Interestingly, the explanatory memorandum points out that the convention has been the law for Ireland for the past 50 years but was not law in Ireland. For a person to vindicate his or her rights under the convention he or she would have to exhaust all remedies in domestic law and then, if necessary, pursue the case in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Bill fundamentally alters this by providing that people can bring their case in an Irish court. This has arisen in part because of the Government's commitment under the Good Friday Agreement, although it may have happened in any event. The Minister has argued it will mean that an equivalence will pertain between this jurisdiction and the situation pertaining in Northern Ireland, which has arisen from the implementation of the 1998 Act passed in the United Kingdom.