Violations of Irish children’s rights received primary attention during the launch of Amnesty International’s 2010 report on the state of international human rights. By Sarah Hale.

Members of Amnesty International Ireland stressed government accountability for children’s rights during the launch of organization’s 2010 annual report Thursday. Operating under the slogan “No one is above the law”, the group called attention to government failures in upholding international human rights, particularly for children, women and mental health patients.

Two separate reports contradict Pat Carey's claim that deprivation and social exclusion are being tackled.  By Vincent Browne. 

Pat Carey, the new Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, showed up early yesterday morning at a seminar on poverty in a European perspective. And as Ministers are expected to do, he read a speech which contained the obligatory self-congratulation that every Minister is now expected to intone about how wonderful the Government strategy has been in addressing the fiscal deficit crisis.

Criminalisation of forced labour would greatly assist in strengthening protections and rights for immigrants. By Siobhán O’Donoghue, Director, Migrant Rights Centre Ireland.

A few weeks ago a Chinese woman, who is a potential victim of trafficking for forced labour was freed from prison under bail conditions where she has been held for the past 18 months.

Yin Yin (not her real name) was brought to Ireland to work in the production of illegal drugs. She was arrested and held on criminal related charges.   Despite her case being referred last November to the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), the body responsible for dealing with trafficking in human beings, no action has been taken to date on her case.

Cost-saving measures implemented by the Department of Defence leave Ireland vulnerable to drug smugglers, an anti-drugs group says. By Vincent Ryan.

Citywide has criticised the government's decision to reduce the number of patrolling days that the Irish Navy carry out as a deterrent to drug smugglers.

Ireland is already seen as a weak spot by international drug traffickers looking for an easy route to the lucrative UK and European markets. The government now plans to cut a further 100 routine patrolling days from the Navy’s operations as part of a cost saving measure.

The community sector is a key part of our equality infrastructure but is facing many battles. By Niall Crowley.

The community sector is an infrastructure that also encompasses equality legislation, statutory equality bodies, national strategy plans, and equality mainstreaming. This is the infrastructure that drives forward the search for a more equal society. The closures, cutbacks and loss of independence that have been visited on the community sector can only reflect a Government that believes equality is not important.

The community sector is a key part of our democracy. Representative politics is confined to a narrow and homogeneous group. There is little space for women, working class people, black and minority ethnic people and others who experience inequality. The community sector offers space to those people who experience inequality to identify their shared interests, to articulate those interests and to advocate for a response to their situation and experience. The damage being inflicted on the community sector damages our democracy.

If Ireland is to move towards a desirable alternative future, a change in core values will be necessary. By Fr. Sean Healy.

The dominant narrative that underpins policymaking and public discourse in Ireland is deeply flawed. A narrative in this context sets out how we explain ourselves to ourselves and others. It addresses key questions of how we got to be in the situation we’re currently in, where we are now, our vision of the future and how we can reach that desired destination.

Below is the complete text of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's address to the Order of the Knights of Saint Columbanus on the future of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

“What do I say about the future of the Catholic Church in Ireland? The sociological data send us mixed signals. Public opinion varies from those who would like the Catholic Church slowly, through its own implosion, to fade into the social irrelevance of private individual choice, to those who would like reform on their own terms, to those who would blindly stay with things as they are, to those who call for renewal through repentance. And there are many other viewpoints.

The Eurozone's response to yet another economic crisis harks back to the flawed economic model of the 1990s.  A new social and economic model is needed if Ireland is to develop a sustainable and equitable route out of the recession. By Anne Costello of the Community Platform.

The political debate is changing. For the Government and its supporters there is a renewed emphasis on how to restore Irish economic competitiveness.