Appointment of Human Rights Commissioner to Steering Group of National Action Plan Against Racism
The Irish Human Rights Commission welcomed the announcement made on 10th March to appoint one of its Commissioners, Mr Michael Farrell, to the Steering Committee which will be tasked with ensuring the implementation of the National Action Plan Against Racism.
Speaking after the announcement, the President of the Commission, Dr. Maurice Manning, stated "We congratulate our fellow Commissioner, Michael Farrell, on his appointment to the Steering Committee of the National Action Plan Against Racism. His appointment acknowledges the long-standing work of Michael acting as a civil rights activist, as a solicitor and in a personal capacity and more recently through his role as a Commissioner with the Human Rights Commission. Michael is the convenor of our Anti-Racism Working Group and in that capacity has been unstinting in his efforts to curb the creation of conditions where racism can thrive and to confront incidences of racism where they emerge. We are fully confident that he will undertake his new role with the same dedication and commitment he has shown in his work to date with the Human Rights Commission."
Michael Farrell was appointed to the Human Rights Commission in July 2001 for a five-year period. He was prominently involved in the Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s and has campaigned on many civil rights and human rights issues over the last 30 years. He was involved in campaigns for the Birmingham Six and other victims of miscarriages of justice in the 1980s and in the campaign against political censorship under Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act. He was vice-chair and then co-chair of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties for most of the 1990s and was involved in campaigns on anti-racism, for gay rights, divorce, equality laws, refugee rights, and for the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into Irish law. He has an M.Sc. in Politics and was formerly a journalist and author. He is now a solicitor and has been involved in taking cases to the European Court of Human Rights and other international bodies.