Irish government agrees to stop funding arms manufacturers

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Tuesday March 04, 2008 11:18 by phats

Foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern has announced that the government is to enact legislation to stop the National Pension Reserve Fund from being used to invest in cluster bomb manufacturers. Irish taxpayers have nearly €70 million worth of shares in companies that produce cluster bombs as a result of the government's investment policy.

As reported by Aine Bonner in the Star newspaper on 27th November '07, the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) has invested €500 million of Irish taxpayers' money into companies that produce nuclear weapons and cluster bombs. This is in spite of the fact that the NPRF was a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in 2006.

As a result of the article today's issue of the Star reports that Dermot Ahern has promised that the NPRF will no longer fund companies that produce cluster bombs.

The article is not clear on whether the ban will encompass other types of munitions.