Short biography:
Martin McDonagh, LLB (Hons), LLM, is an equality and human rights advocate and doctoral researcher at Ulster University. He chairs the Traveller Thematic Group, supported by The Executive Office, and serves on several boards and advisory panels across Northern Ireland, Great Britain and Ireland, with a particular focus on Traveller rights.
Research summary:
My PhD examines the extent to which Northern Ireland’s equality framework, particularly Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, delivers substantive equality in the provision of Traveller accommodation.
The research takes a socio-legal approach and will examine how equality duties operate in practice in Traveller accommodation decision-making in Northern Ireland. It will also draw comparative lessons from the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, with a particular focus on how legal duties, institutional accountability and enforcement can translate into meaningful outcomes.
I am an Irish Traveller from Northern Ireland, and my interest in this area is informed by both lived experience and my academic and professional work on equality and Traveller rights. My professional experience includes a traineeship with the Council of Europe’s Roma and Travellers Division, which is also the non-academic collaborative partner for my PhD.
