IRISH REACTION TO U.S. UNGA INITIATIVES

UNCLAS DUBLIN 001286 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL ECON PHUM KDEM AORC UNGA UN SUBJECT: IRISH REACTION TO U.S. UNGA INITIATIVES REF: A. STATE 152009 ¶B. DUBLIN 1260 ¶1. On August 31, Post delivered ref A talking points on U.S. initiatives for the 59th UN General Assembly to John Deady and Julian Clare, Director and First Secretary, respectively, of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) UN Section. -------------- Economic Freedom -------------- ¶2. Ireland adheres to the principles of the Monterrey Consensus and is skeptical of innovative financing mechanisms for official development assistance, such as the International Financing Facility and global taxation schemes, said Deady (echoing views of Irish aid officials in ref B). Qualifying this remark, Deady noted that Ireland administered education programs in developing countries without making good governance a condition for assistance, in contrast, he said, to the approach used for the Millennium Challenge Account. He explained that Ireland saw this as a "chicken-and-egg situation," whereby improvements to primary and secondary education in such countries helped to improve the prospects for good governance. -------------- Trafficking in Persons -------------- ¶3. Ireland and the EU would support any UN resolution that would enhance international efforts to combat trafficking in persons (TIP),observed Deady. He added that TIP was a serious problem that would continue to occupy the EU Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Home Affairs, particularly with the trafficking of young persons out of eastern Europe. -------------- Promoting Democracy -------------- ¶4. Ireland is a member of the Democracy Caucus and supports increased cooperation among Caucus members on the promotion of human rights and the rule of law, according to Deady. Ireland hoped, however, that the Caucus would not complicate dealings with non-democracies in the UN on issues with cross-cutting interests. -------------- Banning Human Cloning -------------- ¶5. Ireland supported Costa Rica's draft UN resolution against human cloning, said Deady. He noted that the cloning issue would continue to be divisive within and among EU Member States, with the UK the leading proponent of cloning research and Belgian and Sweden the strongest opponents. -------------- Reducing Middle East Tensions -------------- ¶6. Ireland would prefer to have fewer UN Middle East resolutions and to see EU positions reflected more clearly in such resolutions, said Deady. He recalled that the EU had coordinated to vote against or abstain on three Middle East resolutions in 2003 that were biased against Israel. Ireland had also sponsored a UN resolution against anti-Semitism in 2003, but had withdrawn the measure after failing to receive sufficient General Assembly support. Deady observed that there were likely to be more, rather than less, Middle East resolutions this year, due to concerns associated with the construction of Israel's security barrier. He added his impression that a number of Middle East resolutions were not so much anti-Israel as pro-Palestinian, emphasizing Palestinians' rights under international law. KENNY