Speaking notes for Secretary General Kevin McCarthy: Opening the afternoon session of Defending Freedoms - Advancing Human Rights Conference

Tuesday, 13 May 2025

Printworks, Dublin Castle

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Good afternoon.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you all this afternoon. It is my great pleasure to open the afternoon session of the conference.

The speakers this morning have offered us thoughtful insights to consider further, and I know this fruitful conversation will continue into the panels still to come.

The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley shared her reflections this morning on progress since the Marriage Equality Referendum and the challenges that still remain to equality for LGBTIQ+ persons.

As the Secretary General of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality it is my great honour to lead the department’s work to advance the government’s commitment to fostering a safe, fair and inclusive society for all, including the LGBTIQ+ community. The core of the department’s mission is to enhance the lives of people in Ireland by upholding rights, promoting equality of opportunity and recognising diversity.

I don’t need to convince anyone here of the importance of the pursuit of equality, but I want to add my voice to underline the department’s commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights and to equality.

Human rights cannot be advanced without equality; people cannot thrive, and societies cannot progress.

We know that communities are stronger when everyone is valued and included. We all benefit when every person has the chance to contribute their unique skills and perspectives.

Equality does not happen on its own. It requires effort- and it requires leadership. On the part of governments, it requires a determination to develop and advance systems and policies that provide people with equal opportunities and treatment.

As the Department of Equality, I recognise our crucial role in carrying forward this work. Equality is a lens through which we should view all our work. In seeking to advance human rights and defend freedoms, it is incumbent on us to, in particular, seek advances for those most at risk of being marginalised through targeted action and support.

As a department we hold responsibility for leading the implementation of a number of whole-of-government Equality Strategies, namely:

• the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy
• the successor National Strategy for Women and Girls
• the successor National Disability Inclusion Strategy, and
• the new National LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy II to 2028

As Minister Foley highlighted this morning, the new National LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy and the first 2-year Action Plan will be launched later this month.

These strategies give expression to the government’s efforts to create a principled framework that recognises our diversity in society; that identifies and acknowledges the barriers and challenges faced by particular groups; and addresses their specific needs to drive social cohesion and advance human rights.

In recent years, Ireland has made significant progress towards a more equal, fair and inclusive society for all, regardless of their sex, race, ethnic or social origin, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.

The anniversary we are marking today is a prime example of this progress. I want to join in paying tribute to the courage and determination of so many campaigners and advocates, to whom society is greatly indebted for leading and demanding this progress.

As we move to implement and renew successor equality strategies, we find ourselves at an important juncture in this journey.

The Ireland of today is very different from the Ireland of ten years ago or even five years ago. Our society has become more diverse and more interconnected with global society. Technological advances and continuing social progress have brought many positive impacts. But we also see some worrying shifts in attitudes and behaviours playing out before our eyes. We see new challenges and threats emerging.

We see continual reminders that the progress achieved - of which we are so rightly proud – was hard won and needs to be protected and nurtured.

We are also reminded of the complexity of the challenges encountered by all those who face discrimination in our society.

Engaging an intersectional lens to our work provides a framework for understanding how privilege and discrimination in society are based on multiple factors of identity, which generate different modes of discrimination and privilege.

In the department, we recognise the importance of an intersectional approach as a way of identifying, understanding, and addressing the forms of inequality that account for the lived experience of people.

In developing the recent iterations of the Equality Strategies, we have endeavoured to ensure that this intersectional approach is at their heart, recognising the diversity of a person’s identity and how that impacts their experience of Irish life. In acknowledging complexity, we can deliver meaningful change.

A decade ago, we voted for marriage equality and passed the Gender Recognition Act. These stand as markers of historic progress in Irish society, where we have seen a gradual and growing appreciation, through decades of progress, that we should not dismiss a person’s profound sense of who they are, and a recognition across society that our fellow citizens should be free to express themselves and to be themselves.

The conversations today remind us that the passage of the Marriage Equality Referendum was not an end point but an important step on our journey towards LGBTIQ+ equality.

Since its passage, much has been achieved, including under the first National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy, particularly in areas of sexual health provision; the advancement of legislation around same sex parentage; improved visibility of LGBTIQ+ identities, including through the education curriculum; advancements in systems for tracking and reporting of hate crimes and the provision of increased funding for LGBTIQ+ community services.

Despite the huge strides that have been made, there is still work to be done to achieve equality for LGBTIQ+ persons. Gaps remain and the changing context since the inaugural Strategies, has raised new and emerging issues. The successor National LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy was developed with these new challenges in mind. It will take a whole-of-lifecycle approach and is grounded in the voices and experiences of those in the LGBTIQ+ community.

Ten years on we are still in the process of change. We remain on the path to equality. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality is committed to a vision of a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland where people are supported to live inclusive, healthy and fulfilled lives, whatever their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics.

I want to conclude by acknowledging again that this progress is something we should be proud of, that we are proud of but that we cannot and will not take for granted.

As a department, equality underpins all of our work because it is the foundation that we build progress on. We are absolutely committed to this principle. We will continue to invest in these strategies, in these communities and in deepening our understanding of the issues by listening to the voices of all those affected.

I am delighted to be able to share in this occasion for celebrating progress made and for re-affirming our commitment to the continuing pursuit. We know that progress is not always permanent. The pursuit of equality is a process and a responsibility that we all share.

Thank you and I look forward to the discussions this afternoon.