Ireland is sympathetic to the view that the Antarctic should be seen as part of the common heritage shared universally and this has influenced our approach to date to the question of accession to the treaty. There are other dimensions to this issue. The Government welcomed the adoption, by consensus, of the General Assembly Resolution 57/51 on 22 November 2002 which, inter alia, reaffirmed that the management and use of Antarctica should be conducted in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and of promoting international co-operation for the benefit of mankind as a whole.