Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission

We have just published a second edition of our Implementing the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty Guidance, to support public bodies to understand and comply with their statutory obligations under Section 42 of the IHREC Act 2014  This updated guidance and a range of other supporting guidance and training materials, such as our eLearning module, are available on our website. https://lnkd.in/embr55u3

Tonight, we are Marking a Milestone, celebrating 10 years of protecting and promoting human rights and equality in Ireland. Chief Commissioner Liam Herrick delivered the keynote reflecting on our work over the last 10 years.

Today is #HumanRightsDay and the theme is Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now. Our Commission is made up of diverse people from across our society who work together to protect and promote human rights, and build a culture of inclusivity and understanding in Ireland. Watch our video to find out more about our work.

We know that disabled people face many barriers in accessing justice. Our Chief Commissioner Liam Herrick describes here what solutions we propose in new research. 📖 Read the research here: https://lnkd.in/eTcyVEm6 Liam Herrick

Access to justice is a fundamental right, yet we know any disabled people face barriers. 📺Watch our video and find out more. You can 📖 read our research here: https://lnkd.in/ertvrShr

The Commission is meeting in plenary today. Our Commission Members are appointed by the President, to work independently from the State and Government to promote and protect #HumanRights and #Equality in Ireland. Adam Harris

Today, we published a landmark study on access to justice for disabled people in Ireland.  Access to justice is a fundamental right, but disabled people face many barriers to accessing justice, and sometimes they are denied justice altogether.  Our study, carried out by Dr Charles O’Mahony of the University of Galway (https://lnkd.in/eh6zWSJr) (https://lnkd.in/ezZZpvG6) is informed by the voices and experiences of disabled people accessing or attempting to access the justice system, and presents a disturbing picture as they face barrier layered upon barrier, trying to access their legal rights. It highlights that Ireland has much work to do to ensure access to justice on an equal basis with others and provides clear and practical recommendations for the State to deliver on their human rights obligations and ensure better access to justice for all disabled people. It is also accompanied by a policy report with recommendations from the Commission.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires each state to establish an Independent Monitoring Mechanism to promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the Convention. In Ireland, we are the official Independent Monitoring Mechanism for the UNCRPD.   This means that we promote the ideals of the UNCRPD, protect the rights of disabled people and monitor the implementation of the Convention. A central pillar of the mechanism is that disabled people and their representative organisations participate in an active and meaningful way in the monitoring process. One of the ways that we involve disabled people in our work is through our Disability Advisory Committee, which is made up of a diverse group of people living in Ireland who have personal experience of living with disability.  Learn more about our work on disability: https://www.ihrec.ie/crpd/

📺Watch to find out more about our Research Programme with @ESRIDublin that aims to enhance knowledge on human rights and equality. 11 innovative reports already published with more to come. Eoin Ronayne  #IHREC10

A warm welcome to Liam Herrick, who takes up his role as our new Chief Commissioner today.  He was formally appointed by President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin last week.  Speaking about his appointment, Chief Commissioner Liam Herrick said: “This is an exciting time to join the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as Chief Commissioner. Over the past ten years the State has benefited hugely from the steady growth of the Commission’s work and reputation as an authoritative, independent body focused on tackling human rights and equality issues with a focus on protecting the rights of our most vulnerable groups.”