Reader's Blog: Equal rights must be a guarantee in the North

As organisations and academics working for the protection and advancement of human rights in Northern Ireland and Ireland, there is much to welcome in the draft withdrawal agreement protocol, published by the European Commission last week. It translates the political agreement from December 2017 between the UK and the EU into legal form.

The recognition that the Belfast /Good Friday Agreement must be protected, “in all its parts”, and the explicit reference to its human rights and equality provisions are significant grounding principles. The draft protocol also states that North-South cooperation, and the guarantee to avoid a hard border, are “overarching requirements” for any future arrangements.