The Garda Press Office has declined to comment on whether public gatherings for religious worship are considered part of the “relevant events” banned by lockdown regulations.
The issue of whether such a ban exists has come to light as government lawyers and constitutional experts grapple with what Garda chiefs and politicians have otherwise portrayed as a definite prohibition during the current lockdown.
Gript.ie repeatedly requested clarity from the Garda Press Office on whether public gatherings for religious worship are considered “relevant events” under the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A-Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No.10) Regulations 2020.
The Garda Press Office would not confirm whether this is the case however.
Two Garda press officers instead stated that Gardaí would uphold the current regulations and directed Gript.ie to a government website that says religious services will “move online”.
In an unusual turn of events, the High Court yesterday gave government lawyers two weeks to confirm whether any such ban on public worship exists after they were unable to answer Mr Declan Ganley’s request for clarity.
The Galway business man is challenging the government’s restrictions on religious worship, claiming his constitutional rights have been violated as a result of the regulations.
The uncertainty coming from both the government’s legal team and Garda headquarters appears to have added credence to the recently published claims of constitutional law expert Professor Oran Doyle.
The Trinity College Dublin lecturer argues that the current regulations do not, in fact, prohibit public gatherings for religious worship despite the allegedly “misleading” impression given by political leaders.
Doyle claims this is because Regulation 2 does not include mention of religion or religious gatherings, despite explicitly considering gatherings for cultural, social, community,and recreational reasons as prohibited “relevant events”.
One Garda who wishes to remain anonymous told Gript.ie that there is “increasing confusion among members of the force” as to what aspects of religious worship, if any, are prohibited by the current regulations.
Carol Nolan TD today called the situation “extraordinary”, saying the government have “willfully perpetuated what amounts to a legal con job on people of faith.”
“It has become abundantly clear in the last number of weeks that the State’s position with respect to denying people of faith access to the sacraments rests on entirely spurious legal grounds,” she said.
One priest, Fr. PJ Hughes of Mullahoran & Loughduff in Co. Cavan, was fined €500 by Gardaí on March 18th after he allowed parishioners to attend Mass in his parish.