Equality & Rights Alliance today said that it admired and supported the principled and courageous stance taken by Niall Crowley in resigning as Chief Executive of The Equality Authority.
The coalition of 71 civil society organisations said that it deeply regretted that Mr Crowley had been forced into this position because of the Budget actions which had effectively rendered the Equality Authority unviable.
Joanna McMinn, Chair of ERA, said that Crowley’s resignation was in keeping with his integrity, honesty and lifelong dedication to the promotion of the principle that equality and human rights must be central to societal values and not something that can be turned on and off arbitrarily.
“Niall’s decision to resign will not have been made easily and we respect and admire this,” McMinn said. “The work of the Equality Authority has been fatally compromised and it is not in keeping with his uncompromising belief in equality and rights to remain as head of an agency which is effectively a lame duck. To express confidence that the Authority can carry on in a limited and prioritised way is to fly in the face of facts.”
We hope that the leadership and courage he has shown will prompt a review of the injury that Government members and policy makers have been allowed to inflict on the equality and human rights infrastructure,” she said.
She said that across Europe, the Equality Authority is regarded as an outstanding example of an effective, independent and successful anti-discrimination agency and that this reputation had been built largely upon the vision, hard work and dedication of Niall Crowley as its chief executive over the past 10 years. His resignation will send ripples across the EU she predicted.
Equality & Rights Alliance formed initially to oppose the merger of equality and rights bodies. It has continued to campaign against the budget cuts to The Equality Authority (minus 43%, coupled with decentralisation to Roscrea) and the Irish Human Rights Commission (minus 24%).