Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Irish CND has warmly welcomed the agreement, by consensus, of the final report and recommendations of the five-yearly Review Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which has been underway at the UN in New York since 3rd May. Irish CND has also praised Ireland's role in the conference, describing it as a major contribution to international diplomacy.

Irish CND chairperson, Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, said, "Final agreement on the report and recommendations from the 2010 NPT Review Conference was vital, following the collapse of talks at the previous conference in 2005. Without agreement on this occasion, the NPT would have been regarded by many as being as good as dead. Now, however, we have a positive and forward-looking agreement with the potential to pave the way for further steps towards nuclear disarmament. The agreement represents a small, but very significant step towards the ultimate goal of a world free of the menace of nuclear weapons, and many more steps remain to be taken.

"In particular, agreement to proceed in 2012 with a UN-sponsored conference on disarmament in the Middle East, to work towards a Middle Eastern zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, is most welcome. Renewed commitments by the nuclear weapons states to move forward on disarmament measures are also welcome, but must be matched with concrete actions over the next five years.

"While Israel's dismissive response to a Middle East disarmament conference is both disappointing and predictable, it is to be hoped that the United States, in particular, as Israel's main ally, will play a constructive part in ensuring that the conference proposal becomes a reality.

"The significant role played by Irish diplomats, and especially Alison Kelly, head of the Irish delegation, in chairing the talks on the Middle East at the Review Conference over the past month deserves to be publicly applauded. The fact that agreement was reached on this very delicate area of discussion is due in no small part to this major Irish contribution to international diplomacy."