Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If you consider amendment No. 55 in the context of section 18 and the proposed insertion of section 6A after section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, you could have a situation, and I have dealt with many over the years, where the row is not necessarily started by the person who gets charged but he, or perhaps the other person, is charged. Somebody could start a row but somebody else gets involved in it. There could be some "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace or being reckless as to whether a breach of the peace may be occasioned", as outlined under section 6 of the public order Act, which are said to a person. This might involve a very nasty comment but would not fall under any of the protected characteristics. Somebody might get involved in response to a row and use some sort of phrase, as outlined by Deputy Smith, or, in the heat of the moment, use what could be a racist term. The person who did not start the row could then be charged with a hate crime. I have similar concerns about overreach in that a person who might not have started the argument or breach of the peace but who then gets involved in it may end up being charged with a hate crime, even though that individual did not start the row and what was said was definitely in the heat of the moment. A demonstrative test in that context would probably be unfair.