Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 October 2020
98. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of work undertaken by his Department in the advancement of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agenda as Ireland approaches the beginning of its UN Security Council term. [28225/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraFollowing on from Deputy Calleary, we will be sitting on the Security Council for the next two years. It is likely to be dominated by the events of the day, as it always is. It is important that we do not lose sight of our traditional responsibility that we have always held in the United Nations to lead on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. I would like to hear from the Minister on that particular point.
The advancement of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation goals is a signature foreign policy for Ireland. It will continue to be important throughout our membership on the UN Security Council. My Department will engage constructively on efforts to combat nuclear proliferation with a strong focus on situations on the Security Council agenda, namely Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, DPRK.
Ireland, like our EU partners, takes the view that the joint comprehensive plan of action, JCPoA, endorsed by Security Council Resolution 2231, is a major achievement of multilateral diplomacy and an important contribution to nuclear non-proliferation. Ireland remains strongly committed to the JCPoA and supports all efforts to safeguard it, as it offers the best mechanism for dialogue with Iran, and to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It has significant provisions in terms of inspections and transparency.
The continuation of the DPRK’s nuclear and missile activities breaches numerous Security Council resolutions, represents a serious threat to international peace and security and undermines the global non-proliferation and disarmament regime. Ireland continues to call on the DPRK to make progress on complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation. Ireland is fully aligned with the EU policy of critical engagement with the DPRK, supporting efforts at dialogue, while fully implementing sanctions until progress on complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation is made.
As a Security Council member, Ireland will also contribute to the work of the Committee on Security Council Resolution 1540, which addresses proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, as well as their means of delivery, to non-state actors.
Ireland’s term on the Council will coincide with the rescheduled tenth review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In furtherance of our nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation priorities, Ireland ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 6 August 2020, marking the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.
Often these issues around disarmament and non-proliferation come to the fore when individual state actors are concerned but it is the bedrock of the treaties that underlie all our efforts in this area which is more important because they establish that consensus in international law by which we can approach any country or any entity that might be acting against that very strong norm that has been built in the international system for so many years now.
After I tabled this question, Deputy Duncan Smith from the Labour Party suggested that we have speaking time in the Dáil about disarmament and non-proliferation, given our strong history in that area and the fact that we will go onto the Security Council next year. He will submit a request so we can have a fuller conversation about it.
It is 50 years since the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT, came into force. It came into force as a result of the resolution that came from the Irish Government in the early 1960s about the non-dissemination of nuclear weapons and leading to the NPT, which we were the first country to sign in 1968. We have good bona fides in this area. It is important that during the next two years, we return to those treaties, including the NPT, which we ratified, as the Minister said, on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, but let us not forget the old treaties as well, which have not entered into force, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, CTBT, for example, on nuclear weapon testing.
The Deputy is dead right on this issue. Many Irish people have no idea of the contribution this little country has made in the UN in this area. We have real credibility in this space. I have seen that in New York when Ireland has been a country that is in many ways like a magnet for others in terms of consulting with on non-proliferation and disarmament issues. I would welcome an opportunity in this House to remind people of the role we have played since the 1960s in this space and the continuing relevance and opportunity for Ireland to give leadership in this area.
The problem is it is quite a technical area when one starts talking about the detail of non-proliferation treaties or about work, which Ireland is very much involved in now, around international law on the use of explosives in built-up areas. These are really interesting and important areas where Ireland is making a contribution and it would be good to have a fuller debate on it in this House.
I thank the Minister for welcoming that. As he knows, I used to work in this area before I came into politics and it is full of acronyms and technical terms that can sometimes confuse people as to what the intent is behind what a country is trying to do with a treaty but this work is very important, as are the non-governmental organisations, NGOs, which work in this area. This country has a good history of supporting NGOs and other international state bodies and of doing research, doing work with civil society and bringing countries’ populations along when sometimes their governments have not stepped up to the plate yet in issues such as smaller arms and light weapons or cluster munitions or land mines.
There is work that we can do in that area and there is also a great opportunity to educate Irish people on our history here, particularly young people. As we move further and further away from events like Hiroshima, people and generations forget and the risk that these weapons might be used again increases.
I agree with that and let us see if we can facilitate that debate because it would be an interesting discussion for many people. One of the reasons that I referred to both Iran and North Korea in my response is that they are very much active and divisive files. North Korea is less divisive on the Security Council but Iran is divisive because the European Union and the US have taken very different lines on it. That Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, issue is likely to be something that Ireland will be involved in during our membership of the Security Council in terms of potential for allocation of responsibility in certain areas where countries are asked to give leadership on certain files. I hope we will be able to build consensus around some contentious issues and areas and use our ability to do that to good effect.
