Ireland, 2001

I congratulate the President

on his election as President of the fifty-sixth session of

the General Assembly and thank him for his successful

efforts to take forward the work of this Assembly. My

colleague, Foreign Minister Louis Michel of Belgium,

has already addressed this General Assembly on behalf

of the European Union. Ireland associates itself fully

with his remarks.

We meet at a moment of uncertainty. The spectre

of war once again casts its shadow across the

continents. Forty years ago, when addressing the

Assembly, President John F. Kennedy warned:

Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an

end to mankind. Of course, President Kennedy was

addressing a different world from the one we now live

in. The war he feared was a war between two great

power blocs that would end in assured mutual

annihilation.

Thankfully, the threat of conflict on such a scale

is now a far more remote prospect, but war and conflict

continue to cause enormous suffering in many parts of

the world. This, together with the proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction nuclear, chemical and

biological means that war and its mutation,

terrorism, continue to threaten mankind our lives,

our liberty and our prosperity.

This is simply not acceptable. We, the peoples of

the United Nations, created, joined and sustained this

Organization in the determination to save this and

succeeding generations from the scourge of war. We

must now demonstrate renewed and sustained

commitment to the realization of this goal.

Many speakers in this debate have spoken about

the events of 11 September as a defining moment in

history. During the twentieth century, we faced a

number of such defining moments the First World

War, the Second World War and the fall of the Berlin

Wall, which heralded the end of the cold war. These

defining moments are perhaps best reflected in the

popular phrase found on the lips of men and women of

all races and creeds at such times: Things will never

be the same again. Out of such defining moments

there comes the resolve to learn the lessons of history,

to change the existing order and to make sure the

calamities of the past can never happen again.

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In the heat and clarity of the immediate aftermath

of such events, expressions of resolve are abundant.

And yet, from the examples I have just outlined, it is

clear that in the past our resolve has faltered as the

immediate threat receded and that the determination

required to tackle the underlying causes and injustices

that give rise to conflict has proved difficult to sustain.

Today the international community is again at a

crossroads. If we want a true and lasting victory over

international terrorism; if we want safety, security and

prosperity for our own people and our children, then

we must act with sustained resolve and sustained

determination.

Our immediate agenda is clear. Action against

terrorism must be pursued resolutely across a wide

front and over a sustained period. In undertaking this

necessary endeavour, let us be honest and realistic.

With retributive justice must come distributive justice.

The peace and security which we crave for ourselves

and for future generations will not be secured unless

we simultaneously tackle the root causes of conflict:

injustice, poverty and the abuse of fundamental rights

and freedoms.

Too often, multilateral action has been

characterized as reaction to the outcomes of conflict.

Last year's Millennium Declaration confirmed the

public commitment of the world's leadership to

resolving also the root causes of conflict. The United

Nations was created out of the determination to tackle

conflict and its causes. On that basis, let us this week

recommit and rededicate ourselves to the achievement

of the goals and objectives of the United Nations. As

the Secretary-General pointed out when opening this

general debate, none of the issues that faced us on 10

September has become less urgent.

We must act more resolutely through the United

Nations, with sustained commitment and sustained

determination, to address this equally urgent agenda.

We must implement with determination all Security

Council resolutions. Let us realize and build on the

pledges we made at the Millennium Summit. Let us

strive much more effectively to control the spread of

weapons of mass destruction. Let us also improve the

working of this Organization by making it more

efficient, adaptable and coordinated. In the words of

the Secretary-General this week, let us ensure that

when the United Nations acts, only the best is good

enough. Only in this way will the United Nations and

its Member States succeed in overcoming the massive

challenges which now confront us.

In addressing this comprehensive agenda, we

must not relax our efforts on human rights. This

Organization was founded out of a determination to

assert human rights, the dignity and worth of the

human person and the equal rights of men and women.

We must not equivocate on any of these principles. In

pursuit of this, Ireland looks forward to the imminent

establishment of the International Criminal Court and

appeals for its universal recognition.

