Speech of Minister O'Gorman at the Shared Island Dialogue on Equality, May 10, 2021

• check against delivery

I am very glad to be here in Dublin Castle to participate in today's Shared Island Dialogue on the important topic of Equality on a Shared Island.

Although we are meeting online, it is heartening to see that there are over 100 people participating from across the island of Ireland, representing a range of groups and experience that reflects the rich and powerful diversity of society, North and South.

Today’s discussion is the fourth in the Shared Island Dialogue series and it focuses on Equality as a core principle of the Good Friday Agreement.

Our focus today also reflects the Government’s commitment as part of the Shared Island initiative to be inclusive, to give voice to those who have been under-represented in the Peace Process, and to draw on as broad a range of experience as possible, in working to enhance our relationships across the island.

I know that so many of you joining online today have been at the forefront, over years or even decades, in advocating and working for a fairer and more equal society, in Northern Ireland and in the South. Often engaging together, and with colleagues in Britain and across Europe.

Striving for a society that affords not only equality for all, but one that celebrates our diversity and harnesses the power of inclusion of all ethnicities, abilities, genders, sexualities and faiths.

There has been important progress in recent years, North and South, but this is a vision that we still need to work for across government and society, and as an integral part of the Peace Process.

The Good Friday Agreement includes a dedicated chapter on fundamental rights and equality protections. It provided for the establishment of Human Rights and Equality Commissions, North and South, to underpin those rights. And a forum for the Human Rights Commissions to come together to consider rights issues on the island.

This framework has been an important part of consolidating the gains of the Peace Process over the last 23 years, and is just as vital for how we co-exist and prosper together on the island in the years ahead.

The Government’s Shared Island initiative is about taking up the full vision and potential of the Good Friday Agreement - so that we work as effectively as we can on the major issues we face today on the island, including on enduring inequality in society.

So this Shared Island Dialogue is an opportunity to consider - with the experience, expertise and vision of everyone participating - how in government and in wider society we can best utilise and develop the equality and rights framework of the Good Friday Agreement, today and for the years ahead.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the clear risk of compounding inequalities, North and South. We need to work together on the island to ensure that this does not happen. Monitoring and highlighting the equality impacts of the pandemic will be an ongoing concern for us all.

I know that Brexit has also raised particular concerns with regard to the rights and equality framework. However, the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, an integral part of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, provides for an important commitment to ‘no diminution’ of the rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity provided for the people of Northern Ireland under Good Friday Agreement. The UK has set out its commitments in this respect, which include a dedicated mechanism to support its implementation, with key roles for the Human Rights and Equality Commissions, North and South.

In this context, I want to recognise and welcome the MoU for increased cooperation and exchange that was agreed between the Equality Commissions on the island last year. It is necessary and important.

EU membership has facilitated the common development of equality policy and protections, North and South in hugely significant ways over the years. So, post-Brexit, we need to ensure we that we still interact, cooperate, and take account of the close connections and commonality of experience on the island of Ireland, and work to develop our equality policies in as interactive and equivalent way as possible.

My Department, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, has a vision of a fair, equal and inclusive society where rights are respected, and where everyone can reach their potential. Our mission is to enhance the lives of children, young people, adults, families and communities, recognising diversity and promoting equality of opportunity across society. This is reflective of the Programme for Government which places a very strong and clear emphasis on the needs of the most vulnerable within our diverse and changing society.

The work of my Department on promoting equality is underpinned by a number of equality strategies addressing the needs of particular groups including women and girls, Travellers, LGBTI+ people, people with disabilities and migrants. We are at a particularly interesting time with a number of those strategies drawing to a conclusion. This is provoking deep consideration around how we can advance work on equality across Government through measurable actions which reflect the intersectional nature of discrimination and disadvantage. It is an opportunity to examine the impact of the strategies which have been in place over the past few years, to assess what advances have been made and to look anew at the challenges we face. The commitment to equality remains the same, but we have a chance to see where and how we can build on what has been achieved and identify new approaches to the ongoing challenges.

A very important development over the past year has been the appointment of the independent Anti-Racism Committee who are currently carrying out consultations to inform their work in developing a National Action Plan against Racism. Racism is a complex problem, and I know many of you attending today may sadly have experience of it. The Government is committed to taking concrete action to address racism and the work of the Committee will be central in this process.

It is important that discrimination is addressed on a legislative basis also, to protect those who have experienced discrimination. I am currently planning for a review of the Equality Acts to begin later this year. This review will examine all aspects of the legislation to ensure that it is robust and effective, and that victims of discrimination feel that it can meet their needs. The review will also examine the inclusion of socio-economic status as a discrimination ground for the first time.

My Department has long-standing relationships with our counterparts in the North through the North South Ministerial Council and Sectoral meetings addressing Child Protection and Youth Policy, but I am interested to hear your views today on how we can expand our links and work together in promoting and supporting equality.

Inequality is a societal concern that has an impact in similar ways and in directly comparable circumstances across this island, and often across Ireland and Britain too. It makes practical sense for us to come together, share expertise and develop complementary policies and protections.

Civil society has long been a leader in working together in this way. In government, we must also keep working to take up the full potential of the institutions and the positive working relationships that we enjoy - North/South and East/West - as part of the Good Friday Agreement framework, as we work on the contemporary equality agenda.

The Irish Government is firmly committed to doing that, and to listening to and working with civic society on the island, as an integral part of our approach.

In closing, I believe we can take heart from the progress that has been made on Equality and Rights issues over the past 23 years on the island. But we also need to be honest and clear about the way that is still to go, and the challenges we face today, in working to achieve equality in all aspects of life, and in enabling marginalised citizens and groups to make their full contribution to society.

The Good Friday Agreement framework is an indispensable part of how we can realise that, consistent with the vision overwhelming approved by the people, North and South in 1998, of a society that is truly inclusive, with accommodation of all traditions and communities, and equality of opportunity for all.

I am sure that today’s Dialogue will be a vibrant exchange on how we can keep working to that end on the island of Ireland, and I look forward to the discussion morning.

Thank you.