Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the section of the Belfast Agreement 1998 entitled Human Rights, in the subsection Comparable Steps by the Irish Government, what is their interpretation of the meaning of the statement that that government will bring forward measures to ensure at least an equivalent level of protection of human rights as will pertain in Northern Ireland”; how that commitment is monitored; and what changes the government of the Republic of Ireland reported to them as a result of that commitment.”

Lord Dunlop

The Belfast Agreement commits the Irish Government to ensuring an equivalent level of protection for human rights in Ireland to that established in Northern Ireland by the Agreement. As a result of this commitment, the Irish Government established the Irish Human Rights Commission, which in November 2014 merged with the Equality Authority to form the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The UK and Irish Governments meet regularly both at ministerial and official level to discuss issues of mutual interest and concerns including matters relating to the implementation of the Belfast Agreement in each jurisdiction. These include matters relating to human rights in Northern Ireland and Ireland.