At the Ireland-Finland Seminar on the
Modern Challenges in Peace Operations
Wednesday 12th May 2010 - Davenport Hotel, Dublin
President Ahtisaari, Ambassadors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am very proud to be here today to mark the opening of this seminar on Modern Challenges in Peace Operations. I would like take this opportunity to thank both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Finnish Embassy for organising this joint seminar and for giving me the opportunity to present the opening address.
I would particularly like to welcome today’s keynote speaker, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, the former President of Finland and Nobel peace prize winner. As well as making a significant contribution to our own Northern Ireland peace process Mr Ahtisaari has played a central role in ending conflict across the globe. As we in Ireland are all too well aware, conflict resolution is a complex business requiring mediators to untangle a combination of ethnic, religious, political or racial beliefs. It is in recognition of his tireless efforts in this area that we congratulate Mr. Ahtisaari on his Nobel Prize.
In the context of today’s discussion Mr. Ahtisaari will be joined by a range of expert speakers from international organisations such as the UN, the EU, and the OECD. Also, senior representatives from the Irish and Finnish Foreign and Defence Ministries and Defence Forces will actively contribute to the discussions. I am sure that this will lead to very interesting “Questions and Answers” sessions and we look forward to hearing your experiences at first hand.
The search for sustainable peace poses one of the greatest challenges to human development. In an era of increasing globalisation the gains made by those with the means to access the global economy are being offset by ethnic and religious divisions and through the unequal distribution of economic wealth within countries. The result is a rise in the number of armed conflicts, which have, in turn, unleashed untold levels of violence and human suffering in the lives of innocent civilians.
Over the last decade, the nature of peacekeeping operations has changed extensively. Within the European Union, the evolution of the Common Security and Defence Policy has placed greater responsibilities on individual Member States both collectively and individually, to contribute personnel to crisis management operations. The development of European military capabilities is particularly important, as together we seek to support the Union in responding to the challenges of an increasingly more globalised world and in supporting the United Nations.
Today’s seminar will give us the opportunity to look at twenty-first century, peace support and crisis management operations which have become an increasingly important concept incorporating conflict management, conflict resolution, capacity building and security sector reform. Peacekeeping operations are a fundamental component of Irish foreign policy and a reality for our Defence Forces personnel.
In 2008, the Irish Defence Forces commemorated the 50th anniversary of Ireland’s first participation in a peacekeeping mission. Ireland’s first involvement in United Nations peacekeeping was in 1958, three years after Ireland gained membership of the United Nations Organisation. On that occasion, fifty (50) Irish Officers were deployed to the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon and tasked with ensuring that there was no illegal infiltration of personnel, or the supply of arms, or other material across the border between Lebanon and Syria. Ireland’s first troop contribution came shortly after, in 1960, with its contribution to the UN mission in the Congo.
Since 1958 members of the Defence Forces have manned observation posts, stood guard or patrolled a zone of separation somewhere within the world’s most volatile places. This is a unique record and one of which the Defence Forces and the Irish people are justifiably very proud.
Indeed, Ireland is regularly approached as a source of peacekeeping personnel and expertise. Relative to our size, available resources and capabilities, both financial and military, Ireland has been proportionately a very large peacekeeping contributor within the international community.
The timing of this seminar allows me the opportunity to express my gratitude to the Finnish armed forces whose personnel are currently serving with our own troops in Chad. Unfortunately, earlier this year, the Government of Chad requested the UN to withdraw the military component of MINURCAT. This created significant uncertainty for all involved, particularly as the discussions continued for so long and given the imminent onset of the rainy season. Operating in close co-ordination with the Finnish authorities and my Ministerial colleague from Finland, we jointly sought some assurances from the UN regarding the future of the mission and the nature of its mandate. However, it was not possible to get that clarity, and I therefore sought and obtained Government approval for the withdrawal of our troops from this mission. This was not a decision we wanted to have to make and my absolute preference at the time would have been to continue to fully participate in the MINURCAT mission. Events since then, however, have reinforced the decision made by the Irish Government.
As we understand it, the character of the MINURCAT mission will change significantly from 16 May. There will be an initial and immediate drawdown of a significant part of the force, with the remaining troops restricted to guarding the UN Camps. MINURCAT will go non-operational in October and the force will be finally withdrawn by the end of the year. The force will have no civilian protection remit, and will not undertake escorts or patrols. It will be confined to static protection activities within the UN Camps, to protect UN personnel and equipment located there.
It is my considered view that the future role envisaged for this mission, with the absence of any civilian protection remit, creates an unsatisfactory situation on the ground and is not the type of mission in which Ireland would wish to participate. The whole trust of our participation in crisis management operations is to contribute to the development of a safe and secure environment for refugees and displaced persons and to facilitate the free movement of humanitarian workers, NGOs and the UN. Without this, we would see little point in the continuing our contribution to the mission.
