For example:
-
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 was repealed, coupled with an
explicit and unprecedented British Government commitment to observe the
outcome of any future ‘Border poll’ in favour of territorial unity on the
island
- The establishment of the British-Irish Inter-governmental Conference
gives the Irish Government a permanent consultative role in the British
Government’s daily administration of non-devolved matters in the Six
- Counties, with a mandate to intensify co-operation in a range of areas
such as rights and justice
- Section 75 and Schedule 9 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 enshrines
the statutory duty on all designated public authorities in the Six Counties
to “have due regard for the need to promote equality of opportunity” and
introduces the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) process
-
Establishment of the Human Rights Commissions in the Six and 26
Counties, including establishment of a joint all-Ireland Committee of both
commissions
- Establishment of the Equality Commission in the Six Counties and
Equality Authority in the 26 Counties, followed by the establishment of a
joint Equality and Human Rights Forum
-
Establishment of the Police Ombudsman to independently investigate all
complaints of police misconduct, including significant historical cases
-
Introduction of 50:50 recruitment policy to promote representative
membership of the PSNI, with Catholic membership of the full-time regulars
almost trebling in last ten years from 8.3 per cent to 23.7 per cent
-
Establishment of a representative Policing Board and new District
Policing Partnerships to hold the PSNI to account
-
Successive Police Acts (2000 and 2003) and accordingly revised
-
implementation plans to progressively enact the recommendations of the
Independent Commission on Policing
-
The Bloody Sunday Public Inquiry to reinvestigate the entire case,
including cross-examination of thousands of witnesses and documents, not
least the most senior members of the British Government and British Army,
such as former Prime Minister Edward Heath and General Sir Mike Jackson
-
Millions of euro of ‘peace funding’ from Europe for development and
community projects on either side of the border corridor
-
Significant all-Ireland transport developments, such as: upgrading of
the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise rail link, Irish Government multi-million euro
investment in City of Derry airport, substantial Irish Government funding
for new road infrastructure between the Port of Larne and Belfast for the
east coast corridor, major ongoing all-Ireland road projects to link Dublin
and the north-west, and the re-opening of the Ulster Canal
-
All-Ireland Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good
Friday Agreement (although this is insufficient, and less than the
government promised, nevertheless it provides Six-County representatives
with speaking rights for the first time since partition)
-
Equal recognition of victims and survivors from every background,
particularly republicans and state forces, in the composition of the new
Victims Commission.
|