Former police officer Harry Miller has successfully challenged the use of Hate Crime Operational guidelines, issued by the College of Policing in 2014 and followed by police forces nationally; a Judge found they had been ‘unlawfully used to interfere with Mr Miller’s freedom of speech’ when he was visited by a policeman to question him […]
Left-wing extremists, including masked members of Antifa, threw a smoke bomb during an attempted attack on a free-speech rally outside the Dáil, Saturday afternoon. At least one Antifa activist appears to have been arrested after a Garda was assaulted with a metal tripod leg during a attempted charge by left-wing extremists at the demonstration against […]
It’s been a busy week, with the election, so readers may have missed an important tale in the middle of all the political noise. This is the story about the cancellation of Jason Evert, after an outcry that amounted to Mr. Evert’s desire to teach Catholicism to Catholics in Catholic schools and church halls. To […]
Free speech activists are slamming a civil liberties group for calling for restrictions on the right to protest and assemble and also for legislation which would likely be used to curtail freedom of expression. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has called on candidates in the upcoming general election to commit to a list […]
Yesterday, New Years Day, saw a small group of pro-life protestors conducting some form of silent vigil/protest outside the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin, an action that provoked anger from consultant obstetrician Dr. Mary Higgins: Right here (national maternity hospital), right now 1/1/20; wonder why we need exclusion zones @LeoVaradkar @SimonHarrisTD – beneath the windows […]
Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at Kent University, issues a timely warning about the increasing censorship of free speech in the public sphere, as well as self-censorship, ‘which is in many ways more insidious than the formal policing of language’; this is a growing problem on the internet, but also on university campuses, where […]
The most striking aspect of Charlie Flanagan’s proposed “hate speech” legislation is the extraordinary alliance that has formed in its favour. As previous reports on Gript have shown it not only seemingly includes the entire “range” of parties within Leinster House, but everyone else from Pollyanna overseas charities to the “New IRA.” The latter, which […]
When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was being drafted in the late 1940s, it was the Soviet Union and its allies who argued against freedom of speech on the grounds that it would open the door to ‘hateful propaganda’. What they had in mind of course was the undermining of government power by the […]
What a difference a year makes. Here’s the Irish Times’ own Kitty Holland, almost exactly one year ago, approvingly reporting on proposals to introduce a hate speech law: And here’s the Irish Times’ own Kitty Holland an hour ago, reacting to the news that that nice Mr. Corbyn had not achieved a majority for socialism […]
The Department of Justice’ public consultation on reviewing the legislation on hate speech comes to a close on Friday the 13th. (You can make a submission or answer a survey here) No more suitable day for the shambles of a process that it has been. In parallel, the Irish Human Rights Commissioner Emily Logan stated […]
About once or twice a year, the Irish Government and a bunch of friendly NGOs head over to Geneva in Switzerland to report to the United Nations on Ireland’s “progress” in a range of human rights areas. This week, it was the turn of the UN Committee on Racial Discrimination (CERD). The last time Irish […]
JOHN WATERS: “If you don’t give unadulterated praise to certain groups of people, you will be guilty of hate speech” #gript