Minister for Foreign Affairs Welcomes President Obama’s Call for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
An Roinn Gnóthaí Eachtracha Preas Ráiteas
Department of Foreign Affairs Press Release
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Minister for Foreign Affairs Welcomes President Obama’s Call for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Micheál Martin T.D., has warmly welcomed President Obama’s commitment to work for a world without nuclear weapons. This augurs well for a new era in global efforts to achieve a nuclear weapons- free world, a central aim of Irish foreign policy for over fifty years.
Minister Martin said:
"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."
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6 April 2009
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