Six of the nominees to the Human Rights Commission will meet the Minister for Justice next week to discuss the conditions under which they will accept the position.
It is understood they are seeking assurances about commission selection procedures in the future, and that they will ask the Minister to further expand the commission to include two chosen by the selection committee but not nominated by Mr O'Donoghue.
The six are those nominated to the commission from the priority list of eight drawn up by an independent selection board chaired by Dr T.K. Whitaker. Only one, Prof Fionnuala ni Aolain, was on the initial commission of eight chosen by the Government.
That decision provoked widespread criticism. The Government then decided to expand the commission from nine, including the chairman, Mr Justice Barrington, to 14, and asked five more from the priority list of eight to join it.
The five added to the commission are Mr Michael Farrell, solicitor and former co-chairman of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties; Mr Martin Collins, a Travellers' rights activist; Ms Nuala Kelly of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas; Ms Clodagh MacRory, a barrister from Northern Ireland; and Dr Gerard Quinn from NUI Galway. The two from the priority list not asked to serve are Ms Ursula Barry, an economics lecturer in UCD, and Mr Cearbhall O Meara, a disability activist.
The five, along with Prof Ni Aolain, wrote to the Minister on January 1st. In their joint letter they said they were honoured but suggested that all eight from the initial priority list be nominated. The Minister, speaking on the BBC programme Hearts and Minds last night, ruled out expanding the commission further.