Business and Human Rights in Ireland

Staff and students of the Irish Centre for Human Rights are engaged in research and advocacy activities in the area of business and human rights in Ireland, and seek to contribute to law and policy development in this area. The Centre has contributed to the consultation regarding the development of Ireland’s national action plan on business and human rights, having made a detailed submission to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Irish Centre for Human Rights also provided a response to the ‘Working Outline’ of the national action plan in January 2016.

The Irish Centre for Human Rights holds an annual spring symposium on business and human rights at NUI Galway (see for example Illusions of Progress? National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights (2018), Exploring Litigation as a Business and Human Rights Remedy (2017)) and has also hosted a number of conferences, including Ireland and the United Nations Framework for Business and Human Rights (2012) and Corporations and Armed Conflict (2010). Under the principal authorship of Dr Shane Darcy, the Centre produced the Business and Human Rights in Ireland Report, the launch of which was covered in the media, including the Irish Times. In September 2013, the Irish Centre for Human Rights made a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the issue of business and human rights. This submission was reflected in the list of issues adopted at the 109th session of the Committee.

Dr Shane Darcy runs the Business and Human Rights in Ireland blog, which tracks and analyses developments relating to business and human rights in Ireland. It aims to address legal and policy issues, as well as highlighting human rights concerns raised by the activities of Irish companies or multinational corporations based in Ireland. You can follow the blog on twitter @BHRIblog

For further details please contact Dr Shane Darcy (shane.darcy@nuigalway.ie)