This briefing paper, produced to mark the 2010 International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (6 February), examines the efforts in Ireland to address and eliminate the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), by outlining the reasons to do so, and placing Ireland’s efforts within the context the international movement to do so.  FGM is an internationally recognised human rights violation of women and girls.  The practice has been strongly denounced by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other international medical and health organisations as a violation of numerous human right treaties and contrary to medical ethics.  It is estimated that there are over 2,500 women in Ireland who have undergone FGM.