The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) was a public body, state-funded but independent of government, that promoted and protected human rights in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. It was established on 23 July 2001 under the Human Rights Commission Act 2000. It was dissolved in 2014. As one of the two

national human rights institutions A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to protect and promote human rights in a country. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) aids these ...

(NHRIs) on the island of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, like the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) its creation was a consequence of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement of 10 April 1998. It was required to maintain a joint committee with the NIHRC to consider human rights issues affecting both jurisdictions, such as a possible Charter of Rights for the Island of Ireland. The IHRC had a full-time president and 14 part-time commissioners, who served for five-year terms. The first president was Donal Barrington, a retired judge of the

Supreme Court of Ireland The Supreme Court of Ireland () is the highest judicial authority in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the Court of Appeal (Ireland), Court of Appeal and the High Court (Ireland), Hig ...

. He was succeeded in August 2002 by former

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

senator Dr Maurice Manning. The functions of the IHRC included advising on the compatibility of legislation with the rights protected by the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland (, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executi ...

and by international treaties to which the state is party. It also engaged in

human rights education Human rights education (HRE) is the learning process that seeks to build knowledge, values, and proficiency in the rights that each person is entitled to. This education teaches students to examine their own experiences from a point of view that ...

and conducted inquiries into alleged violations of human rights. In November 2014, the Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority were both dissolved and their functions transferred to a new statutory body, the

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...

References

External links

Irish Human Rights Commission

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
*
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
{{Authority control Human rights in Ireland 2000 establishments in Ireland 2014 disestablishments in Ireland