ABSTRACT
Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is breaking down, and the non-nuclear powers are convinced that all the nuclear weapon states are flouting it, by refusing to reduce their nuclear arsenals. The idea that groups of nations in particular areas might agree to forgo the manufacture or deployment of nuclear weapons, and to eschew research into their production, was first seriously mooted in the second half of the 1950s. In 1959, the Irish government outlined a plan for the creation of nuclear-free zones throughout the entire planet, which were to be developed region by region. The aim is the removal of all nuclear air and submarine bases, nuclear weapons research, development and manufacturing institutions, and nuclear warheads themselves, from the whole continent, ‘from Poland to Portugal’. The initial response to what has already become known as the European Nuclear Disarmament movement was quite extraordinary.
