Screened Out Without Mitigation – Returning Equality in Northern Ireland to the Margins
Published:
June 27, 2025
Policy Area(s):Increased Equality
Screened Out Without Mitigation
Returning Equality in Northern Ireland to the Margins
Equality Coalition Report
This report critically examines how Northern Ireland’s 11 local councils implement their statutory equality duties under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, nearly three decades after the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). It highlights serious gaps between equality obligations on paper and actual outcomes on the ground.
- Key Findings:
Persistent Inequalities: Stark disparities remain in council workforces, particularly in terms of community background and gender—with over half of councils showing clear underrepresentation of either Protestants or Catholics, and eight councils employing less than 45% women. - Equality Screening Failures: The default council response to policy reviews is often to “screen out without mitigation”, meaning they dismiss the need for deeper equality impact assessments—even on major decisions like budgets or housing.
- Misuse of Equality Mechanisms: The report documents how the equality duty is sometimes misapplied—or used selectively to block culturally or politically sensitive initiatives, such as Irish language signage, rather than to promote substantive equality.
- Weak Oversight & Transparency: There is no central repository of Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs), and many councils do not publish or respond fully to requests for screening documents. Enforcement by oversight bodies remains limited.
- The ‘Call-in’ Mechanism: Intended to protect minority rights in council decisions, the report finds that use of the call-in mechanism is inconsistent and poorly monitored, with limited access to legal opinions meant to justify decisions.
Recommendations:
- Establish a centralised and public EQIA database.
- Mandate councils to screen major policies, including budgets and land use decisions.
- Reform the interpretation of “good relations” to ensure it does not override equality obligations.Increase data collection on workforce diversity and apply intersectional analysis to assess systemic bias.
- Strengthen the legal enforceability of Section 75 duties across all councils.
