Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations visits Ireland.
Kofi Annan met Irish UN veterans of the Congo, Lebanon, Cyprus and other peacekeeping campaigns at The Royal Hospital in Kilmainham. He paid tribute to their colleagues who were killed on UN duty and in his address quoted WB Yeats's poem 'An Irish Airman Foresees his Death'.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds.
He laid a wreath in memory of Irish soldiers killed on UN duty.
Kofi Annan and his wife Nane visited President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uactaráin and later met Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to discuss peacekeeping, UN reform, Northern Ireland and the Middle East.
He was also conferred with an honourary degree by the National University of Ireland.
Speaking to RTÉ News, Kofi Annan said that the UN was working to recover from failures in Rwanda and Bosnia. Lessons had been learnt and in future, there needed to be a clear mandate.
I believe the peacekeepers need to be given the means to do the task.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 22 January 1999. The reporter is Margaret Ward.
