A large number of the public turned up in NUI Galway on Thursday evening, 27th November, to attend an open consultation meeting organized by the Human Rights Commission. The subject of the meeting was Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and their effective implementation in Ireland.
The consultation meeting is the first in a series the Commission will hold to get public response to its Strategic Plan 2003-2006. The Strategic Plan sets out the Commission’s priority areas for its work in the field of human rights up to 2007.
Councillor Terry O’Flaherty, Mayor of Galway City, in opening the Public Consultation Meeting in NUI Galway, referred to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the architects of contemporary human rights, who said that human rights begin in small places – in shops, in factories, in countless conversations over tea. "For this reason, I am so glad to see the first ever Human Rights Commission of Ireland open up to the public and become, as it were, a People’s Commission".
President of the Commission, Dr. Maurice Manning, introduced the Commission’s four-year Strategic Plan, 2003-2006. "While the Commission have already identified the key priority areas, we are very open, indeed we are actively seeking, public input into the most effective and efficient way to advance those areas. We are very encouraged by the interest in tonight’s discussion as evidenced by the large attendance and in the quality of the debate which we have just enjoyed".
The focus of the Public Consultation was on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Commission member, Prof. Gerard Quinn gave the opening presentation and said the debate about economic, social and cultural rights is long overdue and unnecessarily politicized in Ireland. "We have a major challenge as a Human Rights Commission to demystify these rights and help create the conditions for a proper and informed debate, especially about enforcement".
Commission member, Dr. Katherine Zappone, addressed specifically the issue of a ‘rights-based framework’ for the National Anti-Poverty Strategy 1997 – 2007. "What’s disturbing to the Human Rights Commission is that despite the assessment of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1991 and repeated as recently as May 2002 Ireland has still not adopted a human rights-based approach to the national anti-poverty strategy" stated Commissioner Zappone.
Responding to the Commissioners’ contributions and to the Strategic Plan, Dr. Vinodh Jaichand from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, called on the Human Rights Commission to "draw attention to the one-sided nature of the socio-economic rights debate that rests on a rigid interpretation of the separation of powers. There is a duty upon the Commission to correct the perceptions of politicians and other public figures who appear to incite Ireland to ignore its international obligations."
Dr. Padraic Kenna, Law Faculty, NUI Galway, pointed out that Ireland has signed up to and ratified international Treaties which call for the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights. "The State itself or State Agencies must not operate policies which violate the rights already accepted by the State as part of its international obligations".
The public consultation in Galway was the first in a series of such meetings which the Commission propose to hold on various subjects contained in its Strategic Plan. Subsequent meetings will be held in 2004 in various parts of the country.
A spokesperson from the Commission is available for comment or interview.
Press photographs are available on request.
Papers from this event may be found by clicking here.
For further information, contact:
Mary Ruddy, Senior Human Rights Awareness Officer,
Tel. 01 8589 601
Mobile: 087 640 7765
E-mail: info@ihrc.ie