The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has failed to clarify whether the Government would commit Irish troops to a UN force in Iraq at his speech this afternoon to the United Nations General Assembly. However he said he would be recommending to the Dáil that troops be sent on UN peacekeeping duties to Liberia.
Throughout his speech, Mr Ahern stressed the primacy of the United Nations as a touchstone of Irish foreign policy and did not respond directly to US President George W Bush's call for "all nations of goodwill . . . [to] step forward and provide that support".
While Mr Ahern was unequivocal about the need for all countries to abide by decisions by the UN in relation troop involvement in conflict areas, he also said he believed Article 51 of the UN Charter should be reconsidered.
Article 51 governs the conditions under which member states have the right to act in self defence.
"The development of weapons of mass destruction in the period since the signing of the Charter, and the appearance of non-state actors with the capacity for mass destruction, raise serious questions as to the point at which a State might consider it necessary to act in self-defence," Mr Ahern said.
He added, however, that the Government would be deeply concerned at the widespread acceptance of a doctrine of pre-emptive strikes.
"Given the ever more lethal nature of modern weapons, the risk of widespread death, destruction and escalation are enormous," he said.
"Striking pre-emptively, would be to pre-empt the risk of conflict through a wide range of steps in the diplomatic, economic, humanitarian and other areas".
It is too late to intervene at the moment refugees "begin to flood across the borders", he said, adding the international community could not stand by in a situation where human rights were being flagrantly contravened.
Turning to the Middle East, Mr Ahern urged both Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate a peaceful settlement.
While he called on the Palestinians to reject violence as an option, he said Israel would have to recognise a viable Palestinian state based on the basis of borders drawn up in 1967 if peace was to be secured.
"Israel should immediately reverse its policy of building settlements, by-roads and a security wall on Palestinian territory," he said.
On Northern Ireland, the Taoiseach said that developments over the next few weeks would have a crucial bearing on whether elections would be held in an atmosphere that is conducive to forming a working administration on the other side of the polling date.
He did not, however, make any indications as to when such elections would be.
He also announced the intention of the Government to recommend to the Dáil that Ireland's Defence Forces would participate in the forthcoming United Nations peacekeeping operation in Liberia.