Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Irish CND congratulates Michael D. Higgins on his election as the ninth President of Ireland, and welcomes the election as head of state of one of the country's most consistent campaigners for human rights and disarmament.

Irish CND chairperson, Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, said, "Michael D. Higgins has been a consistent advocate for peace, human rights and disarmament. He has been one of the strongest supporters of nuclear disarmament among Irish politicians, having been forthright in publicly calling for the creation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention to provide a binding framework for the abolition of nuclear arms."

Speaking in Dublin last year in a speech entitled "Towards Building Momentum for Nuclear Abolition", Mr Higgins said, "Nuclear weapons are the most indiscriminate weapon the world has ever known. They cannot be used without violating international humanitarian law ... The aspiration for a nuclear weapons free world contained in the Non-Proliferation Treaty needs to be translated into reality with the emergence of a Nuclear Weapons Convention saving the world from nuclear annihilation."

Michael D. Higgins was awarded the International Peace Bureau's presitgious Sean MacBride Peace Prize in 1992: http://ipb.org/i/about-ipb/II-F-mac-bride-peace-prize.html

To read Michael D. Higgins' speech on the abolition of nuclear weapons in full:
http://www.michaeldhiggins.ie/news/speeches/2010/11/29/towards-building-...