The United Nations should be reformed to reflect changes in the world since the end of the second World War, a former Irish ambassador to the UN has said.
Mr Noel Dorr said the composition of the UN Security Council, currently divided over plans by the US and Britain to attack Iraq, should be reconsidered "so as to reflect more closely the real distribution of power in the world".
In a speech to a meeting in Armagh of the Lions International group, he said there was a need to reconsider the application of state sovereignty in the face of atrocities such as the genocide in Rwanda. The major powers could do much to enable the Security Council to prevent such events, he said.
Mr Dorr asked: "Should it have some kind of limited standing UN force, which could be used in such a case? More generally could an organisation which is dedicated to the maintenance of international peace and security agree to develop and give effect to a new concept of humanitarian security?"
He said President Bush was claiming a right to act unilaterally on Iraq to enforce Security Council resolutions. Thus it was legitimate, but not anti-American, to be deeply concerned about the dangers of the US pursuing a different agenda to the UN.