Ms Sunniva McDonagh:

There must be a balance. The State has a right to protect health and human life. That right can be curtailed in certain circumstances and we have set out clearly what they are. Any restrictions have to be necessary, proportionate, which means there cannot be a very excessive measure to achieve an end, non-discriminatory and be informed by human rights principles. Non-discriminatory means they could be indirectly or directly non-discriminatory but one must look at each individual proposal to see if it complies, that it does not infringe on rights such as the right to associate or the right to protest, freedom of association. Ultimately, each individual case must be looked at on its merits. The ultimate arbiter of whether or not the Constitution has been breached are the courts. They would make that determination if a suitable case was brought.