 Ladies and gentlemen, this evening, to deliver the Ivy House lecture, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Thank you, Mr. Minister Charles Flanagan and Mr. Brandon Halligan, Chairperson of the Institute of International and European Affairs, Mr. Niel Borges, Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, former President Barry Robinson, and Mr. Tom Arnold, the Director General of the Institute of International and European Affairs. And I'd like to recognize, as the Foreign Minister did, Honorable Mr. Niam Cosgrave, who was the Foreign Minister at the time of admission of Ireland into the United Nations, and thank you for your contributions, for your country, and for the United Nations. I got the inspiration from your participation today. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your very warm welcome. I'm honored to visit Ireland at this time. Crucially important time for Ireland, United Nations, Ireland is celebrating 60th anniversary of your admission into the United Nations, World Organization. We are now celebrating 70th anniversary. What is more important is that it's not the age, how old you are. What you have achieved and what you can do for humanity in the coming years. That's why I'm here. I really wanted to have much, much strengthened a partnership between Ireland and United Nations. Here in Dublin Castle, one can feel Irish history very powerfully. In that spirit, I'd like to begin my remarks today with a bit of United Nations archaeology. You may be curious. In preparing for this visit, I dug up an old speech that was delivered through the General Assembly. I quote, the people we represent, said the Ambassador, are entitled to expect that above the claimer of our differences, there will also be heard in our debates the voice of reason and justice. And the quote. The United Nations, he said, can draw on the, again, quote, almost the limited resources of courage, energy and imagination, which, as the history proves, exist among the nations represented here. And the quote. And it concluded, again, quote, the program still remains, how best to draw on these resources for the common good rather than squander them in mutual destruction according to the cruel usage of the past. And the quote. These words, which I quoted, may seem to highlight the very challenge the human family faces today. Yet they were uttered in 1960 by Ireland's Frederick Bolland as he assumed his duties as the President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1960. They have come a long way over the decades, but there is much distance to travel to achieve a peaceful and harmonious world order. As it happens in October of that year, you may remember very well Ambassador Bolland presided over the famous meeting at which then-Soviet President Nikita Husshev used his shoes to make his point. There are some reports that in trying to restore the order, Ambassador Bolland just hit so hard his gavel, so gavel was broken. Even in the early years in the United Nations, Ireland punched above its weight. That's why I admire Irish people and your spirit. Other generations and many thousands of Irish men and women have now served the United Nations in various capacities across six decades of membership. Ireland's imprint has been huge and historic. Well, out of proportion to the country's size and your population, some of those good friends are here today. I'd like to recognize Mary Robinson. I just recognized former President of Ireland and now working as my Special Envoy on Climate Change, Patrice O'Brien, Ambassador, former Undersecretary General for Legal Affairs at the United Nations Headquarter. Now you are a prominent Ambassador, a prominent representative in Geneva. Nikita Sutherland, my Special Representative for International Migration. You must have seen him recently quite open on media. And Ambassador David Donahue, he's now doing very important work. He's one of the two core negotiators, facilitators on sustainable development agenda. Ireland shows the ability of small states to make a big difference. Ireland took the first steps that led to the landmark agreement of NPT, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Good Friday Agreement that ended the conflict in Northern Ireland showed how countries can avoid condemning their children to endless cycles of violence. Last week's moving handshake between Prince Charles and Gary Adams was another reminder of how far you have come. Not so long ago, such an encounter would have never been possible, even to conceive. Ireland has emerged successfully from a deep economic and fiscal crisis, but while Irish unemployment rose, Ireland worked hard to provide aid to other countries. In going through your own period of austerity, you refused to inflict it on others. Ireland is outward looking, connected to the world. The United Nations figures prominently in your foreign policy and your identity. I also feel a certain kinship on a more personal level. Ireland is said to have the world's most beautiful golf courses. I was unfortunate that I had only to walk around these courses because of time limit. As you may know, Koreans are said to be among the world's most avid golfers. We are a good team. In this period of partnership, I want to talk to you today about what we can do together as we strive for greater progress across the three pillars of the United Nations, peace and security, development, and human rights. