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TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has described Ireland’s place on the United Nations Security Council as an “enormous responsibility and honour”.
Ireland officially takes its seat on the Security Council today for a two-year period.
This will be Ireland’s fourth time on the UN Security Council, having previously served in 1960, 1980-81 and 2001-02.
Martin said: “Ireland is today taking up our seat on the United Nations Security Council. It is an enormous responsibility and honour to serve for the next two years.
When we stood for election we promised to bring the values of empathy, partnership and independence to bear. They will guide our work now.
Members of the Irish Defence Forces have served under the UN flag with great distinction around the world.
We will bring the same qualities for which they are known – determination, engagement and fairness – to the important job that lies ahead.
The UN flag is to fly at Leinster House for the duration of Ireland’s tenure on the council.
It joins newly elected members Kenya, India, Mexico and Norway alongside existing elected members Estonia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Niger, Tunisia and Vietnam.
There are also five permanent members of the Council: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.
Ireland’s areas of responsibility are expected to include humanitarian issues in Syria and West Africa, as well as issues of women, peace and security and climate security.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said: “The United Nations is at the heart of Irish foreign policy.
Whether it is through our unbroken record of UN peacekeeping since 1958 or our leading roles in disarmament and non-proliferation, we know what can be achieved when countries work together.
We take our seat on the council at a very challenging time but we are determined to play our part to build the trust and political will necessary to achieve progress in even the most intractable conflicts.
Membership of the UN Security Council is an opportunity for Ireland to make a significant international contribution, to strengthen our relations with key partners, and to project our values on the global stage.
“It is in keeping with our long-standing tradition of an independent and principled foreign policy and support for the UN.”
Ireland saw off competition from Canada to secure one of the two “western bloc” seats on the council, along with Norway.
A high-profile campaign saw diplomats invited to a U2 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York.
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It’s a great opportunity for us to lend our voice to the UN debates. Hope we can contribute to something positive during our tenure.
If we could run our own country it would be a good start. Ireland is out of it’s totally out depth on any security council.
@Patrick Abbott: we are ranked 2nd in the world for quality of life in the human development index. I’m sick of reading self hating comments on here. This reflects more on you than this nation. Ireland has a fantastic history of peacekeeping and truely deserves their seat on the council.
@Patrick Abbott: love the negativity, the Journal is whinge central
@David Mulligan: Stats can be manipulated and are. We do not have a quality of life equally many other places in the world, when we push our disabled children out of our education systems and communities the way we do, practice ageism and have a health system we pay for with taxes, while half the country…half…pay for private insurance.
@Patrick Abbott: we have a great country and proudly sit as one of the top countries to live in, this self hatred, moaning is getting boring now.
@Contrary Mary: Provide your source that the stats re quality of life in a ireland are manipulated. Failing that then you are just talking out of your a.rse.
Good. Nice to see Ireland take on a position of power. I hope we use it to affect some change in the global order, to stand up for small and oppressed nations.
@LangerDan: you’re about to find out just how limited that power is .
Too many vetoes spoil the broth.
Now that ye in the Dail got the seat ye wanted,,,isn’t it time to acknowledge the bravery of the men of Jadotville
@Kevin Devlin: totally agree with ya on that one!
The US base at Shannon and the new Trade and ‘Security’ deal between the EU and the UK is taking the gloss of our pride in our neutrality.
I suppose we will just support the imperial powers as we have done in our previous turns in that seat.
Ireland a country who lets the U.S use it as a runway for its murder of people around the world
@Christy Mc Carthy:Ireland, a country the US military helped bring home citizens stuck in countries who closed their borders with no warning in 2020. Ireland, a country who allowed the US military to use its airport to help distribute aid to other countries. Ireland, a country who protested the only president in decades who didn’t start a war and held his promise to not to be the world’s police. Ireland, a country who will beg the US for military help and get it, if ever needed.
Thanks Bono.
@Paul Whitehead: so no thanks to the generations of Irish soldiers who have served under the UN flag that established the countries reputation for peacekeeping and allowed us to present ourselves as ‘honest brokers’ for a UNSC seat?
@D Mems: Those too. I think you missed the humour mate.
@D Mems: peacekeeping? Australia is threatening to kick us out for our peaceful ways.
@Contrary Mary: what are you talking about? Care to provide some context, as you seem to have some info that I cannot turn up via searches.
@D Mems: don’t forget the Gardai, they’ve been representing us with the UN longer than the Defence Forces!
@Paul: true, we can’t forget the Gardai who served with the UN. But I’m not sure about longer service, from what I could see the first garda deployment was 1989, the defence forces was 1958.
https://www.garda.ie/en/about-us/our-departments/office-of-corporate-communications/press-releases/2011/april/ceremony-to-honour-the-first-contingent-of-serving-members-of-an-garda-siochana-to-serve-with-the-united-nations.html
Which garda deployment was the first, was it a single officer whereas the 1989 was a group?
@D Mems: The hypocrisy of praising our defence forces while at home, depriving them of decent wages, equipment, recruitment and a place to live.
That’s all our defence forces BTW.
@D Mems: I was at an event commemorating our UN involvement and there was a tiny piece there about 2 Gardai on deployment in 1956 I think. However the DF send far more and have regularly since ‘58.
@Paul: found it, it was 25 people in 1956, but they were deployed as security, field and logistics officers, not in a police role. The group actually had to resign from the Gardai to go and were then re-appointed to the Gardai upon their return. Sounds like a legal loophole to me to allow them to go.
@D Mems: partly, but partly because we give money to foreign interests without question.
Stopped reading this when I got as far as (when we stood for election we promised …………………………………..)
Hahaha
I hope we don’t sell out like the Green Party in the Dáil and ignore issues like the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands
@P Mc G: Or what? What will we do? This seat was given to us because it was our turn, not because we are some powerful entity who can actually do anything. It was given to us because we send them and other countries a lot of money we don’t really have.
Matt carty of sinn fein nailed it on morning ireland
This morning, Ireland should use its time on the security council to fight the corner of the
People of PALESTINE anything less will be a betrayal of a small nation looking for its place in the world
Nice cushy number for mehole when his part time job as Taoiseach ends. (Soon hopefully)…
How about humanitar issues with the homeless in Ireland
The Security Council is a joke. The five permanent members, US, Russia, China, UK, France, can veto any Resolution of the General Assembly. The US has vetoed hundreds of Resolutions condemning israel’s treatment of its indigenous population, the Palestinians.
‘issues of women’
@Carol Conway: women, peace and security. It’s read together, it’s an area of work that involves working on the participation and protection of women in conflict affected states and peacebuilding. There are several UN Security Council Resolutions about it and Ireland is a strong champion of it with our own National Action Plan on the topic.
‘issues of women’
@Carol Conway: @Carol Conway: women, peace and security. It’s read together, it’s an area of work that involves working on the participation and protection of women in conflict affected states and peacebuilding. There are several UN Security Council Resolutions about it and Ireland is a strong champion of it with our own National Action Plan on the topic.
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