Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

The Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has marked the global day of action for the abolition of nuclear weapons, 5th June, with a flower-laying ceremony at the memorial cherry tree in Merrion Square, Dublin, planted to commemorate the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

The global day of action was endorsed by UN Secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, who described himself as one of its strongest supporters and said, “Critics and sceptics cannot imagine a world without nuclear weapons. People said the same about the struggle for civil rights and the fight against slavery. These were changes that also seemed impossible until they happened. The movement to abolish nuclear weapons is on the right side of history. We will continue to fight for this great cause.”

Speaking in Dublin, Irish CND chairperson, Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, said, "There can be no complacency that the global threat from nuclear weapons has somehow gone away with the end of the Cold War. There are still over 23,000 nuclear warheads in the world, more than enough to destroy life as we know it several times over.

"While we welcome the successful conclusion of the Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference at the end of May, it is imperative that there should be real progress beyond the aspirations of the treaty towards tangible and meaningful steps by the nuclear weapons states to disarm. It is time to go beyond non-proliferation to abolition.

"On Monday 14th June, we will welcome ten Hibakusha - survivors of the atomic bombings - to Dublin for a series of public events on the day. We owe it to the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives, and to all the Hibakusha whose lives have been indelibly affected by the only occasions these horrific weapons of mass destruction have been used, to do our utmost to ensure that such weapons can never, ever be used again."

In a further symbolic gesture, Irish CND also marked the day by formally becoming a partner organisation of the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, the international NGO which organises the global day of action.