Modern Challenges in Peace Operations
Wednesday 12th May 2010 - Davenport Hotel, Dublin
President Ahtisaari, Ambassadors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am very proud to be here today to mark the opening of this seminar on Modern Challenges in Peace Operations. I would like take this opportunity to thank both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Finnish Embassy for organising this joint seminar and for giving me the opportunity to present the opening address.
I would particularly like to welcome today’s keynote speaker, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, the former President of Finland and Nobel peace prize winner. As well as making a significant contribution to our own Northern Ireland peace process Mr Ahtisaari has played a central role in ending conflict across the globe. As we in Ireland are all too well aware, conflict resolution is a complex business requiring mediators to untangle a combination of ethnic, religious, political or racial beliefs. It is in recognition of his tireless efforts in this area that we congratulate Mr. Ahtisaari on his Nobel Prize.
In the context of today’s discussion Mr. Ahtisaari will be joined by a range of expert speakers from international organisations such as the UN, the EU, and the OECD. Also, senior representatives from the Irish and Finnish Foreign and Defence Ministries and Defence Forces will actively contribute to the discussions. I am sure that this will lead to very interesting “Questions and Answers” sessions and we look forward to hearing your experiences at first hand.
The search for sustainable peace poses one of the greatest challenges to human development. In an era of increasing globalisation the gains made by those with the means to access the global economy are being offset by ethnic and religious divisions and through the unequal distribution of economic wealth within countries. The result is a rise in the number of armed conflicts, which have, in turn, unleashed untold levels of violence and human suffering in the lives of innocent civilians.
Over the last decade, the nature of peacekeeping operations has changed extensively. Within the European Union, the evolution of the Common Security and Defence Policy has placed greater responsibilities on individual Member States both collectively and individually, to contribute personnel to crisis management operations. The development of European military capabilities is particularly important, as together we seek to support the Union in responding to the challenges of an increasingly more globalised world and in supporting the United Nations.
Today’s seminar will give us the opportunity to look at twenty-first century, peace support and crisis management operations which have become an increasingly important concept incorporating conflict management, conflict resolution, capacity building and security sector reform. Peacekeeping operations are a fundamental component of Irish foreign policy and a reality for our Defence Forces personnel.
In 2008, the Irish Defence Forces commemorated the 50th anniversary of Ireland’s first participation in a peacekeeping mission. Ireland’s first involvement in United Nations peacekeeping was in 1958, three years after Ireland gained membership of the United Nations Organisation. On that occasion, fifty (50) Irish Officers were deployed to the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon and tasked with ensuring that there was no illegal infiltration of personnel, or the supply of arms, or other material across the border between Lebanon and Syria. Ireland’s first troop contribution came shortly after, in 1960, with its contribution to the UN mission in the Congo.
Since 1958 members of the Defence Forces have manned observation posts, stood guard or patrolled a zone of separation somewhere within the world’s most volatile places. This is a unique record and one of which the Defence Forces and the Irish people are justifiably very proud.
Indeed, Ireland is regularly approached as a source of peacekeeping personnel and expertise. Relative to our size, available resources and capabilities, both financial and military, Ireland has been proportionately a very large peacekeeping contributor within the international community.
The timing of this seminar allows me the opportunity to express my gratitude to the Finnish armed forces whose personnel are currently serving with our own troops in Chad. Unfortunately, earlier this year, the Government of Chad requested the UN to withdraw the military component of MINURCAT. This created significant uncertainty for all involved, particularly as the discussions continued for so long and given the imminent onset of the rainy season. Operating in close co-ordination with the Finnish authorities and my Ministerial colleague from Finland, we jointly sought some assurances from the UN regarding the future of the mission and the nature of its mandate. However, it was not possible to get that clarity, and I therefore sought and obtained Government approval for the withdrawal of our troops from this mission. This was not a decision we wanted to have to make and my absolute preference at the time would have been to continue to fully participate in the MINURCAT mission. Events since then, however, have reinforced the decision made by the Irish Government.
As we understand it, the character of the MINURCAT mission will change significantly from 16 May. There will be an initial and immediate drawdown of a significant part of the force, with the remaining troops restricted to guarding the UN Camps. MINURCAT will go non-operational in October and the force will be finally withdrawn by the end of the year. The force will have no civilian protection remit, and will not undertake escorts or patrols. It will be confined to static protection activities within the UN Camps, to protect UN personnel and equipment located there.
It is my considered view that the future role envisaged for this mission, with the absence of any civilian protection remit, creates an unsatisfactory situation on the ground and is not the type of mission in which Ireland would wish to participate. The whole trust of our participation in crisis management operations is to contribute to the development of a safe and secure environment for refugees and displaced persons and to facilitate the free movement of humanitarian workers, NGOs and the UN. Without this, we would see little point in the continuing our contribution to the mission.
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