The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has extended its unqualified support to the former Chief Executive of the Equality Authority, Mr. Niall Crowley, who has resigned in protest at the Equality Authority being rendered a lame duck agency by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
ICCL Director Mr. Mark Kelly said:
“Niall Crowley has taken the only honourable course of action open to him given that a 43% budget cut and ongoing decentralisation will effectively kill off the Equality Authority. In Irish public life, a principled resignation such as this is rarer than rubies. For anyone to have the temerity to suggest, in these circumstances, that the Equality Authority will still be able to carry out its core functions, but in a more limited and prioritised way, flies in the face of the facts.”
The ICCL is a member of the Equality and Rights Alliance, www.eracampaign.org