Dr. Seamus Taylor:

Section 6 of the Good Friday Agreement is entitled rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity. The first eight paragraphs deal with what is going to be brought in, in Northern Ireland, to address equality and human rights. Paragraph 9 is entitled "Comparable Steps by the Irish Government" and goes on to state that the measures brought forward by the Irish Government in the areas of human rights and equality will "ensure at least an equivalent level of protection of human rights as will pertain in Northern Ireland". In my considered view, the hate crime Bill, as published, falls short of the commitment to at least an equivalent level of protection because in the North, the legal provisions on hate crime allow for proof based on demonstration of hostility or motivation. Here in the Republic, if this Bill goes ahead unchanged, it only provides for proof on the basis of motivation. Therefore, hate crime victims in the Republic will not have got equivalence of protection. In addition, hate crime victims here will face a more challenging, more complex and a higher legal threshold. Also, hate crime victims here will be less likely to get full justice in the Republic than in the North. I do not think that is in keeping with the spirit of the substance.