NETWORKING BREAKFAST WITH PANEL DISCUSSION TO MARK THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT

An overwhelming majority voted for the Good Friday Agreement on 22 May 1998. It is not only a legally binding international peace treaty registered at the United Nations, guaranteed by both the British and Irish governments, but it also underpins the political framework in Ireland.

The Good Friday Agreement guarantees human rights protections and equality. At the heart of the Agreement are principles of mutual respect for identity and parity of esteem.

The 2021 landmark successful discrimination appeal brought by the family of Margaret Keane, to overturn a decision to refuse an Irish-only inscription of love on a gravestone in Coventry made submissions on the Good Friday Agreement and the importance of respect for identity and equality.

The Birmingham Law Society was pleased to host a networking breakfast and panel discussion at No5 Chambers to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (also known as the Belfast Agreement), and to discuss the successful landmark, pro bono, discrimination case of Margaret Keane writes Caroline Brogan, Senior Associate Solicitor, Irwin Mitchell LLP.

The Panel was chaired by Caroline Brogan, Senior Associate at Irwin Mitchell LLP and Solicitor to the Keane family. Caroline said: “The Good Friday Agreement was one of the greatest achievements of our lifetime. We are the generation that must make sure that it is fully protected and implemented”.

Guest speakers on the Panel included Professor Colin Harvey (Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Human Rights Centre in the School of Law at Queen’s University Belfast), Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC (Lead Counsel to the Keane family, & Special Rapporteur to the Irish Government on Child Protection), and Bez Martin (Margaret Keane’s daughter & Human Rights Champion).

The family were represented by barristers, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC and Mary-Rachel McCabe, of Doughty St Chambers, and solicitor, Caroline Brogan, of Irwin Mitchell, on a free of charge basis. The Arches Court of Canterbury at St Mary-le-Bow, London, held that the original decision of the Chancellor of Coventry was unreasonable under the common law, and in breach of the family’s right not to be discriminated against under the Human Rights Act and Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case was supported in Seanad Éireann and the House of Commons. It continues to receive widespread, significant, global support and has been back in the news recently after Fontaines D.C won International Group of the Year at this year’s Brit Awards, with the first track on their album, “Inár gcroíthe go deo”, a tribute to the case. Bez Martin spoke about the importance of the Judgment, not just for her family, but for the wider community and said to those attending, “People like you, give people like us a voice”, reminding all of us of the important values of our profession.