Comments on: Blasphemy Illegal from Today

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:29:40 +0000

or maybe you should acknowledge the fact you are the only one saying this. Prosecutions are not harder under this legislation. The older laws had been done away with, until this act.

By: Geraldine

Geraldine — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:27:19 +0000

your not making sense – the new law makes in nigh impossible to bring a prosecution – much much tougher than in the older ones being reformed. You should acknowledge that.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:20:41 +0000

Geraldine, there is also a different between enforced laws and unenforced laws. The older laws, including the constitution, have largely been ignored. So maybe you are the one that needs to some basic research. All you have mentioned, I have mentioned in the past on posts on this subject. So get with the program.

By: Geraldine

Geraldine — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:49:35 +0000

Blasphemy has been illegal in ireland since the 1936 constitution. That fact was reaffirmed in the 1961 defamation act which imposed prison penalties. What the new act does is to remove the jail penalty for blasphemy. Do some very very basic research before posting!!!!!!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:34:28 +0000

Well Joe this is what the legislation sets out:

36.—(1) A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on
indictment to a fine not exceeding €25,000.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person publishes or utters
blasphemous matter if—

(a) he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive
or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any
religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial
number of the adherents of that religion, and

(b) he or she intends, by the publication or utterance of the
matter concerned, to cause such outrage.

(3) It shall be a defence to proceedings for an offence under this
section for the defendant to prove that a reasonable person would
find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value
in the matter to which the offence relates.

Its a worrying trend. A website is trying to bring it down. See Blasphemy.ie

For the the txt of the bill see here

By: Joe Litobarski

Joe Litobarski — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:23:57 +0000

Crikey…

What exactly counts as blasphemy in Ireland? Can you still publicly use the name of God in vain? Would Richard Dawkins be open for prosecution? Can comedians still make jokes about God and the Church?

Seems like a dangerous road to be going down. Prosecuting hate-speech is one thing… but blasphemy?