Human Rights in China: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2021-12-01
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Rebecca Moynihan (LAB), Administrative Panel

The Labour Party supports this motion. I raise with the Minister of State a specific issue related to an article in The Irish Times on Saturday about the sacking of an Irish woman from Belfast, Emma Reilly, who was working with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. There was a dispute between her and the human rights commission. Essentially, she was a whistle-blower because she noticed that the UN was passing on information to China, specifically giving names of some dissidents in the Uighur region. Ms Reilly was suspended in 2019 and three weeks ago she was given a termination notice. She now lives in Paris. In an interview with Ruadhán Mac Cormaic of The Irish Times and others in the media she highlighted the fact that the Chinese Government was using its diplomatic means to identify dissidents. I ask the Minister of State to comment on the case of Emma Reilly. Is the Department of Foreign Affairs supporting her in any way, such as by writing letters of recommendation to her?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2021-12-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:53+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-12-01