Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he cannot see “any scenario” in which Ireland can participate in US president Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace “as currently constructed”.
“Anything that in any way seeks to undermine, replace or usurp the United Nations is not something that Government would support,” he added.
But as Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan called on the Government to “categorically rule out” joining the board, Mr Harris stressed the importance of “process”.
Speaking in Brussels, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he would have concerns about the board of peace replacing the UN, but felt it could still be a vehicle to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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The remit of Mr Trump’s board of peace was “much more extensive” than had initially been envisaged by the UN resolution that led to its creation, he said.
“We’re very anxious to contribute to peace and conflict resolution in the Middle East and in Gaza,” he said.
The Government was seeking “clarification” on the role of the board, he said.
It was crucial that the United Nations remained the “key arbiter for peace in the world,” the Fianna Fáil leader said.
“We’re anxious to contribute to constant resolution and peace in Gaza and to support in a humanitarian way the situation there,” he said. Mr Martin was speaking on his way in to a summit of EU leaders on Thursday evening.
There was “interesting people” who had been put forward to work on technical committees as part of the board’s work, who the Taoiseach said he believed “can make a difference to Gaza”.
There remained a “dire need” for civilians displaced by Israel’s devastating two-year war to be provided shelter in the Palestinian enclave, he said.
“There are good people that have been nominated on some of the layers of governance that apply to Gaza, and that’s something that I’m interested in, and something that Ireland would like to contribute to,” he said.
There was potentially a role for Ireland to play helping efforts around the “decommissioning and disarmament” of armed groups, he said.
Mr Martin said he would have “concerns” that the US-led board of peace could be seen as trying to replace the UN.
Mr Trump is seeking $1 billion from countries for a permanent place on a board of peace aimed at resolving conflicts. The board was originally intended to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but the current iteration has broadened it out to global conflicts and does not reference Gaza.
Raising the issue in the Dáil, Mr O’Callaghan said the board was “little to do with peace in Gaza and everything to do with destroying the UN and making the world less secure and safe”.
A number of European countries including Sweden, Norway, France, Slovenia and the UK have said they will not be signing up.
Mr O’Callaghan asked: “Is there any outrage perpetrated by Trump that your Government is willing to take a strong and principled stand on”, as the Coalition had failed “to rule out joining Trump’s gang of war criminals”.
The Government’s stated position is that it is considering joining the board.
However, Mr Harris said there were “very serious red flags”.
Anything that Russian president Vladimir Putin is considering joining “with the word ‘peace’ in it doesn’t sit well”. There were also “very significant” governance issues and anything that sought to undermine or usurp the UN could not be supported.
The US president would be chairman of the board and would have power to designate his successor, appoint and remove board members. A government could pay the billion dollars and still be kicked off, Mr Harris pointed out.
He added that no EU leader had attended the signing ceremony for the board in Davos, apart from Hungarian president Viktor Orban.
Mr O’Callaghan also questioned the Tánaiste about the status of the Occupied Territories Bill and said Mr Harris had promised the legislation would be in the Dáil by November last and it had yet to be introduced.
He added that the Taoiseach in an RTÉ interview on Sunday “strongly hinted that the Occupied Territories Bill was dead in the water” and would not include services as part of the ban on goods produced in illegally occupied territories.
Mr Harris said Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee received the Attorney General’s advice just before Christmas and has submitted further questions to the Government’s legal adviser.
