Under the United Nations charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The end of the Cold War has made this a more serious and weighty obligation since, in the days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the balance of forces between the superpowers effectively kept order in the world. The Council consists of 15 members: the five victorious nations from the second World War - China, France, the Russian Federation, Britain and the US - have permanent seats and a veto on "substantive matters"; the 10 non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms and have no veto power.
Ireland's stunning victory in the elections to the Council in October has already entered the diplomatic annals. Facing such formidable competitors as Norway and Italy, the Irish - by dint of hard work and drawing on their reputation as good UN members, especially in the area of peacekeeping - surprised everyone by coming in on the first count.
It was a tremendous achievement on the part of the politicians and officials involved in the campaign, which began two years earlier. But more than one Irish diplomat may have reflected, once the celebrations were over and the champagne had run out, that the coming two years would be a political roller-coaster ride, with constant crises and stark choices and hard decisions to be made.
In signing the Charter, member-states agree to carry out Security Council decisions. The Council can investigate any dispute which is considered a threat to international peace and security. It may recommend ways of resolving the conflict peacefully but it can also take more robust measures, ranging from sanctions to military action.
The presidency of the Council rotates on a monthly basis in alphabetical order: Ireland takes over this role in October. Irish diplomatic representation at the UN has been beefed-up to cope with the extra workload. Although the new members do not take up their seats until the beginning of January, they began sitting in on Council meetings at the start of this month.
Singapore, which holds the presidency in January, has the task of drawing up the programme of work in consultation with the other members. Seemingly innocuous, this can be a tense business as there may be issues that some members want raised while others wish to keep them off the agenda. The Security Council is required to function continuously and a representative of each of its members must be available at all times at UN headquarters in New York, where meetings can be, and sometimes are, called at two hours' notice. The instability on the world stage means unexpected issues can arise in the most unlikely places, although there are certain "hardy annuals" that come up with weary predictability. The Middle East is likely to be a constant topic at Security Council level and the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has a sizeable Irish component, is due for renewal next month. Apart from the continuing disturbances in the Palestinian territories, there is also the thorny issue of the UN sanctions against Iraq. Ireland is expected to make its voice heard in an attempt to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people, especially children.
The Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman, Jim O'Keeffe, has called for Irish pressure to review the sanctions. There is no question of unilateral action: the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, stressed that the Government would stand by its obligations to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council, although he and the Taoiseach raised the issue with the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, in March.
Ireland is like a minor-league football team that has found itself, for a specified period, playing at premier level
Africa is an issue of major Irish interest, given this country's missionary tradition and the fact that the Irish programme of development assistance is heavily geared towards African countries. The AIDS crisis is the latest addition to Africa's crown of thorns and dealing with the rampant spread of the disease has become a key component in the Irish aid effort. A strong Irish input on Africa can be expected at the Security Council.
United Nations reform is a long-standing issue and one in which Ireland, as an active and committed member state, has a keen and continuing interest. Given the Irish contribution to UN peacekeeping, it is hardly surprising that the Government is eager to see implementation of the key elements of the recent Brahimi Report on this critical area of UN activity. Like other member-states, Ireland is anxious to ensure there is no repeat of ignominious episodes such as the UN's failure to halt genocide in Rwanda and, nearer home, the massacre in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. Root-and-branch reorganisation of peacekeeping resources is required and Ireland will be to the fore in pressing the need for improvements. A working group on reform of the Security Council, including an increase in membership, was established in 1993 but it is an indication of the difficulty of this issue that the group has been unable to report any substantive progress. Ireland supports a modest increase in the number of permanent and non-permanent seats to make a Council of between 20 and 25 members but there is a considerable degree of opposition to the creation of further permanent seats. Ireland would also support the total elimination of the veto but, recognising the strong opposition of the permanent five, has instead proposed a limitation of its use.
Although Mr O'Keeffe has called on the Government to "press for real progress on reform at the UN and be prepared to step on institutional corns if necessary to achieve this objective", the debate appears to have reached stalemate and any kind of forward movement looks very difficult.
For the next two years, Ireland will be the only European Union member-state to hold a non-permanent seat on the Security Council and will have a special responsibility, along with France and Britain, to brief other EU members on the proceedings. In general, EU members try to co-ordinate their approach to issues at the UN and the country that holds the presidency speaks on behalf of the EU at the General Assembly. The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy is strongly influenced by the content of Security Council resolutions. The foundation of the EU's Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) has given a new dimension to relations with the UN and Mr Cowen has said legislation requires that the Irish contingent can only take part in RRF operations that have a Security Council mandate. Ireland is like a minor-league football team that has found itself, for a specified period, playing at premier level. Some of the other clubs have been there a long time and are perhaps a little world-weary and cynical. The Irish side might not be able to outshine them, but it could well demonstrate new ways of playing the game.