The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, has hailed an international agreement to ban cluster munitions after it was today formally adopted in Dublin.
The pact was the subject of talks between over 100 countries at a Croke Park conference over the past two weeks. It has been under negotiation since February 2007.
In his closing address to the conference, Mr Martin said: “Rarely have we seen such single-minded determination to conclude a convention with such high humanitarian goals in such a concentrated period of time.”
The group of participating nations does not include the United States, Russia or China but they were strongly urged today to support the treaty.
Mr Martin added: “We want ultimately to see it ratified by all member states of the United Nations. “We must work together to explain and argue for its provisions with those who are not here.”
The draft treaty will be signed by world leaders in Oslo on December 3rd, and then each nation must individually ratify it.
In a personal message to the conference, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon welcomed the successful conclusion and encouraged all nations to give it the green light.
He said: “I place the full facilities of the UN at the disposal of member nations to help them secure a speedy ratification.” Mr Ban also thanked the Irish Government for its influence in securing agreement.
Mr Martin said the Government was drafting domestic legislation and that he planned to introduce a Bill during the autumn session of the Dáil.
Cluster bombs are blamed for maiming or killing civilians in conflict zones across the world for several decades.
The countries signing up to the agreement have pledged not to use, make or sell cluster bombs, and to destroy existing stockpiles within eight years. Under the deal agreed on Wednesday, areas contaminated with bomblets scattered by the munitions are to be cleared and significant steps will be introduced to assist victims.
But powerful military states are refusing to join the agreement, and experts say the treaty is riddled with holes and could prove unworkable.
The United States, China and Russia have side-stepped the deal, and while Britain and other Nato states champion the ban, the treaty has loopholes that would permit British troops, for example, to benefit if an ally like Washington uses the weapons.
Dozens of international delegates rose to their feet and broke into spontaneous applause when the conference was formally closed by its president, Irish diplomat Daithi O Ceallaigh.
Mr O’Ceallaigh said earlier: “Our combined efforts over the past two weeks have helped to make the world a safer and better place.”
The negotiation process which led to today’s adoption of the draft treaty began in Norway in February 2007 and talks took place in several countries since then.
Norwegian Deputy Minister of Defence Epsen Barth Eide said the agreement was a symbol of how a “new norm” could be created in the 21st Century, just like the landmine ban at the end of the 20th Century.
He said: “Even though the treaty is not yet ratified, any military nation using cluster bombs tomorrow or next week or next month should think twice now because of what has happened in Dublin today.”
Officials and delegates also paid tribute to victims of cluster bombs for attending the conference and giving emotional testimonies of their experiences.
Cluster Munitions Coalition spokesman Steve Goose said hundreds of millions of cluster bombs would be destroyed by nations who had helped negotiate the treaty.
He added: “Military nations like China and Pakistan are not known for their transparency. But we’re certain that nations thinking of using the munitions won’t want to face the international condemnation that will rain down upon them because the weapons have been stigmatised now.”
Additional reporting PA