Ireland, 2002

I congratulate the Mr. Jan

Kavan on his election as President of the fifty-seventh

session of the General Assembly. I look forward to

working closely with him as the Czech Republic, a

good friend of my country, moves ever closer to

membership in the European Union. Our thanks are due

to Mr. Han Seung-soo for his work as President of the

fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly. I am

delighted to welcome Switzerland as a new Member of

the Organization and look forward to the imminent

membership of East Timor, a nation whose birth was

fostered by this Organization.

Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark has

already addressed the General Assembly on behalf of

the European Union. Ireland associates itself fully with

his remarks.

We are all still haunted, a year later, by the

shadow of the terrible deaths and events of 11

September 2001. Last year in the delayed general

debate, I spoke about the implications of those

atrocities. I set out my thoughts on how we as the

international community should respond. My

conclusions last year and my message today are the

same.

The United Nations is at the centre of our system

of collective security. It is a mirror of our

determination and our political will. This is the world

body invested by the peoples of the world with unique

legitimacy and unique authority. Around the world

people look in hope and idealism to the United

Nations. We must be worthy of that trust.

I want to fully endorse the Secretary-General's

address to the Assembly yesterday. As the Secretary-

General said, All States have a clear interest, as well

as a clear responsibility, to uphold international law

and maintain international order' (see A/57/PV.2).

States must honour their international obligations.

Unless we consistently call to account those who defy

or flagrantly violate their obligations, our system will

be discredited.

The choice we face is stark. Either we stand by

and strengthen the international system and the rule of

law, or we invite anarchy. The great Irish poet W. B.

Yeats put it graphically in The Second Coming':

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world'.

That was what the perpetrators of 11 September

wanted. Their vicious attack was not just on the

innocent people of many nationalities, including my

own in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania;

not just on the United States; but on the very values we

cherish and that are the foundation on which this

Organization is built. They will have succeeded if we

are provoked into abandoning those values and laws.

Ultimately they can be defeated, and the scourge of

international terror ended, only if we stand united in

defence of our international obligations and the rule of

law.

Within our system, the Security Council is

charged with responsibility for the maintenance of

international peace and security. When there are threats

to international peace and security, the Member States

concerned are obliged to bring these matters to the

attention of the Security Council. When the Security

Council acts in such cases, all Member States are

obliged to implement its resolutions. Regrettably, they

sometimes fail to do so.

Any law that is flagrantly violated becomes

weakened over time. That is why flagrant violation and

defiance of Security Council resolutions should be a

matter of the utmost concern to all Member States.

The terrorist attacks of 11 September required an

urgent response from the international community. It

was vital that the Security Council was at the centre of

the international community's response. The Council,

to quote the Secretary-General, responded with

patience, creativity and determination'.

The Security Council adopted resolution 1368

(2001), demanding the fullest possible cooperation of

the international community in bringing the

perpetrators to justice. It subsequently authorized the

deployment of an international security force to

Afghanistan. It put in place measures to counter

international terrorism.

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The establishment by the Security Council of the

Counter-Terrorism Committee to oversee the

implementation of resolution 1373 (2001) was a

landmark development. Its work has been instrumental

in making it more difficult for international terrorist

networks to organize and finance their activities.

Continued persistence and vigilance are required.

We still have much more to do. We must make it

impossible for the agents of international terror to

operate. We must persevere with initiatives such as the

freezing of assets and the denial of safe haven. At the

same time, we must ensure that everything we do

respects the United Nations Charter and the body of

international human rights law we have so

painstakingly constructed. That is our best guarantee

against evil and its perpetrators.

In his address to the General Assembly yesterday,

the Secretary-General also correctly identified four

serious current threats to world peace.

First, on the Middle East, there can be no doubt

that there is a need for greater urgency in the efforts to

bring an end to the conflict. The vision of Security

Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 1397

(2002) must be implemented.

For far too long the Palestinian people have been

denied their legitimate rights. Today they exist in a

state of deep impoverishment. Ireland strongly believes

that in order to reach a settlement that will give the

Israeli people the security they deserve and that will

give the Palestinian people their legitimate rights and

sovereignty, the parties must move forward. They must

in particular address not just the security issues but

also the economic and humanitarian needs of

Palestinians, and they must establish a concrete target

for a political settlement.

For its part, the European Union, working closely

with the United Nations, the United States and Russia

through the quartet', will continue to encourage and

assist the parties to end the conflict and move towards

a permanent peace.

This conflict has been an ongoing source of

suffering for the peoples of the region and also a focal

point of instability for the rest of the world. It remains

a threat of the utmost gravity to international peace and

security. We can and must give it the highest priority.

