The Children’s Rights Alliance has launched a new guide to children’s EU rights in Ireland. The booklet, which was produced with the support of the Communicating Europe Initiative and the European Commission in Ireland, aims to raise public awareness about children’s rights that flow from Ireland’s membership of the EU. Written in user-friendly and accessible language, the guide takes readers through the basics of what rights children have under EU law and under the Charter for Fundamental Rights, and what can be done if these rights are breached. The new resource will be of interest to NGOs, policy-makers, service-providers, the legal profession and all those working in the area of child welfare and children’s rights.
At a seminar in European Union House in Dublin on 13 December to mark the publication of the new guide, the Children’s Rights Alliance invited a range of speakers to address some of the different areas of rights discussed in the guide. Dr Geoffrey Shannon, Special Rapporteur for Child Protection, gave the keynote address followed by inputs from Natalie McDonnell BL on family law proceedings with a particular emphasis on the Brussels II Revised regulation and its impact on issues of divorce, child custody and child abduction; Hilkka Becker of the Immigrant Council of Ireland on citizenship and freedom of movement; Billy Hawkes, Data Protection Commissioner on the data protection rights of children; and Eilis Barry BL on equality and non-discrimination. Questions after the presentations covered a wide range of topics including non-discrimination in access to schools, cyber-bullying, and the potential conflict between rights and welfare of the child.
Click here to download the Guide from the Children’s Rights Alliance website.
Click here to read the presentations from the seminar on 13 December.
Click here to read an article in the Irish Times focusing on Dr Geoffrey Shannon’s comments at the seminar about the implications of a High Court judgment that ruled that all young offenders have the same remission rights as adults.
Click here to read an article in the Irish Examiner about Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes’ discussion of cyber-bullying in the context of EU data protection laws.