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, let me start where Ireland stands out in our pursuit of international peace and security. Ireland has participated in 36 United Nations peacekeeping missions since 1958. You are in Congo during the throes of decolonization. You are there in warlord-dominated Somalia in the 1990s. Today, you are in the Middle East from Lebanon to the Golan Heights. Your soldiers and police continue to earn the respect of the international community. Moreover, Ireland has not shied away from risk and hostile environment. We have gone where that these are with one aim only to protect the vulnerable. The United Nations is also grateful for Ireland's strong support of mediation. You know the cost of conflict in a direct and personal way and continue to help us strengthen our work to resolve conflicts peacefully. You can see those costs in the multiple crises that are happening at this time. From Syria and Iraq to South Sudan, suffering is on the rise and solutions are remote. Humanitarian needs in Yemen are escalating rapidly. The recent five-day post, humanitarian post in the fighting was far too brief. As regrettable that despite the appeals from international community, including the United Nations, Yemenis decided to resume their fightings. I call yet again for a complete cease-fire immediately and return to dialogue. In this 70th anniversary this year, we must also look beyond the emergencies and consider the deeper issues that spell success or failure in keeping the peace. Many of today's conflicts involve a complex web of internal grievances and external interests. The lines between transnational criminals and terrorists are blurry. It's not clear. We are seeing systematic sexual violence that is horrifying in its quality, scale and impact. The changing nature of conflict requires new thinking and approaches. I have appointed a high-level panel to recommend ways of our peacekeeping, political and peacebuilding operations can better address today's conflicts. The last review of our peace mission took place in 2000 by Lakhda Brahimi. During the last 15 years, a lot of changes have taken place. Our peacekeepers now deployed on certain cases where there is no peace to keep. Because civilians are being killed and the human rights are abused totally. So Security Council, upon my recommendation, for the first time, has to deploy peacekeepers where there is no peace to keep. We have deployed force intervention brigade to pursue and to enforce peace. Many of the peacekeepers are now working in very dangerous circumstances. And the UN flag itself, which used to be protection for us, UN staff and UN peacekeepers, they do not respect, they attack United Nations. That's why we have to change our way of doing business. They are working in asymmetrical theatres. That's why I asked the high-level panel, please consider all these situations very seriously, carefully, and let me have your recommendations. We have a full support of Security Council on this. I have also launched the Human Rights Upfront Initiative in strengthening our ability to engage early to protect against serious violations and atrocities. Why we are working so hard is, after all, United Nations is to protect human rights and human dignity so that everybody can live without any fear in their safety and security. The name of peace and security, human rights should not be abused. We cannot give up our human rights. Human rights should be up-fronted in our important pillars. We are also working to maintain the integrity of peacekeeping itself. We are forced to protect people who need to have a duty to uphold the highest standards of conflict. The sexual violence by peacekeepers, we are taking zero tolerance policy. It's a firm and clear, and loud and clear. The Disarmament Agenda is another priority. I'm grateful to Ireland for ratifying the arms trade treaty last year, so soon after its adoption. The major advance comes at an otherwise very disappointing moment for disarmament and non-proliferation as the NPT review conference, which was held until last week for four weeks, has not been able to adopt a consensus document. There are still differences, very serious differences of positions among member states, while this nuclear proliferation is a source of grave concern for global peace and security. I look through Ireland to maintain its leadership and commitment and help sustain momentum in a number of areas, particularly in disarmament areas. Ladies and gentlemen, we are addressing peace issues, development and human rights issues. We have experienced that there will be no peace without development. Development cannot be promoted without security and safety. Therefore, peace and security, peace and development should go hand in hand. It is a tightly interconnected. In months ahead, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to praise the world on a more peaceful, sustainable and equitable path. Let me just lay out three most important priorities which the United Nations, all member states of the United Nations, are working very hard. First, in July in Addis Ababa, the Conference on Financing for Development will offer an opportunity to agree on a framework for the resources that are needed. In September, the United Nations has decided to convene a special summit meeting for three days where we are inviting the leaders of the world to address and adopt this sustainable development agenda with the set of sustainable development goals. This year is the deadline year for Millennium Development Goals, 15-year vision, which has been largely successful but not fully realized. So we should have a successful development vision. That is a sustainable development agenda, post-2015 development agenda. We hope that leaders will come and adopt ambitious and visionary and implementable practical visions for our development. That is what Ambassador David Donahue is doing. I sincerely hope that he will exercise, demonstrate his leadership and make it happen. Second, another one in December in Paris. We