The North Down MLA stated: “This will be a milestone in a long and tortuous journey towards getting a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. There will still be many hurdles on the way forward. Given the inherently political nature of any new proposals, I believe that it is critical that they have cross-community support.
“As a liberal, internationalist party, Alliance has always been a strong supporter of human rights. But we do not give the Commission a blank cheque. It is important that lessons are learnt from the experience of the
Bill of Rights Forum, especially in terms of over-reach.
“We are particularly wary of the dangers of basing too many assumptions based on the Northern Ireland of yesterday and overly tying ourselves to the language and context of the Good Friday Agreement rather than addressing the reality of a diverse society, with complex and overlapping identities.”
ENDS