Blasphemy Amendment to Defamation Bill to pass into Law on July 10th 2009

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Sunday June 28, 2009 11:48

by Guillotine

Mc Dowell's 2006 Bill to be guillotined

A series of 17 Bills which are in the queue for legislation for the Dáil period
2009 are now subject to guillotine debate and are expected to be passed into
law. One of the list is the 2006 Defamation Bill which was part of a twinset
introduced to the Dáil by now defunct Minister for Justice and Barrister
Michael Mc Dowell.

The 2006 Bill has been re-introduced and is in its final stages with The
Irish Times reporting that it is one of 17 pieces of legislation subject to
Guillotine debate and expected therefore to pass into law on July 10th
2009. The Bill includes the Blasphemy amendment which Mr Ahern TD
insists was written into the legislation 'under advisement of the AG'.

The whole list of Bills that are subject to FF/Green Guillotine is available at
the Irish Times website. Mr Ahern has retained the criminalisation element
but has added the proviso that work considered of 'artistic merit' would not
be included in the criminalisation amendment which begs the question
who gets to judge the issue, given the Arts Act 2003 which gives another
FF minister (Martin Cullen TD) an overweening influence in choosing the
board of the Irish Art's Council and in funding discretion.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2003/en/act/pub/0024/ind....html

Comments (2 of 2)

This bill is an affront to free society

by Jim

Mon Jun 29, 2009 09:54

This is the most idiotic bill ever concieved.

It is so open ended as to be unworkable.

For religious nutjobs whether they are Muslims, born again Christians, Catholics etc the very existence of any religious viewpoint contrary to their own is blasphemous.

There could not possibly be an free or open discussion on religion or faith in Ireland because any statement anyone makes on any issue (e.g. was Jesus just a very holy man who Christians follow as a moral example or was he truely God made flesh or was he not really a man but God in disguise?) would lead to charges of blasphemy.

Simply saying "I do not believe in God" is blasphemy according to the all religions.

OTT

by Faithful Freddy

Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:09

You exaggerate I think. People are free to debate God and His existence and other philosophical matters. Letters on such matters appear in the papers regularly, and blog comments . Vincent Browne has aired his sceptical views and has hosted guests of opposing views on the state radio RTE for many years. People who want to provoke reason-based discussions will be able to continue in this vein. Since the 1970s an organisation called B&ICO has published a magazine called Church and State. The only hindrance was the refusal of mainstream book and newsagent shops to stock it. Maybe the non-glossy appearance was a commercial factor in such decisions.

Individuals who want to provoke wild street demonstrations with crude cartoons, as happened in Denmark, may find their 'artistic' efforts thwarted however. Bunreacht na hEireann gives the right to public assembly and expression of opinion "subject to public order and morality". This phrase occurs a few times elsewhere in the constitution.