Discrimination and Equality of Opportunity—Northern Irish Lessons

Abstract

There was once a time when major social legislation was usually preceded by a broadly representative commission of inquiry, which conducted careful investigations, presented the arguments on all sides and made balanced recommendations. Some time before the present Government, the blue books began to be replaced by glossy products in which image-makers market government ideology with a highly selective use of facts. These modern products are still curiously called 'White Papers' to distinguish them from the 'Green' or consultative variety. The Report of the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights (SACHR) on Fair Employment in Northern Ireland, in its blue covers, is a refreshing return to the Victorian values of objective social inquiry and of seeking a consensus for reform. The SACHR, broadly representative of the Protestant and Catholic communities and (at the time of this Report) including academic experts such as Dr J. C. McCrudden of Lincoln College, Oxford was set up under section 20 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 to advise government on the adequacy and effectiveness of the law in preventing discrimination on the ground of religious belief or political opinion. The present review of the legislation was begun in January 1985 and published in October 1987 after an impressive programme of research and consultation. The SACHR commissioned the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) to examine the extent and nature of the differences between the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland, to investigate policies and practices at the workplace, and to research the perceptions and views of the people in Northern Ireland on matters such as inequality and discrimination.2 These showed that, despite ten years of anti-discrimination legislation (in the form of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1976 (FEA 1976)), there were still massive inequalities between the