The Irish Council for Civil Liberties is organising a consultation on its Policy Paper on the "Veil in Irish Schools: An Equality and Human Rights Analysis". The event is scheduled to take place from 2.15pm - 4.30pm on Monday 23 May 2011 in the Equality Authority, 2 Clonmel Street, Dublin 2 and is aimed at educational managers, educationalists, parliamentarians, public policy makers, legal practitioners, academics and members of civil society.
Corinna Ferguson, Legal Officer with UK human rights group Liberty, will discuss her organisation's recent success in representing 14-year-old Sarika Singh who successfully argued that her school breached race relations and equality laws by excluding her for wearing the Kara which is a Sikh bracelet and a central tenet of the Sikh religion.
Tanya Ward, Deputy Director with the ICCL will outline the organisation's recommendations in this area and will seek feedback from interested individuals and parties.
If you are interested in attending this event, please rsvp by 5pm, Friday, 20 May 2011 to Joanne Garvey, ICCL, 9-13 Blackhall Place, Dublin 7, Email: joanne.garvey@iccl.ie; Tel: (01) 799 4504.
Meanwhile the Irish Human Rights Commission ("IHRC") will launch their report "Religion and Education: A Human Rights perspective" on 24 May 2011 at the Wood Quay Venue, Dublin City Council, Civic Offices, Wood Quay at 10am. The Report includes recommendations to Government pursuant to the Human Rights Commission Act 2000.
The Report follows the IHRC/Trinity College Dublin School of Law conference that was held on 27 November 2011 and the IHRC's public consultation on the role of religion in education.
If you would like to attend please RSVP to Ms. Karine Petrasuc at kpetrasuc@ihrc.ie or by telephone on (01) 8589601 no later than 19 May 2011.