Results 2,441-2,460 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Foreign Conflicts. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I agree entirely with what the Deputy has said. My EU colleagues and I discussed protecting the principle enshrined within the UN reform package. This is the first instance where the international community has a responsibility to protect vulnerable people. We are not at this stage yet. We must be careful in how we deal with this. The greatest focus must be on the president, who hopes to...

Nuclear Disarmament Initiative. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: Following a statement of intent issued on 3 October, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea announced that it had carried out an underground nuclear test on 9 October. I immediately strongly condemned this provocative action by the DPRK. It is a serious threat to the security and stability of the region, as well as a direct contravention of the international objectives of nuclear...

Nuclear Disarmament Initiative. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: It is not my view or that of the Government that the NPT is defunct. It is accepted, however, that it faces major challenges and the review conference in 2005 was a grave disappointment. In September 2005, when the UN reform package was finalised, I echoed the words of Kofi Annan on the NPT. The fact that there are challenges should not deflect us from encouraging all states to participate...

Nuclear Disarmament Initiative. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: No one is waiting until 2010. The non-proliferation treaty is in place and only a handful of nations are not part of it. The vast majority of the international community participates in and adheres to the treaty, although a number of countries, including Iran and North Korea, have deviated from it.

Nuclear Disarmament Initiative. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: One cannot equate recent events in Iran with those in North Korea. The international community, at the Security Council, proposed relatively draconian sanctions against North Korea on the basis of that country's declared intent and follow-up action. The purpose of the Security Council decision was to forcefully suggest to North Korea that it cannot succeed.

Nuclear Disarmament Initiative. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I understand the Democratic Republic of North Korea has given an undertaking to China that it will not proceed with further action. It is simplistic to state that Ireland should lead the way. Ireland is one of a number of countries to the fore as regards adherence to the non-proliferation treaty and trying to persuade the international community as a whole to continue on the track of...

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The proposed agreement published by the Governments at St. Andrews comprehensively addressed the core issues standing in the way of the restoration of the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday Agreement. It sets out a clear way forward for all parties to commit to the full operation of stable power-sharing government and the North-South and east-west arrangements and to full support...

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The practice of the Minister for Foreign Affairs or any Minister being answerable to the Dáil on the basis of the Attorney General's advice has not changed since Deputy Michael Higgins was a Minister.

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Deputy might say that was then and this is now, but it is a fact that the Attorney General is not answerable to this House and Ministers are not answerable for the Attorney General's advice. The Attorney General is the legal adviser to the Government. What was agreed at St. Andrew's was a political document. The document was whittled out after two and a half days of intensive...

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: If that is his attitude, God help Ireland if the Deputy ever gets into Government. If the Deputy thinks decisions are made on a partisan basis——

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: ——they are not. In the unlikely event that the Deputy arrives on this side of the House, he will learn that it is very easy to be on that side of the House——

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: One has a responsibility when one is on this side of the House——

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: ——and I will take none of that nonsense from the likes of the Deputy.

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The St. Andrew's agreement is nothing more than a political agreement between the two Governments. The parties have yet to commit to it. With regard to whether there is an election or a referendum in the North, the Taoiseach covered that in his replies to questions in the House this morning.

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: Much of what the Deputy said was a comment, not a question. The tenor of the discussion with the Attorney General was in the context of the implications of the Crotty decision and whether the Government can, unilaterally and without reference to the people, make any amendment to the Good Friday Agreement or any international agreement. We are awaiting the Attorney General's view but his...

Official Engagements. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The annual national address to the UN General Assembly provides an opportunity to set out Ireland's approach to international issues of our day. In my speech of 26 September, which can be seen on the Department's website and a copy of which I have placed in the Oireachtas Library, I began by acknowledging the contribution of Secretary General Annan and reviewing the progress of UN reform. I...

Official Engagements. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: There is a multinational force in Iraq. The UN, by unanimous vote of the Security Council, authorised the continuation of the multinational force. This is something the Deputy and his colleagues tend to forget. When America and the UK originally entered Iraq, we did not support their action. However, the UN subsequently passed a number of resolutions — the most recent of these was the...

Official Engagements. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I am glad Deputy Gormley referred to cluster bombs because Ireland has recently been to the fore at the Convention on Conventional Weapons in this regard. Ireland, along with a number of countries, proposed that the restrictions on the use of cluster bombs be tightened dramatically. In the context of what took place in the Lebanon in recent months, we condemned the use of cluster bombs. It...

Official Engagements. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The latter is an issue for the Minister, Deputy Martin, and I will raise it with him. Ireland would very much welcome a total ban and that is why we are working at the Convention on Conventional Weapons to drive cluster bombs out of use altogether.

Official Engagements. (25 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: We have not yet made a decision in respect of that deal, nor should we until the final version of it emerges. As the Deputy is aware, a special representative of the Prime Minister of India met me, and also the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, and I forcefully put to him my views on behalf of Ireland, as a member of the New Agenda Coalition and indicated that this is an issue about which...