as a committed Member of the United Nations, if the Good Friday Agreement were to be helpful to conflict resolution elsewhere. Finally, and important though international solidarity may be, the reality is that for us in Ireland, as elsewhere, the primary responsibility rests with ourselves. May I recall here the words of a well-known author which have inspired very many: “Mankind must remember that peace is not God?s gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.” With the Good Friday Agreement, we in Ireland have enjoyed the gift of peace. We do so in the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations. The challenge now is to ensure that it is passed to our children and to our children?s children. I know that the members of this Assembly will be with us as we address and take up that particular challenge.