YouSaid · the spoken record

Eamon Gimore

lines on the record: 38
first: 2011-09-24
most recent: 2013-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Membership of the Council is a privilege for any State, and Ireland has been honoured to serve on it on a number of occasions. But the permanent members of the Security Council have a special responsibility to work together in a way that enables the United Nations to live up to the commitments made in its Charter. When the United Nations fails, or delays action, we are all the poorer for such setbacks. But when the United Nations works, we can achieve great things together. And those successes, such as the definition of a post-2015 development agenda, should serve as an inspiration and a springboard for the international community’s responses to the other great challenges of our time.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Ireland is a small State that is deeply committed to the United Nations and to the principles enshrined in its Charter. We are proud to contribute to the important efforts of the United Nations in peacekeeping, in conflict resolution, in development aid and in humanitarian action. There can be no doubt that the United Nations is the unique and indispensable forum where the peoples of the world share their collective concerns and determine to take action to make the world a better and a safer place. The membership of this Organization has conferred primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security on the Security Council. Accordingly, we look to the Council to show leadership in response to international crises.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the Assembly states that recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. It also states that those human rights should be protected in law. Today, instead of offering protection, we increasingly see legal measures being adopted to discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. I welcome the courageous leadership shown by the Secretary-General when he promised in April to lead a global campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. Ireland pledges its full support to the efforts of the Secretary-General, both here in the General Assembly and in the Human Rights Council.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“I know that we are ready to play our part in a new global partnership, and that it is only through this body, the United Nations, that it can be achieved. It is a matter of great pride to my country that Ireland was last year elected for the first time to the Human Rights Council. I warmly thank the Member States for their support in the election and the confidence they have placed in us. Ireland played a lead role in the adoption of two important resolutions by the Human Rights Council this week — one on preventable mortality of children under five; the other recognizing the important role played by civil society at the local, national, regional and international levels.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“In our own aid programme, my Government has prioritized hunger and malnutrition, a theme that resonates with Ireland’s own history. We have a very simple message about the vital importance of investment in nutrition for mothers and babies. We are leading supporters of the Scaling Up Nutrition movement, and we are committed to doubling our aid spending on nutrition by 2016. Ireland is today emerging from several years of an economic crisis that will soon be behind us. After many tough decisions and a lot of hard work, we are about to safely exit an international bailout and our economy is back on track. I am proud to say that despite the extremely difficult circumstances many Irish people find themselves in, we have sustained our commitment to the provision of development aid.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Ireland is proud to have co-facilitated the special event with South Africa and to have achieved an outcome document that will guide negotiations over the next two years on completing the MDGs and crafting the post- 2015 development agenda. I believe that when world leaders gather at the United Nations in 2015, we can and should be ready to adopt a new set of global goals aimed at achieving a sustainable, just and secure world for the future. I want to see a clear commitment to ending extreme poverty and hunger in a generation. I want to see specific commitments in relation to the empowerment of women and girls. And I want to see an integrated approach on climate change and a strong focus on climate-sensitive agriculture.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Nevertheless, fresh global challenges, such as climate change, are beginning to undermine the progress made. Communities in developing countries that have contributed least to the causes of climate change are suffering most from its effects. That is an injustice — clear and simple. It is a matter of fundamental human rights and equity. And it is critical for the future of all of our children, in a world which is reaching the limits of environmental sustainability, that this injustice be reversed. I had the privilege of taking part in this week’s special event on the Millennium Development Goals and co-chairing one of the round-table sessions.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Reversing those trends and creating a better future for the countless millions of impoverished people on our planet is, perhaps, the greatest moral and practical challenge we face today. We can, of course, draw inspiration and hope from our successes. And there have been successes. Thirteen years ago, at the United Nations, world leaders committed to taking tangible, measurable action to tackle global poverty. Huge progress has been made since then under the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Significant numbers of people have been lifted out of poverty. Millions of children are receiving primary education. Two billion people have access to improved water supplies, and HIV/AIDS and other diseases and pandemics are being tackled.