Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On Friday, the people will be asked to remove the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution as recommended by the Constitutional Convention. We should remove blasphemy from the Constitution. We should also strengthen the legislation to prohibit religious hatred. The Labour Party introduced the original equality legislation that outlawed discrimination on the basis of religion. We have seen a new wave of anti-Semitism in Europe and also the rise of Islamophobia. We should outlaw the spreading of hatred, including through social media, where toxic messages undermine social cohesion. Removing blasphemy from the Constitution is an important symbolic act. My main concern is not that scores of people will be accused of blasphemy in the near future but that, as a tolerant and diverse society, one thing we cannot tolerate is intolerance. Blasphemy is an offence that allows a group of people to be intolerant of simple difference. Blasphemy is not an offence against a person but an offence against a set of ideas. If Ireland wants to be taken seriously in the United Nations, it is timely to remove this anachronism. We should send a clear signal of personal freedom to those countries where blasphemy is still a very serious matter, in some cases a capital offence. All too often the offence of blasphemy is used as cover for persecution of religious minorities or non-believers.

Let us consider the case of Asia Bibi. According to the European Centre of Law and Justice, she is a Christian mother of five who was convicted of blasphemy for offering her co-workers a cup of water. Her co-workers said she had made the cup ceremoniously unclean by drinking from it and ordered her to convert to Islam. Asia refused and expressed her faith as a Christian. She was charged with blasphemy, convicted and sentenced to death. She has been in prison for the past nine years waiting for the Supreme Court of Pakistan to hear her appeal. Asia Bibi should be freed but the Pakistani authorities are in no hurry to do anything, as we understand it. There are security concerns as radicals have issued death threats not only against Asia and her family but against the judges who heard the case. She needs to be offered asylum. Has the Government had any recent contacts on her behalf with the authorities in Pakistan? Can the Government put pressure on the new Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, including at EU level, to secure her release? Will Ireland offer Asia Bibi asylum?

See this speech in context