Sir, – In 2012 Ireland sought election to the UN Human Rights Council on the back of a number of “voluntary pledges and commitments” including ratifying “as soon as possible” the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Ireland was elected to the council but never ratified the convention. In May 2016, at a UN meeting in Geneva attended by the Tánaiste, more than 40 countries raised Ireland’s continuing failure to ratify the convention. The Tánaiste is reported to have guaranteed that Ireland would ratify it before the end of 2016. It didn’t happen.
The Irish Times reported on March 8th, 2017 that Ireland's Ambassador to France is to become Ireland's permanent representative to the UN in New York and will lead Ireland's campaign for a seat on the UN security council in 2020. What's another year . . . or three? –Yours, etc,
Dr ARTHUR O’REILLY,
Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.