On the 15th of March Ireland appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to announce how many recommendations it would be accepting and rejecting under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This review process has been previously documented in an earlier Bulletin article. ‘Your Rights, Right Now’, Ireland’s civil society UPR campaign organised live coverage of Ireland’s appearance before the UNHRC at Liberty Hall on the day.
At the initial review in October 2011, the government stated that it would be considering 49 recommendations. It was the response to those 49 recommendations that was announced on the 15th of March this year. Of these 49, the government announced that it would be accepting 29, rejecting 4 and partially accepting 17. Some organisations have expressed their disappointment at a number of the rejections. The Irish Times reported that the organisation Pavee Point does not agree with the decision not to recognise travellers as an official minority and the Irish Family Planning Association does not agree with the rejection of six recommendations on ‘reproductive rights’.
Gerard Corr, Irish Ambassador to the UN announced on the 15th that an expert group would report to the government by July on the implementation of a European Court of Human Rights ruling on abortion. The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues noted that despite this development there is still no definitive timeframe for delivery of the report or otherwise meaningful implementation of the ECHR’s judgment. Mr Corr further stated in response to a comment by the International Gay and Lesbian Association that the government would shortly propose legislation to give legal recognition to transgender persons.