Secondly, the Secretary-General mentioned Iraq.

Iraq has been in violation of Security Council

resolutions, in particular on arms inspection, for some

considerable time. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has

been engaged in serious efforts to encourage Iraq to

comply with its obligations under those Security

Council resolutions. We will continue to strongly

support his good offices.

Let us express wholehearted agreement with the

call by the Secretary-General for Iraq to comply with

its obligations for the sake of its own people and for

the sake of world order. If Iraq's defiance continues,

the Security Council must face its responsibilities.

We call on Iraq to respect its obligations and to

implement in full and without preconditions all the

Security Council resolutions addressed to it. The

weapons inspectors must be allowed in to do the work

authorized by the Council. Iraq's leadership has it

within its own power to end the current predicament

and to alleviate the great hardship on its people. It

should do so without delay.

Thirdly, it is essential for the international

community to maintain its strong and active support for

the people and the Government of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has come through great trials over the past

year. We should not overlook the fact that, despite the

best efforts of the international coalition to ensure that

the use of force was targeted and proportionate, many

innocent Afghans have died. We should remember

them, too, in our thoughts and prayers. Ultimately, they

are just as much victims of the terrorist groups who

carried out the attacks of 11 September as those who

were murdered in New York, Washington and

Pennsylvania.

Considerable progress has been achieved in

Afghanistan with the help of the international

community. There are clear signs that, overall, the

quality of life is improving. Nonetheless, there is still a

long way to go if Afghanistan is completely to escape

the violence and instability of the past.

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan

remains acute. The sustained and wholehearted support

of the international community remains essential,

therefore, if progress is to be maintained.

For its part, Ireland has been active in the

Security Council, particularly in highlighting the

humanitarian situation. We have pledged $12 million

over the next three years, the majority of which has

31

already been dispensed. We are also contributing

personnel to the international stabilization force.

Fourthly, as regards India and Pakistan, we

welcome the decrease in tension between these two

countries. The risk of open conflict between two

nuclear-capable countries is a matter of the utmost

concern to all of us. We encourage the leaders of India

and Pakistan to address the underlying causes that give

rise to the potential for conflict.

The proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction chemical, biological and nuclear is,

of course, an issue that goes far beyond Iraq. They

represent a major threat to international peace and

security. The international instruments and regimes to

control the spread, and bring about the elimination, of

such weapons must be strengthened and fully

implemented. Ultimately, the long-term control and

elimination of weapons of mass destruction can be

achieved only through a comprehensive and rigorous

system of international treaties and obligations that are

verifiable and universal.

Ireland, together with our New Agenda partners,

will continue its efforts in this regard during this year's

session of the General Assembly. We call on all States

that are concerned about these issues to become more

constructively engaged in the period ahead.

All of us recognize that conflict prevention, not

just conflict resolution, is the central challenge facing

the United Nations. Poverty, inequality and injustice

are all too often the breeding ground for instability and

for threats to peace. They are an affront to the

international conscience. We must tackle the injustices

that all too often allow conflict situations to develop.

Our challenge is to show that there is a peaceful

and legitimate way of dealing with these problems. It is

only through the development of integrated strategies

that address the underlying causes of conflict

poverty, injustice and the abuse of fundamental rights

and freedoms that the international community can

bring about long-term peace and stability.

The Millennium Summit Declaration confirmed

the commitment of the world's leadership to tackling

the root causes of conflict. The Secretary-General has

since called for the United Nations to move from a

culture of reaction to a culture of prevention. Ireland

fully supports the implementation of the Secretary-

General's report on conflict prevention (A/55/985).

The United Nations must be equipped with the

necessary tools to develop coherent conflict-prevention

policies. Let us commit ourselves to supporting the

Secretary-General in his ongoing reform initiatives. We

must revitalize the General Assembly so that it can

play its proper role. Let us re-engage on reform of the

Security Council so that it reflects modern geopolitical

realities. We need a Security Council which is as

representative as possible of the international

community, while being in a position to function

efficiently, and we must provide the United Nations

with sufficient resources to meet its responsibilities.

Sustainable development focused on poverty

eradication is the most powerful instrument which the

international community has to address the long-term

root causes of conflict and to promote peace. Let us

also remind ourselves of the international community's

long-standing commitment to meeting the United

Nations target of spending 0.7 per cent of gross

national product on overseas development assistance.

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development,

held in Johannesburg, my Prime Minister, Taoiseach

Bertie Ahern, confirmed Ireland's commitment to meet

that target by 2007.

