Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important matter on behalf of the Labour Party, which wholeheartedly supports the 2017 international Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, just as we have supported previous international treaties and efforts to promote the decline in the production and stockpiling of these weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or the nuclear weapon ban treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement comprehensively to prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination.

The treaty can work in parallel with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which has acted as a bulwark against mass nuclear weapon proliferation for nearly 50 years. The latter treaty, however, is showing its age, and we need further impetus towards non-proliferation and, ultimately, full nuclear disarmament. The hearing of the Bill is timely, given President Trump’s recent decision to withdraw the US from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which has raised fears of a new arms race. Previously faint memories of Cold War tensions return to our minds, in a new and increasingly volatile international picture. The threat of nuclear conflict seems to be increasing as instability becomes the de factonature of global security. There is now a real and ever present danger of nuclear escalation, as exemplified by the recent Kashmir crisis between two of the world’s largest nuclear powers, namely, India and Pakistan. Likewise, ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East are a constant cause of concern, not only for the surrounding regions but for the entire world due to the potentially devastating consequences of a nuclear conflict.

In this context, Ireland’s continued leadership in the prohibition of nuclear weapons is necessary and welcomed by the Labour Party. Ireland is viewed internationally as a distinguished and credible advocate for nuclear disarmament and a supporter of non-proliferation. During the Cold War, Ireland was a progressive voice in the international sphere for disarmament. While superpowers stockpiled vast nuclear arsenals, and other states retained nuclear weapon programmes or continued to develop secret ones, Ireland worked in the multilateral forum of the United Nations to rid the world of this scourge.

Ireland has consistently punched above its weight on the nuclear issue. Through Frank Aiken’s Irish resolutions in the 1950s and 1960s, the formation of the New Agenda Coalition in 1998, to the skilled diplomacy of the Irish delegation that led to a reaffirmation of the Middle East resolution at the 2010 NPT review conference, Ireland has played a positive role. It is an area where Ireland’s international reputation remains strong and credible, and is proof that a small but independent, principled and neutral country can significantly advance the cause of humanity. Ireland needs to remain a strong voice for international nuclear disarmament and a vocal critic of nuclear proliferation. This means we must not only criticise rogue states for pursuing nuclear weapon programmes but we should ask difficult questions of our allies that drag their heels on nuclear disarmament. In particular, I note the opposition of NATO members, which include the US and most of our EU partners, which have unwisely opposed the treaty. Again, this highlights the necessity for Irish neutrality, which the Government has sought to undermine at every opportunity.

The State should never allow itself to be put in a position where it is pressurised, by way of membership of an intergovernmental military alliance, whether NATO or PESCO, to oppose nuclear proliferation. We must also remain a strong advocate for rigorous inspection programmes of states that pursue nuclear power. If a state has a peaceful nuclear programme, it needs to allow full-scale International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. There should be no exceptions. I call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to condemn those countries that continue to oppose the treaty and once again to reassert our position of disarmament and non-proliferation.

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