Ireland signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) on 2nd October 2007. Ten years on, having at that stage yet to ratify, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission commissioned research on OPCAT and Ireland by Professor Rachel Murray, Director of the Human Rights Implementation Centre in Bristol Law School, and Dr. Elina Steinerte, then Research Fellow at the Centre.

A report was written by Prof Murray and Dr Steinerte setting out options for OPCAT in Ireland, and is available here Ireland and the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture (PDF, 1,104kB)‌‌‌‌ and on the IHREC’s website: https://www.ihrec.ie/our-work/cat/opcat/

On 2 October 2017 the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) held a roundtable in Dublin on ‘Ireland and the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture’ to launch the report.