Security Council performance creditable given global realpolitik

PERHAPS the only way was down after Ireland’s landslide win in the UN Security Council elections which caused gasps of disbelief in at the organisation’s New York headquarters in October, 2000.

With 130 of the 173 available votes it was a triumph for a very professional campaign by the country’s diplomats and senior politicians.

Ireland had projected itself as a successful small country which had retained its neutrality and opposition to colonialism while showing empathy with the developing and poorer nations.