© Houses of the Oireachtas

PREMIUM: The weekly miscellany, March 22nd

I write this week’s roundup having just returned home from an engaging – and at times heated – debate over the Government’s moribund Hate Speech Bill, ably hosted by the DCU School of Communications. The undoubted star of the show: Fine Gael Senator Barry Ward, who used all of his skill as a barrister to fend off criticisms from Peadar Toibin and myself. Ward is an exceptionally able debater, in a parliamentary party not full of them. That said, his tactics were interesting: On the one hand, presenting the hate speech bill as a natural evolution of existing law that would provide important new protections to minorities and punish real extremists for inciting violence and hatred, and, on the other hand, waving away the idea that most potential hate speech would be hate speech at all. I felt it was a little bit cynical, while being extremely effective.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help get the feeling that the heat – and life – has largely gone out of the Hate Speech Bill. More than one person in a position to be informed about such matters tells me that it is functionally, if not officially, dead, and that Simon Harris will be in absolutely no rush to breathe life back into it. For what it’s worth, I think FGers are missing a trick by just letting it quietly die: They’d get much more traction from officially pronouncing it dead, and holding some funeral rites. It would go a way towards signalling that the Harris era will be different, if there’s anyone open to believing that.

This article is premium content

Get unlimited access to Gript

Support Gript and get exclusive content, full archives and an ad-free experience

Subscribe

Already a member? Sign in here

Share mdi-share-variant mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-printer mdi-chevron-left Prev Next mdi-chevron-right Related Comments Members can comment by signing in to their account. Non-members can register to comment for free here.
Subscribe
Notify of

10 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Patty.Carr.
1 month ago

Our world is now very simple: Stop obeying globalists and put Ireland and the Irish first! The first action should be to drop the hate-süpeech laws. If he continues down Varadkar’s path, he will be gone soon, and so will Fine Gael!

Last edited 1 month ago by Patty.Carr.
James Gough
1 month ago
Reply to  Patty.Carr.

I don’t think they will change Patty. I also think that their only plan B is to use the Guarda public order unit in a provocative manner to try and get a riot going so they can start bullshitting about public order and the far right. It won’t work and they will be gone in twelve months at most.

Daniel BUCKLEY
1 month ago
Reply to  James Gough

The result of the 2 Referendumd ,signaled a sea-change in Irish politics.
All the Parties,apart from Aontu,voted agains the People of the Republic and against the interests of the People.especially the Mothers, women and marriage.
A fatal mistake to go against the Mammies and Mna na hEireann,
Just like the Italians , the Mammies and women of Ireland are loved ,adored and cherished for their love ,self-sacrifice and care of their Families
The Uniparty in the. Dail ,believed that having pushed thru previous damaging Referenda with their control of misinformation and Propaganda by their muppets in RTE and Print Media. they could once again manipualte and bamboozle the People.
It worked for the braindead retards of D4, but no longer for the rest of the now awake Ireland.
The revolution is in motion and I expect all the Uniparty wretches to be swept away in a cleansing of the Augean stables in the next series of Elections.
Baile Dhia ar an Obair.

Patty.Carr.
1 month ago
Reply to  James Gough

Take a look at Putin’s latest speech, that the mainstream have completely withheld from the public. He attacks the globalists and he has backed it up with a 2000 page charge, that he has sent to the UN, about the pandemic. He has said a lot more, that we all know about already.

Jps
1 month ago

News to me that Varadker was taoiseach, i understood he took his orders from the green party. Everything wrong in this country has their fingerprints on it. Leo and Michael spend their time trying to secure a more prominent place for Ireland at the UN. High comedy watching Leo lecture the U.S. on how to resolve gaza. “No shit sherlock” is what you can read from their body language when he delivers his simpletons analysis of middle east politics. Meanwhile Roderic does whatever he likes unchallenged and Catherine Martin buries RTE through her imcompetence. Multinationals looking at investment in ireland are not assured of a reliable electricity infrastructure thanks to Eamonn Ryan. No hi tech or pharma will expand if the lights cant be kept on. But hey everybody is told by the science deniers that more than 2 genders exist so all is good!

Hamtramck
1 month ago

I prayed to the political gods for a no:no vote. I prayed for Leo to go. I prayed for the hate speech to be repealed. If it’s true then I wouldn’t call the queen me aunt. That Bill would be the last straw in a toxic woke government hell bent of manifesting its contempt for the Irish people. Please god McEntee is next. I have sneaking suspicion he’s going to move her. He damned her with faint praise. Fingers crossed we get an adult in the job.

Gav
1 month ago

If Harris has taken the job in the belief that he has won the top prize then he needs to stay away rlfrom the Dail bar. More likely he has been told he was last man standing very early on and his refusal would spark a GE. Seeing how there is no opposition to worry about he can’t get into to much trouble I suppose. Still I don’t think he will be adjusting the height of his seat to readily. No point.

Sick_of_Lies!
1 month ago

So did the Fine Gael grass-root vote for Harris? Just the FG Elite, who get their instructions from Varadkar and he gets them from the WEF? Are we ruled by puppet-zombies? This is happening so quickly, that it looks like it was all arranged made his announcement! When has anyone seen such a quick political leadership election??

Edward Fitzgerald
1 month ago

In fairness, Senator Ward has legal expertise so it was never going to be a fair fight. A pity McDowell wasn’t available.

Nicola
1 month ago

Enjoy your break

Should NGOs like NWCI be allowed to spend money they receive from the Government on political campaigns?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...