IRISH NEUTRALITY: Ireland was not neutral but "merely unaligned", the Opposition leader, Mr Enda Kenny, told the Forum on Europe. He also suggested there should be "a time-limit" on reaching the UN target for overseas aid, reports Deaglán de Bréadún.
His party colleague, Mr Gay Mitchell, called for an end to the triple-lock mechanism for Irish military operations overseas, which he described as "nonsense".
Welcoming Mr Kofi Annan, Mr Kenny said: "No one else has done more to re-energise the UN or to bring it closer to the people." Mr Annan was motivated by the idea "that courage will always win out over cowardice".
"Reform of the UN is critical, essential, bold reform, especially of the Security Council, if the UN is to meet the murderous challenges of our 21st-century world and not repeat the failures of the past." But he added: "Ultimately the responsibility for dealing with those challenges rests, not with Secretary-General Annan, but with us, the members, because ultimately the UN will only achieve what the various governments will allow it to be.
"That's why I would like if, perhaps, the Minister [ for Foreign Affairs] might put a time-limit on the adherence to the 0.7 per cent of GNP in overseas aid.
"It is not enough to have the power - as you have said, sir, repeatedly, we must have the collective will and will only have it if we end the selectiveness, the à-la-carte-ism of members the Security Council."
He recalled that Ireland could not participate in a UN-mandated peace mission in Macedonia after China withdrew its support for it on the Security Council as a reprisal for Macedonian recognition of Taiwan.
"This country is not neutral, it is merely unaligned and I would like that we would recognise that we are part of an interdependent world, living lives that are interdependent with the rest of the global community," Mr Kenny said.
On overseas aid, Mr Mitchell said: "I would argue strongly that it is now time to legislate for the 0.7 per cent to be paid directly out of the Central Fund because no government will meet that commitment and you should hear that here today, Mr Annan. No matter what you hear, what you are told, we never even meet our interim commitment and no matter what government is in office, that has to stop."
He did not share the view of the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the "triple lock" of a UN, Dáil and Government mandate for overseas military missions. "I want to see an end to the triple lock."
Ireland should decide on a case-by-case basis whether to take part in such missions, he said.