Constitutional Confusion: Ireland’s Failed Referendum on Care and the Family
There is no shortage of explanations as to why Ireland’s recent referendum on whether to amend Article 41 of the Constitution, which recognises the rights of the family, was met...
Women’s Invisible Labour, Kinkeeping and Care: Ireland’s 8 March Constitutional Referendum
On International Women’s Day, Ireland will hold votes on two proposed changes to Article 41 of the Constitution. The first would extend constitutional protection to families other than those based...
The Legacy Bill: Furthering the Gap to Truth and Justice
Currently before the UK’s House of Lords is the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill (the Bill). While pacific in name, the Bill is packed with legal and political...
Will Ireland Constitutionalise Environmental Human Rights and the Rights of Nature as a Response to the Biodiversity Crisis?
Earlier this year, a Citizens’ Assembly in Ireland tasked with examining biodiversity loss made a number of far-reaching constitutional amendment recommendations. The Assembly’s Report proposed that a referendum be held...
Ireland’s Abortion Law Reform
The report of the Independent Review of Ireland’s abortion legislation was published this week. Abortion legislation was passed in 2019 following a referendum removing the 8th Amendment (a foetal life...
Depathologising Gender Identity at the United Nations: A Call to South Africa
On 29 March 2023, a cross-regional group of countries led by Argentina, called for United Nations Member States to implement laws and policies based on self-determined gender identity. This reform...
Should the Irish Special Criminal Court Continue to Operate?: Evaluating the Role of this Court on its 50th Anniversary
Image Description: Criminal Court of Justice in Dublin, Ireland One of the most foundational and ubiquitous human rights recognised within international human rights jurisprudence is the right to a fair...
“I Can Hear Another Ambulance”: The Rise of Exponential Inequalities During COVID-19 (Episode 1)
Human rights experts tell stories of inequalities from around the world, revealing how these inequalities have been exacerbated during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This is Episode One of a...
Visas for Surrogates: Acknowledging Familial Bonds between Surrogates, Intended Parents, and Children
Image Description: Surrogate parents attending the birth of the child in the hospital with the gestational mother. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought into focus the vulnerabilities of surrogates gestating...
Assessing Vulnerability: Asylum Seekers with Disabilities in Direct Provision in Ireland
Asylum seekers with disabilities are largely invisible in the international protection system in Ireland. They face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination as asylum seekers in Ireland’s Direct Provision system,...
A Renewed Call for the Need for Recognition of the Non-Marital Family in the Irish Constitution
On 24th April 2021, the deliberations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality recommended forty five changes to make Ireland a more gender equal place. The Assembly was established by...
Responding to Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes Commission Report
Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Report was published last week. This is the latest in a series of state investigations into so-called ‘historical’ institutional injustice. Following an...
