blasphemy.ie

January 11, 2010

Irish Senator Defends New Blasphemy Law

Filed under: Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 11:30 pm

Fianna Fail Senator Jim Walsh has become the first Irish Government politician to publicly defend the new blasphemy law since it became operational on 1 January (a spokesperson for the Minister for Justice did tell the Sunday Times that I was “some crackpot sitting in an attic somewhere”, but that did not really constitute a reasoned defence of the law). So, without further ado, here are the words of wisdom that Senator Jim Walsh conveyed to the Sunday Sequence Show on BBC Radio Ulster on 10 January:

“It’s probably somewhat different in Ireland, in that we have a Constitutional requirement, which means that, you know, blasphemy, is an offence under our laws, and as a consequence, it has to have penalties which will be commensurate with that, and respect our Constitutional position, but, having said that, I think, over the period that it’s been there, as far as I can understand, there has been very few, perhaps one, case ever taken, which I think may have been unsuccessful, so it’s not a major issue, I think, for the vast majority of, sane, sensible people… In Ireland the laws that we have, based on the Constitutional position, would, in fact, you know, cover all religions, and indeed, we’ve seen where, you know, remarks passed have caused serious offence to people in other religions, and that has its own reactions, and its own ramifications, and I think in any society, I know there’s, you know, freedom of expression is very important, I mean it’s fundamental to democracy, and to be able to express your viewpoint is a fundamental, and in fact, can I just say, and this would be different than in Britain, in fact, it is a Constitutional requirement here to have freedom of speech, but I think most people, again, recognise that freedom of speech is not an absolute, it has to be done in a measured, responsible way, and, indeed, there, it can be, you can infringe, if you like, that entitlement by Incitement to Hatred Acts, which we have here, which has been contravened, and indeed there are other countries, you know, in Europe, like Germany, Austria and that, where, for example, you know, denial of the Holocaust is an offence punishable by imprisonment.”

All of these arguments have been addressed by Atheist Ireland, both in articles on this website and in submissions made to the Justice Minister, the Justice Committee and the Council of State while this Act was making its way through Parliament.

It was not Constitutionally necessary to pass this particular law. Indeed, it may have been unconstitutional to pass this particular law. It may not have been Constitutionally necessary to pass any blasphemy law. And the Constitution could have been amended in conjunction with the Lisbon II Referendum that was being held around the same time as the law was being passed.

The new Irish law does not protect the fundamental beliefs of all religions. It arbitrarily excludes what it describes as “cults” whose primary aim is to make profit or who employ oppressive psychological techniques. And it does not protect the fundamental beliefs of atheist citizens, merely those of citizens whose fundamental beliefs are religious.

Nobody is suggesting that the right to freedom of expression is absolute, merely that blasphemy is not a justifiable reason to qualify it. Incitement to Hatred laws criminalise harm to individuals, while blasphemy laws criminalise harm to ideas. The existence of Holocaust Denial laws in specific countries do not justify a blasphemy law in another country.

Senator Walsh’s arguments merely strengthen the case for the immediate repeal of this anachronistic law, and for the development of a modern secular Irish Constitution.

September 30, 2009

Campaign for a Secular Irish Constitution

Filed under: Atheist Ireland, Campaign, Irish Constitution, Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 12:16 am

Today is International Blasphemy Day, administered by the Center For Inquiry as part of its Campaign for Free Expression. Atheist Ireland is an advocacy group for an ethical and secular Ireland: see details in these Irish Times articles on the Irish blasphemy law and our first AGM.

Atheist Ireland is seeking your help today to launch and shape a new long-term campaign with two important aims: to repeal the new Irish blasphemy law and to attain a secular Irish Constitution. Specifically, we are asking you to do three things: send us a message of support, get actively involved in shaping this project, and lobby to persuade Irish politicians to pursue these policies.

We will soon be holding public meetings around Ireland to launch this campaign. We want it to include religious and nonreligious people working together, within Ireland and with international support. The campaign has one common aim that transcends any other differences we may have: that all Irish citizens, of all beliefs and none, can live together in equality, with the State being neutral on matters of religion.

In recent decades, several independent and all-party committees (most whose members were Christians) have repeatedly called for an end to discrimination against nonreligious citizens in our Constitution. Not only has this not been done, but a new religious crime has now been created. The blasphemy law is the final straw. We need a secular Irish Constitution, and we need it now. Please help to make this happen.

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July 29, 2009

Blasphemy law delayed until October

Filed under: Atheist Ireland, Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 9:53 pm

The Defamation Act will probably not become operable until mid to late October, because the rules of court need to be amended to accommodate it. The Law Reform Division of the Department of Justice has confirmed that:

“The Act is subject to a commencement order. It is intended to commence all provisions of the Act simultaneously. However, it is not possible to make a commencement order at present as the Circuit and Superior Court Rules need to be amended to accommodate a number of procedural changes in the new legislation. It is not possble to give an exact date yet for commencement of the Act but it is expected to be mid to late October.”

The Minister has the option of commencing different parts of the Act at different times. Atheist Ireland will continue to ask him to delay commencing the blasphemy sections, until such time as a referendum can be held to remove the reference to blasphemy from the Constitution.

July 23, 2009

Campaign to Repeal the Blasphemy Law

Filed under: Atheist Ireland, Campaign, Irish Constitution, Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 4:33 pm

Today the Irish President signed into law the Defamation Act that includes the newly-defined crime of blasphemy. This law will become operable when the Minister for Justice signs an order making it so.

