I move:
That Dáil Éireann,
— recalling the proclamation by the United Nations of 1986 as the International Year of Peace
— recalling that the purposes of the United Nations include the maintenance of international peace and security, the development of friendly relations among peoples, and the achievement of international co-operation in solving international problems
— believing that it is the duty of all States to work for the achievement of these purposes and to support the efforts of the United Nations to attain these ends
— being conscious of the pressing need for the achievement of lasting peace and reconciliation on this island
(1) Expresses the fervent hope that all Governments can overcome the major obstacles to peace by halting the nuclear arms race and pursuing the goal of general and complete disarmament, by ensuring respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and by promoting economic and social development for all;
(2) Further hopes that all Governments will work actively to promote peace with justice and freedom;
(3) Calls in this year for real progress in accommodating the rights and identities of the two traditions which exist in Northern Ireland and in the promotion of lasting peace and stability throughout Ireland.
It is my privilege to recommend this resolution to the House. While the United Nations select a different theme for each International Year, I am especially happy to be associated with one which expressly celebrates the ideal of peace.
The specific purpose in establishing this year of peace has been to stimulate concerted and effective action not only by the United Nations and the governments of its member states, but also by non-governmental organisations, educational and academic institutions and the media in focusing attention and encouraging reflection on the basic requirement of peace in the contemporary world. The fact that this resolution is before Dáil Éireann provides an opportunity for us, the members of the Government and Opposition parties, to express our endorsement of the ideals set forth therein. By addressing the issue of peace and, specifically, our role in its attainment, we would hope to encourage widespread interest throughout the country in what is involved in the promotion of peace.
The promotion of international peace has been a central element in Ireland's foreign policy since the founding of the State. Since joining the United Nations, in particular, Ireland has established a clear and unequivocal identity as a tireless proponent of nuclear disarmament, especially through the initiation and continuous promotion of the goals set out in the Non-Proliferation Treaty for a world free of nuclear weapons. There is quite evidently a consensus in Ireland among all sections of the community on the need for action to achieve peace and stability both at an international and a national level. This is borne out by the manner in which we speak out against social and racial injustice, the denial of human rights and the acceleration of the arms race, especially the nuclear arms race. The year of peace is also a particularly appropriate opportunity to evaluate our efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in Ireland and the possible way forward in that endeavour.
Clearly, we can describe peace in its narrowest sense as the absence of war. Unhappily in many parts of the world not even that minimal condition applies. In others there is more happily an absence of armed conflict but, despite this, as we look at the array of nuclear weapons deployed today, we have to admit that the peace which prevails is a very fragile structure. This peace must at all costs be preserved and given an even firmer foundation. To that end, peace must be defined in a broader sense as the flourishing of conditions which promote genuine human development. The attainment of this kind of peace calls for ways and means of establishing genuine and lasting security by enlarging human understanding, by the promotion of friendly relations between nations, and by advancing the causes of arms control and disarmament. In this connection we bear in mind that the theme of the year of peace is to safeguard peace and the future of humanity.
As I have indicated, a major focus of our attention during this year of peace should be the process of peace and reconciliation on this island. The tragedy of the past 15 years of unrest in Northern Ireland is a clear demonstration of the scars which violence and terror leave on the expectations of people for the fulfilment of their human potential in conditions of normality. Injustice has fed violence in the North for too long and alienation has provided the lifesupport for paramilitary and terrorist activity. I believe the amelioration of the conditions of hardship and injustice suffered by the Nationalist community will go some way towards creating political stability. Only within the context of peace and stability can violence and terrorism be eliminated. It is with this perspective in mind that we should reflect in this year of peace on the endeavours of the Government through the Anglo-Irish Agreement to lay the foundations for conditions in which all sections of the community in Northern Ireland, Nationalists and Unionists alike, can build towards the realisation of their potential for social, economic and cultural development.
I would also like to direct the attention of the House to other areas of the world where tension and strife have become the order of the day. We earnestly hope that those drawn into these conflicts will find some measure of relief in 1986.
The continuing conflicts in the Middle East region remain of concern. As we are all too aware, violent incidents continue to undermine progress towards peace and deflect attention from the efforts to find a settlement. We join our hopes with those who are affected by the war between Iran and Iraq and by adverse developments in Lebanon that they will see progress towards resolving those conflicts during 1986. We hope that the efforts of the Secretary-General of the UN and of the Security Council can bring nearer a negotiated settlement of the Iran-Iraq war, which has now entered its sixth year.
