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IRELAND’S HUMAN RIGHTS watchdog has said more information is required to assess whether policing powers given to An Garda Síochána during the Covid-19 crisis are being “exercised proportionately”.
Emergency legislation enacted in recent weeks has provided gardaí with new powers to arrest and detain members of the public who flout the advice of the public health authorities during the coronavirus pandemic.
Those convicted under the new rules could face a maximum of six months in prison or a fine of €2,500.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has said that “more information is required to assess whether these new powers are being exercised proportionately and whether they are being implemented in line with human rights and equality principles”.
“The Commission believes that more detailed data is required to consider how the implementation of this legislation is impacting people in different sectors of society.”
The IHREC is also calling for parliamentary oversight on the implementation of the emergency legislation, either through a dedicated Oireachtas committee or an Oireachtas justice committee.
“The Covid-19 crisis is already impacting, and will continue to impact, different people more acutely than others, including older people, people with disabilities, residents in Direct Provision, Travellers, homeless people, people experiencing domestic violence and people in precarious employment,” the IHREC said.
“It is also important that our collective response to the acute challenge of Covid-19 takes account of the particular needs of vulnerable groups.”
The Commission said it plans to meet with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and that it will keep the exercise of the emergency legislation and other State responses to the crisis “under active review”.
The IHREC’s Acting Chief Commissioner Tony Geoghegan said: “The Covid-19 crisis is a challenge for the whole country, but it impacts some members of our society more acutely than others.
“As we move into a phase where we are going to be living with the threat of this virus for some time, it is critical that the principle of equality and the dignity afforded by human rights are central to efforts to keep people safe and healthy.”
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Save 25min but less frequent and cancelled stoppes ah yea brilliant
An effort to link train arrival times to bus departure times would be a good start if these guys have any interest in more people travelling on trains.
It would be a great idea if both bus eireann and Irish rail both linked their bus and train timetables especially in the country they’d both get more customers and it would be needed in Kerry for example.
Disaster the 5:40am train that arrived into Dublin at 8:45 – now 6:30 arriving at 9:30 its a joke no explanation
Where’s that train leaving from?? – changing the train to arrive in dublin after 9am makes no sense at all!
Michael its the Tralee train I agree its ridiculous
They never kept up with the needs of modern Ireland. And the fares are too expensive.
They couldn’t be more wrong the 15:15 from Ennis to limerick is still at the platform
Limerick to Galway.
Between a rock and a hard place.
Poverty and crime to rain and grime.
25 minutes .. Great! Except for the fact that they cancelled my train and will now not get home 2 hours later than I normally do
Still takes nearly 3 hours to get to Galway. 24th slowest out of 28 countries in europe.
missed the 12.20 cork Dublin this morning as i forgot the times were changing. i wasn’t the only one stuck there for 50 mins til the next one left. Train took 10 mins longer than last weekend too…. improved efficiency my a$$!!
Part of the problem is also the high fares and old rail / station infrastructure and lack of electrification. By relying on diesel, train fares are prone to rising commodity prices. Also, the shortage of rail-cars apparently to cut costs means overcrowding on many trains – something few would be prepared to endure. Further, the lack of enough overpasses.
One less train on the Dublin-Waterford line means one less chance of running into Willie Middleton and his cronies. A good thing.
More of a chance of bumping into him with less trips as he will have less choice increasing yours of meeting him
Who’s he?
Ok how much are the tickets going up by now to justify the time saved,extra 5 euro?
Who’s Willie Middleton…Kate’s uncle?
Meanwhile over at Amiens Street (sorry, Connolly) one train less to Sligo and no change in journey times.
No doubt the oleaginous Barry Kenny (any relation?) will be giving us some flannel about this being an improvement.
They are also missing a separate timetable for kildare to Dublin.
credit where merited and a cursory look sees my journey Dublin to Ballinasloe is now just 1 hour 30 minutes at a cost of 14.99 which to me is excellent.
and Dublin-Cork now regularly two hours 30. That’s considerable improvement.
this new service is a complete joke train running late nearly every day can they get anything right
Dublin Sligo route change is pathetic. The original 5pm and 7pm made no sense for people finishing work at 5pm and now merging both into a 6pm will make the difficulty of finding a seat even worse! Maybe if they cut the journey time on this route instead and actually invested in a second line the usage might go up. Two and a half hours to travel 200km on a train is beyond belief in today’s day and age …
have your say