The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has today announced the 21 civil society organisations to be awarded a total of €350,000 in funding for projects under its Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme 2026-2027.
Projects were awarded for general grants up to €22,000 and for smaller grants up to €7,000. The scheme was open to civil society organisations working to promote human rights and equality, including rights-holder groups representing communities protected under the nine equality grounds as well as groups representing communities experiencing poverty and social exclusion, people seeking international protection and migrant communities. It was also open to Trade Unions.
The 2026-27 Grants Scheme’s themes are informed by the Commission’s strategic priorities set out in its Strategy Statement 2025-27.
This year the Grants Scheme is supporting projects that advance rights protected under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; tackle racism and racial discrimination and advancing the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; advance the promotion and protection of human rights and equality in the digital environment, including the application of artificial intelligence.
Liam Herrick, Chief Commissioner of the IHREC said:
“The Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme is hugely important to the work we do in the IHREC as it gives voice to those with lived experience of discrimination and rights infringements.
This year, we have supported projects that will gather evidence and build capacity to advance the rights of disabled people, tackle racism and racial discrimination as well as progressing a human rights and equality approach to addressing new challenges in the digital environment, including the application of artificial intelligence.
The expected insights and findings can also inform our own work, to addressing these issues. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of these projects, which collectively share our aim of creating an equal and inclusive society for all of us.”
The IHREC Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme 2026-27
The Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme is part of the Commission’s statutory power to provide grants to promote human rights and equality under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014.
Projects have been awarded under 3 strands:
- Strand A - Advancing rights protected under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
- Strand B - Tackling racism and racial discrimination and advancing the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
- Strand C - Advancing the promotion and protection of human rights and equality in the digital environment, including the application of artificial intelligence.
Grant Project
People with Disabilities’ Experiences of Access to Housing
Organisation: Irish Wheelchair Association
Partner Organisation(s): Disability Federation of Ireland
People with Disabilities’ Experiences of Access to Housing
This project will examine the experiences of people with disabilities in accessing housing across Ireland.
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Grant Project
A Lived Experience Study of Psychotropic Medication, Rights, Choice and Voice
Organisation: SHEP (The Social and Health Education Project)
Partner Organisation(s): Trinity Centre for Ageing and the Life Course in Intellectual Disability, and the Our Rights & Medication Group
A Lived Experience Study of Psychotropic Medication, Rights, Choice and Voice
The aim of this project is to examine psychotropic medication use in congregated settings and Ireland’s obligations under the UNCRPD through the lived experiences of people with intellectual disabilities who have had concerns about prescribed medication, including people who communicate differently.
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Grant Project
Disabled Women's Experiences of Care and Support in Ireland
Organisation: Disability Participation News Hub CLG (DPNH)
Partner Organisation(s): Disabled Women Ireland (DWI)
Disabled Women's Experiences of Care and Support in Ireland
The aim of this project is to gather critical, undocumented evidence on the experiences of disabled women, girls, and non-binary people in Ireland across care and support - as caregivers and as care recipients.
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Grant Project
Dignity, Choice, Control: Exploring Autistic People’s Right to Live Independently in Ireland Under Article 19
Organisation: AsIAm
Dignity, Choice, Control: Exploring Autistic People’s Right to Live Independently in Ireland Under Article 19
The aim of this project is to examine Autistic people’s right to independent living in Ireland under UNCRPD Articles 12,19 and 26.
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Grant Project
Supporting the Supporters: A Co-created Training Programme for Self-advocates and Advocacy Support Staff
Organisation: National Platform of Self Advocates CLG
Supporting the Supporters: A Co-created Training Programme for Self-advocates and Advocacy Support Staff
This project will strengthen rights-based advocacy practice across four disability-service areas by building the capacity of both advocacy support staff and people with intellectual disabilities.
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Grant Project
Advancing Disability Rights and Inclusion in Education
Organisation: INTO – Irish National Teachers Organisation
Advancing Disability Rights and Inclusion in Education
This project will strengthen the rights and participation of teachers with disabilities through a participatory, UNCRPD-aligned approach.
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Grant Project
Participatory research gathering lived experience evidence from adults with dyspraxia/DCD in Ireland
Organisation: Dyspraxia DCD Ireland
Participatory research gathering lived experience evidence from adults with dyspraxia/DCD in Ireland
The aim of this project is to undertake participatory research that captures the lived experiences of adults with dyspraxia/DCD and identifies the barriers they encounter in accessing their rights, services, and supports in Ireland. Central to this work is a commitment to meaningful co-production; members of the dyspraxia/DCD community will not only participate in the research but will also play an active role as co-designers and members of the Project Reference Group.
Read moreStrand B Projects
Grant Project
Promoting Anti-Racism through Business-Led Social Integration
Organisation: The Open Door Initiative
Promoting Anti-Racism through Business-Led Social Integration
The aim of this project is to examine how racism in public spaces, including online environments and wider public discourse, impacts migrant employees’ access to equitable employment.
