April Minister and Commissioner to Speak at Major Policing Conference at NUI Galway

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charles Flanagan T.D., and Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Drew Harris, will address a major conference on ‘Policing, Human Rights and Communities’ hosted by the School of Law and Irish Centre for Human Rights in the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway on Friday, 26 April.

The conference will focus on the main recommendations of the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, published last September, which acknowledged human rights as the core purpose of policing and committed unequivocally to the ideal of policing with communities. The conference will also consider new arrangements for national security that are being put in place as part of the implementation plan for the Commission’s report. Lord David Anderson of Ipswich, KBE, QC, who was the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation for the United Kingdom, will speak about these new structures and the appropriate level of oversight required.

The conference will also be addressed by, among others: Emily Logan, the Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission; Liam Herrick, the Executive Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties; Professor Maura Conway of Dublin City University; Dr Mick Feehan, former Assistant Commissioner of An Garda Síochána; Dr Sindy Joyce, Human Rights Activist and Member of the Council of State; and Professor Siobhán Mullally, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway.

Professor Donncha O’Connell, School of Law at NUI Galway and a member of the Commission on the Future of Policing, who is convening the conference, said: “This conference provides an invaluable opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders to engage critically with the process of policing reform currently under way in Ireland, especially as the reform process relates to the core issues of human rights and policing and policing with communities. There is already huge interest in the event and, in order to include the widest possible audience, we will be livestreaming proceedings for the entire day and making videos of each session available afterwards.”

To register for the conference visit https://policinghumanrights.eventbrite.ie.

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