The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has identified economic equality, justice, respect and recognition, future-proofing and the public sector duty as its five key priorities for the next three years. The rights watchdog today published its strategy statement for 2022-24, its third strateg
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The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled in favour of a Traveller family who were evicted from land owned by Clare County Council. The McDonagh family, who were backed by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, lived on the site without permission because the council had failed to provide the
The HSE is applying the Disability Act 2005 in a way that undermines rather than upholds disability rights in Ireland, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has told the Court of Appeal. Appearing as amicus curiae in the case of OB, the watchdog said the manner in which the HSE carries out
The denial of domiciliary care allowance (DCA) to the parents of a severely disabled child, who needs continual care, because of the time the child has spent in hospital is discriminatory, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said. The rights watchdog is appearing as amicus curiae in a
The Special Criminal Court was wrong to exclude the belief evidence of a Garda chief superintendent on the basis that he would not provide information on the basis of his belief, the Court of Appeal has ruled. The non-jury court had, in the trial of two men charged with IRA membership, excluded beli
Clare County Council failed in its statutory obligations to properly and proportionately assess the rights of a Traveller family before moving to evict them from a site in the county, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said. The watchdog is appearing before the Supreme Court as amicu
The boards of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland have held their first joint meeting. The board members met in Dundalk to to review and plan the work of the three commissions on overseeing and
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has been granted leave from the Supreme Court to exercise its amicus curiae function in a case of the eviction of a Traveller family in County Clare. The case of Bernard McDonagh and Helen McDonagh v Clare County Council is being heard by the Supreme Co
The non-jury Special Criminal Court should be abolished, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has recommended. The human rights watchdog said the State should declare that the ordinary courts are adequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of public peac
Two asylum seekers who were refused permission to exchange their foreign driving licences for Irish ones have succeeded in a High Court challenge. The legal challenge, led by solicitor Stephen Kirwan of KOD Lyons, centred on whether the asylum seekers could prove they are "normally resident" in Irel
The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has withdrawn its appeal of a significant High Court judgment which found that the service must provide reasonable accommodation to disabled prison officers. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission provided legal representation to Robert Cunningham in taking the
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission will give evidence to the Supreme Court in a case with implications for the application of the equality guarantee in social welfare matters. The case concerns a father who was deemed ineligible for domiciliary care allowance while his severely disabled
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has announced the 28 organisations to be awarded a total of €350,000 in funding for projects under its human rights and equality grants scheme 2021. The projects encompass a range of issues including social exclusion and socioeconomic discriminatio
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has been awarded the highest level of UN accreditation possible for national human rights institutions. Following a detailed review of its work, achievements, institutional independence and processes, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institu
A single mother-of-two who was refused access to the one parent family payment on the basis she failed to satisfy the habitual residence condition has succeeded in a review with support from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) overturned the refus