have a hugely important responsibility to adopt a climate change agreement. International Committee has been discussing this matter during at least during the last 20 years without making any progress while climate change phenomenon has been hitting and impacting all throughout the world. There is no boundaries between developed and developing world. There is no boundaries in geographically. So it is coming. We sincerely hope that the world leaders will show their political leadership to adopt ambitious universal and very meaningful climate change agreement in December. Those are three priorities which we must realize by the end of this year. That's why I'm traveling, I'm coming particularly to Ireland as one of the champion countries and as one of the EU member states. I count on your strong engagement and leadership. Ireland has been a champion of efforts to conquer hunger. But today one cannot be a leader on hunger without also being a leader on climate change. The rise in extreme weather associated with climate change could drastically reduce harvest and decorate arable land. I encourage Ireland to align its climate effort with its admirable work against hunger. For too long the response to the climate change has been hindered by interest, national interest and those who question the science. Now by this time the science has made it simply clear that climate change is happening, happened because of human behavior. It's only natural that it's us, a human being, who has to answer to the nature's call. I often been saying that nature does not negotiate, nature does not wait, they go, nature goes on its own path. It is us, we have to adjust ourselves to this changing situation. People say that we may be stepping on a tipping point depending upon where you set foot. We may just fall into chaotic situations, very deeply regrettable situations or if we take action now today it may not be too late, it may not be too late. Addressing climate change has been seen as also antithetical to economic growth. Today we know that this is a false choice. Putting our economies on a low carbon pathway will create new markets, provide energy security and improve our health. Again the moral case for climate action is just as clear. The world's poorest and most vulnerable countries are the first to be impacted and the most impacted because they don't have any capacity to mitigate and or just adapt. Last month I met His Holiness Pope Francis at his invitation and I went to Vatican, I spent a day and had a serious talk with him on climate change. He said he is ready to help international communities, United Nations in promoting and pushing ahead this climate campaign. He said that he would issue his purple encyclical during the month of June next month. I believe that once he issues his encyclical it will have a profound impact. I'm very much grateful. He's coming to a special session of the General Assembly in September. That will be for the first time that any pope comes to the General Assembly at the beginning of regular General Assembly to address the leaders of the world. This year's milestones give us the best chance to end poverty. I believe that we are the last generation that can end this climate change impact, that can address this climate change impact. I think we may be the first generation that can put an end to poverty. That's a vision of our sustainable development. Otherwise we will have to regret and be morally politically responsible for our succeeding generations. Ladies and gentlemen, Ireland is also strongly identified with human rights and humanitarian action. It is an active member of Human Rights Council and a leader in a drive to protect civil society. At a time when citizens' groups in many countries face rising harassment and intimidation. President Michael Higgins is a long-standing human rights advocate and is working with UN women to champion He For She campaign. I was the first man to sign this He For She campaign and we have more than one million men who have joined this He For She campaign. This aims to involve more men in working for gender equality and women's empowerment. Ireland's women are making their mark in the areas of justice and the law. As you may remember, in 1995, in Beijing, world leaders are farmed and pledged that by 25, 25 we will establish gender parity, 25, 2005, 2005 came and gone a long time ago, 10 years ago. Now, our aim is that by 2030, another 15 years, we are now targeting another 15 years. Even though it's a regrettable, we are now pushing our goalpost 15 years ahead. By that time, we must realize gender parity and gender empowerment. That's a firm commitment. I have already announced. That will be reflected in our development agenda. Ladies and gentlemen, Ireland is among the top 10 contributors to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, what we say SOF, CERF, a vital channel for disaster assistance. I welcome the meeting. Ireland will hold in July to forge Ireland's contribution to the first ever world humanitarian summit, which will be held in Istanbul next year. This humanitarian summit, which will be the first ever to be organized by the United Nations, aims to generate an ambitious, forward-looking agenda for humanitarian action in an era when more and more people are facing life-threatening disasters, conflicts, and other hazards. And of course, Ireland has just become the first country to grant same-sex marital rights through a national referendum. I was not here at Dublin on Saturday night, but I saw the pictures of the jubilant crowd that gathered outside when the official count was announced. And I listened to interviews in which several people talked movingly about their experiences with the bullying, discrimination, and