Adoption group may seek UN assistance in extending rights

The Adoption Rights Alliance is considering going to the United Nations in order to force the State to grant adopted people the same rights as every other Irish citizen.

The group said it was considering the move following the successful Justice For Magdalenes campaign, which brought the human rights abuses suffered by women in Magdalene Laundries to the UN.

ARA is also seeking clarification from children’s minister Frances Fitzgerald on comments she made in the Dáil last week that a referendum may be needed in order to grant adopted people full tracing and information rights. Such rights have been routinely available in Britain and the North since the 1970s.