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The non-jury Special Criminal Court should be abolished, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has recommended. The human rights watchdog said the State should declare that the ordinary courts are adequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of public peac

Two asylum seekers who were refused permission to exchange their foreign driving licences for Irish ones have succeeded in a High Court challenge. The legal challenge, led by solicitor Stephen Kirwan of KOD Lyons, centred on whether the asylum seekers could prove they are "normally resident" in Irel

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has withdrawn its appeal of a significant High Court judgment which found that the service must provide reasonable accommodation to disabled prison officers. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission provided legal representation to Robert Cunningham in taking the

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission will give evidence to the Supreme Court in a case with implications for the application of the equality guarantee in social welfare matters. The case concerns a father who was deemed ineligible for domiciliary care allowance while his severely disabled

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has announced the 28 organisations to be awarded a total of €350,000 in funding for projects under its human rights and equality grants scheme 2021. The projects encompass a range of issues including social exclusion and socioeconomic discriminatio

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has been awarded the highest level of UN accreditation possible for national human rights institutions. Following a detailed review of its work, achievements, institutional independence and processes, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institu

A single mother-of-two who was refused access to the one parent family payment on the basis she failed to satisfy the habitual residence condition has succeeded in a review with support from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) overturned the refus

Two human rights groups will discuss Traveller-specific accommodation issues today at a meeting with the joint Oireachtas committee on key issues affecting the Traveller community. The committee will hear from representatives from the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) and the Irish Human Rights and E

Government ministers should make an annual Dáil statement on how Ireland is meeting its human rights obligations for disabled people, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said. Chief commissioner Sinéad Gibney told the Oireachtas disability matters committee that she is i

Young people, people with disabilities, Travellers and East European migrants are at much higher risk of disadvantage around employment and have less access to "decent work" in Ireland, a new report has found. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Economic and Social Research Instit

Ireland's human rights and equality watchdog has been granted permission to intervene in a criminal appeal concerning fair trial rights in the Special Criminal Court. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission will exercise its amicus curiae function in DPP v. RK and LM, which is coming before t

Asylum seekers can now open a bank account with Bank of Ireland following an intervention by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The rights watchdog exercised its statutory powers through a formal process called an equality review, which has led to a change in the bank's policies.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has set out concerns that a new law being prepared to build online safety and strengthen media regulation, has no detail on the role or functions of a proposed new Online Safety Commissioner. The Commission has also set out its analysis that the current

An Post will pay €18,000 in compensation to an employee who was discriminated against on the basis of her age after withdrawing its appeal to the Labour Court. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) concluded in March 2020 that An Post had discriminated against the woman on the grounds of age

The Irish government has "repeatedly blurred the boundary between legal requirements and public health guidance" in its response to the Covid-19 response, according to new research. The critical report, published today by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, also warns that the delegation