The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, has insisted that multilateral co-operation is essential to ensure international security.
Speaking at an international Conference on Disarmament in Geneva today, Mr Cowen called on the international community to strenghten its efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
He said they had the potential to "destroy our world" and specifically called on North Korea to dismantle any nuclear weapons programme "in a visible and verifiable manner".
Mr Cowen said the international community must strengthen its efforts to prevent the "further proliferation" of WMDs and the danger that these weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. He also mentioned his concerns about the nuclear programmes of a number of other countries.
The Minister said that since Ireland joined in 1999, the Conference had seen "no work of any significance take place". He said political consensus was lacking on what steps should be taken in the multilateral arena on arms control and disarmament issues.
He said greater trust must be the basis of any negotiation and insisted that work should not be held "hostage to any single issue."
Mr Cowen added that disarmament and arms control were "essential elements in conflict prevention, in mitigating the impact of war and in addressing the problems of post-conflict situations".