After two weeks of controversy and behind-the-scenes lobbying, the Government has agreed to expand the Human Rights Commission from eight to 14. This, it hopes, will defuse the controversy which blew up over its initial appointments.
The commission is part of a raft of human rights measures agreed by the Government in the Belfast Agreement. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has been in existence for almost two years. The commission in this State was meant to mirror it and co-operate with it in establishing a common human rights regime for the whole island.
However, the legislation creating it was slow in coming, and there was little public debate about what such a body should do. The only people who seemed concerned were those involved in voluntary organisations dealing with human rights issues and a handful of politicians and civil servants with a special interest in the area.
However, the lack of public debate hid profound differences between the Government and human rights campaigners about what such a body should do.
Sources close to the Government saw it as a collection of worthy and respected individuals, similar to a body like the Law Reform Commission. Those involved in the area, however, saw it as a bulwark against possible breaches of human rights by the State itself and, therefore, necessarily critical, when necessary, of the Government. This was also the view, crucially, of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.
However, at the outset it seemed the Government was anxious to establish a body which would be a model for such commissions internationally. In a speech the Taoiseach said it would "set, rather than follow" the highest international standards.
This was a clear reference to what are known as the Paris Principles for setting up human rights commissions. These stress the need for total independence from government and to involve those whose human rights are most in danger of violation.
After appointing a former Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice Donal Barrington, as its president, the Government went on to set up an independent selection committee to recommend the part-time commissioners. Its behaviour was seen as beyond reproach.
The involvement of T.K. Whitaker and Frank Murray, of the Civil Service Appointments Commission, in this committee meant it would follow best practice in public service appointments. The other three members, Inez McCormack, Martin O'Brien and Mary Murphy, had been active campaigners for many years for the rights of those excluded from many of the benefits of mainstream society. It therefore seemed to meet the Paris Principles.
However, given the composition of the selection committee, a clash between the committee's choice and the kind of commission the Government might like was likely.
The committee, with the help of civil servants from the Department of Justice, drew up an exhaustive application form for those interested in joining the commission. It was designed to test applicants against criteria based on the provisions in the Act, the Minister's and Taoiseach's speeches and the Paris Principles.
There were no interviews. The committee believed it was preparing a shortlist, not recruiting people, and that it was up to the Government to make the appointments.
According to sources close to the selection committee, some applicants were much more thorough than others in the attention they paid to the application form. After careful consideration of the forms, the committee boiled down the qualified candidates to 16, of whom it prioritised eight.
The eight who received the priority recommendation were Ursula Barry, an economics lecturer in UCD; Martin Collins, a Travellers' rights activist; Michael Farrell, a solicitor with experience in the European Court of Human Rights and former co-chairman of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties; Nuala Kelly, of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas; Clodagh MacRory, a Northern Ireland barrister; Fionnuala Ni Aolain, a professor of law in the University of Ulster; Gerard Quinn, professor of law in NUI Galway; and Cearbhall O'Meara, a consultant and disability activist.
According to one source close to the Government, it was "appalled" by the list presented by the selection committee. For three weeks it sat on the issue, postponing a decision from one Cabinet meeting to the next. Eventually it nominated eight commissioners. Only one, Ms Ni Aolain, was from the first list of eight, and three - Robert Daly, a mental health specialist from Cork, Suzanne Egan, a law lecturer from UCD, and Jane Liddy, formerly from the European Commission on Human Rights, were from the second list of eight.
The Government went on to nominate four who had not featured on either shortlist: William Binchy, law lecturer and anti-abortion activist; Tom O'Higgins, a director of Concern; Olive Braiden, former director of the Rape Crisis Centre; and Mervyn Taylor, former Labour minister for equality and law reform. His political affiliation, and the fact that Ms Braiden was a former Fianna Fail candidate, fed allegations of political interference.
The news leaked out on the eve of a major conference in Dublin on human rights in Ireland, due to be addressed by the Minister for Justice and leading political figures from Northern Ireland. Speaker after speaker condemned the decision.
What angered the Government's critics was that, by nominating four people not recommended by its own selection committee, the Government has breached the very procedures it said it was upholding.
Following the conference, Mr Justice Barrington's concern about the credibility of the commission grew, and he indicated to the Minister that he would resign if it remained as it was. Mr O'Donoghue issued a statement saying he would expand it to take account of the need for wider representation.
At the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the Government agreed to expand the commission to 14, and asked six of the original list of 16, five of whom were on the first list of eight, to join the commission. If they accept, it will be set up on an interim basis next month.
