Human Rights – Page 7 – Slugger O'Toole

Are the DUP sounding “generous and smart” or have they just lost their mojo?

Brian Walker on May 9, 2017, 1:15 pm

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Mick has just credited Arlene Foster and the DUP with making moves toward nationalists which Sinn Fein is struggling to answer. I see very little that the DUP have done yet that needs an answer. It is not news that the DUP don’t want a hard border or that there is a case for some sort of Irish Language Act, totemic as it is, particularly when your own contemptuous rejection whipped up demand for it. How to answer SF effectively …

For Brexit, British and Irish citizens’ rights are not yet guaranteed. Interchangeable rights for all should be the aim

Brian Walker on May 8, 2017, 1:57 pm

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The issue of reciprocal citizenship rights after Brexit is turning out to be more complicated than at first thought. It extends well beyond confirming the status quo to embrace work and pension rights for new immigrants from the EU as well as the 3 million existing residents. Even when an EU citizen’s rights in the UK are backed up by taking out British citizenship, everything is not quite the same as before – as in the case of the dual …

“Brexit has become a central question in the identity conversation and that is dangerous”

Brian Walker on May 4, 2017, 1:16 pm

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In a commentary “Brexit and Northern Ireland” on the EPC discussion paper( see below) the legal academic Chris McCrudden asserts the primacy of the Brexit question and laments the “ tone deafness” of the UK government to Northern Ireland’s interests. But while he rightly sees the need to set priorities in the interparty talks, he doesn’t discuss here the reasons given for SF’s withdrawal from the Assembly such as an Irish Language Act and the legacy and other issues SF insist …

On Brexit, the Irish are caught between two opposing forces, but at least they’re showing more invention and concern about the North than the British and northerners themselves

Brian Walker on May 3, 2017, 1:46 pm

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The ritual opening shots in the Brexit campaign must leave the Republic feeling caught in a trap in a dialogue of the deaf between two opposing forces. So much, so sadly predictable, in spite of all the warm words- although the crudeness of the exchanges is perhaps surprising. It’s pretty clear that the Irish government don’t favour the aggressive opening approach by the Commission and confirmed this morning by its chief negotiator Michel Barnier. On the detail of the FT’s …

Amnesty for soldiers and police officers appears imminent after the election. And the effect on prospects for restoring the Assembly?

Brian Walker on April 27, 2017, 1:27 pm

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The government appear to be on the brink of taking the legacy of the Troubles out of the hands of the Assembly. The only question remains if they would entertain an agreed counter proposal from the Assembly parties . You can work out for yourself the prospects of that The Times (£) are reporting that The British government has moved one step closer to shielding British soldiers who served during the Troubles from murder prosecutions despite concerns that it could …

Advance on abortion law reform and the treatment of women generally is now inevitable in the Republic. But will it go the whole way?

Brian Walker on April 25, 2017, 1:40 pm

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For readers catching up, the Times (£) has a good pull together on the prospects of seismic change to the Republic’s abortion law. In a series of votes over the weekend, the citizens’ assembly, set up to consider the issue, recommended that abortion should be available up to 12 weeks after conception “with no restriction as to reason”. The vote for change was overwhelming, by 52 to 29. The Irish Times passes a qualified verdict Despite the recommendation from the …

Rights are tricky things, especially when it comes to the ‘right to life of the unborn’ and the ‘equal right to life of the mother’…

Robert Campbell on April 20, 2017, 7:07 pm

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I get a distinct feeling of unease when I hear an individual or a group on the media complaining that their ‘rights’ to something have been infringed. I wouldn’t necessarily have thought that these people can make any such claim, but they are often vocal in their assertions. A group, for example, may take over a vacant property and ‘squat’ there; when there is an attempt at eviction they will claim that they have ‘squatters’ rights’. Perhaps they do have …

Operation Kenova and The Spy in the IRA…

Pete Baker on April 17, 2017, 2:57 pm

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John Ware’s BBC Panorama investigation on Freddie Scappaticci, The Spy in the IRA, is available online, with an accompanying article on the BBC website. Ed Moloney has some relevant posts on his blog on the programme, including criticism of the initial response by processors in the media to Liam Clarke’s scoop when he broke the story in 1999. Not all journalists were as keen to follow the story up. Sinn Fein spread the word that Liam Clarke’s story was the work of …

Left to themselves, the parties won’t agree. The time has come for the governments to bring forward solutions which involve the people directly

Brian Walker on April 9, 2017, 11:11 am

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Observed from London, the political atmosphere at home is surreal. The volume of comment on the talks is in inverse proportion to hard information. Expectations of agreement by Good Friday are so low that the local media can barely be roused from torpor. Emergency action for feeding the Stormont cats occupied more space in the Belfast Telegraph the other day. Further emergency action to fund the regional government must be taken within a week followed by the crunch decision to …

Bertie’s separate agenda should include warming Theresa May’s ear about the Human Rights Act

Brian Walker on April 7, 2017, 11:57 am

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Following in Bertie Ahern footsteps what should the two governments negotiate about bilaterally as the Brexit talks proceed? In the Irish Times Noel Whelan argues that “ Ireland and UK must renegotiate Belfast Agreement” The EU has been described as a cornerstone of the Belfast Agreement. This is more than just constitutional flannel. The agreement specifically provides, under stand 2, article 17, for the North-South Ministerial Council to facilitate co-operation and co-ordination in EU matters. The council’s remit in this …

