Ireland

Your election, Sir, as President of the Millennium Assembly is fitting recognition of your great dedication to international peace. Ireland is especially grateful for your outstanding contribution to the Good Friday agreement signed in Belfast in 1998. We are sure that the qualities that you displayed then will serve you well in guiding the work of this session. Our thanks are due also to Foreign Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab of Namibia, the wise and thoughtful President of the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. We are happy also to welcome Tuvalu as a new Member of the Organization. My colleague, Foreign Minister VÈdrine of France, has already addressed the Assembly on behalf of the European Union. Ireland is fully associated with his remarks. The Declaration adopted at the historic Millennium Summit sets out the principles, objectives and targets which should inspire the work of this session. Ireland is fully committed to these principles and objectives, and we are determined to work vigorously to achieve real results. Critics of the United Nations may doubt our ability to achieve such results; we are determined to prove them wrong. Such critics ignore the considerable achievements of the Organization in recent years. Major reform of all aspects of the Organization has resulted in a more efficient, streamlined operation. We will work with others to strengthen the United Nations in order to fulfil the commitment made in the Declaration to ensure a more effective instrument for pursuing the fight for peace and development and against poverty, ignorance and disease. The cause of peace transcends all other challenges. Whether in the Middle East, the Western Balkans, Africa or, indeed, in our own island of Ireland, determined efforts to build a secure and durable peace must be tirelessly pursued. Our own experience in Ireland has taught us that there is no greater prize, no more difficult task and no greater satisfaction than to begin to heal the wounds of history and the scars of intolerance. Our own efforts at building peace have convinced us that to be effective, such efforts require international support and validation. We have also learned that economic development goes hand in hand with building a society with hope in its own future and pledged to overcome the bitterness of the past. It is this experience which helps guide our approach to peace- building in the wider world. It is this experience of peace-building and development which we will bring to the deliberations of the Security Council if elected by the membership in the coming weeks. Security and development are indivisible and interrelated. Yet too often we in the international community stand aside as hapless witnesses, hesitating to become involved, while the innocent suffer. We need to strengthen the capacity and commitment of the Organization to fulfil its mandates. I therefore strongly welcome the exercise of its authority by the United Nations in East Timor last year and, more recently, in Sierra Leone. It is our duty as Governments to underpin that authority. We must address those issues which prolong conflict, even when root causes become blurred. Let me give two examples. First, the illicit flow of small arms and light weapons into areas of conflict must be stopped; and secondly, trafficking in high-value commodities, particularly the trade in so-called blood diamonds', which has exacerbated conflicts in Africa, must be prevented. Carefully targeted, time-limited sanctions will help to counter this menace. Enhancing the role of the United Nations in peacekeeping is a priority for this session. To broaden that role, we urge an integrated approach combining prevention, settlement and post-conflict peace- building. While the Security Council has a global remit to maintain international peace and security in every region of the world, it is right that it pay special attention at this time to the promotion of durable peace in Africa. We therefore welcome the declared intention of the Security Council at the Millennium Summit to ensure that it plays a more effective role in this urgent and necessary task. Peacekeeping is at the heart of Ireland's contribution to the United Nations. For more than 40 years we have participated continuously in United 21 Nations peacekeeping operations. Irish personnel have served under United Nations command in the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. We are proud of the contribution which our peacekeepers have made in so many areas of the world. At the same time, we deeply regret that 82 of our Irish soldiers have died in the service of the United Nations. Other Member States have also sustained losses, and I would like to express my deep regret at the brutal attack last week on United Nations personnel in West Timor as well as at the recent outrages in Sierra Leone. It is because of our own long, and at times frustrating, experience of peacekeeping that Ireland welcomes the publication of the Brahimi report. In the light of this experience, I will focus in particular on three aspects. First, the United Nations must have the resources and capacity to deliver well-planned and effective peace support operations. The Member States must give the Secretary-General and his staff the means to do the job. Secondly, if the United Nations is to save lives, it must be capable of deploying into conflict areas rapidly. This requires rapid decision-making. Thirdly, effective operations depend on well- trained peacekeepers. A more integrated approach must be taken to develop training and equipment of United Nations peacekeeping personnel. Ireland's own United Nations Training School has provided such training to over 170 officers from 40 countries, and we intend to enhance this role in cooperation with like-minded countries. To those ends, we will contribute actively in this Assembly to the urgent follow-up of the proposals that have been put forward. Progress in disarmament remains crucially important both to the maintenance of peace and to development. At the sixth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, very considerable efforts were made by all the States parties to ensure a successful outcome. That reflects the central role of the Treaty in the achievement of a world free of nuclear weapons. The outcome highlights the underlying premise of the Non- Proliferation Treaty: that