Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The delegation mentioned that the two main obstacles are the work of the UK Commission on a Bill of Rights, which came back and said it did not want to delay the matter, and the lack of consensus. The report of the commission stated that it did not want any delay and did not want its work to be used as a barrier. In regard to the lack of consensus, some will argue that the parties should be pulled together to see if agreement can be reached. That sounds reasonable, although it is 15 years down the road. If that does not work, what timescale should we be working towards? If the two governments cannot get all the parties to agree to some bases in regard to a bill of rights, what should we be working towards? It is not specifically a matter for us but for the two governments. A meeting is planned between the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, and the British Prime Minister said this was one of the issues that would be raised. Does the delegation agree with that approach?

There is also the important issue of synergy in regard to human rights. If there is a bill of rights in the North there must be similar legislation in this jurisdiction, such as the all-Ireland charter. How important is that? The last thing we want is for one section of the island to move ahead on one issue and the other section to fall behind. Some of the legislation being introduced would be the opposite of what is being introduced in the other jurisdiction.