Ireland, 2000

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

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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.

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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.