Dr. Robbie McVeigh:

I think the Senator is right. That was a clear political principle. The Senator is probably too young to remember, but I was part of the human rights and equality community at the time. The notion that both Governments were committing to a highest rather than lowest common denominator approach was seen as a huge victory, but the specific commitment came from the Southern Government. On that basis, there is a whole raft of other issues that might be addressed from the same perspective. In the sense that there was a commitment, there is no question but that the protection of Travellers around ethnicity and race discrimination is stronger in the Six Counties than it is in the Twenty-six Counties and that should be an embarrassment for legislators and others in the South.