The death has taken place at the age of 85 of Irish diplomat Denis Halliday.
Halliday was born in central Dublin to Irish Quakers who had been founding members of the Foreign Students’ Society in Dublin in the 1930s.
He attended Trinity College Dublin, where he earned an MA in economics, geography and public administration.
Following his graduation, he served as a Quaker volunteer in Kenya from 1962 to 1963. A year later he entered the United Nations system as a junior professional officer in Iran.
Halliday progressed to senior positions, including oversight of UN development programmes, operations and human resources,
From mid-1994 to mid-1997, he served as assistant secretary-general for human resources management at UN headquarters in New York.
This expertise led to his appointment as assistant secretary-general and humanitarian co-ordinator in Iraq in 1997.
He was put in charge of the oil-for-food programme in which Iraq was allowed to export oil in return for humanitarian supplies. International sanctions had been imposed upon Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
He resigned just a year later over the sanctions, stating that they were wholly unjust for a country of 20 million people. The sanctions were a “totally bankrupt concept” that punished civilians rather than targeting the regime, he believed.
His resignation marked the end of a 34-year career in the United Nations.
He then became an advocate for an end to the sanctions in Iraq and travelled the world advocating for human rights. His work was recognised with the Gandhi International Peace Award in 2003.
In 2004 there were suggestions that he might run for the Irish presidency, but turned it down on the basis that “having lived overseas for 40 years, my knowledge of domestic issues is too weak.
“I try to keep abreast of issues, but it is hard to catch up after that length of time.”
He spent many of his latter years in Ireland and became involved in the issue of Irish neutrality and, in particular, the use of Shannon by the US military.
He believed Ireland should remain neutral and not join Nato, but also that it should bolster its military to take part in peacekeeping missions.
He was critical of the role of the Security Council permanent members in being able to veto peacekeeping missions, and advocated that the role should be one voted on by the general assembly as a whole.
His funeral notice stated that he “lent his voice to countless other causes, and through it all, his commitment to humanity and accountability never wavered”.
His funeral takes place at Churchtown Friends Meeting House, Dublin 14, at 10.30am on Tuesday followed by private burial.