these weapons do not provide assurances of peace and security. The threat to humanity posed by their continued existence will remain until we achieve an effective and global ban. There have been welcome and significant reductions by the nuclear-weapon States of their arsenals. But defence strategies based on nuclear weapons continue to include the possible use, even the first use, of those weapons. The Non-Proliferation Treaty is not a charter for the indefinite retention of nuclear weapons by any State. It represents a clear obligation to make nuclear disarmament a reality. At the Review Conference, the parties to the Non- Proliferation Treaty came closer in their common understanding of what is demanded by the Treaty. In that connection, the unequivocal commitment to the total elimination of their nuclear weapons made by the nuclear-weapon States is of fundamental significance. However, let us not lull ourselves into complacency because we have reached agreement on a programme of action. We now have an opportunity to begin the root-and-branch elimination of these weapons. Progress is primarily dependent on action by the five nuclear-weapon States. States which participate in security arrangements involving nuclear weapons have a particular responsibility to diminish the role of nuclear weapons in security policies. All States share a responsibility to advance negotiation on those measures needed to guarantee a world free of nuclear weapons. For our part, Ireland and our partners in the New Agenda Coalition are determined to work vigorously for the achievement of that goal. I referred earlier to the role of conventional arms in conflict situations. The ravages and suffering caused by small arms as well as by landmines are immense. We are, at least in the case of landmines, beginning to see positive results from the implementation of the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. The practical outcome has been the destruction of over 22 million mines by some 50 States; expenditure on mine clearance has more than doubled, and countless lives have been saved. Next year, the United Nations will focus on small arms with the first international conference specifically addressing that issue. We must set ambitious goals for the conference so that we may have a basis for making genuine inroads on the culture of violence fostered by the dissemination of those weapons. 22 Peace and development are essential to each other. Without peace, there can be no development. Without development, peace is hard to sustain. Without freedom from the threat of war, from human rights abuse and from famine, there can be no lasting human progress. The elimination of poverty and access to basic health care and education are crucial to sustainable development. Nonetheless, we witness today an unprecedented contrast between the prosperity of developed countries and the poverty of those that have been left behind. And yet, at the same time, we are witnessing an actual decline in the international community's development aid levels. Clearly, that trend must be reversed. It has long been an objective of Irish Governments to bring our development cooperation effort into line with our national economic growth and to meet the United Nations development cooperation target. Last week our Government took an important step forward by when our Taoiseach, our Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, speaking at the Millennium Summit, committed Ireland to meet the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product by the end of 2007, and to reach the level of 0.45 per cent by the end of 2002. This will clearly represent a significant increase in volume terms. Indeed, in meeting our targets, we anticipate a fourfold increase by Ireland in our aid over the next seven years. That will greatly increase our ability to make a real impact on the lives of some of the poorest people on earth. Our aid budget is both a test and a reflection of our commitment to the values and principles set out in the Millennium Summit Declaration. We shall not fail in this task we have set ourselves as a country: to be an example to all who could contribute more. As we enter the new millennium, we are faced with several development issues which require immediate attention. We must begin to address the question of debt relief in a more coherent manner. The most heavily indebted countries need a sound basis for the achievement of acceptable levels of growth free from grinding debt. We must recognize that the burden on those States is unsustainable in the face of the challenges of poverty alleviation and AIDS. Speed is essential in delivering results from the Enhanced Debt Initiative if it is to remain credible. In addition to a European Union contribution of almost $1 billion, Ireland has bilaterally contributed over $40 million in debt relief, although as a matter of principle we have never extended loans in the guise of development assistance. That is why our aid has always been in grant form, and why all of our development aid is also untied. Greater market access by the least developed countries must be a priority. With the early implementation of the European Union's commitment to grant duty-free and quota-free access to its market by the least developed countries by 2005, a major step in this direction will have been taken. One of the greatest challenges to development is HIV/AIDS. If the spread of AIDS is to be arrested, we need: strong political will in the leadership of the most affected countries; we need greater international resources; we need greater access to essential drugs at prices that are affordable; and we need more research funds for the development of vaccines. The fight against AIDS is now an integral part of all Irish development activities, with funding budgeted for both prevention and the search for vaccines. Respect for human rights is central to the maintenance of peace and the promotion of development. It underpins all the activities of the United Nations. Putting weapons in the hands of children and sending them into conflict undermines the most basic rights and the innocence of the child. That is a scandal which cannot be allowed to continue. Through the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts, which Ireland was among the first to sign, a start has been made in addressing this issue. But much more must be done. The establishment of an International Criminal Court offers a unique opportunity to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international law. Ireland is moving rapidly to ratify the Statute. The international criminal tribunals for former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda demonstrate how necessary it is to exercise international jurisdiction to end the culture of impunity where violations of basic human rights occur. Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance persist in all our societies. The 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance will provide an opportunity to create a vision for the fight against racism and all intolerance for the coming century. I pay tribute here to the United Nations High Commissioner 23 for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, TD, our Prime Minister, was pleased to be amongst the first to sign the declaration entitled: Tolerance and diversity: a vision for the twenty-first century', which was presented at the Millennium Summit. I believe that it will generate a positive approach to the World Conference. I know that our friends in the international community continue to follow developments in the peace process in Ireland with close interest. Indeed, the Governments of many Member States have played an important and concrete part in the successes we have achieved to date. I am particularly pleased therefore to be able to report that in the past year, in the face of many difficulties, we have made real progress towards the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The new political institutions are up and working well. In Northern Ireland there is an Executive on which all parts of the community nationalist, unionist and republican are represented as of right, and where Ministers are working constructively together to improve the quality of life for all the people. The North/South Ministerial Council, which brings together Ministers from both jurisdictions on the island, and the Implementation Bodies which it oversees, are developing new ways of working together, delivering tangible benefits in areas of mutual importance and interest. In the British-Irish Council, we are forging new relationships, including with the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales. We are firmly committed to ensuring that all other aspects of the Agreement are implemented in full. Policing reform is a vital part of the new dispensation we are striving to create in Northern Ireland. All sides of the community want to see an effective, accountable policing service to which they can give allegiance and which young people, whatever their background, can join. The Agreement promised a new beginning in this area, and the Patten Report set out how it can be achieved. It is now crucially important that the legislative proposals currently before Parliament at Westminster secure that outcome. The Agreement also contains extensive commitments in the area of human rights, and we are working to ensure that they are delivered. My Government has established an independent Human Rights Commission, with a mandate and remit that surpass the standards set in the Paris Principles. We are in the process of appointing its members. We look forward to the Commission working closely with its counterpart in the North for the protection and promotion of human rights throughout the island of Ireland. We also need to see continued progress towards security and justice arrangements appropriate to a society in which peace will become the norm, and to see the question of arms resolved for all time. To this end, we have made great strides forward in recent months. Our task in the peace process has always been more than the putting in place of a new set of institutions and arrangements, important though they undoubtedly are. We are endeavouring to create a new beginning for what has been a deeply divided society, a new beginning where the divisions of the past are overcome. The task which the Irish Government has set itself is to work with others in peace and partnership, and in a spirit of mutual tolerance and respect, building together a better future for all of the people of Ireland. This demands patience, persistence and perseverance. A great deal remains to be done. Far too many people continue to have their lives blighted by sectarianism and hatred. There are still those who prefer to foster division, retarding rather than advancing the cause of reconciliation. On both sides there are still small groups of dissidents prepared to use violence to bring down the Agreement and to frustrate the democratically expressed wishes of the people. They have nothing to offer, and they will not be allowed to succeed. In Northern Ireland many people have yet to experience the full benefits of change and the return of hope and normality to their lives. Some remain sceptical about the benefits of the Agreement. But, working together with the British Government and with the representatives of all sides of the community, we will continue to do all in our power to convince them that the Agreement represents not only a balanced and honourable accommodation, but also the only way forward. The international community has made an important contribution to our achievements to date. Without the support and encouragement of the international community, we could not have come so far. When we embarked on our journey towards peace, we knew that it would take a great deal of time and of 24 work to see the Agreement implemented in full. We remain firmly committed to the task and take heart from the substantial progress we have made and draw courage from the international community's continued support. In the course of my statement I have set out my Government's position on the key issues facing the United Nations. It is this approach and commitment that will inform our actions if we are elected to the Security Council. Ireland is standing for election after 20 years absence from the Council. We do so as a small State which has already made a significant contribution to the work of this Organization. Faithful to the principles and purposes of the Charter, we have faced and tried to overcome the legacies of strife and underdevelopment that have marked our own history. Membership of the Security Council will allow us to bring to the service of all the lessons of our own experience, as well as our full commitment to the United Nations.