The Northern Ireland Ombudsman has said the 40th anniversary of his office, which was a crucial civil rights demand in the 1960s, must provide a platform for change, writes Dan Keenan.
Tom Frawley, ombudsman since 2000, is pressing for long-awaited reforms.
His office was established in 1969 to deal with a swathe of complaints of bias and discrimination in housing and jobs across Northern Ireland as marchers demanding civil rights took to the streets.
But Mr Frawley says huge changes in wider society have sharpened the need for thorough reforms. Looking ahead to political challenges in 2010, he says a review of his office was carried out as long as six yeas ago.
“Its recommendations, disappointingly, have not been implemented. It is important that this situation changes.”