VZCZCXRO2286
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHDL #0152 0980804
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080804Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUBLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9923
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES

UNCLAS DUBLIN 000152 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL PGOV EI
SUBJECT: IRISH FOREIGN MINISTER WELCOMES PRESIDENT'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS 
PLEDGE 
 
¶1. In an April 6 statement following the informal U.S.-EU Summit in 
Prague, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin, welcomed 
President Obama's commitment to work towards a world without nuclear 
weapons, a central aim of Irish foreign policy for over fifty years. 
 Martin said Ireland's highest priority in the area of disarmament 
and non-proliferation is to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty (NPT).  He welcomed the U.S. commitment to ratify the 
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and to strengthen the NPT.  President 
Obama's statement was also lauded by the Irish Campaign for Nuclear 
Disarmament.  Its Chairman, David Hutchinson Edgar, said the 
President's comments marked a welcome shift in U.S. government 
attitudes. 
 
¶2. Begin text of Minister Martin's remarks. 
 
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. 
 
End text of Minister Martin's remarks. 
 
FAUCHER