An organisation to deal with racism in Northern Ireland comes into operation today. The Commission for Racial Equality, chaired by educational psychologist, Ms Joan Harbison, brings Northern legislation on racism into line with Britain's.
The commission has seven commissioners who each will serve for a three-year period. The other six members are: Ms Mary Clark-Glass, Alliance member and former chief executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission; Ms Fee Ching Leong, originally from Malay, and a member of the NI Council for Ethnic Equality; Mr Suneil Sharma, an accountant and member of the NI Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM); Mr Patrick Yu, from Hong Kong and NICEM member; Dr James Hawthorne, chairman of the Health Promotion Agency and NICEM member; and Ms Pauline Leeson, of NICEM and the NI Council for Travelling People.