Ireland
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, the Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said: ‘Ireland has long been committed to a world free of nuclear threats – but we see a world in which their place in security doctrines is growing, rather than diminishing. This must be reversed. The stark alternative is a new nuclear arms race.’ He condemned Russia’s multiple threats to use nuclear weapons in the context of the war in Ukraine.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 6 (33%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1968) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1999) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1972) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (21 Feb 1977) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Ireland participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023, for which it served as a vice-president. ‘The TPNW ensures that nuclear weapons are correctly considered as weapons of mass destruction and are comprehensively prohibited under international law. … TPNW States parties have created a legal framework that can help to implement article VI of the NPT as an effective measure and achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.’ It also described the TPNW as ‘an inclusive Treaty, encompassing not only States but also civil society, academia, international and regional organisations and, most importantly, victims and survivors of nuclear weapons testing and use’. 2
Between the First and Second meetings of States parties, Ireland and Thailand served as informal facilitators ‘to further explore and articulate the possible areas of tangible cooperation between the [TPNW] and the [NPT], and other relevant nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation instruments’. They reported to the Second Meeting of States Parties on their work,3 and will continue to serve as facilitators until the third meeting in 2025.
Ireland was one of the co-sponsors for the 2023 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.4
Recommendations
-
Ireland should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.