merrion street

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter T.D., today congratulated Mr. Michael Farrell on taking up his position as the Irish member to the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). Mr. Farrell was nominated by the Minister for the position and he replaces Dr. Mazhar Bari, whose term expired in November 2011. The term of office of a member of ECRI is five years.

Mr. Farrell is a Senior Solicitor with the Free Legal Advice Centres and was a member of the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) from 2001-2011. During that period, he acted as Chair of the Racism, Migration and Trafficking Committee of the IHRC and Chair of the Racism Sub-committee of the Joint Committee of the IHRC and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Mr. Farrell was also a member of the Steering Group on the development of the National Action Plan against Racism and subsequently a member of the Strategic Monitoring Committee which oversaw the implementation of the Plan. He was Vice-Chair and then Co-Chair of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties in the 1990s.

Congratulating Mr. Farrell, Minister Shatter said "Mr. Farrell is highly qualified to take up the position of Ireland’s member to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance given his wide range of expertise and experience in this area at both national and international levels. I have no doubt that he will make a significant contribution to the work of this important body."

The position of Ireland’s member of ECRI was publicly advertised by the Department of Justice and Equality in August this year and expressions of interest were sought from suitably qualified and experienced persons. Following objective evaluation of the applications by appropriate officials, the Minister decided to forward Mr. Farrell’s nomination to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and it was approved by the Committee of Ministers’ Deputies today.

Commenting on the process of Mr. Farrell’s selection, Minister Shatter said "This was the first time that the vacancy of Ireland’s member of ECRI was publicly advertised and qualified persons were given the opportunity to apply for the position. I am delighted to note that the openness of the nomination process has been commented on favourably by the Council of Europe."