Patrick MacGill Summer School:Climate change is now "a global emergency" and Ireland has a moral obligation to play its part, according to Minister for the Environment and newly-elected Green Party leader, John Gormley.
Accepting the criticism that Ireland has been "a delinquent nation", Mr Gormley said Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions record has been poor, but he intended to ensure that Kyoto commitments are met.
"But if a small developed and prospering nation like Ireland could manage to break the link between prosperity and greenhouse gas emissions then we can show true leadership," he said.
He rejected the argument that Ireland is so small that nothing it does will matter to global CO2 levels, he said some in Ireland "believe that a little bit of global warming in Ireland would be no bad thing", particularly after recent weather.
"But that view fundamentally misunderstands the global impact of climate change, from which Ireland will not escape," he told the Patrick MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal.
Flooding, higher sea levels, drought and desertification in other parts of the globe will have "profound impacts on Ireland", even though they will occur thousands of miles away.
"This vista of famine, flood and pestilence will lead to the displacement of more than one billion people by the end of the century, possibly more. Such numbers of refugees are barely comprehensible," Mr Gormley said.
Meanwhile, former Labour Party leader, Ruairi Quinn said the EU should not accept any more new states for years to come until it has become a stronger force in world affairs.
"I believe the EU should take stock and strengthen its existing edifice, which is still fairly fragile," he said, adding that it should first operate more effectively together. The United States and others want the EU to spend its time coping with new members, rather "than being a strong and effective force, economically, or on the global stage".
However, the consequences of "telling Turkey to go away are too horrific to be contemplated", warned Roger Liddle, a key adviser to European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso.
A "social unease" displayed in the EU's larger member states could be "very damaging" for the prospects for closer ties between EU states.
"Unless we find ways of addressing that social unease then the potential that the union has to be a force for good in the world may not be realised."
Minister of State for Europe, Dick Roche said the Charter for Fundamental Rights "encapsulates the principles that have brought civilised peace . . . It speaks to the heart. I am at a loss to understand the allergic reactions to the charter in some quarters," said Mr Roche, who added the Government is not trying to opt-out from it.
