Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on Ireland's stance on this important issue. Since the late 1950s, this country has been actively engaged in the diplomacy of nuclear non-proliferation. Joining the United Nations gave Ireland the opportunity to express a more positive and assertive neutrality. One of the high points of this strategy was the role played by the State in encouraging the General Assembly to take a position on the question of nuclear non-proliferation, or as it was referred to by the UN, "non-dissemination of nuclear weapons".

For a small state, Ireland has played a considerable role in securing agreement on a formula that clearly identified the problem and put in motion a strategy for dealing with it. For his strenuous efforts in this regard, the exceptional work conducted by a former representative in this House of County Louth, the late Frank Aiken`, should be acknowledged. He has the distinguished record of being the second longest sitting Deputy, with in excess of 50 years service in the Oireachtas. Under Ireland's policy of promoting the primacy of international law and reducing global tensions at the height of the Cold War, Mr. Aiken promoted the idea of areas of law, which helped to free the most tense regions around the world from the threat of nuclear war. In addition, he sponsored the resolution to prevent the so-called wider dissemination of nuclear weapons and proposed peace initiatives for the crisis in the Middle East.

It was Mr. Aiken, as Minister for External Affairs, who put forward the notion of a non-proliferation treaty at the United Nations in 1958, and a further series of Irish-sponsored resolutions led to the signing of the NPT in 1968. Ireland was the first country to sign and ratify the treaty, which entered into force in 1970. The NPT is built around three key pillars, namely, non-proliferation, disarmament and the right to peaceful deployment of nuclear energy. A five-yearly review conference, last held in 2010, monitors its ongoing implementation. At a meeting in Dublin in June 1998, Ireland became one of the founding members of the New Agenda Coalition, NAC, which now comprises Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden. The NAC has played an important role in bringing proposals to the five-yearly NPT review conference. On 9 June 1998, an 18 point declaration, Towards a Nuclear Weapons-Free World: The Need for a New Agenda, was signed by the governments of the NAC countries.

Current proliferation challenges facing the NPT include regional issues in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran and Syria, lack of universal adherence to the NPT by India, Israel and Pakistan, and the lack of full co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Authority and its safeguards and verification system by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran and Syria. In addition, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, CTBT, has yet to enter into force and a treaty banning fissile materials remains to be negotiated. Ireland is a strong supporter of efforts to implement the Middle East resolution, agreed at the 1995 NPT review and extension conference. Agreed as part of a package deal which also included the indefinite extension of the NPT, the resolution calls for the establishment of a weapons of mass destruction-free zone in the region. In 2010, Ireland brokered agreement on a text reaffirming the resolution and setting out several practical next steps.

Ireland has decided not to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as part of its energy mix and is of the view that those states which do must demonstrate the exclusively peaceful nature of their programmes. My constituents are all too aware of the nuclear threat, with both Dundalk and Drogheda being closer to the Thorp nuclear plant in Sellafield than is, for example, London. The emergence of cancer clusters in Louth has been linked to the wind flows from the Sellafield plant. On a global level, The Irish Times ran an article last week which suggested that Iran is designing a nuclear submarine. The nuclear threat is ever present and it is incumbent on us all to continue the good work initiated by my fellow Louth man, the late Mr. Aiken. For the good of all mankind, we must fervently support the principle of nuclear disarmament.

See this speech in context