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Violent conflict, such as that in Syria, is one — and the toll of casualties there is escalating daily. But there are many parts of the world where underdevelopment, malnutrition and disease exact an even greater toll. Around the globe, 870 million people — almost 200 times the entire population of Ireland — are living in extreme poverty and hunger. Every single day, 18,000 children die needlessly from preventable causes in the poorest and least developed regions of the world; 7,000 of them are children under the age of 5, who die because they are undernourished. One in every four children is stunted, most of them in the poorest countries. And every day, 800 women die because of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, for basic reasons that could have been prevented.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The Irish people are rightly proud of these soldiers and of the record of our Defence Forces, members of our police service and Irish civilians deployed in the cause of peace. I join other speakers at this rostrum in condemning the recent attack in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, which left dozens of innocent people dead and almost 200 injured. It was a chilling reminder that well-organized and ruthless international terrorist groups and networks are constantly searching for new locations and targets for atrocities. My profound sympathy and that of the people of Ireland go out to the victims of the attack and their families. We must be vigilant against terror and resolute in refusing to compromise our values in the face of such threats. Many factors contribute to human suffering.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We look forward to Iran’s serious engagement in meaningful negotiations, leading to full compliance with all of its international obligations, and hope that that will also contribute to the creation of a positive dynamic in the Middle East region. Ireland currently participates in seven United Nations peacekeeping missions, including each of the three missions in the Middle East. In response to a request of the Secretary-General, we are deploying Irish personnel to reinforce the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights. We are doing so to help ensure that UNDOF can continue to implement its mandate at a difficult time. Ireland’s deployment to that challenging mission is a signal of our deep commitment to the peacekeeping role of the United Nations.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“I want to commend in particular the determination and engagement of United States Secretary of State John Kerry, who has done so much to bring that about, and the leadership of President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu, who have had to accept difficult choices to begin the process of negotiation. We all know, and they know, that many more difficult choices lie before them if they are to succeed and to secure a comprehensive peace settlement. They deserve all our support. We are also encouraged by the stated determination of the new Iranian Government to address the concerns of the international community and build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The humanitarian efforts being made by Syria’s neighbours, including Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, are remarkable and deserve far more support from the international community. We should not underestimate the strain being imposed on those countries and the threats being posed to refugee populations. Ireland has contributed $15 million to the humanitarian operation, and we stand ready to do more within our means. Elsewhere in the Middle East, we also see the prospect of progress. In Ireland, we know what it takes to make peace after a protracted conflict. I want to acknowledge the work being done in the current direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, which all who wish for peace must welcome.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Peace can come only through all Syrians engaging in a genuinely inclusive process aimed at agreeing a new political dispensation in their country. The Security Council has expressed its conviction that there must also be accountability for what has occurred in Syria. The International Criminal Court exists precisely for that purpose. We owe it to the Syrian people to ensure that those responsible for the war crimes committed against them are brought to justice. There is also an urgent need to remove impediments to the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Violence against civilians must cease. All parties must facilitate unimpeded access to people in need throughout Syria and guarantee the safety and security of humanitarian personnel who perform their duties at enormous personal risk.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The resolution builds on the vital breakthrough achieved by the United States and Russia in agreeing to a framework for the complete elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons. Full compliance by the Syrian regime with its obligations is imperative. Ireland has already pledged €200,000 in funding to support the vital role of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, assisted by the United Nations, in implementing those arrangements. Crucially, the Security Council has called for the early convening of an international conference to address all aspects of the conflict. The inescapable reality is that the crisis can be resolved only politically, not militarily. I am greatly encouraged by the indications that the “Geneva II” conference could be held within a matter of weeks.