Manifesto for a Rights Based Return to Power Sharing
More than two years have elapsed since the devolved power sharing institutions provided for under the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) collapsed in Northern Ireland.
Additionally, many of the rights based commitments of the peace settlement, including those originally designed as to act as safeguards on the NI Executive and Assembly, remain unimplemented or have been misimplemented.
Fresh cross-party talks to restore power sharing have been announced for May 2019. However, there is little point in restoring the institutions only for them to fail to deliver and collapse again for the same reasons as before.
Conscious of this, the Equality Coalition, which is co-convened by UNISON and CAJ, has developed a ‘Manifesto for a Rights Based Return to Power Sharing’.
The 80+ groups in the Equality Coalition wish to see the re-establishment of power sharing on a sustainable footing that delivers for everyone in Northern Ireland on the basis of respect and equality.
The manifesto is centred on three key elements:
- Full implementation of the rights provisions of the peace settlement.
- Implementing international obligations and addressing ‘rights deficits’.
- Ensuring power is ‘working within the rules’.
The manifesto has been sent to the UK and Irish governments, as well as to leading political parties in NI, and the Equality Coalition is seeking direct engagement with them all on its provisions.
You can download the full two page manifesto here: manifesto-for-a-rights-based-return. An Irish language version has also been published, with help from Conradh na Gaeilge.
If you have any questions or comments on the manifesto, please email equalitycoalition@caj.org.uk or call 028 9031 6000. A larger font version in either language is available upon request.
Visit www.equalitycoalition.net to learn more about the Equality Coalition and its activities in Northern Ireland.
