Prisoners' rights, women's rights, refugees' rights, travellers' rights, the right to silence and the wrongs that may result from the emergency legislation passed in the wake of the Omagh bombing - these are just some of the issues on the work programme of a new centre in NUI Galway opened at the weekend by US Secretary of Education, Mr Richard Riley.
The Irish Centre for Human Rights aims to take both a local and global view of such challenges facing society, and to do so in a way which will influence public policy. The human rights debate has moved to the centre of Irish political life on foot of the Belfast Agreement, according to the university.
While the protection of human rights is a vital part of new North-South arrangements, recent developments in this State, including the refugee issue and the "generally unquestioning public approach to the application of `anti-drugs' legislation", have seen the emergence of a degree of racism and xenophobia hitherto unseen in Irish life. "There is a danger that Ireland may be falling behind in its adherence to internationally-recognised norms, a failure which is particularly incongruous in view of the economic successes of recent years and of the increasing role played by the State," the Galway university says.
Strong words, which were echoed by the Minister for Education, Mr al Martin, in his remarks at Saturday's opening in the Aula Maxima - when he also paid tribute to one of the guests, the departing US Ambassador to Ireland, Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith. "Perhaps we've been somewhat complacent," the Minister acknowledged, referring to the need for a "rigorous self-examination" of attitudes. No better place than a national human rights centre, he added, before passing over to the US Secretary of Education.
Mr Riley - who, like Mr Martin, had spent that morning in Limerick for President Clinton's visit - preferred to be generous about his host country's record. Quoting the remarks made by his leader the day before about this country's 40 years of service abroad, and the Irish "passion for peace", he said the people of Ireland had always spoken out for those who were hungry, in exile and fighting for their right to freedom and self-determination. The formal establishment of this centre was "a fitting Irish tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights", celebrated this year, he said.
"The question that might puzzle some is `why Galway?', he continued. After all, Galway "is not Rome or Paris or Berlin" and seemed "very far away from seats of power". Upon reflection, he had decided that it may be because Galway is "the gateway to the Gaeltacht, the last great bastion of the Celtic language".
The Celtic "spirit of individuality" had had a powerful role in shaping the Irish mindset throughout the centuries, Secretary Riley continued. "Your centre, then, is the natural bridge between the traditional Celtic commitment to individual freedom and our modern need to have centres such as this one that do the hard day-to-day work of sustaining human rights."
"The world needs a great many outposts for human rights," he emphasised. "And sometimes being a little distant from great seats of power can be a very good thing. You gain perspective and wisdom and you are not caught up with trappings of power." Alluding to "the Irish monks" who had for centuries preserved the essence of western civilisation, he said all too often in this past century, "the power of the state, the army, the tribe or the ruthless dictator" had "again and again sought to crush the individual rights of men and women".
The power of his own president was not referred to, and there were no protests outside the university, in spite of the US's own less than edifying human rights record and the recent Cruise missile attacks in Sudan and Afghanistan. Violations relating to immigration practices, police abuse, custodial treatment and conditions, the death penalty and issues of discrimination have continued to increase in the US throughout the past year, according to the international organisation, Human Rights Watch; and legislation drawn up in 1996 and implemented this April has further restricted the rights of asylum seekers in the land of the free and the brave. For the first time since four Vietnam anti-war protesters were shot dead at Kent State University in 1970, a US citizen was shot dead on US soil by on-duty military personnel - this time by US marines on anti-drug patrols near the US-Mexican border where there are weekly reports of unjustified shootings, sexual assaults and beatings.
The new human rights centre at NUI Galway has received significant US funding. Based in the faculty of law under Professor Colm Campbell, it will promote a pro-active research agenda, and will run conferences, seminars and summer schools on human rights themes. The law already has an established record in the area, the university president, Dr Patrick Fottrell, said on Saturday.
Secretary Riley had made his own practical contribution to human rights, through his promotion of education for the poor and disadvantaged, Dr Fottrell said, when asked to comment on the significance of the invitation to him to perform the opening in the light of the US record. Mr Riley, who has Cavan roots, was nominated for Secretary of Education by President Clinton in 1992 and invited to stay a second term in 1996. One of his many initiatives has been the "Title One Programme", a seven billion dollar project that supports students from disadvantaged communities.