Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland is delighted to welcome this post from former regular contributer Aoife Nolan. Aoife is a Senior Lecturer at Durham Law School and an expert in the field of children’s rights.

Yesterday, the Minister for Children told the Dail that she will seek approval from the Government to hold a referendum on the rights of children next year. In a response to a question posed by Deputy Michael Moynihan, Frances Fitzgerald TD stated that: ‘The timing of the referendum will have regard to the need to allow an appropriate period of time for the proposal to be fully communicated to the public … Notwithstanding that I am committed to advancing the referendum at as early a date in 2012 as possible’.

In terms of wording, the Minister stated that, ‘work on the wording of the referendum is ongoing, focusing on ensuring that the proposed Referendum reflects the deliberations and conclusions of the Joint Committee and the commitment in the Programme for Government. It is my intention to seek approval from Government for the proposed wording once finalised, with a view to holding the referendum next year. I anticipate that a wording will be developed shortly.’

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We are very pleased to feature this guest contribution from Catherine Kenny, a researcher on an IRCHSS-funded Senior Fellowship project, led by Professor Siobhán Mullally, University College Cork. The research team includes Dr Cliodhna Murphy, Post-Doc Fellow. The project will focus specifically on recent developments in the EU and selected Member States: Ireland, UK, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.

In recent years there have been significant developments in the expansion of international human rights standards for the protection of non-citizens. This blog post examines the progressive development of international standards relating to the rights of migrant domestic workers, a group that is marginalised not only because of their frequently precarious migration status, but also because of the often hidden and isolated nature of their work. In 2011 the ILO adopted a Convention and Recommendation on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. The rights of migrant domestic workers were the subject of the first General Comment adopted by the UN Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families in 2010. Domestic work, and the particular challenges faced by migrant domestic workers, is also addressed by the UN CEDAW Committee in their 2009 General Recommendation on Women Migrant Workers. These developments and their implications for EU migration law and policy is the subject of a recently launched Irish Research Council Senior Fellowship project, led by Professor Siobhán Mullally, University College Cork.  Read Full Post »

We are delighted to welcome this guest post from Verona Ní Dhrisceoil. Verona is currently completing a PhD in the area of law and language rights in University College Cork, under the supervision of Professor Siobhan Mullally. Her PhD has been funded by the Higher Education Authority.  Verona has worked as a legal researcher for the Law Reform Commission of Ireland and the Irish Penal Reform Trust, and in 2010, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship.

Recent government announcements proposing a Review of the Official Languages Act 2003 and a merging of the Office of the Language Commissioner with the Office of the Ombudsman have brought Irish language rights issues to the forefront of public and academic debate. The two separate but related proposals arise as part of the government’s National Plan for Recovery.

In March 2011, the government published an economic recovery plan titled Towards Recovery: Programme for National Government 2011-2016. In it, seven pledges were made to the Irish language under the An Ghaeilge agus An Ghaeltacht section. With specific reference to legislative protection, the Programme stated that a review of the Official Languages Act 2003 (OLA) will be carried out “to ensure expenditure on the language is best targeted towards the development of the language and that obligations are imposed appropriately in response to demand from citizens.” On this basis, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, launched A Review of the Official Languages Act, in November 2011. As part of the review process, the Department has invited submissions evaluating the implementation of the Act, from interested parties. Submissions are to be made to the Department on or before the 31 January 2012. As part of the consultative process, the Department has also published a bilingual survey on its website to afford respondents the opportunity to indicate their views on the provision of public services in the Irish language.

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We are very pleased to feature this guest contribution from Dug Cubie, a PhD student in UCC.

Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice (MRFCJ), delivered a lecture at UCC’s Centre for Global Development titled ‘Climate Justice Post Durban’ on 18 January 2012. Dr. Robinson explored the outcomes of the most recent UN climate change conference, COP17, which took place in Durban, South Africa, in December 2011, from a climate justice perspective and the extent to which it addressed the needs of those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.  COP17, she said, was concerned with “what I believe to be the most critical issue we all face – the future of our planet. In these times of economic crisis, amid worries about our own and the European and international economies, it is not surprising that attention focuses on our immediate problems. But, make no mistake about it, we ignore the threat posed by climate change at our peril.” Read Full Post »

We are delighted to welcome this guess post from Yvonne McDermott, Lecturer in Law at Bangor Law School. Yvonne’’s research interests are international criminal law, international criminal procedure, human rights, and refugee law

First, I would like to thank David Keane for inviting me to post on this important case and the two landmark convictions that were handed down last week. When extending the invite, Dave asked me what I thought of the double jeopardy elements of the case, largely, I suspect, because I wrote about the permissible exceptions to the rule under international human rights and comparative criminal law in my chapter to our forthcoming edited book, The Challenge of Human Rights: Past, Present and Future (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2012).

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We are pleased to publish this guest post from Stephen Coutts, a researcher at the European University Institute. Stephen is a graduate of University College Cork and the College of Europe (Bruges). His doctoral research focusses on the relationship between EU citizenship and the area of freedom, security and justice in the EU. Stephen is the EU Correspondent for the Irish Yearbook of International Law.

Handed down on the 21^st of December by the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice, Ziolkowski is the latest in a series of cases clarifying and refining the right of permanent residence contained in Directive 2004/38 (the Citizenship Directive). Following cases C-325/09 Dias and C-169/09 Laval,  Ziolkowski addresses the requirement of five years prior legal residence and specifically whether periods of residence under national law, Read Full Post »

We are delighted to welcome this guest post from Aisling de Paor, a Ph.D candidate in the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at NUI Galway, and Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) scholar. Aisling is a graduate of NUI Galway (BCL) and University College Cork (LL.M).  Aisling qualified as a solicitor and specialized primarily in employment law.

It has recently been reported in the media that an unnamed English Premier League soccer club has been genetically testing its players to determine who is at a higher risk of injury, and to determine which players are likely to perform better.  Genetic technology is rapidly advancing and scientists have discovered over one hundred genetic mutations linked to serious soccer related injuries such as ruptured tendons.  These discoveries are also linked to genes indicating improved performance, such as better aerobic respiration giving players more stamina on the pitch.

The benefits to soccer clubs of engaging in these genetic tests are significant.  Genetic testing could enable clubs to filter out potentially injury prone players before investing large amounts of capital into their development. Competition between soccer clubs is becoming increasingly apparent.  Already, there have been advances in fatigue reduction and hydration management that have enabled some players to perform at greater capacities for longer periods of time.  In addition, there is a strong argument on the part of soccer clubs that genetic testing would enable them to prevent players from incurring potentially career threatening injuries.  Arguably, genetic testing and knowledge of a player’s genetic information may also lead to better Read Full Post »

We are delighted to welcome this second guest post from Anne Neylon. Anne is a PhD candidate at University College Cork. She is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford.

On October 31^st last, eighteen year old Angolan Mauro Manuel, who arrived in the Netherlands aged 10 as a separated child seeking asylum was told by the Dutch parliament that he may not remain in the state now that he is an adult. Although Mauro Manuel now sees the Netherlands as the only state with which he identifies, this attachment has not been deemed sufficient to allow him to stay on an indefinite basis. The case of Mauro Manuel raises questions about what citizenship really means and how the advance of globalization has acted to challenge the way in which one’s identity and ability to acquire citizenship is constructed.

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As part of our coverage of the aftermath of the recent referendum campaigns, we are pleased to welcome this guest post from Dr Conor O’Mahony, lecturer in law at University College Cork. This piece was first published as an op-ed in the print edition of the Irish Examiner on Monday, October 31, although it was not published online.

The defeat of the 30^th Amendment to the Constitution on Oireachtas Inquiries has been greeted, perhaps predictably, by comments from Ministers Brendan Howlin and Alan Shatter that the electorate was confused, and perhaps even misinformed, about the proposal. Whether or not this is true in the case of some individual voters, attributing such a position to the electorate as a whole does voters a grave disservice. On the same day that the Irish people voted 80-20 to accept one constitutional amendment, they voted 53-47 to reject another. This suggests that they were well able to distinguish between the two, and to decide for themselves what they were willing to support and what they were not.

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