South Africa's ambassador to Ireland, Ms Melanie Verwoerd, has said there is "deep frustration" over a threatened US boycott of a world conference against racism which her state is hosting this month.
The US has threatened to stay away from the United Nations conference unless African states drop calls for explicit apologies for slavery and colonialism.
It is also backing Israel in a standoff with Arab states which want strong condemnation of Israeli "racism" against Palestinians in a declaration to be agreed at the conference.
With just over a week before the summit starts, the US has yet to announce if it will attend the event in Durban, stewarded by the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson.
The US and former colonial states fear litigation if their governments formally apologise for centuries of slavery. They also say it is legally unacceptable for African states to seek to describe slavery as a crime against humanity, as customary international law at the time did not oppose it.
African states have dropped controversial calls for direct compensation for slavery and colonialism, and instead are seeking increased development aid from Western countries.
Speaking in Dublin yesterday, Ms Verwoerd said a US pull-out from the conference would leave a question over who would pay its proportion of the event's cost, which is shared among UN member-states.
"Of course it would be very sad for South Africa if we ended up with that kind of bill, given our social demands and economic needs for those who've been affected by racism in the past," she said.
Commenting on the threatened boycott, Ms Verwoerd said: "There's certainly deep frustration about it and individuals would feel quite angry about it. I think there is deep concern about the conference.
"It's important that it works. It's important for humanity that it works. Although we understand the problem about the conference, about reparations and the possibility of legal challenges, I think it usually doesn't take that much to say sorry when people have been really and fundamentally and deeply hurt, either as individuals or as groups," she said.
"And I think whether that recognition comes in the form of an apology or else just a recognition, it is vital that it should happen that past injustices, that the historic context of where racism comes from and where it was placed and how various human rights abuses took place, that that is acknowledged for the sake of healing around the world."
Ms Verwoerd said the conference, from August 31st to September 7th, was vital. "We are absolutely committed to it as South Africans and I think as Africans as a whole and it should work. Something concrete must come from it."
The Irish delegation will be headed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr O'Donoghue.
Ms Verwoerd made her remarks during a visit to a social inclusion organisation in the Liberties area of Dublin. Workers from the South Inner City Community Development Association gave the ambassador a briefing on their work tackling poverty and social exclusion.
Father Michael Mernagh from the association said its links with the Resource and Development Foundation in the Western Cape was a natural move because of his organisation's focus on social inclusion.
Ms Verwoerd said it was fantastic to strengthen the links between Ireland and South Africa, particularly among "society's most vulnerable".
See also page 9