text: office of President of the Council for May. I have good relations with you and my country has good I3 relations with your country, and I extend to you my warmest good wishes. I should also like to congrat- ulate and thank your predecessor, Mr. Kamanda wa Kamanda, of Zaire, for the truly admirable way in which he carried out the function of President in April. 129. The Council is meeting today at a moment of crisis. Argentina and the United Kingdom are at war in the South Atlantic, and their conflict has widening consequences for the international community as a whole. For its part, my country, which has close and friendly relations with Great Britain and friendly relations also with Argentina, is deeply concerned and affected. 130. This is the war that should not have happened. That might perhaps be said of every war. But could it ever before have been said with such conviction as here and now? 131. How has it come to this? 132. In early April, Argentina acted to resolve its long-standing dispute with the United Kingdom over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands by using force. It was wrong to do so, and that must be clearly said. 133. In speaking in the Council at the time on behalf of Ireland, I did say so. I also warned of the dangers ahead. I shall quote briefly from my statement of 3 April: “Some may think that a dispute over small islands is itself a relatively small matter, but the use of armed force in any dispute is serious. Force can lead to retaliation, and conflict can quickly escalate, Wars in the past have started for less. “It is a major purpose of the very existence of the United Nations to avert such conflict. It is because the United Nations exists today that we 
analysis: The text appears to be a speech or statement by a representative of Ireland to the United Nations, addressing the conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands. The focus is on the political and diplomatic aspects of the conflict, with no mention of economic, environmental, or social issues. The language is formal and diplomatic, suggesting that the primary purpose is to express Ireland's stance and concerns regarding the conflict.