The need to tackle the roots as well as the symptoms of conflict in today's world will be highlighted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, when he addresses the UN General Assembly today in New York. The Minister will point to lessons from the Northern Ireland peace process which could be applied in the Middle East, such as the futility of seeking an exclusively military solution and the need to intensify dialogue.
While reiterating Ireland's support for Security Council resolution 1368, which recognised the US right to self-defence after the atrocities of September 11th, Mr Cowen will point out that the events of that day also crystallised the need for multilateral action through the UN to tackle the underlying causes of modern conflict such as poverty, under-development, disease - especially the AIDS epidemic - and the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons.
He will stress the need to implement the declaration agreed by world leaders at last year's Millennium Summit of the UN to take steps to remedy the situation where three billion people were living on less than two US dollars per day.
Reiterating that participation in the UN is a cornerstone of Irish foreign policy, he will remind the General Assembly of the obligation on member-states to ensure that the world body is an effective force for peace, disarmament, sustainable development and the alleviation of global poverty.
Along with other EU foreign ministers, Mr Cowen was briefed at the weekend by the UN Special Representative in Afghanistan, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi, who is attempting to put together a transition administration to succeed the Taliban regime. It is believed Mr Brahimi stressed the importance of ironing-out differences between Pakistan and Iran on the composition of a post-Taliban government, given their affiliations with significant ethnic and religious groups in Afghanistan.