Mainstreaming Equality in the Governance of Northern Ireland

The purpose of this Article is to discuss this change, concentrating on the development of the approach to equality in the Agreement, and its subsequent incorporation into the Northern Ireland Act of 1998 ("Act"), which now forms the legal basis for the new constitutional settlement in Northern Ireland. The Agreement's approach is that equality should be "mainstreamed" in the future governance of Northern Ireland. But, following the Agreement, there was a real danger that equality would be pushed back to the margins. Fortunately, a coalition of the disadvantaged and politicians ensured that this did not happen.

The Act, taken together with the Human Rights Act 1998, which incorporates the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ("ECHR") into United Kingdom law, now accurately reflects the Agreement's human rights and equality requirements.