Human Rights in Ireland

We are delighted to welcome the latest in our series of expert guest posts on A, B and C v. Ireland. This post is by Dr. Mary Gilmartin, Lecturer in the Department of Geography at NUI Maynooth. The youtube video embedded below was sent to us by Ailbhe Smyth, of the Feminist Open Forum and the UCD School of Social Justice, whose statement on the case is available here. The film, by Paula Geraghty, is of Saturday’s ‘Rally for Choice’ in Dublin and Ailbhe is the first speaker depicted.

Mobility is at the heart of the EU project. EU citizens should, in theory, be free to move around the EU, and live, work or use services, such as health care, in whichever state they choose. Of course, the right to mobility is qualified in a variety of ways. Not all EU citizens have this freedom of movement: Bulgarian and Romanian citizens, for example, do not yet have unrestricted access to the Irish or UK labour markets. And many argue that mobility within the EU is only possible because of the extent to which mobility to the EU is restricted. Mobility in and to the EU is thus differentiated, on the basis of nationality and other socio-economic circumstances. Read Full Post »