No. 50-1, spring 2025: Ireland and Human Rights
Ireland and Human Rights
- 1 Irish Times, 13 November 2018.
When re-elected as president of the Republic of Ireland in November 2018, Michael D. Higgins declared in his inaugural speech: “Since we first joined the League of Nations – a centenary we will soon mark – and throughout our time in the United Nations, Ireland has won international respect through our work on peace-building, from disarmament to our leadership in addressing consequences of colonisation and the priority we have placed on humanitarian and human rights concerns”.1 This image of defender of human rights has been a significant part of Ireland’s self-representation abroad.
- 2 “International development: Advance Ireland’s values and signature foreign policies, including the (...)
The 2018 government report Global Ireland: Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025 establishes targets to promote Ireland’s international image. As well as its goals of further enhancing its diplomatic position on the international stage, developing digital networks, and promoting Irish tourism and culture, the government defines two main axes with objectives to be achieved by 2025: to advance the cause of peace, the respect of human rights, equality and justice, on the one hand, and to contribute to the global fight against poverty and hunger and to promote sustainable development, on the other.2
The aim of this issue is to address the question of human rights as broadly as possible, so as to take account of the “three generations” of rights, i.e. civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, and the solidarity rights of peoples or societies (3rd generation). This last field is particularly highlighted by the United Nations, which has placed human rights at the heart of its sustainable development objectives and recognised “access to a clean and healthy environment” as a universal human right in July 2022.
- 3 Justice Susan Denham, “Some Thoughts on the Constitution of Ireland at 75”, online: https://cdn.the (...)
- 4 Speech by Leo Varadkar (Taoiseach) at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, New York, 18 Sep (...)
Ireland’s commitment to human rights is consistent with the ideals of the republican tradition as outlined in the 1937 Constitution, which makes reference to fundamental rights in articles 40 to 45. This Constitution, drafted over a decade before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, was in many ways ahead of its time, being the first to include the notion of the dignity of the human person, but also to declare family and education rights as legally binding.3 For over thirty years, Ireland has also played an important part in promoting climate justice. It was instrumental in the recognition of access to water as a fundamental human right in the Dublin Declaration in 1992, a principle incorporated into Agenda 21 of the Rio International Conference a few months later. In September 2023, Ireland facilitated the drafting of the Political Declaration resulting from the UN Summit on Sustainable Development Goals, and Leo Varadkar declared: “Ireland is a small country, but we have always dared to think big”.4
Ireland is undeniably committed to the protection of human rights. The aim of this publication is to analyse Ireland’s role in promoting human rights on a national and international scale, but also to measure the distance between discourse and reality.
- 5 Taoiseach Department, “Global Ireland Progress Report”, July 2019–December 2020, March 2021.
This publication will focus first of all on Ireland’s participation in international institutions (League of Nations, European Council, European Court of Human Rights, European Union, United Nations), but also on the work of Irish NGOs, in order to observe the extent to which the country’s postcolonial identity, its neutrality and its commitment to development aid have allowed for a different perspective within these institutions. One may question the human rights policy models that have inspired the Irish, but also the existence of an “Irish-specific” model that the Minister for Foreign Affairs termed “Ireland’s values and signature foreign policies”.5
This publication aims to juxtapose theory and practice, and to analyse how these ideals have been contested, defended and put into practice on a national level in recent history. One may look at the discourse around human rights and its emergence as a national preoccupation, and how awareness of questions of human rights influences citizenship education and how an Irish-specific approach (should one exist) can serve as a model framework in other contexts. One example may be found in the French interest in the Irish Citizens’ Assembly in light of the yellow-vest movement. Furthermore, a non-exhaustive list of topics such as governmental social policies and their shortcomings, the conditions of immigrants, the reception of asylum seekers in Direct Provision centres, the rights of women and minorities, the work of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission; as well as of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, and Ireland’s commitment to climate justice may be critically analysed from diachronic and synchronic perspectives, taking into consideration various challenges, particularly those presented by Brexit.
These may include the possibility of Irish unification. We are also expecting contributions addressing human rights issues on both sides of the border, highlighting elements of convergence and divergence between the two parts of the island, and considering the conditions under which a “united Ireland” might be possible from a human rights perspective, be it in terms of minority-majority power relations, the creation of new institutions, or the unity of a discourse on human rights.
Terms of submission
Articles should be between 30,000 and 36,000 characters long (including spaces and footnotes), with an abstract in English and French (maximum 1,000 characters for each), keywords in English and French and a presentation of the author (maximum 800 characters, including spaces).
They should be sent before 1 September 2024 to: marie-violaine.louvet@univ-tlse2.fr, bairbre.ni-chiosain@ut-capitole.fr and charlotte.rault@ut-capitole.fr.
Notes
1 Irish Times, 13 November 2018.
2 “International development: Advance Ireland’s values and signature foreign policies, including the promotion of peace, disarmament, human rights, greater equality, and justice, developing our strategic interest in a safer, more peaceful, more equal, more prosperous world; and providing the basis for a successful campaign for election to the UN Security Council; Contribute to the global fight against poverty and hunger, and the promotion of equality and justice and sustainable development, amplified in line with a well-managed expansion in our aid programme, working towards 0.7% of GNI by 2030” (DFA, Global Ireland Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025, p. 65).
3 Justice Susan Denham, “Some Thoughts on the Constitution of Ireland at 75”, online: https://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2012/06/20120629cj-speech.pdf.
4 Speech by Leo Varadkar (Taoiseach) at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, New York, 18 September 2023.
5 Taoiseach Department, “Global Ireland Progress Report”, July 2019–December 2020, March 2021.
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