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The utterly callous attack in Ghouta on 21 August marked a new low in the endless litany of horrors. From the very outset, Ireland has consistently argued that the United Nations and the Security Council must be central to any efforts to resolve the crisis and ensure that international law and basic human rights are upheld. And while it has taken much longer than we would all have wished, I welcome the decisive action the Security Council has now taken on Syria. Security Council resolution 2118 (2013) marks a watershed in the international community’s engagement on the crisis. It offers renewed hope and confidence that the United Nations is capable of discharging its responsibilities and meeting the aspirations and expectations of the peoples of the world.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Every day, the peoples of the world whom we are privileged to represent in the General Assembly look on in helpless horror at the slaughter in Syria. They can see gassed children lined out, dead, on their television screens. They can access online the facts about the 100,000 Syrians who have been killed; the 4 million who have been displaced; and the 2 million or more who have been driven into refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. The peoples who have sent us, Government leaders and diplomats, to speak for them in this Hall are asking, “Why can we not stop this slaughter and this suffering?” They see the conflict in real time. It is not taking place in a remote part of the planet. Its brutality is made more visible by modern technology.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Whether it is to bring peace to parts of the world ravaged by conflict, relief to those threatened by famine and starvation or protection to those afflicted by human rights abuses, we will make our contribution. We will stand up, in the Assembly and elsewhere, for fairness, for justice, for freedom and for equality, in the conduct of international relations.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Our chairmanship will be a practical demonstration of Ireland’s strong commitment to multilateralism and will draw on our own national experience of conflict resolution. Over the past week, the Assembly has heard of a formidable array of challenges facing the world. Peace and security, human rights, the elimination of hunger: these are among the great moral imperatives of our time. Underlying each of them is the need to assert the freedom and equality of all human beings. Now more than ever, the United Nations is demonstrating that it is the home for these fundamental values and goals and the arena in which we can best pursue collective solutions. Ireland will play its full part in the search for those solutions.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Key challenges for the year ahead include the implementation of the agreements reached at last year’s Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, as well as the negotiation of a robust arms trade treaty. We will maintain a strong focus on the implementation and universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin three years ago. Regional organizations have always been vital partners for the United Nations in the areas of peace, security and conflict resolution. Next year, Ireland will chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). We look forward to making our contribution to the resolution of the so-called protracted conflicts within the OSCE region.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Recently a 440-strong battalion of peacekeepers from the Irish Defence Forces returned to serve with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the first country to which we deployed peacekeepers more than half a century ago. A deep attachment to the values of freedom and equality and other core human rights principles underpins our candidature for election to the Human Rights Council at the elections to be held in 2012. If elected, we look forward to making a strong contribution to the work of enhancing the Council’s performance and promoting respect for human rights worldwide. We will continue to push for the disarmament machinery of the United Nations to become more responsive to twenty-first century imperatives.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In Ireland, despite the economic difficulties that we are facing, and because we recognize our moral obligation and our interests, values and principles as a member of the international community, development will remain at the heart of our foreign policy. We remain committed to the United 27 11-51384 Nations target of providing 0.7 per cent of gross national income to Official Development Assistance (ODA). We will continue to work to achieve that target. As Ireland will sustain its ODA effort, we will also maintain our longstanding engagement across critical areas of United Nations work. We remain strongly supportive of the vital role of the United Nations in peacekeeping and conflict resolution.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We know that climate change is disproportionately affecting their lives and their livelihoods. Their farms and livestock are less productive. Their coping mechanisms are less effective. Over time, they are vulnerable to abject poverty and despair. I believe that there is a compelling case for “climate justice”, namely, bringing developmental fairness to bear on the climate change agenda. The global financial and economic crisis presents major challenges for all of us in our efforts to maintain solidarity with developing countries. Aid budgets are under significant pressure. But we will not turn our backs on the world’s poorest.