Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Mar 1999

Vol. 502 No. 6

Written Answers. - Nuclear Disarmament Initiative.

Pat Rabbitte

Question:

61 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress made with regard to promotion and implementation of the nuclear disarmament declaration made by Ireland and seven other countries in June 1998; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8923/99]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Andrews)

When I launched the new agenda declaration in Dublin on 9 June last year, I stated that it was my intention to pursue this initiative in the context of the General Assembly of the United Nations and at other fora as appropriate.

In September the eight Foreign Ministers of the new agenda group met in New York and launched a draft resolution at the General Assembly with a view to securing the support of the wider international community for the objectives which the new agenda group had set. This draft resolution became the centrepiece of the disarmament deliberations in the General Assembly and the new agenda countries worked tirelessly to bring the international community to endorse the new direction which we had advanced and to act on foot of our recommendations.

The General Assembly adopted our draft resolution by 114 votes in favour, with 38 abstentions and 18 negative votes. This was an outstanding result for a resolution which aimed to set aside the impasse in nuclear disarmament and the drift towards acceptance of the indefinite retention of nuclear weapons by the nuclear weapon states. It was in particular significant that the non-nuclear weapon states members of NATO decided not to oppose our resolution, recognizing that our approach represented a realistic way forward in nuclear disarmament.

Much remains to be done, however, to achieve the objectives set out in the new agenda. One area where we are focusing attention is the preparation of the non-proliferation treaty review conference scheduled for next year. This will be a singularly important gathering of the states parties. All the parties to the treaty, both nuclear weapons and non-nuclear weapon states alike, are committed under Article VI to the elimination of nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament. In the framework of these legally binding commitments it is our intention to urge the nuclear weapon states to commit themselves unequivocally to pursue those steps required by them to realize the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

We will return to the United Nations General Assembly later this year with a draft resolution and with a view to securing an even greater number of endorsements.