The president of the Human Rights Commission, Mr Justice Donal Barrington, is resigning on health grounds, The Irish Times has learned. It is understood he tendered his resignation to the Minister for Justice last week.
A spokesman for the Minister said a suitable replacement was being sought at the moment, and an appointment would be made as soon as possible. He said this could be before the election. The Minister had thanked Judge Barrington for his contribution to the commission.
Judge Barrington told The Irish Times that he had intended serving until next July, but suffered a slight setback to his health a few weeks ago and had tendered his resignation as a result. He would carry on until a new president was appointed.
His departure means the Human Rights Commission will have had two presidents before the organisation is up and running. Although Mr Justice Barrington was appointed in July 2000, and the commission itself finally appointed in January 2001, it has only one member of staff and no permanent office, so is unable to deal with any queries that come in. They are filed, awaiting the commission becoming operational.
It advertised for a chief executive several months ago, and it is understood that the position has been offered to an individual, but the contract has not yet been signed. Other staff will be appointed when the chief executive starts work.
The Human Rights Commission, along with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, was set up under the Belfast Agreement and, under statute, is required to establish a joint committee with the Northern commission. The latter has now been in operation for three years, has made recommendations to government and has intervened in a number of cases.
Controversy surrounded the formation of the Irish commission in December 2000, with the Government rejecting almost all the first potential members chosen by the committee set up to nominate them. Following the threatened resignation of Mr Justice Barrington at that time, the number of commissioners was increased to include the majority of those initially rejected by the Government.
"Getting it going was slower than I would have liked," Mr Justice Barrington told The Irish Times yesterday. "But I am fairly confident that everything is on track now. I hope we will have a chief executive in the next few weeks. Then we will appoint permanent staff.
"I am very reluctant to leave, when it is just about to bear fruit. But both the Minister and the Taoiseach have assured me that they are extraordinarily anxious that the commission is a success."