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The need to address the systemic global hunger crisis is, and will remain, central to Ireland’s development assistance programme. Our objective is to save lives today and build new futures for communities ravaged by hunger. The Scaling Up Nutrition movement, launched at the United Nations a year ago, makes a clear link between under-nutrition among mothers and babies and the building of a healthy, educated and prosperous society in the future. We need to act together now to provide long-term sustainable solutions that will decisively break the cycle of food shortages. We believe that a strong focus is essential on building the productivity of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, 80 per cent of whom are women and the primary care givers of children and providers of food, fuel and water.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“As we meet today in New York, some 12 million people are struggling to find food to keep their families alive in the Horn of Africa. Seven hundred and fifty- thousand are at imminent risk of death from hunger. The immediate cause of this crisis is drought, but its severity is the result of a combination of factors, including conflict, insecurity and persistent underdevelopment. We have a moral obligation to act in the face of such suffering. Ireland is providing over $67 million to the Horn of Africa in 2011 and 2012, in direct life saving humanitarian assistance and through measures to enhance food security. The clear lesson of previous humanitarian emergencies in Africa is that we must address the causes in order to prevent future crises.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The search for freedom and equality drives the enormously important work being done by the United Nations and by its individual Member States in the area of development. The Millennium Development Goals provide the essential framework for international development efforts up to 2015. As we look beyond 2015, the United Nations must remain central to the fight to end poverty and hunger in the world. A century and a half ago, the streets around this building where we now meet, and throughout this great city, were thronged with tens of thousands of Irish people who came here as refugees from famine. To this very day, the memory of that time remains with the Irish people. Hunger remains humankind’s greatest enemy.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In Ireland, we know from our own experience that peace does not come easily. It requires political will and difficult compromises. But we also know the benefits of peace. There can be no doubting the hugely transformative power for the Middle East region of a final end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The international community has invested far too much effort and resources over the past decades not to do all it can now to assist a return to direct talks by the two sides. In the words of Martin Luther King, we cannot ignore the fierce urgency of now. I again urge the Government of Israel to halt all settlement expansion. I also call on it to end the unjust blockade of Gaza by opening up land crossings to normal commercial, human and humanitarian traffic.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“What recognition of Palestinian statehood would do, however, is to give dignity and support to the 11-51384 26 Palestinian people, who have suffered for too long. It would also be a tangible demonstration of the commitment of the international community and the United Nations to an agreed settlement between two sovereign States, living side by side in peace, security and prosperity. The day will come, not too far off, when the General Assembly will be asked to vote on a proposal to admit Palestine as a Member of the Organization, or perhaps, as an interim step towards the achievement of that goal, to accord Palestine non-member observer State status. Provided that the resolution is drafted in terms that are reasonable and balanced, I expect Ireland to give its full support.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Some would seek to argue that Palestine cannot be recognized as a State because its borders remain to be agreed on. But if the borders of Palestine are still a matter for negotiation, then so, by definition, are those of Israel, which is rightly a full Member of the United Nations. Membership in the United Nations of itself, however, would not change the unstable and unacceptable situation on the ground. It does not remove the compelling need for negotiations. Nor will it offer a legitimate excuse to avoid negotiations. Whatever happens here at the United Nations, negotiations must resume as soon as possible. The statement issued last Friday by the Quartet provides a framework for precisely that.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Ireland has long been an advocate of the establishment of a sovereign, independent Palestinian State within borders based on those of 1967. We want to see the peoples of Palestine and Israel living as good neighbours in peace, security and prosperity as soon as possible — and this can come about only through negotiation. Ireland strongly opposes all action that serves to hinder or delay negotiations, such as violent attacks on civilians and their property or Israel’s illegal settlement of occupied Palestinian territory. The decision of President Abbas to seek membership in the United Nations for Palestine is entirely legitimate and understandable. Palestine has the same right to membership in the United Nations as Ireland or any other Member of this Organization.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“After 20 years of failed initiatives, disillusionment about the ability of the political process to deliver a settlement is deepening. Young Palestinians in particular are frustrated and despairing. The position of the moderate Palestinian leadership is under threat. Never has it been more important to show that politics works and that a peaceful, just and lasting settlement is within reach through negotiation. Everybody knows what a final and comprehensive settlement would involve: two States, based on the 1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps, living side by side in peace and security. It is more pressing than ever to launch direct negotiations that would address all the core issues and culminate in such an agreement within a specified time frame.