Violent conflict and internal strife are the reality

of daily life in many regions and countries across the

world today the Middle East, the Great Lakes region

of Africa and many other places, such as Sudan, where

people are being killed and maimed. Ireland has

worked hard since joining the Security Council last

January to focus on the need to address these and other

conflicts. We have given particular attention to Africa

and to the efforts, frequently African-led, to solve the

many conflicts there. We have consistently sought to

highlight the humanitarian aspects of the various

situations coming before the Council. We were

particularly gratified during our presidency of the

Security Council last month to have presided over

substantial discussions on Somalia and on the United

Nations support for post-independence East Timor.

We remain concerned about the humanitarian

situation of the people of Iraq. The Iraqi Government

can and must do more within the system set out in the

Security Council resolutions to meet the humanitarian

needs of its own people. For its part, the Security

Council and its members must redouble their efforts to

reach agreement on the outcome of its review of the

sanctions regime. But we must not lose sight of the

fundamental purpose of the sanctions regime: Iraq must

allow verification that it has met its essential

disarmament obligations.

The Irish Government is grateful to those

Member States that supported Ireland's membership in

the Security Council. We will continue to strive to

vindicate the confidence that you placed in us.

The United Nations role in peacekeeping has

been at the heart of our collective endeavours now for

over 50 years. Ireland has played a proud part in

United Nations peacekeeping across the continents.

This evening, I want to take a moment to thank the

Irish soldiers who have served with such distinction

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and dedication in Lebanon for the last 23 years. The

last Irish battalion leaves the United Nations Interim

Force in Lebanon tomorrow. The people of Ireland are

proud of their service and achievements in the cause of

peace. I want to pay special tribute to the memory of

those soldiers who lost their lives in the service of

peace.

Ireland's commitment to United Nations

peacekeeping remains undiminished. We continue to

participate in about a dozen missions. A new

contingent of our troops will soon begin service with

the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

We must equally give priority to achieving

sustainable development and meeting the humanitarian

challenges that confront us. The United Nations

Population Fund's 2001 The State of World Population

report, published last week, reminds us that half of the

world's 6.1 billion people still exist on less than $2 per

day and forecasts that the world population will rise by

50 per cent, to 9.3 billion, by the year 2050. Is it

acceptable that over 3 billion people are today living in

total and abject poverty, while the developed world is

struggling to come to terms with the problems of over-

consumption and environmental pollution? Are we

prepared to accept that there could be over 6 billion

people living in poverty by 2050?

Let us see every Government set out its

commitment to reach the target of 0.7 per cent of gross

national product for development assistance within the

next five years. Ireland has already made it clear that it

will deliver on its commitment in this regard and will

increase its overseas development aid budget by over

$100 million next year to keep on track towards this

target. Let us reassess the sustainable debt levels and

provide additional relief to the heavily indebted poor

countries of sub-Saharan Africa, which will suffer the

most in the present economic downturn.

Let us redouble our efforts to overcome an

HIV/AIDS pandemic which is killing over 6.5

thousand people every day in Africa and which has

already orphaned over 9 million children on that

continent. The Declaration of Commitment agreed at

the General Assembly special session in June has

established the framework and the targets. It now has

to be financed and implemented.

Let us work harder together to prevent climate

change from devastating poor and vulnerable countries.

We have achieved much already. This is

recognized by the awarding of this year's Nobel Peace

Prize jointly to our Organization and to our esteemed

Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. I offer my warmest

congratulations and appreciation to Kofi Annan, and to

all who serve the United Nations. But the Secretary-

General would be the first to emphasize that the award

of the Nobel Peace Prize must be seen not only as a

recognition of past achievement, but as an inspiration

to renewed commitment and determination.

The terrible events of 11 September, which struck

most fiercely at the city of New York seat of the

United Nations and melting pot of all races and

creeds brought home to us all that the collective

security of the international community is only as

strong as its weakest link. As long as a single

Government or, in the case of the Taliban, a single de

facto administration, is prepared to allow its territory to

be used as a base for terrorist attacks against people

anywhere on this planet, we can never feel secure.

We must confront and defeat the scourge of

international terrorism and bring those responsible for

the barbaric acts of 11 September to justice, not out of

a need for revenge, but because the perpetrators of

these acts are capable of repeating such attacks and

make no secret of their determination to do so. They

can and must be stopped.

