IRELAND:Ireland will support further sanctions against those involved in the conflict in Darfur if they fail to commit to talks scheduled to take place in Libya later this month, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern told the UN General Assembly yesterday.
In a wide-ranging speech for the annual debate at UN headquarters, Mr Ahern updated the assembly on developments in Northern Ireland, outlining how lessons learned during the peace process could be applied to other conflicts; reinforced Ireland's commitment to overseas development; and spoke of the Government's hopes for a resolution to the crisis in Burma and a lasting settlement in the Middle East.
"As it is for people across the world, Darfur is a matter of grave concern in Ireland . . . We must solve the humanitarian and security crisis while simultaneously establishing the foundations for longer-term peace and development," Mr Ahern told the assembled heads of state and government.
Ireland "expects to make a substantial contribution" to the UN-mandated mission to Chad and the Central African Republic aimed at protecting refugees from a spillover of the violence in Darfur.
The Minister also called for the "full, effective and speedy" deployment of UN peacekeepers to Darfur itself, and renewed his request to the Khartoum government to "actively co-operate" with such a mission.
All parties in the conflict must commit to the talks in Libya, he said.
"If commitments are not fulfilled and progress does not materialise, Ireland will support further sanctions against non-co-operating parties."
Speaking to The Irish Times following his meeting with Sudan's foreign minister Lam Akol on Monday, Mr Ahern said the Sudanese appeared "positively disposed" towards assisting a UN-African Union hybrid force in Darfur. "Time will tell," he said, adding that the Libya talks will prove a major test for all sides.
Mr Ahern devoted much of his address to the Government's strategy to bolster Ireland's role in the area of development and conflict resolution, including the recent establishment of a hunger task force and an annual €25 million fund to assist with conflict resolution in the developing world. Africa would be of particular focus, he told the assembly, adding that the Government also planned to explore the links between climate change and conflict.
"Our history shows that there is a path from famine to plenty and from conflict to peace," he said. "From that history has grown a determination . . . that we should stand in the vanguard of the fight against conflict, and hunger, and the denial of human rights."
Calling for the UN to use its "collective capacity" to help resolve conflict, Mr Ahern said support for UN-mandated peacekeeping operations - which were "at an all time high" in terms of size, scope and complexity - must continue.
On Burma, he said Ireland was looking at ways of increasing pressure on the military junta, including additional restrictive measures by the EU. "The process of national reconciliation and democratisation must begin in earnest," Mr Ahern said, urging the UN Security Council to respond "effectively" to the crisis.
"It is neither acceptable nor true to argue, as some [ Security Council] members have, that the situation in Burma is not a question of international peace and security. The potential regional consequences of the crisis are evident."
On the Middle East, he reiterated Ireland's support for the dialogue between Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, and expressed hope that the forthcoming US-sponsored Middle East conference would be "serious and substantive".
At a ceremony held at UN headquarters yesterday morning, the Minister signed the optional protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture, which will allow independent national and international inspectors visit Irish prisons and other places of detention to ensure detainees are not mistreated.