life in the shadows. Ireland voted on marriage, but in the process, you have also decided to fully include members of the LGBT community in the life of this nation. The United Nations will continue to speak out, including through the free and equal campaign. You don't have to be LGBT to care about LGBT rights. You only have to care about equality, fairness, and human dignity. Those values are certainly part of the Irish identity. As a Secretary-General, from day one, I have declared that I will make the United Nations the best workplace for these LGBT people to walk. At that time, these people were walking under the shadow. They were very cautious. When I invited the representative of these LGBT staff, they refused to take a photo, picture with me. So they were the first in the world who refused to take a picture with me. Really surprised that everybody wants to take a picture with me. I asked, why? Why are you afraid? Because our photos will be put on the website, and then I didn't want to be identified. So I agreed, but I promised that I would keep this photo myself and I would only give it to you without publicizing it. As time went by, because they were encouraged, they made a calendar, 12-page calendars, one year, putting their photos there with me. Every month there were different photos, so they feel that their right and human dignity is protected. Now, for the first time, again, this last year, I changed my administrative bulletin that those same-sex marriage couples will be given same financial entitlement. That was a history. You may not know how hard fighting I had. There was a serious fighting within the General Assembly. Some member states submitted a draft resolution to revert, to kill my decision. Because their argument was that I was acting beyond my own authority. That resolution was defeated by the majority of the member states. In fact, I did first before you went on national referendum. So I am proud that the United Nations is leading this campaign. Ladies and gentlemen, there is another issue that touches the Irish DNA, the experience of migration. The Irish know that what it is like to have to leave and what it is like to be taken in to overcome discrimination and to prosper in new environments. Ireland can bring the knowledge and empathy to today's migration landscape. Whether fleeing war and persecution or seeking opportunity, people open-face, perilous journeys become easy prey for criminals and seclose the gates, not open arms, when they reach their destinations. Recent tragedies from the Mediterranean to the Andaman Sea in Southeast Asia highlight the global nature of the challenge. I was very much moved today, this afternoon, together with Mr. Peter Sutherland and together with the Justice Minister. We met the group of refugees from Afghanistan, Congo, Syria, Myanmar and elsewhere. I really appreciate, highly commend the Irish government, the very warm helping hand to caress them and to resettle in Ireland. The Syrian refugee admission program, that is excellent, very generous. And I'm also grateful for another program to accommodate at least 300 Syrian refugees. That's what Irish DNA shows. Ladies and gentlemen, some basic touchstones must guide our response. One priority must be to save lives, including through an ample search and rescue operations. Our approach must be comprehensive, focusing on the full continuum, countries of destination, transit and above all, origin. We need to crack down on smugglers, while protecting refugees and upholding human rights and international law. We need to go beyond the emergencies to get at the roots. Push factors include conflict and underdevelopment. One pull factor includes the simple lure of an escape from poverty and deprivation. Europe must also acknowledge another is workforce deficit. Europe is experiencing low population growth and demographic transition to an aging population. If Europe is to retain its economic dynamism, Europe needs migrants. I welcome Ireland's contribution of a naval vessel to the rescue capacity in the Mediterranean. Ireland has also resettled people from many countries. As I said, I urge the countries of European Union to shoulder more of their resettlement responsibilities and to align Europe's actions with its values. That also must work together more generally across Europe and beyond to address the worrisome increase in stigma and discrimination against migrants and to highlight the benefits of migration themselves and the countries that receive them. Ladies and gentlemen, I have to conclude that we have a full agenda and fateful decisions ahead. As Ireland and the United Nations commemorate our two milestones, let us draw inspiration from a third, the 150th anniversary of the birth of William Butler Yates, one of Ireland's Nobel literature laureates. I've just learned that his birthday happened to be June 13th, my birthday. So it is with a special feeling that I will close my remarks with one of his great quotes. I quote, I have believed the best of every man and find that to believe is enough to make a bad man show him at his best. Or even a good man swings his lantern higher, end of quote. It can be hard to say positive at a time of crisis and trends. That put our future well-being at risk. But human beings have remarkable gifts, ideas, passions and compassion. If we use that great wealth, if we draw our best of every man and every woman, we can set the world on a better course and enable the beacon of peace to light up every human heart. Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations again on 60th of dynamic membership in the United Nations. Let's work together to make this world better for all and wonderful for all. I thank you. Graeba Agui. Thank you.