UN General Assembly
1965

136. My delegation has, of course, never pretended that we regard as ideal arrangements to last for all time either the present division of power in the United Nations or the existence of nuclear weapons under the independent control of their owners. But we live in a far from ideal world. And if we were to spend our time and energy in abortive attempts to amend the Charter, and were to fail to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons without delay, the outlook for mankind would indeed be grim. Whether we all like it or not, the United Nations will be compelled, the Irish delegation is convinced, to win or lose the struggle for peace in our time, and perhaps in the time of our children, within the four walls of the Charter as it exists today and in a world in which nuclear weapons are in the hands of at least five Powers. But, so that the other 112 Members can carry out the duties imposed upon each of us in Article 1 of the Charter to take effective collective measures for the maintenance of peace, we must not let our Charter rights be filched from us. We must, I submit, stand firmly by the rights given to us in the Charter which are the counterpart of the obligations which we have assumed.