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Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney T.D., today participated in a ministerial meeting of the Alliance for Multilateralism, during the 75th session of the UN General Assembly.

At the meeting, Minister Coveney underlined Ireland’s support for international cooperation in the struggle against shared challenges.

COVID 19 has reminded us of the stark choice that we face — between acting collectively in the face of global challenges, or of acting alone, in our own self-interest. We know from history that if we take the latter approach, we will fail.

Minister Coveney stressed that Ireland will use its upcoming Security Council membership to promote multilateralism and respect for international law, and to address issues such as climate change and gender inequality. 

As Ireland takes up its seat on the Security Council in January, our approach will be consistent with the values that we reaffirm today, underpinned by three overarching principles: Building Peace, Strengthening Prevention, and Ensuring Accountability. 

 

The meeting was co-hosted by the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Participants endorsed a Declaration of Principles reaffirming that the major challenges of our time, by their nature and global scope, cannot be addressed by countries separately but must be tackled jointly.