IRISH FOREIGN MINISTER WELCOMES PRESIDENT'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS

UNCLAS DUBLIN 000152

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL PGOV EI
SUBJECT: IRISH FOREIGN MINISTER WELCOMES PRESIDENT'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PLEDGE


1. In an April 6 statement following the informal U.S.-EU Summit in
Prague, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin, welcomed
President Obama's commitment to work towards a world without nuclear
weapons, a central aim of Irish foreign policy for over fifty years.
Martin said Ireland's highest priority in the area of disarmament
and non-proliferation is to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT). He welcomed the U.S. commitment to ratify the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and to strengthen the NPT. President
Obama's statement was also lauded by the Irish Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament. Its Chairman, David Hutchinson Edgar, said the
President's comments marked a welcome shift in U.S. government
attitudes.


2. Begin text of Minister Martin's remarks.

I am greatly encouraged by the renewed focus placed on nuclear
disarmament by President Obama in his major speech in Prague
yesterday and in his joint statements with Russian President
Medvedev last week. He is right to recognise that the vital efforts
to curb nuclear proliferation will be greatly strengthened by a
parallel demonstration of good faith by those who now hold nuclear
weapons. I am particularly pleased by President Obama's commitment
to the immediate and aggressive pursuit of US ratification of the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the negotiation of a new treaty
that verifiably ends the production of fissile materials intended
for use in nuclear weapons. Ireland's highest priority in the area
of disarmament and non-proliferation is to strengthen the NPT
(Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and to ensure full respect for
all its provisions. I am therefore heartened by President Obama's
explicit commitment to strengthening the NPT. This offers real
hope for the future.

Next year's NPT Review Conference will be a key test of the
commitment of the United States and other Nuclear Weapons States.
The stakes are high. Commitments undertaken by all NPT States in
1995 and 2000, but largely ignored since then, must be taken forward
and fully implemented. Ireland will spare no effort in working with
all States for an ambitious outcome to the 2010 Conference and
progress towards the achievement of a nuclear weapons free world.

End text of Minister Martin's remarks.

FAUCHER