Gerry Adams invokes the fresh memory of Martin McGuinness and issues an ultimatum on the talks

Brian Walker on March 23, 2017, 1:04 am

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“Sinn Fein opposed to any extension of Stormont talks ahead of Monday’s deadline – ‘We will bury our friend tomorrow and move directly from his graveside to do our utmost to get Assembly restored’ Speaking in Newry on the eve of Martin McGuinness’s funeral, the Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has been talking the talk of ultimatums. Lest anyone thinks Sinn Fein has been distracted this week, he disabuses them of the idea that the immediate period of mourning for …

New Brexit bombshell. Irish citizen rights to live and work in Great Britain may change within a month, even for northerners. The answer so far- take out a British passport if you can, quick

Brian Walker on February 27, 2017, 2:15 pm

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My thanks to commenter Jag for drawing attention to a quite a different Brexit bombshell from No 10 in the Daily Telegraph. The Prime Minister is expected to say that EU citizens who travel to Britain after she triggers Article 50 will no longer have the automatic right to stay in the UK permanently. They will instead be subject to migration curbs after Britain leaves the European Union, which could include a new visa regime and restricted access to benefits. …

Good news, Gerry! The Human Rights Act is here to stay

Brian Walker on January 28, 2017, 10:38 am

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Another of Gerry Adams’ sticking points for returning to the Assembly seems about to disappear. The on- off on sequence of the May government’s commitment to a new British Bill of Rights to replace the Human Right Act now looks permanently off the agenda and not just delayed until after 2020, according to Daily Telegraph sources. Despite her frustrations with enforcing exclusion orders against militant Islamists, Theresa May has at last bowed to pressure from many sides not to pick …

“More important, though, is to never forget the monstrous things that can be done by apparently affable family men, who write poetry and enjoy fishing.”

Pete Baker on December 27, 2016, 5:15 pm

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With former Sinn Féin MLA, Daithí McKay [now a Slugger contributor… – Ed], speculating elsewhere that the, as yet unspecified, illness that caused the Northern Ireland deputy First Minister to pull out of December’s NI Executive Office trip to China at the last minute may force him to step down in 2017, Eilis O’Hanlon takes a pre-emptive look at Martin McGuinness’ “mixed legacy“. McGuinness has been lucky. Adams is widely mocked for denying that he was ever in the IRA. McGuinness was …

Shame on the politicians for allowing the PSNI to become the victims of a tabloid firestorm over army prosecutions

Brian Walker on December 9, 2016, 12:20 pm

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A tabloid storm blown up by the Sun and the Mail with the Daily Telegraph in tow has been set off to save hundreds, perhaps thousands of “our boys” – the soldiers who served in the Troubles – from the “ witch hunt” of being singled out as a class for prosecution as a result of Army action in the Troubles. The surge probably owes more to the establishment campaign against prosecutions over Iraq – one case now being the …

The gap between politics and the law is further exposed. But ruling on the clash between the Scots and Irish nationalists with the UK government will be the more momentous decision for the Supreme Court.

Brian Walker on December 7, 2016, 5:24 pm

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Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

The Belfast Telegraph is wrong to become Ms Angry over religion. Stick with decency

Brian Walker on December 1, 2016, 11:26 am

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Gail Walker’s column in the Belfast Telegraph she edits gives a heavily nuanced welcome to the prospect of the Pope’s visit to Northern Ireland. For the millennial generation, it also marks a new division between all the Churches and “the so-called progressives,” she stigmatises. What is really surprising is just how much common ground over recent years the Christian Churches in Ireland have found with each other…. Force of circumstance has forged strange alliances in the Christian community in Northern …

New life in an auld relationship? The Scottish government may pay for Northern Ireland abortions

Brian Walker on November 18, 2016, 1:38 pm

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A tentative move to erode the prohibitive position over abortion in Northern Ireland may become a landmark shift, now that the issue has been raised. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is open to the suggestion as reported by the Guardian, that woman from Northern Ireland could have abortions performed free in Scotland under NHS devolution. I am happy to explore with the NHS what the situation is now in terms of the ability of women from Northern Ireland to access …

Another few words of sense about dealing with the past that the politicians refuse to face.

Brian Walker on November 14, 2016, 12:32 pm

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Chris Ryder, veteran reporter and specialist on police matters, is given space in the Irish Times to repeat the case for halting all pre- Troubles cases and leaving them to historians. Although he is known as a critical friend of the police, he makes a fair and balanced case which should be considered entirely on its merits. This was an approach I ran with to support Arkiv, a group of historians who wanted to take it on, initially encouraged by the …

“It may seem that writing in icing on a cake is a trivial form of expression…”

Pete Baker on October 25, 2016, 4:46 pm

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As Alan mentioned in his post on the Court of Appeal ruling against Ashers Baking Company yesterday, noted legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg, describing the ruling as “surprisingly straightforward”, outlined the judges reasoning …if a business does supply a service, it must not discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation — which means it must not refuse to provide a gay person with goods that it would provide to others. In this case, said the courts, the correct comparison was not with …