Overview of Human Rights in Ireland

Ireland is a parliamentary democracy. Ireland has one of the world's best human rights records and the government works to respect the civil and human rights of its citizens. The law provides for effective means of dealing with reported abuses.

The Belfast Peace Agreement stipulated the Irish government establish an independent human rights commission in 2000, which was supposed to cooperate with its counterpart, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, already created in Northern Ireland. The Irish Human Rights Commission was established in July 2001 and now works to promote and protect human rights in Ireland. While this is only one example of means to deal with human rights abuses, in its five years of existence, the IHRC has been very effective in helping individuals seeking justice for claims of abuse against them.

Ireland's few human rights challenges include instances of police brutality and prison overcrowding. The occasional censorship of media, such as films, books and periodicals, is decreasing. Other problems reported are incidences of violence against immigrants, ethnic minorities, and child abuse.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank: 4th out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.