Seminar Report: How could minority and women’s rights be protected in a united Ireland?
On 15th November 2023, the Equality Coalition and the Transitional Justice Institute, with support from the LSE Gender, Justice and Security Hub hosted a seminar which discussed how the rights of minorities and women could be protected in a United Ireland.
The Seminar was introduced by Rory O’Connell (Professor of Human Rights and Constitutional Law, Ulster University) and Daniel Holder (Director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice) who laid out the themes of the event, particularly relating to equality and participation in a United Ireland and constitutional frameworks which could afford rights protections to minority communities and women in the event of a border poll vote for reunification.
The seminar consisted of two panels:
Panel 1: Minority Rights
Chaired by Colin Harvey (Professor of Human Rights Law, QUB)
On this panel we heard from Colin Murray (Professor of Law & Democracy, Newcastle University), Brice Dickson (Emeritus Professor of Law, QUB), and Róisín Nic Liam (Iníon léinn PhD i Roinn na Gaeilge agus an Léinn Cheiltigh, QUB). Our panelists covered issues around post-unification cross-border constitutionalism, Unionist rights in a united Ireland, and linguistic minority rights in a United Ireland.
Panel 2: Women’s rights
Chaired by Patricia McKeown (Regional Secretary of UNISON and Co-convenor of the Equality Coalition)
Speakers on our second panel included Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, (Regents Professor, Law School, University of Minnesota
and Professor of Law, QUB), Fidelma Ashe (Professor of Politics, TJI, Ulster University), Joanna McMinn (Research Associate, School of Law, Ulster University) and Elaine Crory (Women’s Resource and Development Agency). Panelists explored how we define, guarantee and protect women’s rights in a united Ireland and women’s participation in constitutional change.
Our seminar report is now available for download here.