TOP IRISH DIPLOMATS ON AFGHANISTAN, NORTHERN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 000550 SIPDIS EUR/WE PLEASE PASS TO ECONOMIC ENVOY TO NORTHERN IRELAND DECLAN KELLY; DEPT OF ENERGY FOR ANGIE PISCITELLI E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID ENRG AF EI SUBJECT: TOP IRISH DIPLOMATS ON AFGHANISTAN, NORTHERN IRELAND REF: A. KAMALA LAKHDHIR E-MAIL 12/17/2009 ¶B. DUBLIN 545 ¶C. DUBLIN 535 ¶D. DUBLIN 524 ¶E. DUBLIN 510 DUBLIN 00000550 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Daniel M. Rooney. Reasons 1.4(b/d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On December 17 Ambassador Rooney hosted a lunch with the top career officials in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The conversation focused on priorities for U.S.-Ireland relations such as Afghanistan and the Northern Ireland peace process. On Afghanistan, the Irish committed to a response by the January 28 London conference to our request for additional contributions. On Northern Ireland our interlocutors were cautiously optimistic that an agreement on devolution of policing and justice could be reached after the holidays, and that the parades issues could be delinked from the devolution issue. Other topics of conversation were post's 2010 renewable energy conference, food security, outreach to the Irish diaspora, and plans for high-level visits to Washington for Saint Patrick's Day. END SUMMARY. -------------- AFGHANISTAN: IRISH COMMIT TO A RESPONSE -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador and DCM kicked off the lunch with a strong reiteration of the importance of international support in Afghanistan (refs B, C, E). DFA Secretary General David Cooney responded that Ireland fully supports President Obama's strategy and will at the least do its best to continue to contribute at current levels. Political Director David Donoghue said the "political will" exists to increase Ireland's contribution; the DFA is engaged in talks with the Irish Justice Department in the attempt to identify police trainers who could go to Afghanistan. Two hurdles to overcome are that (1) attrition plus a tight budget has resulted in a shortage of police domestically; and (2) EUPOL, the European Union police training mission, did not accept a number of Irish nominees for the program. Also, although there is now excess training capacity at Ireland's police training institute, there is pressure (again, under the tight budget) to cut excess trainers rather than send them overseas. ¶3. (C) On development assistance, Fintan Farrelly of Irish Aid, a division of the DFA, said the good news was that the recently passed 2010 austerity budget had maintained the 2009 level for development aid of 0.52 percent of GDP. The bad news is that, with the current recession, this level translates to a Euro 38 million (USD 57 million) decrease in available funding compared to 2009. Farrelly said Ireland had doubled its development assistance to Afghanistan in 2008-09 to Euro 9 million (USD 13.5 million). Ireland would like to continue contributing at that level in 2010, but might not be able to increase the amount. ¶4. (C) Cooney and Donoghue wrapped up the Afghanistan discussion with a promise that Ireland would respond by January 28 (the date of the London conference on Afghanistan) to the USG request for additional contributions. -------------- NORTHERN IRELAND: DEVOLUTION AND PARADES -------------- ¶5. (C) DFA Northern Ireland Political Affairs Counselor Kevin Conmy reported on ongoing talks among the Irish and British governments and the parties in Northern Ireland (see refs A and D). The aim is now to get an agreement on devolution of policing and justice by January. Conmy said direct talks are under way between Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on contentious parades and on finding a way to deal with the parades issue in the long term. Leading the talks for the two sides are Sinn Fein Junior Minister Gerry Kelly and Deputy DUP Leader Nigel Dodds. Conmy said he believed that these talks, plus the December 16 announcement by British Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward that the Parades Commission would be reappointed for another year, would give DUP First Minister Peter Robinson a chance to back down gracefully from having made abolition of the Parades Commission a pre-condition for devolution. DUBLIN 00000550 002.2 OF 002 ¶6. (C) Conmy said Irish PM Cowen and British PM Brown would issue a statement soon (NOTE: the statement was issued in the evening of December 17) expressing confidence that devolution would be accomplished and that progress toward that end would be reviewed in early January. The purpose of the statement, Conmy said, would be to take the pressure off the parties to reach an agreement by the previously announced but now unachievable pre-Christmas deadline (ref A). -------------- POST'S CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Econoff briefed our interlocutors on the status of plans for post's May 10-11 all-Island conference on renewable energy to be held at the Irish government's Farmleigh House. Cooney and Donoghue were encouraged that the conference will bring together policymakers and businesses from both sides of the Border to interact with U.S. participants. They viewed this as a key contribution to bolstering the North's economy at a crucial time. (Note: The hosts of the event are Northern Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Investment, the Irish Department of Communications, Energy, and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Embassy in Dublin. End Note.) -------------- HIGHLIGHTING FOOD SECURITY -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Farrelly reiterated Ireland's interest in organizing a joint event with the U.S. on food security at the Millenium Development Goals Review Summit in New York in September ¶2010. He agreed to meet with us to discuss how to highlight our governments' shared commitment to food security in the run-up to the MDG summit. -------------- THE IRISH DIASPORA AND ST. PATRICK'S DAY -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Cooney reported that there would be a good number of cabinet-level visitors to the U.S. for the traditional St. Patrick's Day celebrations in March in Washington, D.C. He said he hoped also to take advantage of the occasion to continue the momentum created at the Global Economic Forum in Dublin last October, at which business and cultural leaders from the Irish diaspora, above all from the U.S., came together to share ideas on increasing the diaspora's economic and cultural ties to Ireland. ¶10. (C) COMMENT: On Afghanistan, our interlocutors are feeling the pressure to make additional contributions but remain noncommittal. Nonetheless, Donoghue's promise to respond by January 28, in time for the London conference, is a step in the right direction. On Northern Ireland, our take from Dublin is that ongoing talks among the parties are bearing fruit. Progress appears to have been made in delinking the parades issue from devolution, and with the pressure off to reach an agreement before Christmas momentum appears to be building toward reaching an agreement in January. END COMMENT. ROONEY