You get the feeling with Liz O'Donnell that she likes nothing better than proving people wrong. Originally labelled as a political lightweight, the State's first minister with specific responsibility for human rights has consistently outshone many of her Government colleagues. Though in opposition she was a hawk on justice, in Government she provides an eloquent counterpoint to John O'Donoghue's "zero-tolerance" approach to law and order issues. Sent to the Northern talks to "watch the shop" for the PDs, she came away with a greater reputation and, arguably, a greater grasp of the issues than her boss in Iveagh House, David Andrews. Her party generally stands for cutting public expenditure, yet she presides over the largest, and fastest-growing, aid budget in the history of the State. Her soft-focus looks and designer outfits attract the camera, yet she appears in the current report of Irish Aid wearing a leather jacket with upturned collar. Even Dick Spring never did that.
O'Donnell studied law in Trinity - Kader Asmal was one of her lecturers - but never practised afterwards. She admits to being new to the area upon assuming office 16 months ago, yet her grasp of the concepts now appears intuitive. This is in spite of spending half her term in office up to now ensconced in the Northern talks which culminated in the Belfast Agreement.
One of the parts of this agreement which has yet to come to life is the proposal to set up separate human rights commissions North and South; legislation to establish these bodies is trundling through Westminster and Dublin at present.
"The commissions will mark a whole new beginning for the implementation of human rights in Ireland, and it's important that we breathe life into them," says O'Donnell. "Our commission will be empowered to deal with issues such as travellers, asylum-seekers and refugees, and women's rights. It will be completely independent of government. It's an exciting prospect for those of us interested in human rights, and in progressing the concepts of human rights through all the other departments of government."
The proposed commissions, which will be the first in Europe outside France, have come under the scrutiny of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, who sees in them a model for other countries to follow. Indeed, one of her senior advisers has been closely involved in the design of the commissions.
O'Donnell acknowledges the contribution of the much-criticised 1937 Constitution to protecting human rights: "In spite of its limitations and alleged failings, it has been very strong in the vindication of individual human rights. "Because of this notion that there are unspecified human rights in the Constitution, some judges have been very progressive in developing a jurisprudence around individual human rights.
"Yet the fact that a human rights commission is being put in place speaks loudly of the need to vindicate those rights and to give a stronger voice to those people who are concerned about human rights."
In schools, colleges and at grassroots political levels, there is a great interest in human rights, but O'Donnell admits the passion "isn't so strong" in government and civil service circles. Her job, as she sees it, is to inculcate in all government departments an ethos of human rights, as well as an understanding of Ireland's international obligations in this area.
The Minister got a taste of these obligations earlier this year when she was subjected to a 10 12-hour grilling in Geneva when making Ireland's presentation to the UN on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. "It made us realise that this is a serious business, and that Ireland has to comply with these conventions. It's not just about signing on the dotted line, we really have to live up to the obligations they contain."
Embarrassingly for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland has yet to ratify some of the most important conventions, on torture and the elimination of racial discrimination, because the necessary national legislation has not yet been enacted. Since a previous draft of equal status legislation was struck down by the Supreme Court, a new Bill has yet to emerge from the "Bermuda Triangle" of the Department of Justice.
It's a similar story on asylum-seekers; Justice pulls all the levers, while Foreign Affairs can only talk about Ireland's international human rights obligations. O'Donnell and O'Donoghue have repeatedly differed on the issue, both on matters of tone and substance, in particular the right of asylum-seekers to work.
"I've always held the view that after a period of six months a person seeking asylum should be allowed to work. There are qualified people out there, and enough work for them. We deprive them of their dignity by denying them the opportunity to look after themselves and their families.
"Our response needs to be a combination of administrative efficiency and political vision for the future. Justice is doing the nuts and bolts of putting in place fair procedures.
"I see our department having a role in the visionary sense. It's a modern challenge for a modern Ireland; in the current economic climate, we were never better placed to be generous."
Once the Government's package of measures to deal with the asylum issue has been finalised, there will be "some level of consultation" with the NGOs, she promises. "Some of these rights are not negotiable, they are subject to international conventions to which we are a party so they can't be dealt with purely as a domestic issue."
O'Donnell admits to being "frustrated" at the "anaemic" process of EU policymaking, and acknowledges that Ireland sometimes hides under the skirts of Europe when it comes to controversial issues.
Sudan is a case in point; motions, demarches and troikas appear to have achieved nothing. "It's been a failure of politics; the effort was very miserable. I was absolutely shocked when I saw how feeble the local peace process was." Notwithstanding her membership of the PDs, O'Donnell says she has "no problem" with presiding over a rapidly increasing aid budget. "We have a big problem with misspending or lack of accountability. However, it is a key part of Irish foreign policy that we have a development policy.
"As a Minister, I'm strict on how money is spent; I don't dole it out to everyone who asks for it and I'm strict on accountability. "But there is no ideological conflict about development assistance. There's very strong democratic support for it. We get great value for the money we spend and we're coming from a very low spending base. Irish Aid programmes are focused, targeted and successful."
O'Donnell's involvement with the Northern talks effectively diminished her input into development policymaking for a time. There's a growing emphasis on human rights and democratisation projects, but by and large the thrust of Irish Aid policy - focused on the poorest sections of the society and the poorest countries in Africa - remains unchanged from the previous administration. Ireland's only agenda in Africa, she says, "is to help". However, one change is the Government's decision to commit itself financially to debt relief through a 31 million package which was unveiled in September. The previous Government had hesitated about getting involved in the HIPC debt relief initiative of the World Bank and IMF, which was criticised by many as excessively penal.
The Minister is "delighted" with the debt package, arguing that it will "strengthen the hand" of the Government by allowing it to argue for debt alleviation as a player rather than a spectator. She also believes the external review carried out on HIPC has led to changes which make the initiative more palatable.
The extra 22 million provided under the package brings to 151 million the total aid budget for this year. The Minister is hopeful that she can persuade her Government colleagues of the "moral necessity" for further increases in the next Budget.