Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

In regard to current reforms to peacekeeping and peace building, our permanent representative to the UN, Anne Anderson, has been asked by the Secretary General to lead work in these areas. This reflects the high respect in which we are held by the United Nations. We take leadership positions on a number of issues, the most recent of which was our significant diplomatic achievement on the review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. One of our officials chaired the Middle East resolution at the conference on that treaty.

Most people would have said there was no chance of emerging from that process with a consensus leading to a conference in 2012. There is still a lot of work to be done. Ireland was asked to chair the process and it performed admirably in that regard.

The real issue, which we flagged within the European Union, is that the Union did not go about its business in the most optimal way. As the Finnish Foreign Minister says, the Union needs to be mindful of how it is perceived in other parts of the globe.

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