Murphy singles out entry into force of the CTBT as the priority for 2015.

You can read the full debate here and watch my contribution here.

“I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.” These were the words of Oppenheimer when he witnessed the results of the first successful test of the atomic bomb he helped to create.

Every year on 6th August, a group of people meet in Merrion Square by a Cherry tree. It was planted in 1980 to commemorate the bomb victims of Hiroshima. The tree was planted by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). I would like to acknowledge all the hard work of David Hutchinson Edgar of the CND.

I was honoured to speak at this event when a Councillor and last year I attended it as a TD. It’s a small group usually, and generally quite a bit older than me. The Ambassador of Japan attends. The Ambassadors of the nuclear weapon states are invited, but have never been there in my time.

One would think, given the numbers, given the age of those in attendance, that we are commemorating an event in the past. We are. But we’re also trying to remember – to keep on remembering a problem that continues today.

I shouldn’t be interested in this. And I mean that in two ways. I shouldn’t be interested in it because really the problem shouldn’t exist anymore – that very real threat that these unique weapons pose, not just in their potential use, but in their very existence. Older, wiser, more experienced people than me should have already figured out the answer to this one.

But I shouldn’t be interested in it in the sense that it has fallen so far off the public agenda, that there is really no real reason for me to take an active interest in this cause. No one, beyond the die-hards, is really talking about it anymore. And that’s dangerous. Because the further this threat recedes from our memories, from public consciousness, the greater it actually becomes.

My interest is accidental. I went to study conflict resolution and I ended up studying weapons proliferation, and was fascinated by it. In my studies I came to see, both the important role of these weapons in shaping international history and international relations today. But also, the important role that Ireland has always played in this sphere. Who knew? And so I stayed with it, beyond my studies; and my adult working life, before politics – 4 years of it – was spent working on this issue: arms control, nuclear weapon disarmament.

I was very interested in how visionary we were – how bold and ambitious. In the world of nuclear weapon disarmament, in the formation and implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation and disarmament regime – we were world leaders, visionaries.

The Treaty began with us, with Frank Aiken and his fears in the late 1950s of the dissemination of nuclear weapons to terrorists. And it continued with us, in the New Agenda Coalition of the late 1990s, securing the 13 practical steps to nuclear disarmament at the 2000 Review Conference of the NPT.

We can’t say that about too many major international issues – that we were leaders, visionaries.

My sincere thanks to the Tanaiste and to the Government Chief Whip for allowing time to discuss this important matter. It is something I had raised with the Whip and he immediately recognised its importance.

And it is important: some of the key tensions that exist at the moment internationally concern the threat of nuclear weapon proliferation or the lack of nuclear weapon disarmament.

Whether we look at Cold War tensions that are resurfacing over proposed missile shields and new missiles over Europe; tensions in the Middle East and the growing isolation of Iran; the rush to war in Iraq and now its aftermath; the North Korean regime attempting to ape its perceived rivals and breaking many of the last taboos, not least those around testing; the dangers posed by unstable governments that have nuclear weapons in certain parts of the worlds; and, possible arms racing on the sub-continent.

That’s just now. It is wholly separate from the huge problems the existence of these weapons have caused since they were first invented. Think about it – from the inhabitants of the Polynessian islands, to the citizens of Nagasaki, to the victims of the rainbow warrior,to the people dying of hunger in North Korea.

We have a good reputation here, historically as a country. It is only right that the Dail consider these matters, so that our strong record and independent voice maintains, and that we are all given an opportunity to contribute to this most important of debates. I welcome all contributions.

We must recognise that, as parliamentarians, we have a different role to that of the government. And this is true in all modern democracies, which is why we have the Inter-Parliamentary Union, between countries, for parliamentarians, elected officials, to promote particular issues separate to their governments.

I was heartened to hear the Tanaiste respond so positively recently to the international joint Parliamentary Statement for a Middle East free from nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction. I would like to recognise all the good work that our diplomats are doing in this sphere and have done, particularly in relation to the NPT Review Conference in 2010 and our work around the area of securing a nuclear weapon free zone in the middle east. In this regard our work is very much aligned.

We begin now the process of preparing for the Review Conference of the NPT in 2015, with the first Preparatory Committee recently being held.

There is so much that needs to be done, so much progress still to be made. The middle east is an important area, absolutely. But if we are to expect the non-proliferation pillar of the NPT to remain standing then we must work on that other key pillar – disarmament.

We still have the capacity today to destroy all life on this planet, many times over. And if we do not progress our pursuit of disarmament and achieve greater reductions in nuclear arsenals, then that truth will not change.

We risk new countries entering the nuclear club. We risk existing members advancing their arsenals, rather than reducing them. We must bring disarmament centre stage if we are to have a chance of making progress with countries like Iran and North Korea. If we are to ever hope that those outside the Treaty who possess nuclear weapons will ever join it.

Ireland, as part of the New Agenda Coalition, helped negotiate the 13 practical steps in 2000. The very first of those steps was a commitment to bring in to force the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. By banning testing of nuclear weapons, possible new entrants are kept from becoming nuclear powers, and existing members cannot introduce new weapons in to their arsenals. A ban on testing means no new nuclear weapons and no new nuclear weapon states. If we are to get rid of these weapons, this is where we must start.

We have started, and started well. The CTBT has been signed by 183 countries. Its verification system of 337 stations around the globe, ensuring compliance with the Treaty’s provisions is almost complete. It has its headquarters in Vienna, where its executive Secretary Tibor Toth and his team are tirelessly working in pursuit of the Treaty’s goals. Good people, working hard for the betterment of us all. We are working with them.

Except for North Korea, no country in the world has tested or exploded a nuclear device in 14 years. The norm against nuclear weapon testing is established, it is robust. But regrettably it is not yet in force.

As part of its complicated ratification procedures, 8 states remain that must ratify the Treaty for it to become international law. These are: China, Egypt, North Korea, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States.

Entry in to force of the CTBT is the next logical step in the nuclear disarmament race. It is the next practical step. It is the next possible step.

Let us be visionaries again.

This should be our singular goal as we face 2015. This should be the result that we all work for. In the same way that 1995 is remembered for the indefinite extension of the Treaty, and 2000 for the 13 practical steps, let 2015 be remembered for achieving the CTBT. And let Ireland be remembered with it. That might sound ambitious for some. To others, not ambitious enough. I say we can do this, so let’s do it. All we can do is try. And if we fail, then we fail. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

Tomorrow will see the official opening of Ireland’s National Data Centre, in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. National Data Centres form part of the global alarm system for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation – the UN body set up to monitor for nuclear weapon testing. Getting our part of the Treaty’s verification network up and running shows how seriously Ireland takes its responsibilities in this area of international relations.

We’re a part of the system, we always have been. But now it is time to really start to shape it again.