Micheál Martin defends ‘relevance’ of UN after Michael D Higgins says it is ‘losing credibility’

The United Nations is “losing credibility”, President Michael D Higgins has said in comments that have drawn a defence of the organisation from Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin.

The President used his opening address at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois, to take aim at the UN as political leaders including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gathered at its headquarters in New York to discuss issues including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine war and climate change.

“More and more, the UN is falling, is losing credibility,” Mr Higgins said.

“It is unable to stop war, it is unable to end famine, it is unable to stop conflicts, it is unable to manage migration.”

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Mr Higgins said the organisation could be “saved” by the influence of countries such as Ireland which “have no other aim or ambition other than a safe, sustainable, peaceful world”.

[ United Nations chief warns world is becoming ‘unhinged’ ]

Mr Martin, who is also attending the general assembly, said the UN was “far from irrelevant” although the organisation was in need of reform.

The Tánaiste said people tended to think of the UN in the context of its security council in New York. However, he said the organisation was “much, much more than that”. He pointed to the work of the UN in relation to refugees and the provision of relief to Palestinians in camps in Jordan, in Gaza and the West Bank as well as the World Food Programme.

“Millions people around the world who are destitute would be very much the poorer without the United Nations and agencies of the United Nations.”

He said in many respects the security council represented the world order after the second World War and needed to be reformed.

Giving his view on the matter, Mr Varadkar said the UN security council was “very much out of date”.

“Just think of India, for example, with 1.4 billion and major military and economic power now when at the time [the council was established in the 1940s] it was not even an independent country.”

India is not a member of the security council.

Minister for Environment and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the UN was the only mechanism for dealing with many of the world’s problems.

“The source of the problem is not the United Nations. The source of the problem is the lack of ambition in national government and lack of ambition to do the speed of change we need to do.”

World leaders are gathering at the UN general assembly in New York this week, with US president Joe Biden appealing on Tuesday to world leaders to stand with Ukraine against Russian invaders.

[ Letter to the Editor: President’s speech on UN was a call to action ]

Mr Higgins touched on a variety of topics during his opening speech, including global food security and the need to make “deeper changes” in the fight against climate change.

The President said those who had contributed the least to climate change were suffering the most, referencing the impact of the crisis on areas such as sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr Higgins also alluded to the ongoing debate about Ireland’s handling of Covid-19, saying people didn’t “suffer equally” during the pandemic.

Speaking to reporters after he gave his opening address, Mr Higgins welcomed news that the Government was moving ahead with plans to establish a Covid inquiry.

“I welcome… that there’s going to be a thorough review and there should be, and there should be a frank review,” he said, adding that there should be attention paid to the “aspects coming to the fore in nursing homes”.

The President, who tested positive for and recovered from Covid-19 in March of 2022, said that “people didn’t suffer equally during Covid”.

He was speaking after Mr Varadkar said both the Government and the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) made mistakes during the pandemic.

Speaking in New York on Monday, where he attended the UN Sustainable Development Conference, Mr Varadkar said that on reflection there should have been no easing of restrictions ahead of Christmas 2020 in light of the emergence of the Alpha variant of the virus.

Both the Government and Nphet had made “the wrong call”, the Taoiseach said.

“Nphet proposed one form of reopening which would have meant a lot of social interactions in private houses while the Government proposed a different reopening plan which involved some hospitality and some private houses.”

Speaking further about the matter on Tuesday, the Taoiseach said: “Nobody has a monopoly on wisdom and nobody should think they always got it right. And the Covid inquiry is going to look at those things.”

The Taoiseach said there had been no manual to follow or playbook about how to deal with the pandemic.

He said Ireland had one of the lowest excess mortality rates in the world.

“There were many more lives and livelihoods saved in Ireland than in other countries and our economic and social response was very good and we bounced back very quickly.”

In January 2021, after the Christmas season, more than 1,500 deaths were recorded due to Covid – the single worst month during the pandemic.

In a new autobiography, former chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said he still cannot understand why pubs and restaurants were allowed to remain open over that Christmas despite the clear Nphet advice.

“I cannot say that all of the deaths in January 2021 could have been prevented. But I think we should have prevented a lot more of them.”