The Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs is currently in New York for the last few days of Ireland's presidency of the UN Security Council. Brian Cowen is also there and will introduce the committee to secretary-general Kofi Annan on our last day in the chair on Wednesday.
Committee members in New York (there is no Dβil next week) are chairman Des O'Malley, Michael D. Higgins, Michael O'Kennedy, Ben Briscoe, Jim O'Keeffe and Liam Aylward. They will sit in on several of the UN debates, including the major discussion on East Timor. Ireland's presidency has been dominated by the war in Afghanistan, anti-terrorism measures and humanitarian efforts, as well as behind-the-scenes activity on the Middle East and routine work on Africa.
Cowen will be back in New York again for the postponed General Assembly meeting, starting on November 9th.