Written Answers. - UN Resolutions.
Pat Rabbitte
Question:
21
Mr. Rabbitte
asked the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
the steps, if any, being taken to promote the implementation of the recent Irish sponsored resolution passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations calling for a nuclear weapon free world; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[27546/98]
Jim Higgins
Question:
73
Mr. Higgins (Mayo)
asked the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
the progress, if any, he has made in his efforts to reduce nuclear arsenals and weapons proliferation.
[27753/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 73 together.
As the House will be aware the resolution, Towards a Nuclear Weapon Free World: The Need for a New Agenda, was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on Friday, 4 December with 114 votes in favour, 38 abstentions and 18 negative votes.
This resolution was the first step in the follow up process to the Nuclear Disarmament Declaration of the same name which I launched on 9 June last year in Dublin as a joint initiative with my colleagues, the Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa and Sweden. I indicated at that time that it was my intention to table a resolution jointly with these same countries at the General Assembly. I met with my seven ministerial colleagues in New York in September to finalise the preparations for the tabling of the draft resolution.
The positive reaction of the international community expressed at the General Assembly confirms that the June declaration was a timely call for the re-invigoration of the nuclear disarmament agenda. The need for such an initiative was, as I have already informed the House on an earlier occasion, the failure of the international community, the nuclear weapon states in particular, to take advantage of the possibilities provided by the end of the Cold War to eliminate nuclear weapons for once and for all.
There can be no excuse for the retention of these horrific weapons. It cannot be excluded even after the Cold War that nuclear weapons, if retained in perpetuity, will be used either intentionally or by accident. The detonation of even one nuclear weapon would unleash the destruction of a thousand Chernobyls. The consequences of a larger nuclear exchange of even some of the more than 12,000 deployed weapons currently deployed does not bear thinking.
The first step in our initiative has been to call upon all states, in particular the nuclear weapon states, to act now with a view to the speedy eradication of their weapons. We are at a unique moment in history when co-operation between the nuclear weapon states provides an opening for such decisive action. Were we to miss this window of opportunity, successive generations would not forgive us.
In moving this initiative, I am deeply conscious of the international respect for Ireland and its role in the field of nuclear non-proliferation. I recall the tireless efforts of my predecessor, Frank Aiken, in bringing the Irish NPT resolution to the General Assembly and I am equally aware of the benefits for humanity of his initiative which led ultimately to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The NPT was designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to countries other than the five permanent members of the Security Council. It was premised on those same five nuclear weapon states eliminating their nuclear weapons, of which, sadly, there is little prospect at the moment.
In consequence, the NPT itself is in jeopardy, India and Pakistan having now demonstrated their intention to join the ranks of the nuclear weapons states. There is a risk that other states in that region, parties to the NPT, may now reconsider their NPT commitments. Equally, the nuclear capability of Israel represents a real threat to peace in the Middle East.
The international community has recognised the value of this Irish initiative by the overwhelming support it has given to our resolution. It is significant also that the non-nuclear weapons states of NATO abstained on the text in recognition of the value which they attach to the initiative.
It is my intention to sustain the momentum which we have set in motion at the next session of the General Assembly, at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, at the IAEA in Vienna and at the 2000 Review and Implementation Conference of the Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
