Historic UN vote defies nuclear threats from Trump and Putin

The United Nations General Assembly has approved the final stage of a resolution to launch negotiations in 2017 on a new treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons, by a majority of more than three to one. The proposal was originally introduced by Ireland, Austria, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and Nigeria, and gained the approval of the General Assembly's First Committee, which deals with disarmament and security issues, in October. 

The historic vote, carried on the evening of 23rd December, offers the possibility of ending decades of stalemate in nuclear disarmament, coming at the end of a week which saw both Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president-elect Donald Trump speak of intensifying their countries' nuclear weapons capacities. 

Welcoming the vote, the Chairperson of the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, stated, "A treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons would provide an important step towards the elimination of these horrific weapons of mass destruction. It would close the loopholes in the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty which a small number of states have exploited to avoid their clear obligations in relation to nuclear disarmament under that treaty."

"The aggressive comments this week from two countries with huge nuclear arsenals show that they have little intention of complying with even their limited legal obligations to disarm under the Non-Proliferation Treaty," he continued. "We believe that this demonstrates the urgent necessity for other countries to seize the initiative from the aggressors and pursue a clear legally-binding treaty which will stigmatise and outlaw these horrific weapons of mass destruction. Even if nuclear-armed states do not participate in the negotiations, it would be grossly irresponsible for the rest of the world to do nothing." 

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons' Executive Director, Beatrice Fihn, stated, “Every nation has an interest in ensuring that nuclear weapons are never used again, which can only be guaranteed through their complete elimination. We are calling on all governments to join next year’s negotiations and work to achieve a strong and effective treaty.” 

“We believe that, through its normative force, the nuclear weapon ban treaty will affect the behaviour of nuclear-armed nations even if they refuse to join it. It will also affect the behaviour of many of their allies that currently claim protection from nuclear weapons, including those in Europe that host nuclear weapons on their territory. It will contribute significantly towards achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world,” she said. 

Biological weapons, chemical weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions are all explicitly prohibited under international law. Nuclear weapons remain the only weapons of mass destruction not yet outlawed in a comprehensive and universal manner, despite their well-documented catastrophic humanitarian and environmental impacts. A number of recent studies have also demonstrated that the risks of accidental or intentional detonations of nuclear weapons have been dramatically underestimated or misunderstood.

United Nations backs Irish-sponsored nuclear disarmament resolution by large majority

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a historic resolution to begin negotiations in 2017 on a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons. This decision heralds an end to decades of paralysis in multilateral nuclear disarmament efforts.

The resolution will set up a UN conference beginning in March next year, open to all member states, to negotiate a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”. Ireland, along with Austria, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa, was one of the lead sponsors of the resolution. 

A large majority - 123 nations - voted in favour of the resolution, with 38 against and 16 abstaining. Biological weapons, chemical weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions are all explicitly prohibited under international law. But only partial prohibitions currently exist for nuclear weapons.

The Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament warmly welcomes the decision to start talks on a ban treaty, and, in particular, Ireland's role in promoting the resolution. The Chairperson of Irish CND, Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, stated, "A treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons would provide an important step towards the elimination of these horrific weapons of mass destruction. It would close the loopholes in the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty which a small number of states have exploited to avoid their clear obligations in relation to nuclear disarmament under that treaty. 

"A nuclear weapons ban treaty would intensify the global stigmatisation of nuclear weapons, and would ramp up pressure on the nuclear weapons possessors to accept the abolition of nuclear weapons as a legal necessity. As this vote shows, it would reflect the will of a clear majority of the world's nations. 

"Irish CND welcomes the key role played by officials of the Disarmament Section in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in framing and promoting the resolution. We also welcome the statement issued today by Minister Flanagan in support of the start of negotiations next year. It is very positive to see Ireland again taking the lead in attempts to rid the world of the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction."

The vote in favour of the resolution has been widely welcomed by campaign groups internationally. Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), said, “Today’s vote demonstrates very clearly that a majority of the world’s nations consider the prohibition of nuclear weapons to be necessary, feasible and urgent. They view it as the most viable option for achieving real progress on disarmament. This treaty won’t eliminate nuclear weapons overnight,” she continued. “But it will establish a powerful new international legal standard, stigmatizing nuclear weapons and compelling nations to take urgent action on disarmament.”

