'Aylward selection for torture post sparks criticism' , Dec 9, 2011
Rachel Mullen, Equality and Rights Alliance co-ordinator, said: “Mr Aylward was in charge of some of the organisations that the committee will now be inspecting, which makes no sense.”
'Human Rights Institution' Sept 19 2011
If the Minister is serious about the purpose of this merger being “to promote human rights and equality in a more effective, efficient and cohesive way”, then we would hope to see the introduction of legislation to consolidate the powers of this new entity so that the same legal instruments could be deployed across both the equality and human rights strands.
'Minister announces details of merged human rights body' Sept 10, 2011
The move was greeted cautiously by non-governmental organisations. The Equality and Rights Alliance, a coalition of 170 organisations that campaign for equal rights, said there was no indication of the funding for the new body and combining of the existing budgets would not allow it to fulfil the mandates of the organisations adequately. However the Irish Council for Civil Liberties welcomed the Minister’s stated commitment to the Paris Principles.
'Equality Board Appointments' July 7 2011
The current board of the Equality Authority is scheduled to complete its term at the end of this month. In keeping with pre-election coalition commitments, not just to equality but to reformed public sector appointments, the new board should be appointed through a publicly advertised procedure administered by the Public Appointments Commission.