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The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, and his colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration, David Stanton TD, today met with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Dunja Mijatović, as part of her visit to Ireland to attend an event to mark the 70^th anniversary of the Council of Europe.

Following the meeting, Minister Flanagan said: “I am delighted to meet with Ms. Mijatović as she visits Ireland to mark this special occasion. My Department has significant engagement with the Council of Europe on a broad range of issues and ongoing dialogue at all levels is key to ensuring the continued progress of these issues. The recent ratification of the Istanbul Convention is a perfect example of the positive work done between my Department and the Council of Europe in recent times and I look forward to further fruitful engagements.”

Minister Stanton added: “As one of the founding members of the Council of Europe, Ireland is deeply invested in the work being done by the Council and it was a pleasure to discuss some of this work with Ms. Mijatović today. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to Strasbourg last May to speak at the Council of Europe’s Anti-Racism Commission launching of revised standards for Equality Bodies. The chance to see first-hand, the culmination of the work of many, is hugely rewarding. I’d like to congratulate the Council of Europe on 70 years of work progressing human rights issues and wish them every success for the future.”