Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Irish CND backs Minister Martin's call for Disarmament

The Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has welcomed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin's speech to the opening session of eighth Review Conference on the nuclear weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty at the United Nations in New York on Monday 3rd May. In his speech , Minister Martin criticised the lack of progress towards disarmament under the Treaty's provisions on the part of nuclear-armed states, and called on those states outside the Treaty (India, Pakistan and Israel) to ratify it.

He urged all states participating in the conference to work for "a balanced, consensual and forward-looking package of decisions" including "specific measures to advance disarmament", and the establishment of a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in the Middle East.

Responding to Minister Martin's speech, Irish CND chairperson Dr David Hutchinson Edgar said, "We welcome the strong line taken by Ireland in criticising those states which have not lived up to their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We also endorse Minister Martin's calls for tangible progress on key issues facing the conference: disarmament measures, setting up a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in the Middle East, as well as ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the beginning of talks on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty. With the positive momentum created by the recent signing of a new START Treaty between USA and Russia, this is the best opportunity there has been for many years to bring forward the conditions for eventual total disarmament.

"The Non-Proliferation Treaty had its origins in the work of the Irish Foreign Minister, Frank Aiken, in the 1950's and 1960's. There is little doubt that it is one of Ireland's major contributions to international affairs. With Ireland set to play a key role in chairing discussions on the Middle East in this conference, the importance of Ireland's contribution to the work of nuclear disarmament is again centre stage. We hope to see real progress by the conclusion of the conference at the end of the month."

The full text of Minister Martin's speech is available at http://www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/statements.shtml