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“President Al-Assad and his Government seem oblivious to the demands of the Syrian people for change and to the lessons of the Arab Spring elsewhere. They appear determined to respond with further oppression and violence. Our basic message to the Syrian leader is this: no leader who refuses to listen to what his people are saying and to act on their clearly expressed desire for peace and reform can expect to remain in power. In the Middle East peace process, the search for freedom and equality has yet to bear fruit. The Arab- Israeli conflict remains depressingly deadlocked. Unless this deadlock is broken, the opportunities for yet another generation of children will be destroyed. The situation in the Middle East is urgent.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Starting with the key Security Council resolutions 1970 (2011) and 1973 (2011), it has led international efforts to support the Libyan people. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the representatives of the National Transitional Council who took up Libya’s seat at the United Nations this week, and I pledge Ireland’s full support as they seek to rebuild Libya and to fulfil the democratic aspirations of the Libyan people. We cannot know the final outcome of the events we are witnessing. We must ensure that the democratic changes under way are consolidated and that the promise of profound improvements in human rights in the countries concerned, in particular in relation to the role of women, is fully realized. However, the situation in Syria continues to arouse the deepest international concern.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The people of the Arab Spring have stood up and stood together to assert their basic rights and freedoms: the right to choose their own leaders, the right not to live in fear of the knock on the door, the right to live freely and openly, the right to provide a decent life and a hopeful future for themselves and their families. They remind us that the human thirst for basic freedoms is unquenchable, and they should inspire us in the work we do here. In rising up to grasp their own destiny, the peoples of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya are tracing the path of those others, once in the shadow of the Iron Curtain, who, in demanding those ordinary freedoms, created extraordinary history. The United Nations has, of course, played an indispensable role in supporting these developments.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We have watched the people of the Arab Spring, who have asserted their rights and stood up to oppression and corruption. Tahrir — freedom — has now passed into all our vocabularies as a byword for all those no longer prepared to see their basic human rights suppressed. The events of the past nine months in North Africa and the Middle East are historic in their sweep and profound in their implications. These have been genuinely popular movements demanding reform, 25 11-51384 freedom and equality. The leadership role exercised within them by women has been striking and inspirational.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The United Nations is the embodiment of freedom and equality. It is a bulwark defending these core human values in a changing and uncertain world. Freedom and equality: these are the values that underpin Ireland’s response to key global and regional challenges. It is our deep commitment to freedom and equality that places Ireland in the vanguard of international efforts to resolve conflict, to create and maintain peace, to eradicate hunger and underdevelopment, and to put an end to human rights abuses around the world. The values of freedom and equality and the essential ideals of the Charter are not just words written on a page. Since we assembled here 12 months ago, we have seen them expressed in North Africa and the Middle East in a million acts of courage and liberation.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“No other organization is as well equipped to develop common answers to the big questions of our time. No other organization has the same global impact and legitimacy. With our increasing need for global solutions, the United Nations, which represents almost all the countries on earth, has the political, moral and legal authority to act. While there may be no easy answers to the questions being posed, our best chance of finding effective responses lies in the collective deliberation and action provided for by this Organization. Ireland is deeply committed to the United Nations. We look to it to uphold and defend the universal values of peace, security, human rights and development that are set out in the United Nations Charter. The Charter tells us that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We are living in times of breathtaking change. Much of it is good change: scientific and technological progress making real advances for humankind, an ever more interconnected world strengthening economic opportunity and developmental potential, the profound transformations that are sweeping through North Africa at present. But there is also much that is disturbing: violent conflict in many parts of the world, growing environmental damage to our planet, the ravages of a global financial and economic crisis, the continuing scourges of poverty, inequality, human rights abuses, terrorism and extremism and a range of other threats to global peace and security. To respond to these multiple and interrelated challenges, we have one constant anchor: the United Nations.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)