asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reasons Ireland did not vote in favour of a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly on 4 December last dealing with Nicaragua, which called on all states to respect the purposes and principles of the Contadora initiative and criticised the trade embargo; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - UN General Assembly Resolution.
17.
In reply to the Deputy's question concerning the Irish position on the UN General Assembly resolution on 17 December last on the trade embargo against Nicaragua, I can say that Ireland abstained in the vote as it is the Government's view that the difficult and complex problems of the region can only be resolved by a political agreement emanating from the region itself, hopefully in the framework of the so-called Contadora process. The Government would hope that all states would refrain from actions of any kind against any state in the region which might impede this peace process. In this context, the adoption of polemical attitudes directed at one of the states involved in the region can, in my view, only make the quest for an overall solution more difficult.