YouSaid · the spoken record

Simon Coveney

lines on the record

56

first

2017-09-24

most recent

2018-09-24

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

1. “The United Nations has led the global effort to eradicate smallpox, end apartheid, promote arms control, save the lives of millions of children through UNICEF and protect our cultural heritage through UNESCO. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a stand-out recent achievement. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have the power and potential to transform our world, addressing the root causes of poverty, inequality and instability. However, their potential can be realized only through a strong and confident multilateral system that empowers Member States to reach the ambitious but necessary targets we have set ourselves. Having played an important role in facilitating agreement on the SDGs in 2015, Ireland is committed to their implementation, domestically and through our foreign policy. Failure should not be an option here.”

   2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

2. “Local and regional issues, from climate change, migration, armed conflict and hunger to the destruction of the marine environment in certain parts of the world, often become global issues, including in corners of the world that are far from the origins of the problems. The enormous scale of the challenges that face the world might lead some to question whether multilateralism and the United Nations are up to the task. My response is that we can be, and we must be. When properly mobilized, when we pull together and move from debating halls like this Hall to actually getting things done on the ground, we can move mountains together. The United Nations delivers extraordinary results, such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.”

   2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

3. “By working together, we lay foundations of trust, align our perspectives more closely and accept our differences more willingly. Perhaps most importantly, we build habits of cooperation that better allow us to address the common threats and opportunities that we should be facing together.The alternatives — unilateralism, transactional diplomacy, protectionism and confrontation — are not, in fact, viable at all. Their short-term populist appeal obscures their long-term cost. Surely we have learned that from history. We are living in an era when local and global challenges are intersecting with increasing force. Today’s problems do not carry passports or recognize international borders. There are no unilateral solutions to the vast majority of the global challenges that we face together.”

   2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

4. “It is because Ireland is small, outward-looking and heavily dependent on external trade for our own well-being that we pursue an active foreign policy. As Ireland’s experience in the European Union has shown us, we are far stronger acting collectively than we are acting alone. Partnership and cooperation has brought peace and prosperity to the European continent. In fact, for Ireland, our membership of the European Union, working closely with other member States, has strengthened our independence and self- confidence and security rather than diminished it. It is therefore through collective actions that we reinforce our own security and well-being, which is what the United Nations needs to be all about. The case for international cooperation and multilateralism is compelling.”

   2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

5. “My country, Ireland, has kept faith with the United Nations since we joined as a young republic that had fought hard for its own independence and saw being a Member of the United Nation as fundamental to its future and the future security of its people. Over 60 years later, we still do. Our faith has not been misplaced, and it is as strong today as ever. However, we certainly have something to say about the future of the Organization and the role we believe it must play in reducing suffering across the globe and securing a shared peace and security and prosperity for everybody. Given our history as a small country, with its own troubled past, we see very clearly the advantages of a rules-based order in international affairs.”

   2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

6. “Allow me to begin by offering Ireland’s sympathy to all those in Mexico affected by the devastating earthquake earlier this week and to commend those who have been engaged in the heroic rescue operations of the last few days. I also want to extend condolences to the representatives of people in the Caribbean islands, who are facing extraordinary difficulties following the recent, relentless hurricanes. Now is no time for business as usual at the United Nations. The international community is facing unprecedented challenges and must respond. I am here because I think that this Organization matters. It is an Organization that now faces daily challenges to its political authority and management missions.”

   2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)