Northern Ireland: Fair Employment and the MacBride Principles

This document also available in PDF Image . The conflict in Northern Ireland reflects a struggle between different national, cultural and religious identities. Many observers have identified economic development as key to fostering a lasting peace there. All major social and economic indicators show that Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland, representing roughly 42% of the population, are more disadvantaged than Protestants, comprising 56% of the population. The most persistent area of inequality has been unemployment. The differential in unemployment rates has marginally declined since 1971, but Catholics still experience rates of unemployment roughly twice as high as Protestants. The British government has taken measures to try to rid Northern Ireland of discrimination in the employment area. Through the Fair Employment Act of 1989 (NI), it considerably strengthened legislation originally passed in 1976, giving Northern Ireland the toughest anti-discrimination legislation in Europe. The Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights is engaged currently in a comprehensive review of that legislation and all relevant government policies. The British government sees inward investment and the creation of employment opportunities, linked to its fair employment legislation, as the best antidotes to the disproportionately high levels of Catholic unemployment. Some observers reproach Britain for what they see as only limited measures to tackle the problem of fair employment practices. These critics call for the implementation of the MacBride Principles, a set of nine equal opportunity/affirmative action principles intended to promote employment options for members of underrepresented religious groups in Northern Ireland. Legislation has been introduced in Congress relating to the MacBride Principles. The American Overseas Interests Act ( H.R. 1561 -- which authorizes appropriations for foreign assistance programs, including the International Fund for Ireland) conditioned receipt of U.S. contributions to the Fund on compliance with modified MacBride Principles. The legislation was approved by the House on March 12, 1996, and by the Senate on March 28, but President Clinton vetoed the bill on grounds not related to Ireland on April 12; an override vote is expected in late April but appears unlikely to succeed, according to various sources.