Upper Bann Sinn Fein motion on children’s rights is passed

Craigavon Cllr Liam Mackle proposed that the party commits to working for the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into legislation in both north and south of Ireland.

Cllr Mackle said the motion, which was unanimously carried, is ‘an integral part of Sinn Fein’s commitment to a society where the rights of citizens and in particular our children are the cornerstone’.

He said: “Had the British government and the Unionists parties fulfilled their commitments under the Good Friday Agreement for the introduction of a Bill of Rights this motion would not have been necessary.”

Mr Mackle said: “The passing of this motion is an achievement for the local Sinn Féin activists whose idea it was and the overwhelming support it received reinforced the party’s commitment to Human Rights and in particular the rights of the child. Despite the fact that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most ratified convention in that body’s history it is not part of either Irish or British law.

“As a result of the Upper Bann proposal Sinn Féin are committed to working to make the convention part of our legal framework. Incorporation of this Convention into law would bring about a massive development in the rights of children and would ensure that those rights and the child’s best interests became a central part of all decision making.”