News Release: Jesuit Centre Expresses Dismay at the Resignation of Equality Chief
12 December 2008

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has expressed dismay that the Chief Executive of the Equality Authority, Mr Niall Crowley, has felt compelled to resign.

Fr Tony O’Riordan SJ, Director of the Centre, said that a series of Government decisions, including the decentralisation of the Authority and most especially the slashing of its resources in the recent Budget, had severely damaged the ability of the Authority to fully carry out the functions for which it was established.

Fr O’Riordan said: ‘Mr Crowley is to be commended for his action in response to the undermining of the Equality Authority – a principled stance of this kind is all too rare in Irish life’. He added: ‘It is a sad reflection on Irish society that, in the week we mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the chief officer of one of the bodies expressly charged with promoting rights and equality saw no option but to resign.’

‘The decisions concerning not just the Authority but the Irish Human Rights Commission in recent times raises serious questions about the Government’s commitment to promoting rights and equality’, Fr O’Riordan said.

Fr O’Riordan expressed surprise that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern TD, had said the cutbacks in the Authority’s budget were required to redirect resources towards fighting crime. ‘The reality is that in recent months a number of community-based projects aimed precisely at that objective have been forced to close due to the withdrawal of funding previously provided by the Minister’s department.’

‘It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the decisions concerning the Equality Authority have less to do with budget constraints than  with the absence of a real desire on the part of the Government to accord a central place to justice, equality and respect for human rights in the shaping of its priorities and policies’, Fr O’Riordan said.