Dublin - Ireland has turned down a request from Australia to support a new whale sanctuary in the south Pacific when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meets in Adelaide next week, writes Lorna Siggins.
The Irish whaling commissioner, Mr Michael Canny, who also holds the chair of the IWC, intends to seek a postponement of the Australia motion. If the vote proceeds, however, Ireland will abstain.
"Normally, we'd support the idea, as we have a sanctuary in our own waters, but the timing just isn't right and is likely to raise the temperature at the meeting," Mr Canny said.
Ireland is understood to be concerned about the impact of such a proposal on Japan in particular, given that is has been seeking to have the moratorium on whaling lifted. An Irish proposal to create a global sanctuary for whales which would allow limited resumption of "traditional" whaling within 200-mile limits has aroused the opposition of a number of non-governmental organisations, while several other NGOs believe that it offers a compromise.