Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In certain instances where a matter has been considered by the Security Council and has been the subject of a veto, the General Assembly may consider the matter and make a recommendation to UN members for collective action. We did that recently regarding the issue of Palestine. Ultimately, while other organs of the UN make recommendations to member states under the UN charter, the Council alone has the power to take decisions which member states are obligated to implement.

Only once in history has the UN General Assembly invoked the uniting for peace resolution and recommended a peacekeeping operation. That happened nearly 70 years ago, when it established the first UN emergency force in the Middle East in 1956. Moreover, the unit was not a peace enforcement operation as envisaged in Article 42 of the United Nations charter, but rather a peacekeeping operation that would be carried out with the consent and co-operation of the parties to the conflict. That is the bottom line and Deputy Murphy knows that. The Security Council-----

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