UN: The Middle East, Iraq and Northern Ireland were among the topics theMinister for Foreign Affairs faced at the UN this week, he told Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
On the streets of midtown Manhattan, the followers of the Rev Sun Myung Moon were giving out a free newspaper entitled "Remarkable Messages from the Spiritual Realm". These were posthumous statements from Washington, Lincoln, Lenin, Stalin and other leaders who had been converted in death to the Rev Moon's philosophy. A message from John F Kennedy to the United Nations urged it to accept the Rev Moon's leadership and guidance in order to achieve a peaceful world.
Not being in a position to interview any of these gentlemen myself, I made my way to the UN Mission of Ireland on Second Avenue and 47th Street to meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen.
Ireland takes over the European Presidency for six months in January and everyone wanted a piece of Mr Cowen at the UN last week. But despite a gruelling round of meetings, he looked fresh and robust. Some would say "robust" is the Offalyman's middle name.
Even his opponents would concede that Cowen is an articulate politician.
He knows where he wants to go and what he wants to say. But he has a tendency to answer questions several times in the same response, refining his position as he goes along. The challenge for the interviewer is to bring him onto the next topic without losing anything of value in the previous answer.
Thanks to a seminal speech by Mr Kofi Annan, UN reform became the big topic of the week at the General Assembly. Cowen is an enthusiastic supporter of the Secretary-General in this respect.
"We are the UN - the UN is not some organisation separate from ourselves to which we send meek representation. It is us - the UN is us," he said.
I asked him if it was realistic to expect a revamp of the Security Council, dominated as it is by five big powers. Cowen has no doubts: "It's very realistic because it's very necessary." He fully supports Mr Annan's plan for setting up a high-level panel of eminent persons further to explore the issues raised in his speech and report back within a year. Although the Minister did not say so, I understand from other sources that he may establish a national group in Ireland which would contribute to this process.
I asked the Minister if he was glad that Ireland's two-year term on the Security Council expired before the US and allies invaded Iraq. What position would Ireland have taken? "We were there when there was a prospect of an action being taken," he said, recalling the debate about Resolution 1441, which threatened "serious consequences" if Iraq did not cooperate fully with UN arms inspectors.
"We made it clear when we voted on 1441 that we required a further resolution to be passed by the Security Council before we could support military action. So were we on the Security Council in April, that position would have held." In the background, as we speak, Ireland's UN Ambassador, Mr Richard Ryan, is digging around for a copy of his speech on Resolution 1441. In it he said: "As far as Ireland is concerned, it is for the Council to decide on any ensuing action." If Cowen's remarks suggest a possible anti-war stance by the Irish, the Minister nevertheless has not the slightest regret over the Government's decision to allow the use of Shannon Airport as a transit facility for the US war machine.
"Absolutely not," he said, with that particular Cowen emphasis that leaves the position beyond any doubt. "The debate was held in the Dáil - the Government put a very coherent position which was voted on by the House and supported by the House." The Taoiseach was also in the New York area last week and he caused a stir back home by indicating that Ireland could consider sending troops to Iraq if there was a UN resolution to set up a multinational force.
"We are simply saying, as in the case of any UN-authorised proposal of that nature, consideration would be given to it. What decision would be taken by Government would depend on the circumstances at the time, whether we could make a contribution, what is the security assessment, what are the risks to our soldiers, all that would be part of a very formal Government procedure," said Mr Cowen. But he stressed: "We are not making any commitments at this stage, one way or the other, because we couldn't make such a commitment until we see what the full circumstances are." Meanwhile, subject to formal parliamentary approval, Ireland will be sending an estimated 400 soldiers on UN peacekeeping duty in Liberia. For the last 14 years, this has been the locale for one of Africa's most appalling conflicts. Does the Minister have any qualms about sending our troops out there?
"Qualms is not the right word," he replied. But he acknowledged that the circumstances were difficult and he was conscious of the legitimate concerns of the soldiers' families. Nevertheless, the situation had been carefully assessed: "Our defence forces are ready to take up this challenge." Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I noted that, during the Irish presidency, the Minister would be leading the EU delegation at meetings of the Quartet, a group formed with the US, Russia and the UN, to explore paths to peace. It was clear that, despite the continuing violence, the Minister regarded the Quartet's deliberations as neither pointless nor futile.
"The Quartet was a very necessary building block in the formulation of the road map. And there is no alternative to this road map; the two-state solution is the way we solve this problem. The difficulty, as ever, is getting the train to leave the station." Ireland opposed threats to kill or exile the Palestinian President. "We don't believe concentrating on the personality of Arafat is a means of getting us to move on the "road map". But neither was terror: "The suicide bombings have had a huge effect in Israeli society, in terms of how they view things at the moment - all of that has to stop."
The Minister was scheduled to meet his Israeli counterpart, Mr Silvan Shalom, on Wednesday. The meeting was scheduled for the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, across the road from the UN, but the thoroughfare was closed to allow President Bush's motorcade pass through. I can corroborate this because, at the same time, I was trying to get to the UN building from the other side of the road. The whole thing was somewhat unfortunate since, during the Minister's visit to the Middle East last June, the Israelis refused to meet him because, in line with EU policy, he insisted on visiting Arafat as the elected leader of the Palestinian people.
Mr Shalom was leaving New York early but Cowen hopes a meeting can be arranged at some other date in the near future. The previous day, Tuesday, the arrival of the President's motorcade had reportedly prevented Germany's Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, from attending a meeting of the Security Council.
When I interviewed him, Mr Cowen had just held a meeting in the UN Mission with Richard Haass, President Bush's envoy on the Northern Ireland peace process.
"As a betting man, Minister, what are the prospects of an election in the North by Christmas?" He pauses, as though wishing to say more, but contents himself with the observation: "Certainly it's not in the non-runner category." He had been very struck during his meetings all week by the level of interest in the peace process among other delegations.
"This country of ours has a great chance to be a model to other troubled parts of the world by displaying the necessary political courage and leadership at this point," he said.
On a related topic, he discussed the case of the so-called Colombia Three with the Foreign Minister of that country, Ms Carolina Barco. Three Irish nationals are in a Bogota jail awaiting a verdict on charges of training terrorists and using false passports. The verdict has been delayed because of the Judge's current heavy workload.
"I met with the Colombian Foreign Minister in my contacts during the week and I raised this issue with her. Obviously our consular responsibilities are ones that we have taken very seriously in this matter. I communicated our hope that this issue would be dealt with and concluded as soon as possible. We have to respect the internal judicial system in Colombia but I have made the point in my discussions that we would like to see this matter clarified as soon as possible." As regards European affairs, the Minister will attend the start of an Intergovernmental Conference in Rome this Saturday, along with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and it is hoped to conclude deliberations on the new Constitutional Treaty for Europe by the end of the year.
"We will work hard with the Presidency and other member-states to try and reach an agreed outcome if it is possible. It is a matter of political will." I put it to him that, after the "trauma" of two Nice referendums, he could hardly be looking forward to the inevitable vote on the new European Treaty.
He chuckled. "It was not traumatic." He is confident that, whatever reservations people might have, they will see the overall benefit of EU membership. "We couldn't have achieved what we have achieved economically or politically on our own," he said. Mr Cowen held bilateral meetings at the UN with counterparts from such countries as Russia, Iran, Egypt, Albania, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Andorra and North Korea, as well as a meeting with the President of the General Assembly, Mr Hunte.
He also took part with EU colleagues in meetings with the US, the Iraqi Governing Council, Kofi Annan and numerous others. But he was still planning to get back in time for the All-Ireland football final.