Fixing the Bunreacht

There’s a constitutional amendment scheduled for October, to change our minds about the Lisbon treaty. This is an ideal opportunity for Dermot Ahern. He feels he must make blasphemy a crime, otherwise the people will go through the ‘costly and unwarranted diversion‘ of a referendum. But now he has an ideal chance to tack on… Continue reading Fixing the Bunreacht

Learning How The System Works

I had an interesting conversation with some (mostly Fianna Fáil, some Labour) local activists at the Kildare County Council election count yesterday. We started with the BNP results in the UK, and I mentioned that it seemed to be due to Labour voters staying at home. Apparently the BNP vote is actually down, but Labour… Continue reading Learning How The System Works

Taking At Face Value

I emailed Joe Duffy today. Well, I emailed the show. Joe is off sick, Damien Reilly has been keeping the seat warm. Mick Nugent was on, representing something called Atheists Ireland. (by the way, who elected Mick to speak on behalf of all the atheists in Ireland?) Anyway, Mick was speaking about blasphemous libel, so… Continue reading Taking At Face Value

In The Name Of The Father

Dermot Ahern is going to make cussing a crime. The minister proposes to insert a new section into the Defamation Bill, creating an criminal offence if anyone ‘publishes or utters blasphemous matter’, leading to a large fine. ‘Blasphemy is anything ‘grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing… Continue reading In The Name Of The Father

Holy Law

A group of Dáil backbenchers have quietly declared war on God. The joint committee on the Constitution yesterday published a report on freedom of expression and blasphemy. Bunreacht na hÉireann allows the Oireachtas to punish the publishers of ‘blasphemous, seditious or indecent matters’. However, a Defamation bill making its way into law abolishes the offence… Continue reading Holy Law