Let us restate our commitment to providing

universal access to basic health care. We must be

relentless in the campaign to eliminate diseases such as

HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The spread of

those diseases threatens to undermine our development

programmes. We must step up our efforts to eradicate

them. We must aim for the targets set out in the

Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, adopted by

the General Assembly in June 2001. We must ensure

that the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis

and Malaria is adequately resourced.

The Johannesburg Summit agreed upon a global

comprehensive action plan for sustainable development

which will help guide our policies and programmes in

the coming years. The Summit Declaration's

commitment on sustainable development has the

potential to make an important contribution to conflict

prevention, particularly in Africa.

Effective conflict prevention is also about putting

necessary structures in place. The Brahimi report on

United Nations peace operations (A/55/305)

acknowledged the pressing need to establish both long-

term and short-term conflict prevention strategies. I

would like to reiterate Ireland's support for the

32

Secretary-General's initiatives and for the role that

United Nations peacekeeping has to play in an

integrated conflict prevention strategy.

Peacekeeping is at the heart of Ireland's

contribution to the United Nations. We are immensely

proud of the contribution which Irish personnel have

made to United Nations peacekeeping. We reserve a

special place in our hearts for those who have given

their lives in the service of the United Nations. This

was demonstrated once again in a moving ceremony

which was held to mark the standing down of the Irish

battalion from the United Nations Interim Force in

Lebanon after 24 years of service.

As a member of the European Union, Ireland

welcomes the deepening cooperation between the

European Union and the United Nations on conflict

prevention and peacekeeping. This will be given

further concrete expression when the European Union

takes over the United Nations police operation in

Bosnia and Herzegovina next January.

Respect for human rights is a core dimension in

conflict prevention. This is the very foundation on

which peace and security surely depend. Human rights

must be integrated into all United Nations activities.

The entry into force of the Rome Statute establishing

the International Criminal Court sends a clear signal of

determination to bring to justice those who perpetrate

genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. I

would urge those who have not ratified the Rome

Statute to do so. The international community is at its

strongest when it stands unified, bound together by the

strength of the rule of law.

I would like to take the opportunity presented by

this address to the General Assembly to pay tribute to

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, who has

just completed her term as United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights. We are deeply proud

of her achievements. We know that she will continue to

be a fearless champion of the universality of human

rights.

Turning to the situation in Northern Ireland, we

have seen substantial progress across the key areas of

implementation of the Good Friday Agreement since I

last addressed this Assembly. The political institutions

of the Agreement are operating on a positive and

inclusive basis, bringing tangible benefits across the

board. An independent international commission has

overseen two acts of arms decommissioning by the

Irish Republican Army. The Patten Commission

report's vision of a new beginning for policing in

Northern Ireland is being progressively realized. I call

on all to fully play their part in laying a foundation for

and strengthening the new policing arrangements.

Welcome progress has been made in normalizing

security arrangements on the ground. However, more

needs to be done, and we need to see further early

progress, especially in the South Armagh area.

The considerable record of achievement,

however, has not made us complacent about the

difficulties and challenges that remain. The level of

street violence in the interface areas of Belfast and the

sectarian attacks on vulnerable households, for

instance, have given us all cause for serious concern.

These have had a corrosive effect on community

confidence. They need to be addressed urgently in all

their dimensions, including through effective policing

measures leading to convictions.

The Irish and British Governments remain

absolutely committed to the Good Friday Agreement

and to its implementation in full. Its core principles

constitutional stability based on consent, partnership

politics, inclusive political institutions and structured

North-South cooperation on the island of Ireland

represent the only viable basis for a workable political

accommodation. In short, the Agreement, which has

been much praised and admired by States Members of

the Assembly, continues to be the only template for

political progress in Northern Ireland.

Before concluding, I would like to refer briefly to

Ireland's membership of the Security Council, which

comes to an end on 31 December 2002. Ireland's

experience as a member of the Council has strongly

reinforced our belief in the system of collective global

security. The central role of the Security Council in the

aftermath of 11 September 2001 underlined the

importance of its role as guardian of international

peace and security. It must now build on that

achievement. Ireland has, I believe, made a substantive

contribution to the work of the Council. We will seek

to continue to do so in the remaining months of our

term. Our mission in the United Nations is to

continually strive for a world that is fair and just. This

can best be done through our system of collective

security, through international economic and social

development and through respect for human rights and

international law. If we can commit ourselves to

respect the decisions of the Security Council and all

33

our other international obligations, then innocent lives

can be saved and seemingly interminable conflicts

resolved.

We have the methods and the means to peaceably

resolve the dangers that threaten us. It should not be

beyond our talent and resources to achieve this. But to

do so, we need to assert the core values of

multilateralism in particular, and its capacity to

achieve, for all our people, a better and safer world.