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7 - The Minority Rights Implications of Irish Unification

from Part I - Territorial Pressures in Ireland and the United Kingdom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2021

Oran Doyle
Affiliation:
Trinity College Dublin
Aileen McHarg
Affiliation:
University of Durham
Jo Murkens
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
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Summary

In this chapter I explore how Irish unification may affect the attitude of the Irish courts towards minority rights adjudication. First I examine minority rights protection under the current Constitution of Ireland. I show that the Irish judiciary have not developed an understanding that their constitutional function includes a particular role in ensuring the rights of minorities specifically are protected against attack. I then consider how unification, and the incorporation into the Irish constitutional order of a large and politically significant minority - the Ulster Scots/Ulster British population of Northern Ireland – could affect judicial attitudes towards minority rights. I ground this analysis on comparative constitutional research, particularly of American and Canadian jurisprudence. In this, building on the contribution of Doyle, Kenny, and McCrudden in this volume, I also consider how maintaining consociationalism for what is presently Northern Ireland upon unification may also inform the judiciary’s understanding of their role in adjudicating upon minority rights claims.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Brexit Challenge for Ireland and the United Kingdom
Constitutions Under Pressure
, pp. 153 - 172
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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