Ireland
Ireland is an example to be followed by other states, as it has adhered to all of the seven key treaties in the legal architecture on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It has also adopted dedicated national legislation to implement the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | Yes (Ratified 2020) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1968) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1999) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | No | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1977) | |
| AP with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2004) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1972) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| Test | 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 (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | 7 (35.5%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | No |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | No |
Latest developments
At the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) to the TPNW in 2022, Ireland was appointed as an informal co-facilitator, together with Thailand, ‘to further explore and articulate the possible areas of tangible cooperation' between the TPNW and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and other relevant nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation instruments.1 In this capacity, the two states co-organised a number of side events and other activities throughout 2024.
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2024, the Minister of State of Ireland, Seán Fleming, announced that his country would propose a resolution ‘to further our collective scientific understanding of the dangers [nuclear] weapons pose’.2 It was subsequently adopted with the support of 136 states, establishing a UN panel tasked with examining ‘the physical effects and societal consequences of a nuclear war’.3 It will be the first UN study of its kind since 1989.
At the NPT Preparatory Committee session in July 2024, Ireland said that the ‘TPNW is fully consistent and complementary with the NPT and creates a legal framework to assist the implementation of Article VI [of the NPT] as an effective measure towards achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world’.4 Furthermore, it noted that ‘the TPNW has broken new ground in its approach to women, peace and security’.5
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, Ireland said that it was proud of its leadership on nuclear disarmament, including its ‘significant contribution’ to the TPNW, which ‘complements and strengthens’ the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. ‘However, we must face reality: progress on nuclear disarmament has been far too slow and we now live at a time of unprecedented nuclear risk,’ it added.6
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Ireland said that the ‘increasing reliance on nuclear weapons in security doctrines, extensive quantitative and qualitative improvements in weapons systems, and reductions in transparency’ are evidence of the continued undermining of the disarmament and non-proliferation architecture.7
Ireland was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force and 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’.8
Recommendations
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Ireland should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.