Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 March 2026
96. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade her views on the need for UN Reform; if her attention has been drawn to the Article 109 campaign; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23098/26]
View answerThe UN Charter and the United Nations, alongside our membership of the EU, lie at the heart of Ireland’s foreign policy and our engagement with the world. 80 years after the courageous and ambitious establishment of the UN, and 70 years after Ireland joined, the UN remains essential to the promotion of human dignity and well-being and to efforts to resolve and prevent conflict.
It is also nevertheless necessary to acknowledge that the United Nations is an organisation in need of reform and reinvigoration if it is to effectively address the grave challenges facing the world today including poverty, climate change, a growing disregard for international law and threats to democracy and human rights.
It is in this context that I very much welcomed the UN80 reform initiative launched by UN Secretary General Guterres in March 2025. The initiative is designed to be a system-wide process to reform the organisation across each of the three pillars of the organisation: Peace and Security, Sustainable Development, and Human Rights. Ireland has stressed that reform cannot come at the cost of UN core values and that each of the three pillars should be protected.
It is essential that the UN’s Members demonstrate the political will necessary to assist the UN Secretary General in this process, to enable the organisation to adapt and improve. With this objective, Ireland, through our Missions in New York, Geneva, and other UN centres, and also in cooperation with our partners in the EU, is actively engaging with the reform process across all three work-streams. Ireland has called for transparency around the initiative and welcomes the proposal by the UN Secretariat to give monthly briefings on the process to members.
In relation to the Article 109 campaign, representatives from my Department have met with the organisation to discuss the goals of the project. For Ireland, reform of the Security Council is a priority and we have been clear on the need to increase the size of the Security Council to ensure sufficiently wide geographical representation. The under-representation of Africa in particular must be addressed. For Ireland, the priority is to find a model for reform that is fair, commands consensus, and which allows the Council to be more representative.
