Welcome to my diary of recent work. If you would like to contact me on any issue, please don't hesitate to do so.
Diary for January to March 2010
26 January
Attended the Criminal Justice Inspectorate’s Annual Conference at Templepatrick
27 January
Attended the Commission’s Legal Committee
29 January
Chaired a roundtable conference jointly sponsored with the Equality Commission and publicly launched the report on The Nature and Extent of Human Trafficking in Northern Ireland
1 February
Meeting with the Victims Commissioners to discuss human rights issues relating to their work; addressed the NI Committee of the ICTU Conference on the Bill of Rights hosted by UNISON
4 February
Hosted a meeting with Dominic Grieve MP and Owen Patterson MP at the Commission; meeting with Chairs and CEOs of the Community Relations Council and the Equality Commission to discuss issues of complementarity in our work and the good practice to date in sharing resources
8 February
Attended Children’s Law Centre meeting on Bill of Rights; hosted meeting with the Human Rights Consortium; addressed the Victims and Survivors Forum on the Bill of Rights at an evening meeting in the Holiday Inn
9 February
Addressed the Women’s Policy Forum on the Bill of Rights at the Equality Commission; addressed the QUB Human Rights Centre’s conference on the Bill Of Rights at Queen’s University
11 February
Hosted a lunch time meeting for staff with Kathy Matthews, solicitor on litigation concerning privacy issues; chaired a roundtable meeting with Chris Sidoti, former chair of the Bill of Rights Forum, and stakeholders
12 February
Addressed the NI Council for Ethnic Minorities’ annual conference at the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast
15 February
Meeting of the Detention, Policing and Justice Committee addressed by Peter Smith, QC on the work of the Parole Board; gave press interviews on the Commission’s investigation into the rights of older people in nursing homes; meetings with each of the political parties at Stormont on the NIO Consultation on the Bill of Rights
17 February
Hosted a press conference at the Commission on the Commission’s response to the NIO Consultation on a Bill of Rights
18 February
Meeting to update Kamala S Lakhdhir, US Consulate on the work of the Commission; meeting with NIO to update on budget and future work of the Commission; hosted the annual meeting with the Equality Commission which included presentations on the Bill of Rights and the Equality Bill in Great Britain
19 February
Meeting with the Chair, Basil McCrea MLA and Mary McKee, Deputy Chair of the Human Rights and Professional Standards Committee of the Policing Board; meeting with Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs to discuss the Bill of Rights; plenary speaker at the Women’s Centres Regional Partnership conference at the Wellington Park Hotel which launched the publication on Women’s Experiences in domestic violence; attended an event at Disability Action’s office which was addressed by the Chair of the UN Committee on the Convention for People with Disabilities
23 February
Meeting with Joint Secretary of the British Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat to update on the work of the Commission
24 February
Meeting with officials from the Northern Ireland Committee of the ICTU on the Bill of Rights; attended the ‘Lyrics on the Peace Line’ David Ervine Foundation evening event at Parliament Buildings Stormont
25 February
Meeting with a PhD student to assist with her research on human rights
4 March
Hosted a delegation from Nepal for the UK Dept for International Development; meeting with Bishop of Down and Connor Diocese in advance of the meeting in Armagh with Cardinal Brady on the Bill of Rights; made a presentation to the Amnesty annual meeting in Downpatrick on the Bill of Rights in the evening
5 March
Meeting with Bill Smith, Chair of the Audit Committee for regular update
8 March
Attended, at the invitation of Kamala S Lakhdhir, US Consulate, an evening event to celebrate International Women’s Day; plenary speaker at an International Women’s Day event at the Gasyard Centre, Derry/L’derry
9 March
Attended the Legal Committee in the Commission
10 March
Addressed the Equality and Diversity Forum in London on the Bill Of Rights
11 March
Meeting with Marie Anderson, NI Ombudsman Office; meeting with Cardinal Brady and representatives of the Catholic Church in Armagh to discuss the Bill of Rights, also attended by Commissioners Ann Hope and Tom Duncan; this completes our meetings with the leaders of the Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Ireland and Catholic churches
15-19 March
Meetings in New York and Washington with a range of NGOs and members of House of Representatives; also attended the annual St Patricks Day event in the White House at the invitation of the President and First Lady
22- 26 March
Attended International Coordinating Committee Annual Meeting in Geneva for UN affiliated National Human Rights Institutions
Diary for December 2009
7-8 December
Meetings with politicians and stakeholders in Westminster and the Joint Committee of Human Rights in Parliament, and with the EU Director of the Fundamental Rights Agency in London
10 December
Attended conference organised by the Committee on the Administration of Justice in Belfast on the NIO consultation on the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
14 December
Chaired the Commission’s Board (Policy) meeting
15 December
Attended the Ministerial Forum on Safer Custody at HMP Magilligan, chaired by Minster Paul Goggins MP
17 December
Attended carol service at HM Young Offenders Centre, Hydebank Wood
Diary for October and November 2009
6 October
Addressed the Carers’ conference in Craigavon with a key note speech on the human rights issues relating to carers
9 October
Roundtable on a Bill of Rights to discuss the Commission’s advice with policy makers at Stormont Hotel
12 October
Attended function in the City Hall for US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, during her visit to Belfast
14 October
Roundtable on a Bill of Rights to discuss the Commission’s advice with politicians at Stormont Hotel
18-19 October
Addressed the plenary session of the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Swansea on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
21 October
Addressed the Children’s Law Centre Conference on Mental Health and the Bamford Review; and attended the annual Stephen Livingstone Lecture delivered by Martin O’Brien
22 October
Attended the Justice conference in London on human rights litigation and lessons learned
23 October
Meeting in Dublin with David Cooney, General Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs; and attended the Annual Law Society Dinner at the Kings Hall
26 October
Meeting with the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church and his colleagues about the Commission’s advice on a Bill of Rights
28 October
Addressed the Women In Politics Group about the Commission’s advice on a Bill of Rights; and, separately, addressed the annual meeting of CAJ
30 October
Attended the Annual Lecture of Amnesty International presented by Noam Chomsky at the Whitla Hall, Belfast
3 November
Delivered a panel presentation to the joint conference of ARK’s social science researchers with the Director of the ESRC and the Director of NISRA
6 November
Addressed the conference on the Charter of Rights in Dublin with Maurice Manning, IHRC
9-10 November
Meetings with Liberty, the British Institute of Human Rights, Justice and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, in London
11 November
Meeting with officials from the NIO
13 November
Attended the Equality Commission’s 10th Anniversary Conference in Belfast
16 November
Chaired the Commission (Governance) meeting
17 November
Attended function with the Electoral Commission
19 November
Attended meeting with Archbishop and representatives of the Church of Ireland on the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, in Armagh
23 November
Attended meeting of the Commission’s Equality Committee; attended meeting on trafficked women with stakeholders; addressed a Human Rights Education and Training Network event
24 November
Attended meeting of the Commission’s Legal Committee; attended meeting of the Commission’s Bill of Rights Committee
25 November
Addressed the Annual Conference of Women’s Aid event; attended meeting of stakeholders working on children’s rights
26 November to 4 December
Visit to Timor Leste with Dame Nuala O’Loan, Ireland’s Special Envoy to Timor Leste, with representatives from WAVE (victims group) and Women’s Aid on issues relating to gender based violence in conflict situations. Timor Leste, Liberia and Northern Ireland are linked in a three-country project funded by the Irish Government’s Conflict Resolution Unit as part of the response to UN Security Council Resolution 1325.
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