Government to erect memorial to human rights defenders

The Government is to erect a permanent memorial to human rights defenders worldwide.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney revealed the plans to a Front Line Defenders conference yesterday, The Irish Times reports.

Mr Coveney said: “I have committed to work with Front Line to bring forward an initiative in that area. We will try to find a suitable location and to do it in a tasteful and appropriate way.”

He also said he hoped the memorial could be near his Department of Foreign Affairs to serve as a reminder of “just how core this issue should be in terms of Irish foreign policy today and in the future”.

Front Line Defenders is helping to raise funds for the memorial, expected to cost around €1 million. Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects are developing the plans.

FLD executive director Andrew Anderson said: “The aim of is to remove people, to eliminate them and make them disappear and we wanted to keep their memory alive.

“It is nice to have something symbolic that celebrates that interconnection between Dublin, Ireland and human rights defenders around the world.”