C/P/31. Dissertation. The Irish Human Rights Agenda and the Good Friday Agreement

The dissertation addresses the relevance of the human rights agenda to the Irish peace process. The author considers, in the first instance, the state of human rights protection in the Republic of Ireland; in particular, the effects of "Catholic" morality, enshrined in legislative provisions over the years, which ostracized minority groups and undermined the peace process. The consequences of the Good Friday Agreement for Dublin are assessed in light of important changes in the framework for human rights protection in Ireland (establishment of the Human Rights Commission, incorporation of the ECHR into the Irish domestic legal order). Secondly, the paper considers human rights abuses in Northern Ireland, their significance as both a symptom and a cause of sectarianism. The Catholic grievances, leading up to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, are briefly discussed. The author shows how the British Government attempted to address these grievances in the 1970s and 1980s and why these efforts did not go far enough. The paper discusses emergency powers exercised by the government authorities in Northern Ireland (detention and interrogation of terrorist suspects) to show how these powers, irrespective of their importance for preserving stability in Northern Ireland, further undermined the peace process. Finally, the author considers the effects of the Good Friday Agreement on the human rights situation in Northern Ireland: institutional changes (establishment of the Human Rights Commission) and the debate on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.