Ireland to sponsor UN resolution on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons

Ireland is one of six countries sponsoring a landmark resolution for the United Nations General Assembly, proposing that negotiations begin in 2017 on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Austria, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and Nigeria are also sponsoring the draft resolution, which will be voted on in late October or early November. 

The announcement has been widely welcomed by international advocates for nuclear disarmament. “This is an historic breakthrough in global efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons. A treaty banning nuclear weapons will be of enormous importance in establishing a clear, legal rejection of these weapons by the majority of the international community and has the potential to jump start the nuclear disarmament movement – even in the face of resistance from the nuclear-armed states,” said Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which represents 440 organisations in almost 100 countries, including Ireland.

The Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Irish CND) has warmly welcomed the announcement, made by the Austrian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday. "Nuclear weapons still have the capacity to wipe out life on earth as we know it, and even limited use would inflict catastrophic humanitarian harm and cause serious environmental damage," said Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, chairperson of Irish CND. 

"This resolution opens the way for the first legally-binding step forward on nuclear disarmament in decades. A treaty banning nuclear weapons would play a very important role in stigmatising the production and possession of nuclear weapons, as well as their use or the threat of their use. It would send a clear signal internationally that the vast majority of states, who do not possess nuclear weapons, will no longer accept the possession and modernisation of these weapons of mass destruction by a handful of states.

"We are delighted that Ireland is one of the states sponsoring this resolution," he continued. "International peace and disarmament are areas in which Ireland has a long tradition of active engagement and leadership. It is reassuring to see that despite our economic woes in recent years, Ireland is still continuing to make its voice heard in working internationally for a world free of the unthinkable potential for destruction represented by nuclear weapons."

The proposal seeks to break decades of deadlock in nuclear disarmament, which has seen nuclear-armed states exploit a loophole in the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to avoid the disarmament obligations implied by that treaty. Ireland's participation builds on a long tradition of leadership in nuclear disarmament, with the Non-Proliferation Treaty widely acknowledged as the brainchild of Irish diplomacy in the 1950s and 1960s. 

The newly-published resolution builds on the report of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Nuclear Disarmament, which met for several sessions in Geneva this year and recommended, in accordance with the majority view at the Working Group meetings, that a resolution along these lines should be brought to the General Assembly. 

Irish CND joins condemnation of North Korean nuclear test

As confirmation emerges of North Korea's largest underground nuclear explosive test to date, the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has joined with other international civil society organisations in strongly condemning this act. 

"Nuclear weapons are the most notorious weapons of mass destruction ever developed," said Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, Chairperson of the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. "They are in effect weapons of genocide, capable of killing thousands, possibly millions of people in one blast. They cause immeasureable humanitarian suffering and environmental damage. They have no place in civilised society. We urge the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to desist from any further nuclear explosions and to rejoin international processes for nuclear disarmament." 

"We call on all nuclear armed states to engage in negotiations leading to the elimination of nuclear weapons," he continued. "The possession and modernisation of nuclear arsenals by a small number of states acts as an incentive to states like North Korea to acquire these horrific weapons. Non-nuclear-armed states like Ireland have an important role to play within the international community in keeping up pressure to stigmatise, ban and eliminate nuclear weapons." 

Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN, of which Irish CND is a member), Beatrice Fihn, stated, "We are calling on the international community as a whole to prohibit the use, production, testing and stockpiling of nuclear weapons, just as it has prohibited biological and chemical weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions. A treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, even if not universally supported at its outset, would greatly strengthen the global norm against nuclear weapons. It would represent a clear declaration by the international community that nuclear weapons are unacceptable not only for North Korea but for all nations."

More than 15,000 nuclear weapons remain in the world today, with all nine nuclear-armed nations investing in the build-up and modernisation of their arsenals. As North Korea has pursued its nuclear programme, so too have other nations, often without media scrutiny or widespread condemnation. Last month a UN Working Group in Geneva, backed by Ireland, recommended that a conference be convened in 2017 to negotiate a “legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

UN Working Group recommends talks on treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons

In its final session in August, the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on nuclear disarmament voted by a large majority in favour of recommending to the General Assembly that negotiations begin in 2017 on "a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their 15 total elimination". 

