UN General Assembly
1992

of the peace-keeping activities of the United Nations, as well as for extension of the role of the United Nations into the new areas of preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peace-building. Ireland has long supported the peace-keeping activities of the United Nations. Today my country, small though it may be in population and in resources, participates in 10 of the 12 peace-keeping missions currently in the field. But, like the Secretary-General, we have felt the need to develop further the capacity of the United Nations to make and keep the peace. We therefore endorse the direction of the Secretary-General's thinking. I welcome in particular the attention given to preventive action. The earlier the United Nations can identify and act on a threat to the peace, the better are the chances of averting the outbreak or prospective outbreak of hostilities. The proposals for fact-finding missions, for improved early warning and for the preventive deployment of United Nations forces can and should be implemented now. We also support the Secretary-General's proposals for the strengthening