Ballyphehane man named city's newest peace commissioner

A local election candidate who previously co-ordinated President Michael D Higgins’s re-election campaign has added another string to his bow, becoming the city’s newest peace commissioner. Ballyphehane-based Pádraig Rice, who is the Social Democrats candidate for Cork City South Central in the upcoming local elections, is a human rights advocate and policy manager with LGBT Ireland.

He was recently appointed a peace commissioner, an honorary appointment made by the Department of Justice. The work of peace commissioners consists primarily of taking statutory declarations, witnessing signatures on documents required by various authorities, and signing certificates and orders under various Acts. Peace commissioners do not charge a fee for their service, and according to the Department of Justice, “appointees are required to be of good character, and they are usually well established in the local community”.

Mr Rice recently finished a Law degree from UCC and is involved in organisations, including the Ballyphehane Community Association.

Mr Rice also has a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Oxford, and has previously worked as a parliamentary assistant in the Dáil and Seanad, as the co-ordinator of the Cork Gay Project and as the UCC Students’ Union welfare officer.

He said he was honoured to have been appointed to the position by Justice Minister Helen McEntee, noting that it is a voluntary role which is there to help people in the community. “I know from my work with Cork Votes, the voluntary group that helps people register to vote, that many people can find official forms complex and daunting,” he said. “I also know from volunteering with the Citizens’ Information service in the past that literacy is a real challenge for some people.”

He said that it was important that younger people from different backgrounds and diverse communities take on such leadership roles.