Posted: 13 October 2006
Ireland to Chair European Human Rights Group
As President of the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC), Dr Maurice Manning will serve as the newly elected Chair of the European Group of National Human Rights Institutions.
Dr. Maurice Manning, President of the Irish Human Rights Commission
An academic by background, Dr Manning lectured in politics in University College Dublin and has been visiting professor at the University of Paris (Vincennes) and the University of West Florida. He was a member of the Governing Authority of the European University Institute at Florence. And he is currently a member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland and of the Governing Authority of University College Dublin.
He was a member of the Oireachtas for twenty-one years, serving in both the Dáil and the Seanad. He was a member of the New Ireland Forum and the British Inter Parliamentary Body. He served as both Leader of the Seanad and Leader of the Opposition in that House.
“We are honoured by the confidence and trust which our European colleagues have shown in electing the Irish Commission to lead the coordinating committee for the next two years” said Dr Manning.
“In the course of those two years we expect to see greater cooperation between the Commissions, the building of contacts with international and regional agencies and organisations like the United Nations, the European Union and the Council of Europe in pursuing common human rights objectives. I also wish to record our gratitude to our predecessors, the French Human Rights Commission who have chaired the committee so effectively since 2002.”
The European Coordinating Committee represents the European Group of national human rights institutions on a global coordinating committee. Similar regional structures exist for the Asia/Pacific area, Africa and the Americas. The European Group includes institutions such as commissions, human rights ombudsmen, institutes, advisory commissions and people’s defenders.
In addition to its regular meetings, the European Coordinating Committee provides a permanent forum for exchange between its members. It may adopt common positions or work collectively on a common area of concern.