US embassy cable - 04DUBLIN1286

UNCLAS DUBLIN 001286 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, ECON, PHUM, KDEM, AORC, UNGA, UN 
SUBJECT: IRISH REACTION TO U.S. UNGA INITIATIVES 
 
REF: A. STATE 152009 
 
     B. DUBLIN 1260 
 
1.  On August 31, Post delivered ref A talking points on U.S. 
initiatives for the 59th UN General Assembly to John Deady 
and Julian Clare, Director and First Secretary, respectively, 
of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) UN Section. 
 
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Economic Freedom 
---------------- 
 
2.  Ireland adheres to the principles of the Monterrey 
Consensus and is skeptical of innovative financing mechanisms 
for official development assistance, such as the 
International Financing Facility and global taxation schemes, 
said Deady (echoing views of Irish aid officials in ref B). 
Qualifying this remark, Deady noted that Ireland administered 
education programs in developing countries without making 
good governance a condition for assistance, in contrast, he 
said, to the approach used for the Millennium Challenge 
Account.  He explained that Ireland saw this as a 
"chicken-and-egg situation," whereby improvements to primary 
and secondary education in such countries helped to improve 
the prospects for good governance. 
 
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Trafficking in Persons 
---------------------- 
 
3.  Ireland and the EU would support any UN resolution that 
would enhance international efforts to combat trafficking in 
persons (TIP), observed Deady.  He added that TIP was a 
serious problem that would continue to occupy the EU 
Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Home 
Affairs, particularly with the trafficking of young persons 
out of eastern Europe. 
 
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Promoting Democracy 
------------------- 
 
4.  Ireland is a member of the Democracy Caucus and supports 
increased cooperation among Caucus members on the promotion 
of human rights and the rule of law, according to Deady. 
Ireland hoped, however, that the Caucus would not complicate 
dealings with non-democracies in the UN on issues with 
cross-cutting interests. 
 
--------------------- 
Banning Human Cloning 
--------------------- 
 
5.  Ireland supported Costa Rica's draft UN resolution 
against human cloning, said Deady.  He noted that the cloning 
issue would continue to be divisive within and among EU 
Member States, with the UK the leading proponent of cloning 
research and Belgian and Sweden the strongest opponents. 
 
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Reducing Middle East Tensions 
----------------------------- 
 
6.  Ireland would prefer to have fewer UN Middle East 
resolutions and to see EU positions reflected more clearly in 
such resolutions, said Deady.  He recalled that the EU had 
coordinated to vote against or abstain on three Middle East 
resolutions in 2003 that were biased against Israel.  Ireland 
had also sponsored a UN resolution against anti-Semitism in 
2003, but had withdrawn the measure after failing to receive 
sufficient General Assembly support.  Deady observed that 
there were likely to be more, rather than less, Middle East 
resolutions this year, due to concerns associated with the 
construction of Israel's security barrier.  He added his 
impression that a number of Middle East resolutions were not 
so much anti-Israel as pro-Palestinian, emphasizing 
Palestinians' rights under international law. 
KENNY