The resignation of a third member of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) in less than a year, has serious implications the Belfast Agreement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said today.
Mr Patrick Yu quit yesterday claiming the Commission was undermining human rights and the Belfast Agreement under which it was established.
Mr Cowen has referred the mater to the British/Irish Secretariat in Belfast saying that in light of the two previous resignations, Mr Yu's departure was a "serious development".
"I was particularly concerned by Mr Yu's stated grounds of resignation which appear to have troubling implications for specific equality and rights aspects for the Good Friday Agreement.
"Mr Yu's departure will undermine vital community confidence in in the ability of the Human Rights Commission to protect and advance human rights," the Minister said.
Mr Yu is understood to have been odds with other members of the Commission over the drafting of Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
Last September, Professor Christine Bell and Ms Inez McCormack resigned saying they believed the Commission ineffective in fulfilling it mandate.
Today's news will increase the pressure on the NIHRC chief commissioner Prof Brice Dickson. Last year, the former first minister Mr David Trimble called for his resignation after Mr Dickson called for a ban on the use of plastic bullets by the security forces.
Mr Dickson has complained of a lack of power resourcing for the Commission.