The Irish Human Rights Commission has been merged with the Equality Authority. Both former organisations were dissolved and their functions transferred to a new statutory body, the

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) is a statutory body which is publicly funded but independent of government. It was formed as a result of the merger of the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC); bot ...

on 1 November 2014. The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) was a public body, state-funded but independent of government, that promoted and protected human rights in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. It was established in 2000 by an Act of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

(the Irish parliament). As one of the two

national human rights institutions A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to broadly protect and promote human rights in a given country. The growth of such bodies has been encouraged by the Office of the United ...

(NHRIs) on the island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, like the

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) is a non-departmental public body funded through the Northern Ireland Office but operating independently of government as the National human rights institutions, national human rights institutio ...

(NIHRC) its creation was a consequence of the

Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

of 10 April 1998. It was required to maintain a joint committee with the NIHRC to consider human rights issues affecting both jurisdictions, such as a possible Charter of Rights for the Island of Ireland. The IHRC had a full-time president and 14 other part-time commissioners, who served for five-year terms. The first president was Mr Justice Donal Barrington, a retired judge of the

Supreme Court of Ireland , image = Coat of arms of Ireland.svg , imagesize = 120px , alt = , caption = Coat of Arms of Ireland , image2 = Four Courts, Dublin 2014-09-13.jpg , imagesize2 = , alt2 ...

, was succeeded in August 2002 by former

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

senator Dr

Maurice Manning Maurice Manning (born 14 June 1943) is an Irish academic and former Fine Gael politician. Manning was a member of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) for 21 years, serving in both the Dáil Éireann, Dáil and the Seanad Éireann, Seanad. Since Aug ...

. The functions of the IHRC included advising on the compatibility of legislation with the rights protected by the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democra ...

and by international treaties to which the state is party. It also engaged in

human rights education Human rights education (HRE) is the learning process that seeks to build up knowledge, values, and proficiency in the rights that each person is entitled to. This education teaches students to examine their own experiences from a point of view t ...

and conducted inquiries into alleged violations of human rights.

References

External links

Irish Human Rights Commission

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
*
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
{{Authority control Human rights in Ireland 2000 establishments in Ireland 2014 disestablishments in Ireland

See also

References

External links