[caption id="attachment_68998" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Taoiseach Enda Kenny wants to see Ireland on UN rights panel. "]
Some of its members over the years have been a little questionable on the matter of human rights but Ireland should pass muster when it
seeks election in 2012 to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the first time.
The move is based on Ireland's commitment to justice and peace, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said.
Mr. Kenny said that both within the country and in the wider world Ireland is "at the fore of promoting peace, justice, security and development."
"This is a commitment and an engagement that we take with the utmost seriousness and that is why, this year for the first time we are seeking election to the United Nations Human Rights Council," Kenny said.
"If elected, Ireland would support clear and strong action by the council in addressing human rights violations and in promoting universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms," he stressed.
Mr. Kenny was speaking on the 45th World Day of Peace and said that a commitment to justice and to peace was fundamental to achieving human rights."
"Through our participation in the European Union, in our ongoing commitment over many decades with a process that has led to peace on our island, and by our strong engagement with the peacekeeping forces of the United Nations, the Irish people have demonstrated an instinctive respect for peace, justice and human rights.
"It is absolutely right that these values are transmitted to the next generation," Mr. Kenny said.
