Government slammed for ‘unethical’ trade mission to Gulf

The Government’s trade mission to the Gulf states has been condemned for “drumming up trade in human rights blackspots”.

One of the country’s leading academics in the area of human rights, Dr Shane Darcy insisted there was nothing in terms of human rights conditions being attached to trade agreements, or requiring that Irish businesses conduct themselves in accordance with human rights standards while operating in the Gulf.

Dr Darcy, who is a lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights attached to NUI Galway and director of the PhD programme at the centre, pointed out that countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were among the world’s worst human rights abusers.