In the Belfast Agreement, which laid the foundation for a formal cessation of paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland, the Irish Government committed itself to strengthen the protection of human rights in its jurisdiction. This involved an examination of the feasibility of incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)--which originated from the Council of Europe and sets the norm for human rights in countries of the European Union--and setting up a Human Rights Commission. The latter would oversee state practice regarding human rights. Human rights developments under the Belfast Agreement pulled the institutions of the Irish Republic to the level reached in Northern Ireland. The process of policing reform under the mandates of human rights for Northern Ireland made it difficult for politicians in the Republic of Ireland to resist proposals for systems of oversight detached from police control. Calls for the emulation of a Police Ombudsman and Police Board like those in Northern Ireland were frequently voiced by political representatives and reform groups in the Republic of Ireland. Their case was bolstered by the provisions of the ECHR, which were being incorporated into Irish domestic law. Although the Irish Government has resisted the replication of the policing oversight model of Northern Ireland, the powerful appeal of European human rights norms is weakening this resistance. They stand in persistent contrast with the authoritarian model of policing. 67 references