Could a law change 'complete' Daniel O'Connell's legacy?

It's only taken 200 years but one of Ireland's most significant figures could finally have his legacy "completed".

Daniel O'Connell, a lawyer and politician, known as 'The Liberator', successfully campaigned for Catholics to have more rights in Parliament in the 1820s, but some restrictions on their roles still apply.

Streets in Dublin have been named after him, but there is little recognition of him in the halls of Westminster.

The Kerry-born man - who was described at the time as "the greatest popular leader the world has ever seen" by Liberal Party Prime Minister William Gladstone - is back on people's minds with new legislation that he would certainly have championed.

The Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill has been described as removing "the last remaining discriminations against Catholics and Jews" in Parliament.

It must be approved by the House of Commons and House of Lords before any change would come into practice. The bill is currently awaiting its second reading in the Lords.

O'Connell achieved Catholic Emancipation through the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 after he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Clare, thus allowing him to take his seat in the House of Commons.

The act removed some of the restrictions on Catholics' participation in public life.

However some of those restrictions have been brought back into the public eye almost 200 years later with the United Kingdom having its first Catholic prime minister, Andy Burnham.

When appointing bishops and archbishops, the Church of England presents a candidate to the prime minister who then advises the monarch - as they are the head of the Church - on who to install in the role.

Although the involvement of the prime minister in this process has become more of a formality in recent years, legislation still exists that specifically bars Roman Catholics and Jews from exercising this responsibility.

He was born in County Kerry in 1775 when Catholics were under severe political restrictions and civil restrictions.

He was sent to France for school at a time of political upheaval that shaped his non-violent outlook on life.

When he achieved Catholic Emancipation it left him with "an incredible legacy", Prof Patrick Geoghegan from Trinity College Dublin told BBC News NI.

While not being a strict Catholic himself, O'Connell allowed Catholics to feel "like they were equal in their own country", according to the academic.

"It was all achieved through exclusively peaceful means, where other Irish revolutionaries and radicals and reformers had used violence and had failed," Geoghegan said.

"Daniel O'Connell showed the world that you were able to achieve massive change through mobilising the people, through using exclusively democratic means, through engaging with people, and by ensuring that the voice of a people could never be silenced.

"He brought an entire country behind him."

After entering the House of Commons in 1830, O'Connell ultimately failed in his attempt to dissolve the Act of Union - passed in 1800, it had abolished the Irish Parliament and united Ireland and Great Britain at Westminster.

During a debate on the bill in the House of Commons last month, MP for Ealing Southall, Deirdre Costigan said "there is no statue or portrait to O'Connell in this House".

"Does the minister agree that today, 197 years on, the legacy of Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator, will finally be complete with full equality in elected office for both Catholics and Jews?"

Speaking to BBC News NI, Costigan said the bill "is the final instalment, really, of the long fight that Daniel O'Connell was involved in".

"So I think it's a nice thing to celebrate that."

She added that the 200th anniversary of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 is coming up "shortly" and "it has taken a while" to remove the last remaining restrictions.

Costigan said it was a "sad thing" that there was no statues or portraits of O'Connell in Parliament "because he had a huge impact".

"He was a big campaigner for the abolition of slavery and was very involved in lots of the debates of the day. He was a great orator," she said.

"I think there may be moves afoot now with some parliamentarians, myself included, to see if we can get that addressed, perhaps for the 200th anniversary."

Being an MP who is also from Ireland, Costigan said she feels the legacy of O'Connell.

"People often say to me 'my gosh, you're Irish and you're sitting in the British Parliament' and actually, that's a great thing about this country," she said.

"Obviously, I love Ireland, but I've lived here now longer than I lived in Ireland and it is a fantastic country, so welcoming from people across the world."

Cottigan added she is mindful of the long history of Irish MPs at Westminster and the influence they had.

"That does give you the kind of the bravery to be able to stand up in what is still... a very strong Irish accent.

"It's a legacy of people like Daniel O'Connell."

Geoghegan thinks O'Connell would be "amused" that, almost 200 years after "his greatest achievement", it's only now these "last remaining elements" could be removed.

"I think he would also be impressed with the scale of the change and the fact that you do have a Catholic as prime minister and it's not an object of controversy."

He added that while there may be no statues or portraits in Westminster, O'Connell "isn't forgotten".

O'Connell's message remains as relevant today as it was in the 19th Century, amid challenges such as political polarisation, declining trust in institutions and threats to human rights, he added.

"I think he is still very relevant, and I think in the years ahead, we will find him increasingly talked about, celebrated, and remembered."