Atheist Ireland will now campaign for the repeal of this anachronistic and dangerous blasphemy law, and for a referendum to remove the blasphemy reference from the Irish Constitution, as part of our wider campaign for an ethical and secular Ireland.

We call on the Minister for Justice to delay signing the order that would make the blasphemy sections of the Defamation Act operable, until such time as a referendum can be held to remove the reference to blasphemy from the Constitution.

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July 21, 2009

Is the Blasphemy Law Unconstitutional?

Filed under: Atheist Ireland, Campaign, Irish Constitution, Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 2:39 pm

Atheist Ireland has sent a letter to the President of Ireland, outlining our concerns about the constitutionality of the new blasphemy law, for her to consider before she discusses the issue with the Council of State tomorrow. In our letter we argue the following:

  • The law is contrary to the guarantees of equality under the law enshrined in Article 40.1 of the Irish Constitution, and of freedom of conscience and religion enshrined in Article 44.2.
  • The law is contrary to Article 44.2.3 of the Irish Constitution, which says that the State shall not impose any disabilities or make any discrimination on the ground of religious profession, belief or status.
  • The law shifts the burden of proof to the defendant in contravention of Article 38 of the Constitution, and of Schedule 1, Article 6, 2. and 3(a) of the European Convention on Human Rights Act, 2003.
  • The law does not meet the standard of prevention of imminent public disorder that made the old English blasphemy law compatible with the European Convention of Human Rights.
  • The definitions in the law are too vague to allow citizens to regulate their conduct, and it could make it unlawful for a religious citizen to inform his co-religionists about a statement he believes to be blasphemous.

Here is the full content of our letter:

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July 8, 2009

Dail Passes Blasphemy Law

Filed under: Atheist Ireland, Campaign, Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 3:24 pm

The blasphemy law has now been passed in the Dail, as part of Defamation Act, with no debate on the blasphemy amendments. The debate was restricted to an hour (for the full Defamation Bill). Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said that extending time for the blasphemy amendments would just be regurgitating what has been discussed ad nauseum. There was an average of six TDs in the Dail during debate.

The law now only has to pass through Seanad before being signed into law by President. It is scheduled for 10.30 am tomorrow morning in the Seanad. The Atheist Ireland AGM will plan a response to this blasphemy law, between 2-5pm this Saturday in Wynns Hotel Dublin. Members of the public are welcome to attend. Please attend, and also invite anyone you think might be interested in campaigning for an ethical and secular Ireland.

July 7, 2009

Dail to Vote on Blasphemy Law Tomorrow

Filed under: Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 9:53 am

The Defamation Bill is scheduled for debate in the Dail tomorrow morning, Wednesday 8 July. The debate for the entire Bill is restricted to one hour or less. This means that there will be little or no time to properly discuss the blasphemy sections.

Here is the full wording of the blasphemy sections, and the amendments that are being proposed to them. Please contact your TDs today and ask them to vote for amendments number 22 and 26, which would delete the blasphemy sections from the Bill.

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May 20, 2009

Submission to Justice Committee

Filed under: Atheist Ireland, Campaign, Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 4:00 am

The All-Party Justice Committee is meeting today to discuss the Defamation Bill, and we have arranged to send them a submission which will be circulated to them before they meet. Here is a draft of this submission. Any feedback welcome, before we send it over to the Committee.

Update: the submission has now been sent to the Justice Committee.

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May 19, 2009

Justice Minister to Amend New Blasphemy Law

Filed under: Campaign, Dermot Ahern, Irish Law, Irish Politics — Michael Nugent @ 3:30 am

The Minister for Justice is proposing to amend his new blasphemy law by providing, as a defence, that a person accused of blasphemy can “prove that a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value” in the blasphemous matter.

He is not proposing to reduce the fine of €100,000, the onus of proof is on the defendant to prove this new line of defence, and the police may still seize and destroy blasphemous statements. The Minister’s proposed blasphemy law now reads like this:

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May 10, 2009

Ireland Opposes ‘Defamation of Religion’ Being a Crime

In December 2008 in Durban, the United Nations discussed an Egyptian motion on “combating defamation of religion”. Islamic states supported the motion, while European Union states opposed it. The motion was passed, but a later conference in April 2009 in Geneva removed references to “defamation of religion” from the final document.

Ireland voted with the other EU states that there should not be such a crime as “defamation of religion”. The Minister for Foreign affairs, Micheal Martin, later told the Dail that:

“We believe that the concept of defamation of religion is not consistent with the promotion and protection of human rights. It can be used to justify arbitrary limitations on, or the denial of, freedom of expression. Indeed, Ireland considers that freedom of expression is a key and inherent element in the manifestation of freedom of thought and conscience and as such is complementary to freedom of religion or belief.”

So why is the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, reviving blasphemy laws contrary to the Government’s stated position?

April 29, 2009

Irish Constitution – All Authority Comes From God

Filed under: Eamon de Valera, Irish Constitution, Irish Politics, Quotes — Michael Nugent @ 12:04 am

What Eamon de Valera told the Dail during the debate on the 1937 Irish Constitution:

“I want everybody to realise what this Constitution states about authority. In the Preamble, and in the Article that refers to that, there is a clear, unequivocal statement that authority comes from God. That is fundamental. It does not matter what view a group of Catholic theologians may take as to how it comes to the immediate rulers. What we have here is clear at any rate – that authority is from God. That is fundamental Catholic doctrine, and it is here. It is true doctrine.”

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