The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen, is visiting the Middle East at a time when the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is deteriorating daily into deeper violence and attracting more concerned international attention. He is the latest EU foreign minister to go there and has an important role to play ahead of Ireland's chairmanship of the United Nations Security Council next month. His message that political dialogue is an indispensable ingredient of peacemaking carries greater conviction by virtue of his own experience in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Mr Cowen's schedule of meetings reflects this Irish involvement in contemporary international affairs. Yesterday he met President Mubarak in Cairo and the Israeli foreign minister, Mr Shimon Peres, in Jerusalem. Today he is to meet President Yasser Arafat, possibly ahead of what could be a ground-breaking meeting between the Palestinian leader and Mr Peres, which has been discussed a great deal in recent weeks. Mr Cowen will go on to meet Syrian and Lebanese leaders before returning to Dublin.
Europe's involvement has gained some added credibility following its full engagement in last week's UN conference against racism in Durban. Ireland argued strongly against any EU withdrawal, following the walkout by the US and Israel in protest against rhetoric equating Zionism and racism. There is an opportunity now to develop the EU involvement, commensurate with its predominant role in providing aid for the Palestinians and interests in preventing regional war. The United Nations has always been central to the conflict, however skewed the permanent Security Council members' interests.
This shifting international setting, combined with deteriorating circumstances on the ground, could give Ireland a more central role in the weeks to come, amply justifying Mr Cowen's visit to the region. Whether it bears out the conciliatory message he brings is another matter. He emphasises the report produced by Mr George Mitchell's international group during the summer, calling for a ceasefire, a halt to Israeli settlement activity and a resumption of security co-operation between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Mr Cowen argues against a dogmatic insistence on a prolonged cessation of violence as a precondition to talks, as called for by the Israeli prime minister, Mr Sharon. Whatever about Mr Peres, regional leaders remain sceptical about whether Mr Sharon really wants to reopen peace talks which would expose divisions in his national coalition. Mr Arafat may prove more receptive to the message brought by Mr Cowen on behalf of the European Union and the United Nations, that the circumstances must be recreated in which initiatives for a resumption of dialogue contain their own political rewards.