Minister Peter Burke, right, with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

Burke speaks at UN

Minister for European Affairs Peter Burke last week travelled to Brussels and on to New York to attend an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly for a debate and vote on continued Russian aggression in Ukraine.

The resolution called on Russia to immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine and for a cessation of hostilities. It came on the one-year anniversary of the Ukraine war.

The resolution passed by a majority, after diplomats from key states worked in the background for a significant number to vote in favour were quietly hoping for 140. In the end, the results were 141 member states in favour and seven against - Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. Among the 32 abstentions were China, India and Pakistan.

Speaking this week, Minister Burke said it was a positive experience to see how the mechanics of the UN work and to speak on behalf of Ireland.

“The UN is a busy and hectic place, with 193 countries represented from all variety of political systems. It was strange to see representatives from both Russia and Ukraine in the same room as well as countries both for and against the Ukraine war, which is a different scenario to what I find when in Brussels and meeting with European ministers.

“It was also great to see the strong reputation which Ireland holds in the UN, and the respect our diplomats receive when it comes to brokering deals and bringing countries along with us in such votes. I met officials from the Department of Defence and held bilateral meetings with UN Defence officials, who spoke of Ireland’s unbroken record since the 1960s of peace keeping worldwide, which is a record among our colleagues.

“I also took the opportunity to meet UN officials who cover European politics and disarmament to understand their take on recent developments.

“The ambassador to the UN and the Irish Consulate were involved in organising a screening of An Cailín Ciúin, or the Quiet Girl, so it was great to meet the cast and congratulate them on their Oscar and BAFTA nominations. I also attended a dinner and took the opportunity to chat to American Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well as British Foreign Minister James Cleverly.”