Introducing the Order into the House Commons on 24 May 1976, Northern Ireland Under-Secretary Ray Carter (Lab) said:

 

The economic pressures on young people to make their way in industry, business and the professions has meant that an increasing number of women are competing with men for employment and promotion. It is only just that they should be accorded an opportunity of making their way by their industry and ability in the same manner as their male colleagues, and I believe that the provisions of the Order will enable them to do so. (Hansard vol 912)

 

The use of secondary legislation (Orders in Council) at this time (following the imposition of Direct Rule in 1972) was contentious, since Orders could not be amended and there was no direct accountability. This was reflected in the hour-long late-night debate that had been scheduled and which concluded with the Order’s formal approval. A range of views on the principle of legislating against sex discrimination was also expressed by the (all) male MPs who participated – including economic and social arguments against introducing the measure (such as the view that  women’s ‘natural function’ was as ‘wives and mothers’) as well as support for the Order as a necessary step towards formal ‘equality’.

The Order set up the Equal Opportunities Commission of Northern Ireland (EOCNI), which was a slightly smaller body than the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC, covering Great Britain). The EOCNI had similar powers to the EOC, and was the main actor in the promotion, investigation and enforcement of sex discrimination legislation in the Province between 1975 and 1998. Margot G. Neill was appointed as the first chair of the EOCNI in August 1976, with Claire Kennedy as Deputy Chair.

Also in 1976 the Fair Employment Act banned direct discrimination on grounds of religion or political opinion in employment in Northern Ireland and set up an equivalent commission to the EOCNI.

In 1986 the UK government proposed the replacement of the EOCNI with one ‘multi-dimensional’ organisation dealing with discrimination on grounds of religion and disability as well as sex. This was opposed by women’s groups in Northern Ireland at that point in time, and in June 1987 the Secretary of State announced that sex discrimination law in Northern Ireland would remain the same as elsewhere in the UK.

In 1998, the EOCNI was merged with other bodies to create the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to oversee all equality strands. This was created in very different contexts under the terms of the Belfast Agreement subject to the process of public consultation. The EOCNI, the Fair Employment Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality (NI) and the Disability Council were merged to create one new body.

Nevertheless, the 1976 Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order as amended continues to operate alongside separate legislation for other equality strands in the Province. The Equality Act 2010 harmonised and reformed the law across equality strands in Great Britain only, bringing them together in one legislation. The EOCNI amongst other bodies has continued to recommend gender law reform and consolidation into one legislation for Northern Ireland too.

 

Further reading:

Monica McWilliams, ‘Women in Northern Ireland: an Overview’ in Eamonn Hughes (ed) Culture and Politics in Northern Ireland. Open University Press, 1991.

Rosemary Sales, Women Divided: Gender, Religion and Politics in Northern Ireland. Routledge, 1997.