Patrick Corrigan

Belfast-born writer Ronan Bennett has created a series of ten-minute films for the BBC about the countdown to the invasion of Iraq, which took place five years ago. Ten days to war is currently being broadcast on BBC2 just before...

Northern Ireland's very own Irene Khan is featured in a fascinating profile in today's Guardian (well if the Belfast media has the cheek to claim Katie Melua, then I think we are well within our rights to claim Amnesty's Secretary...

There’s a debate under way (I’ve joined in myself) over at the BBC NI-hosted blog, Will and Testament , about torture, the CIA and why “good people turn evil”. The debate is prompted by a book , interview and slideshow (horrific...

Irish President Mary McAleese was at Belfast’s Stranmillis Primary School on Friday. She was there to meet the children and staff and see them take part in the Lift Off human rights education initiative, a cross-border project led by...

The issue of how Northern Ireland deals with the past is currently occupying a lot of minds and a lot of media column inches here. While Amnesty has been pretty active in pushing for public inquiries into some particularly egregious...

Not long back from Northern Ireland's Holocaust Memorial Day event, which was held this evening in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings at Stormont. This was the seventh such annual event of commemoration and dedication to prevent a...

A public opinion survey from campaign coalition, the Human Rights Consortium , indicates that support for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights is growing.According to the survey , conducted by independent market researchers Millward Brown...

There's been some criticism lately (most notably from the Church of Ireland Gazette ) of the need for a Bill of Rights. So it's good to see Chris Sidoti , independent Chair of the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights Forum, setting out the...

Despite my earlier thoughts that Sir Ronnie Flanagan's days as head of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary could be numbered, now it looks like he can stay on as long as he likes, despite the Omagh bombing investigation debacle...

Well done and thank you to all Amnesty's members and supporters locally, who have helped through the years to keep up the pressure in the case of Scot, Kenny Richey, who has just been released from death row in Ohio after 21 years in...

Sir Ronnie Flanagan, former Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (and, subsequently, the Police Service of Northern Ireland) infamously once declared that he "would publicly commit suicide" if he believed the findings...

The Human Rights Consortium launched its new website today, just in time for a crucial twelve months in the long-running campaign for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights. I spoke briefly at the launch event for the new site at...

Who's your human rights Person of the Year 2007? Kate Allen (Director of AIUK) successfully nominated Anas el-Banna for the New Statesman version of the Person of the Year 2007 award. Anas is a truly heroic 11 year-old boy who has just...

I previously reported how PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde had decided to ignore the advice of the Equality Commission to conduct a proper equality impact assessment before deploying Tasers in Northern Ireland. This followed his...

Local photography gallery and community initiative, Belfast Exposed, has a great looking event happening next Tuesday 11 December, when they welcome "human rights lawyer John Fitzpatrick to a public discussion in the gallery to talk...

I visited our friends ( ahem ) at Global Armour , at their plant near Lisburn on Tuesday. The Northern Ireland company, which used to be called Highmark, was taken over a couple of years ago by the South African company, Global Armour...

The tide of history is flowing fast against the death penalty and this UN resolution is a big step forward. So far, 133 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Only 25 countries actually carried out executions in...

Thanks to a Freedom of Information inquiry from our friends at the Children's Law Centre, we can now see the very clear advice given by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to the PSNI on the Chief Constable's proposed...

Our colleagues at CAJ (Committee on the Administration of Justice) present their own take on that Assembly debate where a number of MLAs chose to attack voluntary sector groups and human rights campaigners. CAJ's tempered but robust...

A busy day beckons tomorrow (Thursday) as the Burmese PM-in-exile, Dr Sein Win , arrives in town, with Amnesty as hosts. As well as a meeting with OFMDFM at Stormont Castle, there are party group meetings at the Assembly with...