Ireland's position has been steadfast and clear: we

stand with the United States and with the rest of the

international community in asserting that the barbarism

of 11 September cannot be allowed to succeed; that the

threat posed by international terrorism must be

permanently ended; and that there must be a total

commitment by all Governments to this task, with all

the energy and resources at our disposal.

My Government hopes that the military campaign

now under way will achieve its objectives in as short a

time frame as possible. Every effort must continue to

be made to avoid civilian casualties, and it is crucial

that the military campaign be accompanied by a visible

and effective humanitarian strategy. The long-suffering

people of Afghanistan deserve no less. There must also

be a concerted international effort, coordinated by the

United Nations, to assist the people of Afghanistan in

establishing a broad-based Government, representative

of all the ethnic groups which make up the country.

This must be accompanied by a comprehensive and

generous programme of support for the post-military

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rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan. The

international community must stay engaged once a

representative Government is established there.

In Ireland, we continue to make steady progress

with our own peace process. As representatives will be

aware, the British and Irish Governments and the

political parties in Northern Ireland successfully

negotiated a comprehensive peace settlement over three

years ago, known as the Good Friday Agreement. Since

then, we have worked hard to secure the full

implementation of this Agreement.

Two of the most difficult and sensitive issues we

have had to face were the putting of paramilitary

weapons beyond use and the putting in place of a new

beginning to policing. I am very pleased to be able to

inform the Assembly that very considerable progress

has recently been made on both these crucial issues. As

a result, the way is now clear for a sustained,

committed and enthusiastic implementation of all

elements of the Good Friday Agreement.

We have learned a lot from our own voyage

towards peace. We have put in place new constitutional

and institutional arrangements, which fully recognize

and respect the legitimacy of both political traditions

on the island of Ireland. We have established the

primacy and full relevance of politics in people's lives

in Northern Ireland. We do not pretend, of course, that

we have found a solution that has universal

application we know too well how local and

individual conflicts can be. But through our own

process of trial and error we have learned lessons and

established principles that may be useful in resolving

conflicts in other parts of the world. From our own

experience of peace-building, we enumerate the most

important elements of any truly sustainable peace

process as follows.

There can be no purely military solution. A

lasting settlement must always address the root causes

of conflict. Compromise is essential. Recognizing that

extremism breeds in the absence of reason, conflict

resolution demands that we rehabilitate the concept of

compromise. In the context of effective political

dialogue and the peaceful resolution of disputes,

peacemakers should not regard compromise as

representing appeasement or surrender, victory or

defeat. Neither does compromise necessarily require

splitting the difference between the parties. A lasting

agreement must be comprehensive and address all

issues of concern, even if the parties might agree to

deal with them in different time frames.

Those in favour of peace in each community must

work together, even in the face of hostility from the

enemies of the peace process in their own community.

They must stick together in adversity. They must avoid

excessive and damaging criticism when mistakes are

made, as they inevitably will be. They must be

prepared to face down the enemies of peace together.

The international community must support the

peace process in a balanced and objective way. A

successful process needs a route map, such as those

already prepared by Mitchell and Tenet in the context

of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also needs a

mechanism to arbitrate on who is meeting, and who is

not meeting, their commitments under any such

arrangements.

Those driving the peace process must rise above

the politics of the last atrocity. Not doing so, while

understandable in terms of domestic opinion, is

ultimately bereft of vision and hands control over

progress to the enemies of the process. There is a

particularly compelling message here for those charged

with advancing the peace process in the Middle East. If

these elements are present, we believe a peace process

can prosper.

As I have already said, there is no one size fits

all solution to conflict. I believe, however, that if

these principles were to be applied in certain other

conflict situations, they could make a significant

contribution to the achievement of peace and political

progress.

The world we seek cannot be brought about

overnight. Building peace, ensuring justice, widening

respect for fundamental human rights and eliminating

poverty will take time. We will require stamina,

determination, inspiration, patience, generosity and

compromise. We have all these qualities in abundance

if only we can find the political will to use them and

the determination, together, to seek new ways forward.