We applaud all efforts directed at ensuring an end to civil strife in Lebanon. Ireland has shown its commitment to facilitating the quest for a solution to the problems of the Lebanon by contributing troops to the UNIFIL forces serving there. Indeed, it is appropriate at a time when Irish troops are serving with distinction not only in Lebanon but also in Cyprus and as observers in various other centres in the Middle East to recall that Ireland, in the more than 30 years of its membership of the United Nations, has participated in almost every major peacekeeping and observer mission established in that period. In doing so we have given tangible proof of our commitment to the provisions enshrined in the Charter and to the principles which we wish to highlight in this International Year of Peace.
Sadly the continuation of the apartheid regime in South Africa affects the possibility of human development of all the citizens of that country. Ireland is a resolute opponent of apartheid, a system of institutionalised racial discrimination. Irish foreign policy has worked consistently towards the abolition of the iniquitous system of apartheid by peaceful means and towards the emergence in its place of a democratic and multi-racial society. We have striven at the UN and elsewhere for the adoption internationally of measures which would promote this and thus contribute to progress towards peace in that country.
Elsewhere in the world, we must not forget the continuing conflicts in Afghanistan and in Kampuchea involving the presence of foreign forces. These are constantly open sores on the Asian continent. The Central American isthmus remains deeply troubled by the interrelated problems of the region which include political instability, economic deprivation and widescale abuses of human rights. Other parts of that subcontinent too are troubled by these problems. Let us earnestly hope that the year of peace will see some advance towards a solution of the problems afflicting those troubled parts of the world.
Peace and development are inextricably linked. Just as freedom from violence is a prerequisite for development, it is also true that only through realisation of social and economic needs can stable and secure conditions for peace be established and maintained. A degree of economic prosperity is for all States an indispensable factor in their ability to uphold stability and security. Freedom from hunger, disease and illiteracy are basic to stability and peace.
The inability of the countries of the Third World to tackle their development needs has greatly hindered their achievement of this freedom. The growing interdependence of all countries requires a joint approach to the further development of both the industrialised and developing countries. There is a shared responsibility towards the relief of poverty and oppression and the resolution of conflict wherever they occur, for none of us, North or South, can escape the consequences of poverty, oppression and conflict.
An important inhibition to the attainment of development goals today is excessive military expenditure in pursuit of the false security of armed strength. This excessive expenditure affects security itself through the ensuing diversion of resources away from development and hence away from the stable, social and economic conditions that are so necessary a base for peace and security.
Conversely, the social and economic goals of all societies would be served by the search for conditions of collective security not dependent on the acquisition of ever more sophisticated and destabilising weaponry. The convening of the UN Conference on Disarmament and Development later this year will provide a timely opportunity to examine in depth the many dimensions of this complex relationship.
The creation of conditions in which peace can flourish requires that the rights and freedoms which we in this part of the world take for granted should be available on a worldwide basis. It is only when all States seriously begin to live up to their obligations in the field of human rights that we can look forward to the establishment of genuine and lasting stability.
However, the continued existence of situations in which human rights are violated in so many parts of the world should not blind us to the very real advances which have been made in the area of human rights. The adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights marked a turning point in the establishment of standards to which all pledged respect, even if in many cases performance falls short of commitment.
I should mention that this year we began our second term as a member of the Commission on Human Rights. Through our membership of the commission we are involved in the elaboration of international human rights instruments but also play our part in the process, always difficult and at times pursued to best advantage out of the glare of publicity, of examining and reporting on allegations of abuses of human rights in individual countries.
In carrying out this task we are motivated solely by a desire to secure observance of the rights and freedoms which are the entitlement of all human beings, and pursue these efforts in the belief that, in the words of the Universal Declaration:
the recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
The UN General Assembly has invited all States, all organisations within the UN system and interested non-governmental organisations to co-operate with the Secretary-General in achieving the objectives of the year. For their part, my Department are finalising the details of a programme of activities to mark the International Year of Peace. These activities focus on the promotion of peace and reconciliation in Ireland as well as on the wider international peace issues of disarmament, economic and social development and respect for human rights. This month's issue of the departmental newsletter Ireland Today has been devoted to different aspects of Ireland's contribution to the search for peace.
In addition to the activities promoted by my Department, An Post will issue two commemorative postage stamps to mark the year. I understand that the Department of Education is also considering certain activities in connection with the year.
I am aware that many concerned non-governmental bodies also intend to make their own contributions to the search for peace during the year and I wish them every success with their activities.
In conclusion I should like to allude to the remarks made by the UN Secretary-General in proclaiming the International Year of Peace on 1 January 1986. He recalled that the United Nations itself "was created to preserve peace and that for 40 years, it has worked to ease and resolve the problems which afflict this planet". He went on to exhort the members of the UN organisation "to act on behalf of the future well-being of all nations with the vision and forebearance that peace requires". I believe it is incumbent on all of us now to seize the opportunities of 1986 with determination, confident that we can take important steps towards the enduring peace on which a much better tomorrow depends.