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Subjects · Leaving Cert Politics & Society

Leaving Cert Politics & Society: Discrimination & diversity

How often Discrimination & diversity comes up on the Politics & Society papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 5 of the last 7 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

OL Asked on 7 of the last 7 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Discrimination & diversity, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Discrimination & diversity.

(a)Which of these is one of the nine grounds in Irish equality law?
  1. Political opinion or party membership
  2. Membership of the Traveller community
  3. Social class or level of income
(b)Which laws ban discrimination on the nine grounds in goods, services, accommodation and education?
  1. The Freedom of Information Act
  2. The Employment Equality Acts
  3. The Equal Status Acts
(c)A shop refuses to serve a customer because she is a Traveller. What kind of discrimination is this?
  1. Direct discrimination
  2. Positive action
  3. Indirect discrimination
Show the answers

(a) Membership of the Traveller community

(b) The Equal Status Acts

(c) Direct discrimination

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Discrimination & diversity.

Higher Level

Asked on 5 of the last 7 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q1d, Q1k
2024Not asked
2023Q1d
2022Q2
2021Q1o, Q4b
2019Q1c
2018Not asked

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Discrimination & diversity questions

Discrimination & diversity, 2 marks

What does 'sectarianism' mean?

  1. Loyalty to a sports club
  2. Separation of church and state
  3. Hostility between religious groups
Show the answer

Hostility between religious groups

Sectarianism is prejudice or discrimination based on religious or community background, a long-running issue in Northern Ireland.

Discrimination & diversity, 3 marks

What does the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 mainly do?

  1. Sets up a new court to hear equality complaints
  2. Treats crimes motivated by hatred more seriously
  3. Bans all offensive speech on social media platforms
Show the answer

Treats crimes motivated by hatred more seriously

It creates aggravated offences where crimes such as assault are motivated by hatred of a protected characteristic. Planned hate-speech provisions were dropped.

Discrimination & diversity, 3 marks

What is institutional racism?

  1. Racism built into an organisation's rules and practices
  2. A single racist remark made by one person to another in public
  3. A law that bans racist speech and hate crime
Show the answer

Racism built into an organisation's rules and practices

It can occur even without racist intent, when policies and routines leave some ethnic groups worse off. It links to indirect discrimination.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 7 of the last 7 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q1t
2024Q1c, Q1j
2023Q9
2022Q1e, Q10
2021Q1p, Q2, Q4, Q6
2019Q1u
2018Q1e, Q1s

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Discrimination & diversity questions

Discrimination & diversity, 2 marks

Which is one of the nine grounds of discrimination in Irish equality law?

  1. Height, weight or physical appearance
  2. County or town of birth in Ireland
  3. Membership of the Traveller community
Show the answer

Membership of the Traveller community

The nine grounds are gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community.

Discrimination & diversity, 3 marks

A job advert says 'no beards'. This mainly affects Sikh men. What kind of discrimination might this be?

  1. Positive action
  2. Indirect discrimination
  3. Direct discrimination
Show the answer

Indirect discrimination

Indirect discrimination is a rule that looks neutral but puts one group at a particular disadvantage, unless it can be objectively justified. Direct discrimination is openly less favourable treatment.

Discrimination & diversity, 2 marks

Which Irish laws ban discrimination in goods, services, accommodation and education?

  1. The Equal Status Acts
  2. The Official Languages Act
  3. The Freedom of Information Act
Show the answer

The Equal Status Acts

The Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2018 cover services, accommodation and education. The Employment Equality Acts cover work. Both use the nine grounds.

Other Politics & Society topics

All of Leaving Cert Politics & Society