The Government has recommended six new Commission members to the influential Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, and to say that these people strain the definition of the word “independent,” which is required of Ireland’s independent National Human Rights Institution and National Equality Body, would be an understatement.
In a press release yesterday, the IHREC announced the six proposed commission members, and gave us some biographical detail to fill in the picture. They are as follows.
Sam Blanckensee, the current Equality Officer at Maynooth University, who has previously worked with the Irish Traveller Movement and the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI). It might come as no surprise that Sam appears to request they/them pronouns.
Cathryn Costello is professor of Global Refugee and Migration Law at University College Dublin, with an extensive academic background. Most interestingly, she has previous board member experience, including as a member of the board of the Irish Refugee Council.
Next up is no stranger to the civil society scene, the Tánaiste’s brother, Adam Harris, who is being reappointed, having apparently already done stellar work with IHREC as vice-chairperson of its Disability Advisory Committee and having served on the Commission’s Audit and Risk Committee.
Mr Harris is also the founder and CEO of Autism charity, AsIAm, and has sat on the board of directors of “one of Ireland’s most powerful NGOs”, Rethink Ireland, since 2022, among other charities and NGOs.
The fourth proposed commissioner is also a reappointment, Rosaleen McDonagh, “a member of the Travelling Community with prior board experience with Pavee Point and Women’s Aid and is currently on the Board of the Arts Council”. As with Mr Harris, she has also done work in the area of disability with IHREC.
The penultimate appointment, then, is Patricia Munatsi-Mangwiza, a human rights lawyer who is also a member of the Government’s Expert Advisory Committee on Racial Equality and Racism, “inputting into the National Action Plan against Racism (NAPAR) and advising the Special Rapporteur” (who Gript readers may remember), Dr Ebun Joseph.
Ms Munatsi-Mangwiza is also serving as a board member with Uplift and is a member of Lawyers Against Racism Ireland.
“She has previously led Volunteer Ireland’s public affairs strategy, coordinated the Coalition for the Implementation of NAPAR and contributed to multiple Oireachtas and UN submissions,” her biographical description reads in IHREC’s statement.
Last but not least, Rose Wall is a solicitor and consultant “specialising in environmental justice”, bringing senior leadership experience from across the NGO sector. She is the founder of Ireland’s Centre for Environmental Justice and is a board member of Community Foundation Ireland.
There are, to put it bluntly, too many threads to be pulled on in a single article regarding all of the connections and interests these people have across civil society, which while in theory is distinct from Government, in practice in Ireland, is anything but.
This is important because independence is a key part of IHREC’s composition. As per their own ‘about’ section on their website: “We work independently of the Government to protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland.”
“It is our job to: protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland; support a culture that respects human rights, equality, and understanding between different cultures in the country; raise awareness about the importance of human rights and equality; encourage good behaviour in relationships between cultures, promoting tolerance and acceptance of differences, and respecting everyone’s freedom and dignity; help stop human rights violations, discrimination, and other unacceptable actions.”
Many of the organisations these people work for or are involved with have received varying amounts of State funding, or administer State funding, they have been involved in carrying out controversial works done by Government – I’m looking at the National Action Plan Against Racism here and its dodgy, anti-racist assumptions – and through their various roles have spent the better part of the past decade working hand-in-glove with Government to advance their specific agendas of equality, diversity and sustainability.
Perhaps it’s a symptom of Ireland’s parochial nature, but that the same revolving panel of names keeps appearing in the lineup of so many of the country’s influential organisations and institutions, whether rightly or wrongly, does an awful lot to undermine the sense of the word “independent”.
While I have no doubt that each of the people recommended for commissionership is indeed technically independent, in the statutorily-required sense, a citizen who didn’t share their particular vision of Ireland’s human rights landscape might shudder at the growing slant of Ireland’s independent National Human Rights Institution and National Equality Body.