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Grant Project
People and Place: The Northside Migrant Link Project
Organisation: NICHE
Partner Organisation(s): Cork Migrant Centre
People and Place: The Northside Migrant Link Project
The aim of this project to deliver a small community engagement project that connects migrant populations from the Northside of Cork with local community organisations through a 6-week programme centring integration and creative opportunities, according to their needs and wants.
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Grant Project
Know Your Rights: Empowering Afghan Communities in Ireland to Recognise and Respond to Racism
Organisation: OSYAN
Know Your Rights: Empowering Afghan Communities in Ireland to Recognise and Respond to Racism
The aim of this project is to deliver a small community-led project to help Afghan communities in Ireland understand their rights and respond to racism.
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Grant Project
Voices Against Racism and Exclusion (VARE Project)
Organisation: Cultúr Migrant Centre
Voices Against Racism and Exclusion (VARE Project)
The aim of this project is to advance UNCERD rights. First by gathering and documenting experiences of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and ethnic minority communities through a consultation process and setting out actions that need to be taken in a consultation report.
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Grant Project
Asylum Advocacy Network
Organisation: Oxfam
Partner Organisation(s): Irish Refugee Council
Asylum Advocacy Network
This project enables Oxfam Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council to build a migrant-led network of activists and advocates that supports and resources grassroots organising for human rights and equality, with particular focus on those seeking international protection in Ireland.
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Grant Project
Safe and Brave: Creating Supportive Anti-Racism Environments in Schools
Organisation: Places of Sanctuary Ireland
Safe and Brave: Creating Supportive Anti-Racism Environments in Schools
This project aims to combat racism and extremist disinformation by delivering human rights-based, trauma-informed training to educators, while further empowering Places of Sanctuary’s Sanctuary Ambassador team—who hold lived experience of forced migration—in delivering personal testimonies in schools.
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Grant Project
Holding Up the System: Lived-Experiences of Migrant Women Working in the Care Sector
Organisation: National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWC)
Partner Organisation(s): AkiDwA
Holding Up the System: Lived-Experiences of Migrant Women Working in the Care Sector
The aim of this project is to co-produce and investigate how racism and sexism intersect to shape migrant women’s experiences in Ireland’s care sector (e.g. home care, hospitals, nursing homes, and residential care settings) with AkiDwA.
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Grant Project
Hidden in Plain Sight: Antisemitism, Equality and Rights Protection in Ireland
Organisation: Jewish Representative Council of Ireland
Hidden in Plain Sight: Antisemitism, Equality and Rights Protection in Ireland
This project will analyse and respond to antisemitism in Ireland as a form of racial and religious discrimination.
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Grant Project
CERD Civil Society Alternative Report: Building Evidence and Capacity for Ireland's Review
Organisation: INAR – Irish Network Against Racism
CERD Civil Society Alternative Report: Building Evidence and Capacity for Ireland's Review
The aim of this project is to enable INAR to produce a civil society Alternative Report to the UN CERD Committee ahead of Ireland's periodic review in August 2027, building on previous reports from 2011 and 2019.
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Grant Project
Let Us Inn - Confronting Violations of Travellers’ Human Rights in the Hospitality Sector
Organisation: Galway Traveller Movement
Confronting Violations of Travellers’ Human Rights in the Hospitality Sector
The aim of this project is to address discrimination against Travellers in accessing hospitality services.
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Grant Project
Racial discrimination against international protection applicants: Examining the lived experience and the protection of rights under UNCERD in Ireland
Organisation: DORAS
Racial discrimination against international protection applicants: Examining the lived experience and the protection of rights under UNCERD in Ireland
The aim of this project is to document and highlight the specific lived experience of racial discrimination in Ireland from the perspective of International Protection Applicants (IPAs).
Read moreStrand C Projects
Grant Project
The Majority Voice - Reclaiming Digital Space
Organisation: Belong To - LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland
The Majority Voice - Reclaiming Digital Space
The aim of this project is to advance human rights and equality in digital spaces by empowering LGBTQ+ young people to understand and shape online environments.
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Grant Project
Young Workers, Artificial Intelligence and the Reality of a Just Transition in Ireland
Organisation: Business in the Community Ireland
Partner Organisation(s): TASC
Young Workers, Artificial Intelligence and the Reality of a Just Transition in Ireland
The aim of this project is to reframe the conversation on AI and work by centring those most affected by change, while also holding employers accountable for how these technologies are introduced.
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Grant Project
Building Citizen Rights in the Digital Age
Organisation: Age Action
Building Citizen Rights in the Digital Age
The aim of this project is to develop recommendations to strengthen the digital rights of older people, and others who experience digital exclusion.
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