The whole of Ireland should enjoy the same human rights protections after Brexit, an influential watchdog has said.

Northern Ireland's Human Rights Commission said the potential loss of legal safeguards would represent a "regression".

The organisation's annual report said: "Twenty years since the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement, human rights remain a vital underpinning of a new Northern Ireland."

It warned against the impact on Northern Ireland of the potential loss of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and proposed withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice in Luxembourg following Brexit.

David Russell, chief executive of the commission, said much of the detail surrounding the status of rights enshrined in EU law following next March's UK withdrawal remained unclear. He added: "No one wants to stretch it that it would undermine the peace process but EU law does underpin the agreement."

Irish Independent