On the 11th October 2023, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and Equality Commission for Northern Ireland held a panel discussion at Office of the Northern Ireland Executive Brussels.
The panel was comprised of the three Chief Commissioners from across the island of Ireland, Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission; Alyson Kilpatrick, Chief Commissioner, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and Geraldine McGahey, Chief Commissioner, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. The Chief Commissioners discussed human rights and equality in Northern Ireland after the UK’s exit from the EU and gave their perspective on implementation and engagement of Article Two of the Windsor Framework.
The Commissioners presented their work on the democratic mechanism, which monitors the application of Article Two of the Windsor Framework to protect certain human rights and equality standards after the UK’s exit from the EU in Northern Ireland, in recognition of their centrality in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. The Commissioners shared their experience of this work and discussed ways in which they believe continued engagement with the EU could support the implementation of the Article Two commitment. This was followed by an interesting discussion with the audience, moderated by the Office’s Director, Aodhán Connolly.