The move is a clear signal that non-nuclear-armed countries and civil society organisations have lost patience with the failure of nuclear-armed states to engage in meaningful disarmament negotiations under the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty, relying on a loophole in that treaty to claim that nuclear weapons are not illegal under international law. 

International disarmament campaigners have welcomed the outcome as a breakthrough on the path towards eliminating nuclear weapons. “There can be no doubt that a majority of UN members intend to pursue negotiations next year on a treaty banning nuclear weapons,” said Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). “This is a significant moment in the seven-decade-long global struggle to rid the world of the worst weapons of mass destruction,” 

Irish CND welcomes the strong support shown by Irish representatives at the OEWG in Geneva for the inclusion of the recommendation to begin negotiations in the group's report to the General Assembly. Together with Austria - like Ireland not a member of NATO - Ireland defied the trend for European states either to oppose the adoption of the report or to abstain in the vote. 

71st anniversary of bombing of Hiroshima marked by Dublin ceremony

On Saturday, 6th August, Irish CND hosted the annual commemoration of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, marking the 71st anniversary of the bombing. The ceremony of words, music and silence was held in Merrion Square Park, in Dublin, at the memorial cherry tree planted by Irish CND in 1980. 

Opening the ceremony, Deputy Lord Mayor Mary Freehill recalled Dublin becoming a member, over 20 years ago, of Mayors for Peace, established by the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to work for a nuclear-weapons-free world. She repeated Dublin's commitment to that vision, and called for the prompt negotiation of an international treaty to outlaw and eliminate nuclear weapons. 

Irish CND President, Patrick Comerford, denounced those who would threaten the world with nuclear weapons today, and reiterated Cllr Freehill's call for all countries to join in negotiating a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. 

The Japanese ambassador, Her Excellency Mrs Mari Miyoshi, Canon Patrick Comerford, President of Irish CND, Cllr Mary Freehill, Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, David Hutchinson Edgar, Chairperson of Irish CND

Speaking at the ceremony for the first time, the Japanese ambassador, Mrs Mari Miyoshi, talked of the terrible suffering of the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which has continued many years after the bombing. She thanked Irish CND for organising the commemoration, and spoke of Japan's commitment to ensuring that nuclear weapons are never used again. 

Musicians Junshi Murakami (Irish harp), Philip Horan (Japanese flute) and Máire Úna Ní Bheaglaoich (accordian) contributed several pieces of reflective music, which for many of those present, expressed a depth of feeling beyond words in response to the horror of nuclear weapons. Poet Hugh McFadden read one of his poems reflecting on the bombing. A minute's silence was observed following the laying of a white chrysanthemum wreath at the cherry tree by the Deputy Lord Mayor, on behalf of the people of Dublin. 

Irish CND wishes to thank the Parks Department of Dublin City Council for its assistance with the commemoration. 

Annual Commemoration of the Hiroshima Bombing, 6th August 2016

The annual commemoration for the victims of the Hiroshima atomic bomb will take place on Saturday, 6th August, the 71st anniversary of the bombing, at 2.00 p.m. at the memorial cherry tree in Merrion Square park, Dublin 2.

Approximately 16,500 nuclear weapons remain in the world today. While this is less than the Cold War peak, it is still enough to destroy life on earth as we know it many times over. 

The ceremony will take place at the memorial cherry tree planted by Irish CND in 1980. The commemoration will be opened by Cllr Mary Freehill, representing the Lord Mayor of Dublin. Mrs Mari Miyoshi, the Japanese Ambassador to Ireland, and Canon Patrick Comerford, the President of Irish CND, and will also speak. There will be short contributions of poetry and music from Irish and Japanese artists (weather permitting) and the laying of a wreath at the memorial tree. Representatives of several other embassies will also be in attendance. 

This annual ceremony gives us all an opportunity to stand in solidarity with the victims of these horrific weapons of mass destruction, and to affirm our determination to work for their elimination, the only way to ensure that the ghastly events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will not be repeated. Please do come and attend this moving and inspiring ceremony if you can.

Speakers and musicians at the 2015 Hiroshima Commemoration in Merrion Square