The Equality & Rights Alliance (ERA) was established in August 2008 following reports of a merger of five State bodies, including equality and human rights bodies.  This move was widely seen as an attempt by Government to undermine the effectiveness of statutory bodies charged with promoting equality, preventing discrimination and protecting human rights. At that stage, 40 groups came together to say that five into one won’t go.  

The merger did not go ahead but was instead replaced, in Budget 2009, with savage budget cuts of 43% to The Equality Authority and 24% to the Irish Human Rights Commission meant that they cannot function as they need to.  The Equality Authority was further hit with the announcement that the decentralisation of Authority staff to Roscrea would continue, despite the fact that decentralisation has been halted for most other Government departments. 

Budget 2009 also saw a wider targeting of organisations working to promote equality and social inclusion for marginalised groups.  Combat Poverty Agency was subsumed into the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) was abolished.  

In a matter of months, the Government had dismantled the equality, rights and social justice infrastructure developed over the past 20 years.  Critical agencies were silenced, it would seem, for being too effective.  

The Equality & Rights Alliance has received national and international support for its campaign from the onset.  Many organisations and individuals have spoken out against the Government’s actions including: Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN Human Rights Commissioner; Thomas Hammerberg, Council of Europe Commissioner on Human Rights; and Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.  Other groups have written to the Irish Government to express concern including: British Irish Rights Watch; the Committee on the Administration of Justice; and the European Network Against Racism.

Our Mission, Strategic Goals and Objectives

Our Mission

To defend and strengthen equality and human rights in Ireland by building a strong alliance of civil society groups that will hold the Government and State bodies accountable for the Irish equality and human rights infrastructure.

Strategic Goal One:

 To strengthen political commitment to an effective and resilient equality and humanrights infrastructure in Ireland.

 By calling on the Government to: 

• Implement an immediate, independent and transparent review of the finances, staff performances and services provided by The Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission. (This review must be based on 2007-2008 budgets.  The issue of amalgamation must not be part of the terms of reference of this review given that it was not recommended in Budget 2009).
• Pause the transfer of Equality Authority staff to Roscrea in order to stop the potential additional loss of agency expertise,
• Advocade for the IHRC and the Equality Authority to be accountable directly to the Oireachtas, in accordance with international best practice.

Strategic Goal Two: 

 To provide strategic leadership in protecting, strengthening and critiquing the equalityand human rights infrastructure (inclusive of those addressing racism, poverty and social exclusion).

By:

• Implementing an advocacy and information campaign to promote the strengthening of equality and human rights (inclusive of those addressing racism, poverty and social exclusion),
• Positioning the ERA as a watchdog, recording and monitoring the impact of Government cuts on the lives of ordinary people,
• Vigorously monitoring the efficiency and independence of the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission on a rolling basis.
• Ascertaining gaps in the equality and human rights infrastructure, and from this, develop a practical vision of an effective,  independent state infrastructure on equality and human rights (inclusive of approaches to address poverty and social exclusion),
• Seeking greater involvement for civil society in the development of a healthy equality and human rights architecture with the understanding that it must, by necessity, sometimes be critical of the State’s relationship with its citizens,