The renowned UN human rights expert, Professor Michael O’Flaherty, has been appointed as Professor of Human Rights Law at the National University of Ireland Galway and will also serve as Director of the University’s Irish Centre for Human Rights. Professor O’Flaherty will combine the new roles with his current position as Chief Commissioner of the(…)
We are delighted to welcome this post from Dr Ciara Hackett. Ciara joined the School of Law at Queens University Belfast in August 2012, prior to that she held a teaching and research fellowship at the School of Law, National University of Ireland Galway. Her research explores a diverse range of issues in the areas(…)
David Cameron is shocked. Ed Miliband is shocked. But no one is really shocked. Patrick Finucane (pictured left) has been dead for nearly 24 years and the world moves on cruelly fast. Labour’s demand for a full public inquiry into his killing smacks of making political capital out of a family denied answers (let alone(…)
Tom Adams, Advocate with the Independent Advocacy Pilot Before moving to Ireland in 2011 I worked as a keyworker for an organisation that provides semi-independent accommodation and support to separated children (or unaccompanied asylum seeking children, as they are deemed in the UK) in London. I will give a brief overview of how the asylum(…)
Human rights cases rarely seem to generate media interest unless some populist bogeyman, like Abu Qatada, has successfully scuppered a government policy by running to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In the UK in particular, the confluence of human rights claims by figures such as Qatada, and the distrust of European institutions (irrespective(…)
The UK has announced that, next June, the G8 Summit will be held in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. This will probably be the most powerful international meeting ever to be held on the island. Coming during a period that sees Ireland’s Presidency of the OSCE, Ireland holding the Presidency of the EU Council, the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting(…)
It has been reported recently that discussions have taken place between the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) concerning the use of British military bases in Cyprus, the Ascension Island and Diego Garcia in the event of possible military action against Iran. In the past, these particular military bases were used by the(…)
Human Rights in Ireland is pleased to host a blog carnival reflecting on the 5th anniversary of the decision in Foy (No 2). This blog carnival is organised by Dr Tanya Ní Mhuirthile. Tanya is a Senior Lecturer at Griffith College Dublin, is on the board of Transgender Equality Network Ireland and is a legal(…)
Last Friday the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court in London decided (in the Mutua case) that three Kenyans could pursue claims for damages against the UK Government for its use of torture during the Kenya Emergency of 1952-1960. In the UK and Ireland today the events in 1950s Kenya, as the colonial authorities(…)
Every four years the world watches, expecting to be wowed by national performances. This summer is no exception, with Great Britain and Northern Ireland facing a weight of expectation to improve upon its 2008 performance (and largely delivering). Unlike the Olympic and Paralympic Games, however, the UN Universal Periodic Review of human rights in the(…)
